# articles

feed_id: 301a8c666f30e282dcc1392470b4631b
title: Chrome extensions
uri: Chrome-extensions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#20_February_2019_%28Chrome_extensions%29
content:
<p>
Google
is <a href="https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/01/23/0048202/google-proposes-changes-to-chromium-browser-that-will-break-content-blocking-extensions-including-various-ad-blockers">modifying
Chrome</a> (and Chromium) so that extensions won't be able to alter or
block whatever the page contains.
<p>
This implies, in particular, that nothing
like <a href="https://www.gnu.org/software/librejs/">LibreJS</a>
will be possible in Chrome.
<p>
We can understand this as a further step towards making browsers serve
the businesses that use web sites to snoop and manipulate, rather than
serving the users that run them.


feed_id: e4c1aa97bc2ca7ad2db620013be7e57b
title: Paper maps
uri: Paper-maps
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#20_February_2019_%28Paper_maps%29
content:
<p>
Paper maps are better than digital map systems
for <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-paper-maps-still-matter-in-the-digital-age-105341">learning
to understand</a> the geography of an area.


feed_id: 0a340ebb8122e535a84fcd079a83b662
title: Continuing education
uri: Continuing-education
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#20_February_2019_%28Continuing_education%29
content:
<p>
Continuing education (with more student debt) for workers whose jobs
are automated
away <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/23/problem-isnt-robots-taking-our-jobs-its-oligarchs-taking-our-power">will
never give</a> most of the non-rich a good life.


feed_id: 04816bac0ef8370d36b9a977152e644d
title: President of Venezuela
uri: President-of-Venezuela
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#20_February_2019_%28President_of_Venezuela%29
content:
<p>
The US and other right-wing governments recognized opposition leader
Juan Guaidó as the president of
Venezuela.  <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/23/venezuela-president-what-happens-next-maduro-guaido">Maduro
responded</a> by ordering US diplomatic personnel to leave.
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/23/enezuela-trump-president-juan-guaido-maduro-recognition-news-latest">More
info.</a>
<p>
I know very little about Guaidó, but in general the opposition in
Venezuela represents the oligarchs and advocates right-wing <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#doohnibor">dooH niboR</a>
policies.  Maduro's government is a dictatorship, but the right-wing
opposition would offshore the country's income and repress the poor.


feed_id: 97119ac5e9436eb17eb63b46f6238a10
title: Federal food assistance
uri: Federal-food-assistance
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#20_February_2019_%28Federal_food_assistance%29
content:
<p>
The
bully <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-trump-administration-wants-to-tighten-snap-work-requirements-bypassing-congress-109865">has
a scheme</a> to kick more people off federal food assistance.


feed_id: e73b2dcbb34bf455118dd23fa874e26a
title: Bombs in Somalia
uri: Bombs-in-Somalia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#20_February_2019_%28Bombs_in_Somalia%29
content:
<p>
The US drops bombs in Somalia, intended to attack al-Shabaab,
but <a href="https://reason.com/archives/2019/01/23/what-we-dont-know-about-us-airstrikes-in">does
not try seriously</a> to determine which of the casualties were
al-Shabaab fighters and which were bystanders.
<p>
Since 7 years of this bombing have not crushed al-Shabaab, there is no
reason to suppose 7 more years will achieve that.  Guerrilla movements
that can recruit more members easily are not defeated by attrition.


feed_id: 589fac6c39f68b60cc74fbeb4e80cafb
title: Universal medical system
uri: Universal-medical-system
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#20_February_2019_%28Universal_medical_system%29
content:
<p>
Now that there is strong public pressure for a universal medical
system in the US, the medical profiteers
are <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/22/progressives-warn-against-democrats-pushing-diluted-half-measures-alternative">proposing
half-measures</a> to preserve their role.
<p>
Four years of Republican attacks on Obama's medical insurance law have
driven <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/23/healthcare-us-americans-uninsured-2014-gallup">7
million Americans</a> out of insurance coverage.
<p>
But that's not the worst harm &mdash; millions have insurance that
fails to
cover <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2018-sep-dec.html#3_December_2018_(Medicare_for_All)">a
lot of the costs</a>, and patients can be randomly screwed
with <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#6_February_2019_(SF_General_Hospital)">enormous
prices</a>.


feed_id: f3b4b867c10a7808d732f102bd13d8b9
title: Meat inspection
uri: Meat-inspection
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#20_February_2019_%28Meat_inspection%29
content:
<p>
Meat inspection in the US is inadequate &mdash; there are not enough
inspectors to do the job.  Most plants admit this,
while <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/01/23/inspected-and-passed-no-despite-what-labels-say">others
lie about it</a>.


feed_id: 4ae2b21c1b20ab29050242298dcc6de4
title: State of the Union
uri: 2019-02-20-State-of-the-Union
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#20_February_2019_%28State_of_the_Union%29
content:
<p>
Denying the grandstander the use of Congress for a State of the Union
address
is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/23/trump-pelosi-shutdown-news-latest-statue-of-the-union-address-blocked">very
clever way</a> of pressuring him.  It denies him something he craves,
while not harming anyone else because it has no intrinsic importance.


feed_id: 42b65752ad32e323bca89e1b637a0abe
title: Cohen testimony
uri: Cohen-testimony
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#20_February_2019_%28Cohen_testimony%29
content:
<p>
Michael Cohen says he
has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/23/michael-cohen-former-trump-attorney-postpones-testimony-congress">postponed
his testimony</a> to Congress because the bully is making legal
threats against his family.


feed_id: e7746bfeedef368d3c3c13cededfdea1
title: LA teachers
uri: LA-teachers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#20_February_2019_%28LA_teachers%29
content:
<p>
Los Angeles
teachers <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/23/los-angeles-teachers-went-on-strike-for-our-schools-and-the-country">won
a partial victory</a>, including a raise that is not enough to keep up
with inflation.
<p>
But they also won other benefits for the community, including a plan to
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/23/historic-day-american-unions-los-angeles-teachers-strike-earns-victory-labor-public">limit
charter schools</a>.
<p>
There needs to be a way for the public to convert charter schools to
public schools.


feed_id: 3ff6703d9ff598f95ef2dd3904ba9299
title: Civil and political rights
uri: Civil-and-political-rights
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#20_February_2019_%28Civil_and_political_rights%29
content:
<p>
The US has agreed to the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights,
but <a href="https://papersplease.org/wp/2019/01/14/issues-for-the-next-un-review-of-human-rights-in-the-usa/">doesn't
give people any recourse</a> when the US government fails to follow
its requirements.


feed_id: 9681100de68b304fd5a6a4d9c3d8d9e2
title: Flooding in China
uri: Flooding-in-China
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#20_February_2019_%28Flooding_in_China%29
content:
<p>
China
is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jan/23/inside-chinas-leading-sponge-city-wuhans-war-with-water">rebuilding
some cities</a>, vulnerable to flooding from rain, to absorb and store
more water underground.


feed_id: 10c8158dfceeda010c5ed2252efe7304
title: Libel for accusations
uri: Libel-for-accusations
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#20_February_2019_%28Libel_for_accusations%29
content:
<p>
Women in the UK that make accusations of rape or domestic violence are
threatened
with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/23/women-allege-abuse-libel-laws">lawsuits
for libel</a>.


feed_id: c43f45292ff6ba3613d4053b22bb26a5
title: San Francisco surveillance state
uri: San-Francisco-surveillance-state
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#19_February_2019_%28San_Francisco_surveillance_state%29

content:
<p>
San Francisco’s 
<a href="https://reason.com/archives/2019/02/11/san-franciscos-accidental-surveillance">Accidental
Surveillance State</a> and the Future of Privacy.


feed_id: 622c2e8cc39437bc4e76060934b10284
title: Structural racism
uri: Structural-racism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#19_February_2019_%28Structural_racism%29
content:
<p>
"What's more offensive: a racist yearbook photo or 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/12/ralph-northam-blackface-virginia-structural-injustices">structural
racism</a>?"
<p>
The way for Northam to atone for racist jokes is to commit to
eliminating structural racism.


feed_id: 49a4c575cb5e8a169d6518ed0e24f714
title: PISSI
uri: 2019-02-20-PISSI
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#19_February_2019_%28PISSI%29
content:
<p>
Reportedly <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a> is 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/17/isis-rout-inflames-regional-power-struggle">reorganizing
as an underground movement in Iraq</a> and might get strong enough to
cause real trouble.


feed_id: 7e7b176aef997c1c91e1bd31de7606ff
title: Later hours for students and workers
uri: Later-hours-for-students-and-workers
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#19_February_2019_%28Later_hours_for_students_and_workers%29

content:
<p>
Allowing students and workers to wake up at a later hour 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/jan/11/watching-the-sun-not-the-clock-sleep-body-clocks-daylight-saving-time">enables
them to sleep better and concentrate better</a> at school or work.


feed_id: 3bcc58279b5f48a8eba69b5ea95bc3a7
title: Bills to reduce prescription drug prices
uri: Bills-to-reduce-prescription-drug-prices
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#19_February_2019_%28Bills_to_reduce_prescription_drug_prices%29

content:
<p>
Sanders and Ro Khanna have introduced 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/10/confronting-pharma-greed-literally-killing-people-sanders-and-khanna-unveil-bills">bills
to reduce prescription drug prices</a> in the US.
<p>
The measures are not radical.


feed_id: e0439a981584674e7627e74577532a62
title: DR Congo's presidential election
uri: DR-Congo-s-presidential-election
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#19_February_2019_%28DR_Congos_presidential_election%29

content:
<p>
The surprise "winner" of DR Congo's presidential election may have
been chosen because of a 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/11/kabila-victor-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-contested-election-tshisekedi">deal
with the old president, Kabila</a>.


feed_id: 69170f1f379ec6fed25daf1ecce6d081
title: Amtrak
uri: 2019-02-20-Amtrak
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#19_February_2019_%28Amtrak%29
content:
<p>
Amtrak has reportedly dropped the requirement for passengers to show
ID to buy a ticket.  I think this means there is 
<a href="https://stallman.org/amtrak.html">no longer a reason to refuse to ride
Amtrak</a>.


feed_id: 81eb4c5dc747bad5cdeedec5135e259f
title: Christian extremist
uri: Christian-extremist
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#19_February_2019_%28Christian_extremist%29
content:
<p>
A Christian extremist who publicly insulted the homosexuals that had
been murdered in the Pulse club 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/10/donnie-romero-pastor-stedfast-baptist-church-resigns-prostitutes">has
now resigned because he hired sex workers</a>.
<p>
This is backwards.  It was the insult that he should have resigned
for.


feed_id: 5cb8d50ea3a3fd48cf5595208339e68c
title: Guantanamo
uri: 2019-02-20-Guantanamo
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#19_February_2019_%28Guantanamo%29
content:
<p>
17 years after it was set up, Guantanamo prison 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/01/10/17-years-later-guantanamo-prison-remains-threat-human-rights">remains
a threat to human rights</a>.


feed_id: ff2ea6431c8bde06af79cf98febeb599
title: Urgent: Violence Against Women Act
uri: 2019-02-21-Urgent-Violence-Against-Women-Act
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#21_February_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Violence_Against_Women_Act%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/VAWA-feb-2019">call on
Congress</a> to restore the Violence Against Women Act.
<p>
If you sign, please spread the word!


feed_id: 184c534a01e04bfc59ad6621d208a355
title: Urgent: Revoke tyrant's national emergency
uri: Urgent-Revoke-tyrant-s-national-emergency
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#21_February_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Revoke_tyrants_national_emergency%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/revoke-trumps-national-emergency-declaration">call
on Congress</a> to revoke the would-be tyrant's national emergency.
<p>
If you sign, please spread the word!
<p>
Ordinarily I would consider it a waste of time for the House to try
this, since the Republicans controlling the Senate would simply ignore
it.  But it seems that in this kind of case, if the House passes such
a resolution, 
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/2/15/1834918/-Pelosi-Can-Force-a-Senate-Vote-on-Trump-s-National-Emergency-and-She-Should">the
Senate has to hold a vote on it</a>.  That would put pressure on
senators to vote to cancel the emergency &mdash; it might even pass.


feed_id: 11a4afb343a2d7dddeafe6e4a718ac18
title: Conscience vs blind deep-state allegiance
uri: Conscience-vs-blind-deep-state-allegiance
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#21_February_2019_%28Conscience_vs_blind_deep-state_allegiance%29

content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.fff.org/2019/02/18/conscience-versus-blind-deep-state-allegiance/">Conscience
Versus Blind Deep-State Allegiance</a>.
<p>
I do not advocate "limited government" if that means laissez-faire,
laissez-mourir.  I do believe in limiting the government's power to
kill, torture, and imprison people.


feed_id: 51e35e13bdb79f67daf00689f0110c17
title: Blocking criticism of US foreign policy
uri: Blocking-criticism-of-US-foreign-policy
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#21_February_2019_%28Blocking_criticism_of_US_foreign_policy%29

content:
<p>
Is it right 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/18/highly-disturbing-facebook-blocks-viral-video-outlets-critical-us-foreign-policy-and">to
block criticism of US foreign policy</a> simply for being funded by
Russia?


feed_id: 5bbd4505436b90930f95c8329f292861
title: Bernie Sanders 2020
uri: 2019-02-21-Bernie-Sanders-2020
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#21_February_2019_%28Bernie_Sanders_2020%29
content:
<p>
Imagine where US politics would be today 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/19/bernie-sanders-2020-election-democrats">if
Sanders had not run in 2016</a>.  Then vote for him in 2020!


feed_id: 5c40e93a7e1d53150d716873c1375ecb
title: Deradicalizing Islamist extremists
uri: Deradicalizing-Islamist-extremists
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#21_February_2019_%28Deradicalizing_Islamist_extremists%29

content:
<p>
An effective method of deradicalizing Islamist extremists is to 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/19/trump-take-back-radicalised-britons-shamima-begum">teach
them that modern-day Ialamic law recognizes countries that have
various religions</a>.
<p>
Islamic law 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2018-sep-dec.html#12_November_2018_(Salafi_Arabia_execution)">tramples
human rights in many other ways</a>, so we should not treat it as an
acceptable position.  But since it doesn't imply a holy war, we can
live at peace with its adherents, while opposing them politically.


feed_id: 66af5ccd3e56720db961f1d545a90def
title: China censors postings on Twitter
uri: China-censors-postings-on-Twitter
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#21_February_2019_%28China_censors_postings_on_Twitter%29

content:
<p>
China 
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/business/china-twitter-censorship-online.html">censors
postings on Twitter</a> even though Twitter is not generally
accessible in China.
<p>
Twitter sometimes gets led by China into censoring people, but not
always.  Slimy LinkedIn obeys China reliably.


feed_id: 1a84c916f71644aa23be73d88492edb5
title: Human rights laws abolished in Ontario
uri: Human-rights-laws-abolished-in-Ontario
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#21_February_2019_%28Human_rights_laws_abolished_in_Ontario%29

content:
<p>
Doug Ford premier of Ontario, has unchecked power over that Canadian
province.  He 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/11/ontario-doug-ford-premier-democratic">abolishes
human rights laws</a> while arbitrarily changing the structure of city
governments.


feed_id: db5cf4f64ff1eb2ee4bc002ecec8d995
title: Thugs make students feel less safe
uri: Thugs-make-students-feel-less-safe
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#21_February_2019_%28Thugs_make_students_feel_less_safe%29

content:
<p>
Oregon high school students 
<a href="https://www.thecollegefix.com/oregon-students-walk-out-of-class-to-protest-cops-presence-in-district-schools/">protested
the presence of thugs in their schools</a>.  They said that the thugs
made them feel less safe in school.
<p>
Bravo!


feed_id: b44ccf6553ee684739d7e1be40ca3b8f
title: Imprisoned for publishing news
uri: Imprisoned-for-publishing-news
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#21_February_2019_%28Imprisoned_for_publishing_news%29

content:
<p>
Burmese journalists will be in prison for 7 years for publishing
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/11/reuters-journalists-to-remain-in-myanmar-jail-after-losing-appeal">news
about the violence against the Rohingya</a>.


feed_id: d3d694103516ec094f06821d51eaf662
title: Urgent: Block military intervention in Venezuela
uri: Urgent-Block-military-intervention-in-Venezuela
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#22_February_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Block_military_intervention_in_Venezuela%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/venezuela-Cicilline">call on
Congress</a> to block military intervention in Venezuela.


feed_id: 979b705325720cae72e110cd625250e7
title: Venezuela's special thug force
uri: Venezuela-s-special-thug-force
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#22_February_2019_%28Venezuela%27s_special_thug_force%29

content:
<p>
Amnesty International says that Venezuela's special <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thug</a> force has killed 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/01/24/more-dozen-people-killed-protests-venezuela">more
than 12 protesters</a> recently.


feed_id: 8029ee010661279fc36c216e6a7ff577
title: Fossil fuel target
uri: Fossil-fuel-target
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#22_February_2019_%28Fossil_fuel_target%29
content:
<p>
Several US states
are <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/01/24/nine-states-campaign-100-percent-clean-energy">working
on a target</a> to end fossil fuel use for electricity.
<p>
It is well-meant, but a target for 2045 is too remote to avoid
disaster.  We have only around 10 years to do that.  Therefore, what
we need is an ambitious target for 2025, and a more ambitious target
for 2030.
<p>
We need more than targets, though, because targets do not magically
implement themselves.  To reach a target which is ambitious enough to
do the job, we need large programs starting now.
<p>
It needs to tackle more than just electricity, too.


feed_id: f0d0793974296a71b978d88b32ea673a
title: Abortion rights laws
uri: Abortion-rights-laws
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#22_February_2019_%28Abortion_rights_laws%29
content:
<p>
US
states <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/24/amid-deteriorating-landscape-abortion-rights-critical-victory-new-york">need
to pass laws</a> granting abortion rights, given the danger that the
Supreme Court will reverse the decision that made them available.


feed_id: 18c2a72f14997a08ff7b3ed7b0da35f3
title: US shutdown
uri: US-shutdown
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#22_February_2019_%28US_shutdown%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#bully">The bully</a> backed down and agreed to let the US government reopen&hellip;
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/25/trump-raises-white-flag-government-shutdown">for
about two weeks</a>.


feed_id: a6d42e86897825c882baa8bc7ad86f93
title: Zimbabwe's army
uri: Zimbabwe-s-army
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#22_February_2019_%28Zimbabwe%27s_army%29
content:
<p>
Zimbabwe is ruled by its army, which can replace the president and
other high officials,
and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/25/zimbabwe-military-robert-mugabe-political-life-violence">represses
at will</a>.


feed_id: 1d3b35c965b9da4a619d50d109f869b8
title: Dafne McPherson
uri: Dafne-McPherson
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#22_February_2019_%28Dafne_McPherson%29
content:
<p>
Mexican Dafne
McPherson <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/25/mexico-baby-death-trial-conviction-overturned">was
convicted</a> after a miscarriage of murdering the fetus.
<p>
Such repression
is <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2011-may-aug.html#26_June_2011_(War_On_Women)">not
limited to Mexico</a>.
<p>
If this converges with the current US tendency to punish parents for
not being overprotective, it could make life hell for all US parents
and all US children.  And each of the two has the potential to
potentiate the other.


feed_id: e2412cd7adedb7784de85756da20b5ec
title: Industrial democracy
uri: Industrial-democracy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#22_February_2019_%28Industrial_democracy%29
content:
<p>
Industrial democracy &mdash; putting workers on corporations' boards
&mdash; is a way
to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global/commentisfree/2019/jan/25/election-2020-capitalism-democrats-workers">reduce
mistreatment of workers</a>.
<p>
The AFL-CIO needs to focus on organizing, not
on <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/25/americas-biggest-union-atm-democratic-party">money
for Democratic candidates</a>.
<p>
As regards funding campaigns, I suspect its choice of candidates to support is 
not selective enough.


feed_id: 39d8c7e755dad115ccc98b5dcbd380b9
title: Material witness
uri: Material-witness
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#22_February_2019_%28Material_witness%29
content:
<p>
Marzieh Hashemi says that US agents holding her as a material witness
harassed her
by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/25/marzieh-hashemi-iran-press-tv-journalist-detention">offering
her only food</a> that she as a Muslim was not supposed to eat.
<p>
She was required to testify against the Iranian broadcaster that she
works for.  Why did that require keeping her hungry?
<p>
Her example points out the unfairness of the secret process for deciding
whether to jail someone as a material witness.


feed_id: ec287973c60cc8e192bd25be1b1a2bbb
title: Air controllers
uri: Air-controllers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#22_February_2019_%28Air_controllers%29
content:
<p>
Flights at major US airports were delayed because of
a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/25/flight-delays-laguardia-newark-philadelphia-shutdown">shortage
of air controllers</a>.


feed_id: 25e53df9e933e708d9ae20efb5b31027
title: Cod stocks
uri: Cod-stocks
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#22_February_2019_%28Cod_stocks%29
content:
<p>
Cod
Stocks <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/25/cod-stocks-on-course-to-crash-if-ocean-warming-continues">on
Course to Crash</a> if Ocean Warming Continues.


feed_id: 194b8b4a1fe5ada1adcd1af367235cb4
title: Regime change in Venezuela
uri: Regime-change-in-Venezuela
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#22_February_2019_%28Regime_change_in_Venezuela%29
content:
<p>
The US government is seriously planning
to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/25/trumps-white-house-feels-its-way-through-regime-change-in-venezuela">impose
regime change</a> on Venezuela, working together with Guaidó.
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/24/open-letter-united-states-stop-interfering-venezuelas-internal-politics">An
open letter</a> calls on the US government to stop pushing for a coup
in Venezuela and support reconciliation efforts to move the country
towards fair elections.
<p>
The letter points out that US sanctions along with Maduro's bad
economic policies are jointly responsible for the economic crisis in
Venezuela.
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/24/coup-not-democratic-transition-us-peace-activist-interrupts-pompeo-speech-venezuela">Medea
Benjamin</a>: "A Coup Is Not a Democratic Transition!"
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/25/trump-guaido-dictate-venezuela-democratic-recovery">One
Venezuelan journalist</a> supports Guaidó as president but warns the
US not to turn this into a bloody coup.
<p>
Maduro's treatment of both Guaidó and the US embassy are astonishingly
gentle.  Can you imagine what the repressor would do if Clinton
declared herself president, on the grounds that Republicans
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_December_2016_(Republican_election-rigging)">stole
the election</a> two years ago?


feed_id: f4d376b0a11385663b127b908045c237
title: UK oil companies
uri: UK-oil-companies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#22_February_2019_%28UK_oil_companies%29
content:
<p>
Socialism for the rich now includes oil companies in the UK, which are
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/25/socialism-rich-oil-gas-capitalism">shirking
the responsibility</a> to clean up and shut down oil drilling
platforms in the North Sea.
<p>
Big companies have a history
of <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-mar-jun.html#9_April_2016_(Coal_companies_pollution_and_waste)">using
bankruptcy</a> to evade responsibilities, even pension obligations.
Rather than trust a company to come up with money later to carry out
its responsibilities, we should make it put the money in escrow in
advance when it incurs the obligation, on a schedule that collects the
money while the project is profitable.


feed_id: e72018996df2622443e34d406fff230c
title: Australian Invasion Day
uri: Australian-Invasion-Day
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#22_February_2019_%28Australian_Invasion_Day%29
content:
<p>
Many Australians now mark the date of the landing of the first British
fleet (of convict transportees)
as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jan/25/invasion-day-rally-2019-where-to-find-marches-and-protests-across-australia">"Invasion
Day"</a>, looking at it from the point of view of the Australians of
that time.


feed_id: ea906c4878ef66a7314ab2fbb8a2df7b
title: Asylum-seekers waiting
uri: Asylum-seekers-waiting
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#22_February_2019_%28Asylum-seekers_waiting%29
content:
<p>
The US has started making asylum-seekers from Central America to
Mexico to
wait, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/24/us-mexico-asylum-migrants-trump-administration">perhaps
for months or years</a>, while their cases are considered.
<p>
This is not inherently unjust, but it could become so if (for
instance) they have to live in penury there, or if the gangs that
threatened to kill them at home come after them there.


feed_id: 645e9f6c2055a0ac007011bdacd58929
title: Statements on Meng Wanzhou
uri: Statements-on-Meng-Wanzhou
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#22_February_2019_%28Statements_on_Meng_Wanzhou%29
content:
<p>
Canada's ambassador to China regrets saying what he said, about Meng
Wanzhou's arguments for avoiding extradition,
but <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/25/i-misspoke-canada-ambassador-to-china-regrets-saying-huawei-chief-had-strong-case">didn't
say that it was not accurate</a>.


feed_id: e60d38407036e1dddfa04548bb8f0fb6
title: Very urgent: Anti-abortion bill
uri: Very-urgent-Anti-abortion-bill
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#24_February_2019_%28Very_urgent%3A_Anti-abortion_bill%29

content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="http://actnow.prochoiceamerica.org/letter/tell-your-senators-vote-no-ben-sasses-anti-choice-bill/">call
on your senators</a> to vote against the anti-abortion bill S.311.
</p>
<p>If you send a message, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 48ed899f019d112c275ae2941ac08e85
title: Urgent: Affordable housing
uri: Urgent-Affordable-housing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#24_February_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Affordable_housing%29
content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/housing-not-walls">call
on Congress</a> to build lots of affordable housing.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 798cfd507752820f05b6328dd6b73ea4
title: Urgent: Special Counsel Transparency Act
uri: 2019-02-25-Urgent-Special-Counsel-Transparency-Act
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#24_February_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Special_Counsel_Transparency_Act%29

content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/senate-protect-mueller">call
on Senate Republicans</a> to pass the Special Counsel Transparency
Act, which would direct Mueller to publish the report of his
investigation.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: cd7d3f687bc9f9bc45bb004de33a3f9c
title: Greece recovery
uri: Greece-recovery
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#24_February_2019_%28Greece_recovery%29
content:
<p>
Greece might be starting
to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/28/greece-moves-towards-ending-austerity-with-rise-to-minimum-wage">recover
economically</a>.
<p>
I guess that is good, but it feels too good to be true.
What is the bad news?


feed_id: d006a2d59237087874465acebe6f05f7
title: The river is dying
uri: The-river-is-dying
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#24_February_2019_%28The_river_is_dying%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/29/the-river-is-dying-the-vast-ecological-cost-of-brazils-mining-disasters">"The
river is dying"</a>: the vast ecological cost of Brazil's mining
disasters.


feed_id: 6f9ee1fe0a360406a7891af07c3f918f
title: Social Security numbers
uri: Social-Security-numbers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#24_February_2019_%28Social_Security_numbers%29
content:
<p>
(satire) Big US government data breech: public advocacy agencies
   revealed Monday that 340 million Social Security numbers had fallen
   into the
   hands <a href="https://www.theonion.com/340-million-social-security-numbers-obtained-by-federal-1832126981">of
   the federal government</a>.


feed_id: 65a476e3d4520814bf34dffbda1c0f16
title: Human rights record
uri: Human-rights-record
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#24_February_2019_%28Human_rights_record%29
content:
<p>
(satire) Taliban officials announced Monday that they had agreed to a
   peace deal despite their concerns about
   America’s <a href="https://www.theonion.com/taliban-agrees-to-peace-deal-despite-concerns-about-ame-1832133149">human-rights
   record</a>.


feed_id: 1f733a7f072911562ac807c5a2d10b67
title: Joshua Tree recovery
uri: Joshua-Tree-recovery
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#24_February_2019_%28Joshua_Tree_recovery%29
content:
<p>
Joshua Tree national
park <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/28/joshua-tree-national-park-damage-government-shutdown">'may
take 300 years to recover'</a> from damage done while the government
shutdown left it unguarded.
<p>
However, due to <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#global heating">global heating</a> all the joshua trees there might die
during this century.


feed_id: ab5f7bd4ee5f9bf265d43699ea424433
title: UK city budgets
uri: UK-city-budgets
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#24_February_2019_%28UK_city_budgets%29
content:
<p>
The UK's <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#doohnibor">dooH niboR</a> government
has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/29/labour-councils-activists-austerity-tory">cut
the budget for cities</a> so hard that Labour-controlled local
government can only make decisions about which poor people to crush
first.
<p>
In such a situation, it is a mistake to try to minimize the harm.
"Working within the cruel system to make it less cruel" has the
main effect of propping the system up.


feed_id: c0d3e765ed0b41554c23b53d2b8af3a6
title: UK wildlife protection
uri: UK-wildlife-protection
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#24_February_2019_%28UK_wildlife_protection%29
content:
<p>
The UK has cut the budget for protecting wildlife and ecosystems to
the point
where <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/29/agency-protecting-english-environment-reaches-crisis-point">the
job cannot be done</a>.


feed_id: d1ee55131b77a4be1cf4c67064b7404d
title: Billionaires
uri: Billionaires
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#24_February_2019_%28Billionaires%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://reason.com/archives/2019/01/28/are-billionaires-immoral-democrats-ask">Is
it morally appropriate</a> for anyone to be a billionaire?
<p>
I agree that "Every billionaire is a policy failure", but I disagree
with Ms Ocasio-Cortez about Bill Gates: he got his money by doing
wrong to people (proprietary software).
<p>
Many problems that are intractable in today's conditions could be
solved by spending money, but the government doesn't have money to
spend on them.  Why not?  Too much money has gone to (1) reduced taxes
for businesses and rich people and (2) spending more on the military
than the next six countries together.
<p>
If we claw back the money from that, we could truly make America great
again &mdash; great in its ability to do great things and make a
better life.  The US could also do its share of reducing greenhouse
gas emissions fast.


feed_id: d0a07edda279e5b0faf541b4ca90c35e
title: Venezuela elections
uri: 2019-02-25-Venezuela-elections
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#24_February_2019_%28Venezuela_elections%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/28/heres-how-venezuela-can-achieve-peaceful-resolution-crisis">Proposing</a>
that Maduro and Guaidó share power for a couple of years and then hold
new elections.


feed_id: 93e68aa4ff929c6a9a1be98e67f5b9b4
title: Sanders and Warren
uri: Sanders-and-Warren
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#24_February_2019_%28Sanders_and_Warren%29
content:
<p>
The two 2020 presidential candidates that plutocrats really hate are
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/28/it-cant-be-warren-and-it-cant-be-sanders-wall-street-executives-make-2020">Sanders
and Warren</a>.
<p>
I have confidence that both of them will thwart the plutocrats, but
Sanders is better on a range
of <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2018-sep-dec.html#2_October_2018_(Elizabeth_Warren_2020)">other
progressive issues</a>.
<p>
Warren says that the CEO of Wells
Fargo <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/28/very-informed-elizabeth-warren-explains-exactly-why-wells-fargo-ceo-tim-sloan-should">should
be fired</a>; he has been in charge of the bank's operations for many
years and has the responsibility for the various frauds the bank has
committed.


feed_id: 985763c5caa128e5c1aaf4331067cf43
title: Witness dialects
uri: Witness-dialects
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#24_February_2019_%28Witness_dialects%29
content:
<p>
When witnesses speak in black American dialects, Court reporters and
juries frequently <a href="http://archive.is/jkk2L">misunderstand what
they said</a>.


feed_id: ddefe50aa4861fad6b09f9eecb3dd876
title: Sea Shepherd in Liberia
uri: Sea-Shepherd-in-Liberia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#24_February_2019_%28Sea_Shepherd_in_Liberia%29
content:
<p>
Sea Shepherd
is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/28/liberia-eco-vigilantes-score-arresting-success-in-struggle-to-end-illegal-fishing">acting
as Liberia's coast guard</a> and putting a stop to illegal fishing.
<p>
Illegal fishing is not just a matter of who gets to fish where.  It is
also a matter of preventing overfishing, and the use of fishing
methods that destroy the marine environment.


feed_id: de9adae8c70d3ccd8ee1f0d6145b6327
title: Guns in Brazil
uri: Guns-in-Brazil
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#24_February_2019_%28Guns_in_Brazil%29
content:
<p>
Bolsonaro just gave an order to allow Brazilians to own guns and keep
them at
home.  <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/jan/28/we-are-afraid-brazilian-women-recoil-jair-bolsonaro-relaxation-gun-laws-domestic-violence">Women
are afraid</a> their husbands will shoot them.
<p>
Right-wing supporters of Bolsonaro make the usual right-wing argument
that guns will enable people to protect themselves.  Experience shows
that this doesn't work: rather, having a gun in your home puts you in
more danger.  
<p>
For protection against someone who lives in your house, who might have
per own gun, your gun is almost useless.  To use it for this, you'd
need the experience and honed sharp thinking of Travis McGee or James
Bond, both of whom are fictional characters.  I don't know whether any
real people really have that.


feed_id: c5a262e01e4800b076c3a1677d7552b5
title: Virginia teachers
uri: Virginia-teachers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#24_February_2019_%28Virginia_teachers%29
content:
<p>
Virginia can't afford school buildings &mdash; its funds
are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/27/virginia-teachers-strike-amazon-tax-breaks">offered
to Amazon</a>.  Teachers plan to strike, and will make Amazon one of
the demands.


feed_id: 48e926edc4922b4e582f0e31809ed766
title: Tulsi Gabbard and India
uri: Tulsi-Gabbard-and-India
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#24_February_2019_%28Tulsi_Gabbard_and_India%29
content:
<p>
Tulsi Gabbard is associated with
the <a href="http://www.minoritiesofindia.org/coalition-calls-tulsi-gabbard-reject-association-hate-groups/">organized
Hindu extremists of India</a>,
a group that includes the governing party, which has been involved in
various kinds of repression, sometimes fatal.


feed_id: 0a7c927ace0129d3b02368851ad95de2
title: Instagram closely connected with Facebook
uri: Instagram-closely-connected-with-Facebook
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#24_February_2019_%28Instagram_closely_connected_with_Facebook%29

content:
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/dec/01/instagram-facebook-controversy-social-network-tech">Instagram is Facebook's second tentacle for tracking and manipulating people</a> and closely connected with the first tentacle, but somehow people tend not to recognize how nasty it is.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 89baa2ff1853297f16443ee8096701d4
title: Greenhouse gas emissions
uri: 2019-02-25-Greenhouse-gas-emissions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#24_February_2019_%28Greenhouse_gas_emissions%29
content:
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/05/the-guardian-view-on-climate-change-too-much-too-soon">A hypothesis for why greenhouse gas emissions have started increasing again</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: f499aedd58dd824daae68d67758ba89a
title: Failing to curb global heating
uri: Failing-to-curb-global-heating
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#24_February_2019_%28Failing_to_curb_global_heating%29

content:
<p>Failing to curb global heating is <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/12/05/climate-change-economics/">likely to cause an economic collapse by and by</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: c1a7de23f836aa9d420b60d3cbd1370a
title: Uterus transplanted
uri: Uterus-transplanted
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#24_February_2019_%28Uterus_transplanted%29
content:
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/06/live-birth-dead-donor-definition-motherhood-transplants-pregnancy">A uterus transplanted from a dead woman's body has been used successfully</a> to carry a pregnancy to term.</p>
<p>I don't see anything inherently wrong with this procedure.  I suppose that after a few decades of further advance, artificial organs of all kinds will be suitable for transplants, eliminating the need for organ donors.</p>
<p>However, using the procedure in today's conditions is something society cannot afford.  I think all methods of assisting fertility should be shelved until the world has achieved a stable human population that coexists sustainably with the natural world.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 9aa1da5ef665362fe124acb45869f8ac
title: Discouraging gang violence
uri: Discouraging-gang-violence
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#24_February_2019_%28Discouraging_gang_violence%29
content:
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/dec/06/bostons-miracle-how-free-nappies-and-a-little-mentoring-are-curbing">A new program for discouraging gang violence operates by offering gang members a little help if they avoid violence</a>, as well as punishment if they don't.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: f88aa41f15652edeeb3f8c8c28664a42
title: Roxsana Hernández killed in US immigration prison
uri: Roxsana-Hernández-killed-in-US-immigration-prison
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#24_February_2019_%28Roxsana_Hern%25C3%25A1ndez_killed_in_US_immigration_prison%29

content:
<p>It appears that <a href="http://feeds.dailykosmedia.com/~r/dailykosofficial/~3/f-dD9pcDDf0/181750">violence killed Roxsana Hernández</a> in a US immigration prison, and the thugs are covering it up.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: e362ec3b5d96d2cb6f3658358f92c7e0
title: Surveillance devices for parents
uri: Surveillance-devices-for-parents
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#24_February_2019_%28Surveillance_devices_for_parents%29

content:
<p>A company selling parents surveillance devices <a href="https://gizmodo.com/dystopian-company-wants-parents-to-tag-problem-teens-wi-1830885509">so they can treat their children like prisoners</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 4317abb91eb4639aea55072066c202d7
title: Nuclear fuel in Saudi Arabia
uri: Nuclear-fuel-in-Saudi-Arabia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#24_February_2019_%28Nuclear_fuel_in_Saudi_Arabia%29
content:
<p><a href="https://act.winwithoutwar.org/go/14784?t=1010&akid=2967%2E223515%2Efs2WPh">Salafi Arabia wants the US to sell it a nuclear reactor and let it manage the nuclear fuel</a>.  Meanwhile, the acting king, guilty of massive killing, already said he would develop nuclear weapons if Iran does.</p>
<p>He has already started working on making sure that Iran develops nuclear weapons by convincing the bullshitter to cancel the deal which convinced Iran not to develop them.</p>
<p>It all stinks.  The US, remembering Yemen and Khashoggi, should not sell the reactor.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: c4d5643aec396648f5bc9d70b56fe558
title: Urgent: Net neutrality bills
uri: Urgent-Net-neutrality-bills
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Net_neutrality_bills%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: if your congresscritter was newly elected last November,
<a href="https://act.freepress.net/call/internet_stop_bad_bills/">phone
per office</a> to explain the problems with the distractive,
inadequate network neutrality bills.
</p>
<p>
I have seen this advice for an effective call.
<ul>
  <li>
    Contact your members of Congress only. Calls from people who
    aren’t constituents typically aren’t as effective.
  </li>
  <li>
    Be respectful to staffers. Even if you feel really strongly about
    an issue, always show them the same respect you would want
    yourself.
  </li>
  <li>
    Keep your call under a minute.
  </li>
  <li>
    Request a response if you want an update. Being added to the
    response database will earn you automatic updates if any of your
    representatives take action.
  </li>
  <li>
    Leaving a voicemail is just as effective. Sometimes lines are busy
    or staffers are away. Thankfully, voicemails are checked daily and
    tallied just like calls. Just remember to leave your full street
    address.
  </li>
</ul>
</p>
<p>If you phone, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: de17c0dc0fe731e3b54a039735bbf53a
title: Urgent: Taxes from large companies
uri: Urgent-Taxes-from-large-companies
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Taxes_from_large_companies%29

content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/tell-congress-make-amazon-and-other-big-companies-pay-their-fair-share/">call
on Congress</a> to make Amazon and other large companies pay their
fair share of taxes.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 1f5b754bb053ed3e0f2a6e582ee1ab53
title: Urgent: Abortion rights
uri: 2019-02-27-Urgent-Abortion-rights
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Abortion_rights%29
content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/stand-up-for-women-2019">call
on Congress</a> to defend abortion rights from obstructive arbitrary
requirements.
</p>
<p>
While this bill has no chance of becoming law under this
administration, it's important that we build momentum and support for
it now.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: a503737e99861fcb89fa83bfe7d384e1
title: Urgent: Gun control
uri: 2019-02-27-Urgent-Gun-control
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Gun_control%29
content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://act.democracyforamerica.com/sign/support-these-commonsense-gun-reform-bills-now/">support</a>
common-sense gun control measures.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 37bdb872ea6516aab140b65e46843bbb
title: History of Venezuela
uri: History-of-Venezuela
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28History_of_Venezuela%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/v39/n13/greg-grandin/down-from-the-mountain">Analyzing
the history of Venezuela</a>, before and during the presidency of
Chávez.  Oil money enabled him to implement socialist measures without
curbing the power of the oligarchs, so the oligarchs were never
weakened, and now they appear to plan to use Guaidó to take power
again.
<p>
Thus, Venezuela faces the choice between an acutely repressive government
and a permanently unjust government.


feed_id: b098920a3180ab86e92e1cc6e45b3b79
title: Zumigo
uri: Zumigo
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28Zumigo%29
content:
<p>
"Zumigo, which sold the location data of American cell phone users,
wanted the FCC
to <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/vbwgw8/zumigo-phone-location-data-sold-lobbied-fcc-consent">remove
requirements</a> around user consent."
<p>
Requiring consent is not sufficient to make this acceptable.  We need
to require that any software that can send a user's location offer
the option of spoofing the location.


feed_id: d8f003e16d212d940fe716da8cd1a3b3
title: Influence of 'big food'
uri: Influence-of-big-food
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28Influence_of_%27big_food%27%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/27/food-industry-obesity-malnutrition-climate-change-report">Experts
call for</a> influence of ‘big food’ to be curbed to also tackle issue
of climate change.


feed_id: 472bcbd3066b669e42574eb198d67d94
title: Gilets jaunes parties
uri: Gilets-jaunes-parties
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28Gilets_jaunes_parties%29
content:
<p>
Some of the gilets jaunes protesters
are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/28/second-gilets-jaunes-protestor-founds-political-party-jacline-mouraud">starting
political parties</a>.


feed_id: 6dfdffefc585edcda57a5bb84bf25637
title: US Taliban agreement
uri: US-Taliban-agreement
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28US_Taliban_agreement%29
content:
<p>
The US and the Taliban seem to have
made <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/28/us-and-taliban-reach-framework-peace-deal-reports">substantial
progress</a> in negotiating some sort of agreement.


feed_id: 430e34a046b481e464b945fbcecb10e9
title: UN court judge
uri: UN-court-judge
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28UN_court_judge%29
content:
<p>
A judge in a UN
court <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2019/jan/28/international-criminal-court-icc-judge-christoph-flugge-quits-citing-political-interference-trump-administration-turkey">quit
and denounced the US and Turkey</a> for acting against international
courts.
<p>
Bolton threatened to prosecute any judge in the International Criminal
Court that investigated a US citizen.
<p>
People have said for decades that the US is
the <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#4_June_2017_(Rogue_state_USA)">biggest
rogue state</a>.


feed_id: fb0e704001803d1cea56cce3383fa43e
title: Courthouse arrests
uri: Courthouse-arrests
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28Courthouse_arrests%29
content:
<p>
The US deportation <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> used to arrest around 10 people a year from
courts in New York City.  Since 2017 it has
been <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/01/28/ice-courthouse-arrests-in-new-york-increased-1700-percent-under-trump/">around
180 a year</a>.


feed_id: d03b04bb9000efb516dcfd4fc5412007
title: Global economic system
uri: Global-economic-system
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28Global_economic_system%29
content:
<p>
Good domestic policies such as the Green New
Deal <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/27/green-new-deal-not-enough-we-need-alternative-globalization">are
not enough</a>.  We need to dismantle the global economic system that
lets global capital and business move around and batter countries into
economic submission.


feed_id: 093576bff72edc4cdf47f4f7eec00c3d
title: Protest in Brussels
uri: Protest-in-Brussels
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28Protest_in_Brussels%29
content:
<p>
80,000
protesters <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/27/people-power-160000-european-protesters-demand-action-climate-crisis">marched
in Brussels</a> for action to curb global heating, and thousands more
couldn't fit in the trains to get to the protest.


feed_id: 0027270a1643c3119043fd254c68c140
title: Amazon's legal system
uri: Amazon-s-legal-system
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28Amazon%27s_legal_system%29
content:
<p>
Amazon's domination of online sales in the US has led it to set up a
private legal system to govern sellers, complete with lawyers, but the
"laws" are
all <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/18/1826918/-Amazon-Marketplace-and-the-reality-of-free-market-utopianism">secret
and unaccountable</a>.


feed_id: 083be7fd8f8b283166ac9636e91811e4
title: Unauthorized workers and wages
uri: Unauthorized-workers-and-wages
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28Unauthorized_workers_and_wages%29

content:
<p>
Helping possibly unauthorized workers avoid driving down wages
by <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/01/19/1827508/-I-discover-illegal-laborers,-and-make-the-phone-call">hooking
them up with a union</a> to work for good wages.


feed_id: 4db77741da3f7a0e0c995a22c1e01aa3
title: Wang Quanzhang
uri: Wang-Quanzhang
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28Wang_Quanzhang%29
content:
<p>
China sentenced human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang
to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/28/wang-quanzhang-china-sentences-human-rights-lawyer-to-four-years-in-prison">four
years in prison</a>.


feed_id: c263147b977484c961e867ce1b49d623
title: Evangelical schools
uri: Evangelical-schools
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28Evangelical_schools%29
content:
<p>
US evangelical Christian schools are preparing children
to <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/01/19/1827570/-EXvangelicals-#ExposeChristianSchools-Want-to-understand-T***p-base-Read-these-horror-stories">take
over the US</a> and impose their cult on everyone.


feed_id: f50d329c1048e463cfcbb6abf40d31ae
title: Rich people at Davos
uri: Rich-people-at-Davos
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28Rich_people_at_Davos%29
content:
<p>
The rich people at Davos nowadays acknowledge that our current
economic system is leading to global disaster.  But
they <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jan/27/davos-2019-the-yawning-gap-between-rhetoric-and-reality">never
try to change it</a>.


feed_id: 16bd43509c1744551e72689e93b02dc2
title: Deporting to Cambodia
uri: Deporting-to-Cambodia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28Deporting_to_Cambodia%29
content:
<p>
The hateful one is deporting people to Cambodia who have been in the
US since childhood
and <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/24/1827078/-While-Trump-deports-Southeast-Asian-refugees-en-masse-the-mainstream-media-stays-silent">do
not speak Cambodian</a>.


feed_id: d0530ade718f14f8ee69aefd7e06d9b2
title: Would-be Nazi terrorist in Coast Guard
uri: Would-be-Nazi-terrorist-in-Coast-Guard
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28Would-be_Nazi_terrorist_in_Coast_Guard%29

content:
<p>
A would-be Nazi terrorist, a complete supporter of the would-be
tyrant, was caught 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/20/neo-nazi-plotted-attack-on-democrats-journalists">planning
to assassinate progressive politicians</a>.
<p>
He is an officer in the Coast Guard.
I expect there are many would-be terrorists in the US military.


feed_id: 0e3bfe4919a4f426d539e4b069c768df
title: Israeli disinformation
uri: Israeli-disinformation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28Israeli_disinformation%29
content:
<p>
Israeli disinformation 
<a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190208-israel-lobby-fakes-campus-anti-semitism-say-us-journalists/">tries
to frame Palestinian-rights activists for acts of anti-semitism</a>.


feed_id: 541d6c40be725c17961e44976f5dad9b
title: Recycling in the US
uri: Recycling-in-the-US
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28Recycling_in_the_US%29
content:
<p>
Recycling paper, glass and plastic in the US is a sham, since most of
what people give to be "recycled" is not feasible to recycle.  It 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/feb/21/philadelphia-covanta-incinerator-recyclables-china-ban-imports">ends
up as landfill or in an incinerator</a>.
<p>
We need laws to require plastic made in large quantities to be made
easy to recycle.


feed_id: 29cb1d78038e9530d64a84c37bb9f019
title: Raise the Wage Act
uri: Raise-the-Wage-Act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28Raise_the_Wage_Act%29
content:
<p>
The Raise the Wage Act would raise the US minimum wage so it would
reach 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/16/change-coming-congressional-dems-join-sanders-proposing-bill-end-starvation-wages">$15
per hour by 2024</a>.  It would also eliminate the practice of paying
waiters less.


feed_id: f14bbf6f50dca0c3d16ab9ac39e1e688
title: Saboteur of Commerce
uri: Saboteur-of-Commerce
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28Saboteur_of_Commerce%29
content:
<p>
A US judge ruled that <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#saboteur">Saboteur</a> of Commerce Wilbur Ross disregarded the
law when adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census, and the
ruling effectively asserts that Ross 
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/15/1826490/-Federal-Judge-Accuses-Trump-s-Secretary-of-Commerce-of-Lying-To-Congress">committed
a crime by lying to Congress</a>.


feed_id: 582733df8e7612f9ca59be0a247079c4
title: Leader of Democrats talks like Republican
uri: Leader-of-Democrats-talks-like-Republican
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28Leader_of_Democrats_talks_like_Republican%29

content:
<p>
The official leader of Democrats in the House of Representatives talks
like a Republican, 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/16/steny-hoyer-deploys-republican-lite-talking-points-oppose-70-tax-rate-ultra-rich">defending
trickle-down by opposing plans to tax the rich more</a>.


feed_id: 91ef505df222bd57a03484be137df360
title: Unjust treatment of Zaghari-Ratcliffe
uri: Unjust-treatment-of-Zaghari-Ratcliffe
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28Unjust_treatment_of_Zaghari-Ratcliffe%29

content:
<p>
The Iranian ambassador to the UK said that the campaign to free
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/jan/16/iran-ambassador-calls-campaign-to-free-nazanin-zaghari-ratcliffe-unhelpful">not
helping her release from prison</a>.
<p>
That statement seems plausible to me.  Too much pressure against a
government can motivate its officials to dig in their heels and refuse
to make a concession, lest they appear "weak".
<p>
However, this doesn't excuse the 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jan-apr.html#25_January_2017_(Zaghari-Ratcliffe_will_be_imprisoned)">unjust
treatment that Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe has received</a>, which failed to
respect the rights of criminal defendants.


feed_id: a7a054655ae28dc10b7fb19869098ada
title: Wild coffee species face extinction
uri: Wild-coffee-species-face-extinction
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#26_February_2019_%28Wild_coffee_species_face_extinction%29

content:
<p>
Most wild coffee species 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/16/six-in-10-wild-coffee-species-endangered-by-habitat-loss">face
extinction</a>.  Their loss would interfere with future efforts to
breed cultivated coffee to resist or endure other threats.
<p>
Many areas that now grow coffee will be unable to grow it by 2100.
But what of the areas that can still grow it?  Global disaster 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jul-oct.html#30_August_2016_(Global_heating_to_ruin_coffee)">could
put an end to the international trade by which coffee is shipped</a>
to other places where people drink coffee, and many of them won't be
able to afford such luxuries anyway.


feed_id: 2a2628f6481cc7276b32af578d782179
title: Women who joined PISSI
uri: Women-who-joined-PISSI
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Women_who_joined_PISSI%29
content:
<p>
Women who went to Syria and joined <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a> were 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/26/jihadi-bride-shamima-begum-female-militants">not
necessarily innocent "brides"</a>.  They often worked for PISSI
&mdash; just not as soldiers.  Some of them changed their minds and
could not get away.


feed_id: b9862a9a69fcae71df491ecfb8730f01
title: Planned Parenthood
uri: 2019-03-01-Planned-Parenthood
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Planned_Parenthood%29
content:
<p>
The 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/26/trump-administration-title-x-abortion-funding">proposed
federal regulation intended to take funds from Planned Parenthood</a>
would mainly harm women who are poor or living precariously.
<p>
By denying them effective birth control, it would lead to more
abortions (somewhat undesirable) and lots of unwanted babies
(terrible).


feed_id: 0b0362f4f9b758ee9c12619d35b4a6ff
title: Decriminalization of sex work
uri: 2019-03-01-Decriminalization-of-sex-work
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Decriminalization_of_sex_work%29

content:
<p>
Sex workers in New York State 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/02/26/decriminalize-sex-work-new-york/">campaign
for decriminalization</a> of their work.


feed_id: 4c8f380853fc3dae29f6a36301d1230b
title: Warm weather
uri: Warm-weather
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Warm_weather%29
content:
<p>
"Am I the only one who’s 
<a href='https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/26/terrified-warm-weather-global-warming-london'>terrified
about the warm weather?</a>"
<p>
No, I am too.  I often remark on unseasonably warm weather as a sign
of disaster on the way.  It's an opportunity to contribute to a good
cause.
<p>
If 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/26/i-cant-help-but-be-concerned-readers-spot-early-signs-of-spring">February
is like spring</a>, feel very afraid, then join in the fight.
<p>
Science has established that record hot winter days are 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/26/the-guardian-view-on-the-hottest-winter-day-sunny-side-down">largely
due to global heating</a>.


feed_id: 9292b7ed166a1963dd449922641f949a
title: Antisemitism in Argentina
uri: 2019-03-01-Antisemitism-in-Argentina
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Antisemitism_in_Argentina%29
content:
<p>
A gang 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/26/argentina-rabbi-attack-gabriel-davidovich-antisemitism-fears">beat
up a rabbi in Argentina</a>, showing that antisemitism is now
dangerous there.


feed_id: 685b3b2660df535d18f916665f9c7dc0
title: Recycling concrete
uri: Recycling-concrete
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Recycling_concrete%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/feb/26/concrete-chokes-our-landfill-sites-but-where-else-can-it-go">Challenges</a>
in recycling concrete instead of burying it.


feed_id: 0ac1c1839ffa3ca317666286db04d705
title: Eminent domain
uri: Eminent-domain
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Eminent_domain%29
content:
<p>
Various US states are using the power of eminent domain to 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/16/masters-our-domain-foxconn-and-state-minions-seize-land">seize
land for businesses</a>, using an argument that amounts to
trickle-down.  Wisconsin is using it in order to be able to give
Foxconn a corrupt subsidy.


feed_id: 07a3004549657148fe662019e4504c48
title: 14-year-old shot by thugs
uri: 14-year-old-shot-by-thugs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%2814-year-old_shot_by_thugs%29
content:
<p>
Arizona <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> say the reason they 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/17/arizona-police-shooting-boy-gun-burglary-suspect">shot
a 14-year-old</a> was that he had a replica gun and made a
"threatening" movement.
<p>
We should not assume those <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> have told the truth about any of
this.  Other <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> made a practice of 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2018-nov-feb.html#19_January_2019_(Thugs_carrying_toy_guns)">carrying
replica guns to plant</a>.


feed_id: 84eb13280b59bf177154910b76696793
title: Ebolain the DR Congo
uri: Ebolain-the-DR-Congo
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Ebolain_the_DR_Congo%29
content:
<p>
Ebola keeps bubbling along in the DR Congo; medical teams have been 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/jan/18/ebola-cases-congo-expected-to-double-fears-outbreak-could-cross-borders-world-health-organization-drc">unable
to shut it down</a>.


feed_id: a47c93201e441924b0c3209267d5f96c
title: Only partly progressive
uri: Only-partly-progressive
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Only_partly_progressive%29
content:
<p>
Tulsi Gabbard, Kirsten Gillibrand and Kamala Harris, now seeking the
Democratic nomination, have been 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/18/democratic-party-women-jessa-crispin">only
partly progressive</a>.
<p>
Especially Gillibrand, who has offered her support to plutocrats.


feed_id: 8070bb8185b57e871077ae0f1f5e851d
title: Disability Integration Act
uri: Disability-Integration-Act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Disability_Integration_Act%29
content:
<p>
The Disability Integration Act would require US states to 
<a href="https://truthout.org/articles/congress-considers-bill-to-defend-freedom-of-people-with-disabilities/">offer
disabled people benefits while they stay in ordinary housing</a>,
rather than requiring them to move to a nursing home.


feed_id: 6e64822a06f603e1e00277b508a6b497
title: UK's two different measures of inflation
uri: UK-s-two-different-measures-of-inflation
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28UKs_two_different_measures_of_inflation%29

content:
<p>
The UK has two different measures of inflation, and 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jan/17/students-and-rail-passengers-penalised-flawed-rpi-inflation-measures">switches
between them so as to raise prices and keep wages down</a>.


feed_id: da242ec43254fe7b3c1ffd034d0dc9f3
title: Progressive activist congresscritters
uri: Progressive-activist-congresscritters
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Progressive_activist_congresscritters%29

content:
<p>
Several newly elected progressive activist congresscritters have been
appointed to the Financial Services Committee, where they 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/16/applause-aoc-porter-pressley-and-tlaib-head-house-financial-services-committee">may
be able to interfere with the banksters</a>.
<p>
Republicans in the Senate will block them from actually passing laws,
but they may be able to help replace those Republicans by championing
good bills.


feed_id: 217f738b919b052ee8f2fce72d7f32cf
title: Urgent: Sprint T-mobile merger
uri: Urgent-Sprint-T-mobile-merger
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Sprint_T-mobile_merger%29

content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://act.freepress.net/sign/reject_sprint_tmobile_merger/">call
on the FCC</a> to reject the merger of Sprint and T-mobile.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 420eb9098a832679938d43caeefb46c6
title: Urgent: Marijuana convictions
uri: Urgent-Marijuana-convictions
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Marijuana_convictions%29

content:
<p>
In the
US: <a href="https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/DA_Auto_Expunge/">call
on district attorneys</a> to commit to expunging convictions for
possession of marijuana (in states where that has been legalized).
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: d415609921597b5e0866f0a958022505
title: Urgent: Military parade
uri: Urgent-Military-parade
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Military_parade%29
content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://act.winwithoutwar.org/act/stop-trump-ego-parade-2_copy">call
on Congress</a> to stop the narcissist's military parade.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 5027ed7bfc1a64a88a56e607189e9109
title: Urgent: Schumer and the Green New Deal
uri: Urgent-Schumer-and-the-Green-New-Deal
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Schumer_and_the_Green_New_Deal%29

content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://act.climatetruth.org/sign/GND-Senate/">call
on Senator Schumer</a> to be a real climate leader and support the
Green New Deal.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: a85d6deaa27e8c3e593ab77d4ed72164
title: Force-feeding refugees
uri: Force-feeding-refugees
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Force-feeding_refugees%29
content:
<p>
US deportation <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a>
are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/31/ice-force-feeds-immigrants-inside-texas-detention-center">force-feeding
refugees</a> that are on hunger strike.


feed_id: 36f2eb5c48498c3aa8dc38d971147894
title: Paycheck Fairness Act
uri: Paycheck-Fairness-Act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Paycheck_Fairness_Act%29
content:
<p>
The <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/30/backing-paycheck-fairness-act-end-wage-gap-ocasio-cortez-says-time-pay-women-what">Paycheck
Fairness Act</a> aims to end the gender pay disparity by giving all
employees a basic part of freedom of speech: to say what they are paid
and talk with each other to compare their pay.


feed_id: fe68f4391a9d066a7a4838799000e2c0
title: Stolen Georgia election
uri: Stolen-Georgia-election
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Stolen_Georgia_election%29
content:
<p>
The stolen election in Georgia, based on stopping blacks from voting,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/31/voter-suppression-african-american-james-madison-slavery">is
compared with</a> the Constitution's rule to count a slave as 3/5 of a
person.
<p>
With so many methods of voter suppression used, they can't be a
coincidence.  They must have been part of a broad effort, coordinated
by <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2018-sep-dec.html#28_October_2018_(Voter_suppression_in_Georgia)">the
man who was in charge</a> of running the state's election,
the same man that is now the governor of Georgia.


feed_id: e2aa7f0a0cb0f8e98be90e02b7f953aa
title: Harris on truancy
uri: Harris-on-truancy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Harris_on_truancy%29
content:
<p>
Kamala Harris wanted to make students show up at school
by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/31/kamala-harris-laughed-jailing-parents-truancy">threatening
to jail their parents</a>.
<p>
Schools alone won't eliminate robbery and other street crimes; we do
need prisons, too.  But the US could do with a lot fewer prisons
if it made life easier for the nonrich.


feed_id: 9d2b557771e88fcd343e662aeae977ca
title: US military computing
uri: US-military-computing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28US_military_computing%29
content:
<p>
The US government plans to hand over military computing
over <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/31/amazon-defense-cloud-computing-pentagon-jeff-bezos">to
a private company</a>.  That is a threat to national security.


feed_id: f619679870654d16f25228f6c3064dd5
title: Right to protest in France
uri: Right-to-protest-in-France
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Right_to_protest_in_France%29
content:
<p>
France is attacking the right to protest, even
the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/31/authoritarian-anti-protest-gilets-jaunes-measures-draw-criticism-in-france">right
to nonviolent protest</a>.


feed_id: e9c5e6021e2a84ba048c7b5b9be8c2f4
title: Nonstop church services
uri: Nonstop-church-services
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Nonstop_church_services%29
content:
<p>
A church in the Netherlands
held <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/31/church-service-stops-96-days-asylum-family-pardoned-netherlands-hague-church">nonstop
services for 96 days</a> to provide sanctuary to a refugee family.


feed_id: 02640e37873e5f91d5ebcf454b34e9a3
title: Threatening Venezuela
uri: Threatening-Venezuela
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Threatening_Venezuela%29
content:
<p>
The bullshitter and his assistants claim they are going to restore
freedom and democracy to
Venezuela, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/31/people-who-care-about-democracy-dont-plot-coups-abroad">by
threatening invasion</a>.
<p>
The previous Republican president said the same thing about Iraq, and
made things much much worse.  Intervention in Venezuela could make
things much much worse, too.
<p>
If the two sides come to some agreement, Venezuela might take a turn
for the better.


feed_id: 13c4e8075efd3fe31a871b94faa6edbe
title: Football spectators in Italy
uri: Football-spectators-in-Italy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Football_spectators_in_Italy%29
content:
<p>
Italian football officials have decided to suspend and maybe halt
games when the spectators cry out racist insults.  The minister of
hate, Salvini, calls on all Italian
racists <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/31/matteo-salvini-mocks-move-to-tackle-racism-in-italian-football">not
to be deterred by this</a>.


feed_id: b9b1f152cbe07622b2c2b9a8d10fda4b
title: Rats in prisons
uri: Rats-in-prisons
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Rats_in_prisons%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/30/prison-punishment-rat-cells-jail">Rat-infested
[UK] Prison Cells</a> Are One Difference Between Punishment And
Cruelty.


feed_id: e0d73b1b93504cb3298af52707a07d46
title: Dying starfish
uri: Dying-starfish
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Dying_starfish%29
content:
<p>
The mass death of many species of starfish on the Pacific coast seems
to
be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/30/starfish-sea-stars-west-coast-dying-off-ecosystem-study">triggered
by warmer water</a>.
<p>
The loss of the sunflower sea star means that sea urchins are overrunning
the US coast.  They survive further north, but as <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#global heating">global heating</a> proceeds
they could be wiped out there too, and the species will be extinct.


feed_id: 0c5a8162e0fe47bdbae3535aae3df634
title: Killing albatrosses
uri: Killing-albatrosses
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Killing_albatrosses%29
content:
<p>
Industrial fishing
boats <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/31/industrial-fishing-ushers-albatross-closer-to-extinction-say-researchers">refuse
to take steps</a> to avoid killing albatrosses.
<p>
Unfortunately, killing the albatrosses has not yet brought them
any bad luck.  Perhaps they are due for some strict laws.


feed_id: 6650d8ee0430edae077de86c1260c015
title: Microplastic ban
uri: Microplastic-ban
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Microplastic_ban%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/30/eu-european-union-proposes-microplastics-ban-plastic-pollution">EU
Proposes Ban</a> on 90% of Microplastic Pollutants.
<p>
If this is effective, we will need to extend it world-wide.


feed_id: 84adfacba768181ee0924b5eb04754ec
title: Rice cultivation technique
uri: Rice-cultivation-technique
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Rice_cultivation_technique%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/jan/30/tsb-credit-score-joint-account-default">A
new technique</a> for cultivating rice produces a lot more grains,
uses half the water and much less seed, and cuts methane emissions
too.
<p>
This is a very good thing, but the benefit is not infinite.
Population growth can wipe out the gains.


feed_id: ce319af99eab738fb6499cf65fd70be9
title: Grass-roots movement in Poland
uri: Grass-roots-movement-in-Poland
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#28_February_2019_%28Grass-roots_movement_in_Poland%29

content:
<p>
Poland's grass-roots democracy movement
is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/30/poland-democratic-spring-fightback-citizens">growing
through local victories</a>.


feed_id: 02f377a0abb24e3dd434cc5dd3bdfb30
title: Urgent: Universal medical care
uri: Urgent-Universal-medical-care
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#2_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Universal_medical_care%29
content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/cosponsor-medicare-for-all">state
your support</a> for single-payer universal medical care (Medicare for
All).
</p>
<p>
The mainstream media are misrepresenting the issue already, pretending
that it would cost more than our current wasteful and dishonest
system.  In fact, it
would <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/02/media-badly-botching-medicare-all-debate">cost
much less</a>.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 7f3c9b4f3a39c3a00db681d831855929
title: Urgent: California receipts
uri: Urgent-California-receipts
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#2_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_California_receipts%29
content:
<p>
California citizens: California
is <a href="https://greenamerica.org/media-mention/california-bill-would-curb-use-paper-receipts-reduce-waste-push-digital-alternative">considering
a bill</a> that would require stores to first offer an email receipt
for purchases.
</p>
<p>
Please call your state representative and senator to urge them to
limit this change to non-cash purchases, unless/until there is
an anonymous libre system for delivering e-receipts.  Pressuring people
to give identifying information leads them into harm.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 27d78aaff4895d30c27aeb3c83030190
title: Extreme poverty levels
uri: Extreme-poverty-levels
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#2_March_2019_%28Extreme_poverty_levels%29
content:
<p>
In 200 years, the world has not eliminated extreme poverty.  It's just
that most
people <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/01/anthropologist-debunks-bill-gates-bs-narrative-free-market-capitalism-has-solved">did
not need money then</a>.
<p>
To Kill a Mockingbird presents a picture in which poor people could
get by with hardly any money.


feed_id: d8eec7590e0fe4f38fdc88793b2320f3
title: Bolton on Maduro
uri: Bolton-on-Maduro
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#2_March_2019_%28Bolton_on_Maduro%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/01/yiiiiikes-john-bolton-threatens-send-venezuelas-maduro-offshore-us-prison-guantanamo">Bolton
publicly implied</a> he wants to capture Maduro and put him in
Guantanamo.
<p>
That would make Venezuelans hate the US, so Bolton must intend to
subjugate that country so thoroughly that their feelings will not
matter.


feed_id: 125655dda95b63213f831a7b72baa95e
title: Cory Booker on Wall Street
uri: Cory-Booker-on-Wall-Street
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#2_March_2019_%28Cory_Booker_on_Wall_Street%29
content:
<p>
(satire) <a href="https://politics.theonion.com/cory-booker-apologizes-to-wall-street-bankers-for-the-m-1832268385">Cory
Booker Apologizes</a> To Wall Street Bankers For The Mean Things He's
Going To Have To Say About Them.


feed_id: b28f84426975015463ad58fa56089764
title: Ban on VPNs
uri: Ban-on-VPNs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#2_March_2019_%28Ban_on_VPNs%29
content:
<p>
Bell
Canada <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190130/10141941498/canadas-bell-tried-to-have-vpns-banned-during-nafta-negotiations.shtmly">tried
to insert a ban</a> on VPNs into the new NAFTA.
<p>
I appreciate the article, but it does wrong to refer to the practice
of sharing copies as "piracy".  Piracy means attacking ships, which is
very bad.  Sharing copies is good; what's bad is using legal or
technical methods to prevent sharing.
<p>
See <a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/copyright-vs-community.html.">this</a>.


feed_id: 200e202bcf840752e22e6759532b545e
title: Face recognition accuracy
uri: Face-recognition-accuracy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#2_March_2019_%28Face_recognition_accuracy%29
content:
<p>
IBM is working hard to make face recognition as accurate, and as
Orwellian, <a href="https://www.cbronline.com/news/ibm-facial-recognition">for
blacks and women</a> as it is for white men.
<p>
Progressives should stop fussing about the danger that inaccurate face
recognition poses for minorities, a danger that will not last many
years, and focus on the danger that <em>accurate</em> face recognition
will increasingly pose for everyone.


feed_id: cc2cd187dea4d661ff95efb5b2ab543b
title: Warnings on soda ads
uri: Warnings-on-soda-ads
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#2_March_2019_%28Warnings_on_soda_ads%29
content:
<p>
San Francisco's law requiring health warnings on ads for soda
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/31/san-francisco-soda-health-warning-law-blocked-appeals-court">has
been overturned</a> in the name of companies' freedom of speech.
<p>
This is another example of why corporations must not be entitled to
human rights.  Human rights are for persons, and corporations are
not persons.
<p>
If a law or a court says that corporations are persons, that doesn't
make them persons, it only makes the law an ass.


feed_id: 4ff6400942c0ccefb7453cfe21bf2f9c
title: Social Security bill
uri: Social-Security-bill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#2_March_2019_%28Social_Security_bill%29
content:
<p>
Congressional Democrats
have <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/30/fdrs-137th-birthday-200-democrats-unveil-bill-expand-social-security-so-seniors-can">introduced
a bill</a> to increase Social Security benefits, to keep retired
Americans out of poverty.
<p>
I suppose Republicans in the Senate will block this, since their maxim is,
"If you're not rich, you have too much money."


feed_id: d1ca7f51fc594c811c3d0cf6d85e05e8
title: E-cigarettes and tobacco
uri: E-cigarettes-and-tobacco
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#2_March_2019_%28E-cigarettes_and_tobacco%29
content:
<p>
E-cigarettes
are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/30/vaping-twice-as-likely-as-gum-to-help-smokers-quit-research-finds">almost
twice as effective</a> as nicotine gum for helping smokers quit
smoking tobacco.


feed_id: f788ee59307a84860a556ffbbc4b6469
title: Monsanto Bayer merger
uri: 2019-03-03-Monsanto-Bayer-merger
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#2_March_2019_%28Monsanto_Bayer_merger%29
content:
<p>
The US
government <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/01/30/doj-releases-formal-approval-toxic-mega-merger-between-bayer-and-monsanto">approved
the merger</a> of Monsanto and Bayer, despite (or should I say,
because of) the increased monopoly power they will have.
<p>
I would not blame this on the bullshitter &mdash; Obama hardly
bothered to resist monopolies either, and neither would Clinton have.


feed_id: a97e278f51b397e15e68efb7f52ab0ae
title: Paycheck Fairness Act
uri: 2019-03-03-Paycheck-Fairness-Act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#2_March_2019_%28Paycheck_Fairness_Act%29
content:
<p>
The <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/01/30/paycheck-fairness-act-would-finally-assure-equal-pay-equal-work">Paycheck
Fairness Act</a> would take several steps to end gender pay
discrimination.


feed_id: af5a757bf37a6188aac70e32c04d4db2
title: Supersonic aircraft
uri: Supersonic-aircraft
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#2_March_2019_%28Supersonic_aircraft%29
content:
<p>
Planned supersonic passenger aircraft would expose major cities to
many sonic booms
that <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/01/30/study-return-supersonic-planes-would-be-dirty-noisy-climate-disaster">damage
people's health</a>.
<p>
Even worse, these planes would emit several times more CO2 per
passenger &mdash; a big step in the wrong direction, which we must not
allow.
<p>
When we have a stable population of one billion, and greenhouse gas
levels are decreasing, we can consider allowing supersonic airliners.


feed_id: f76529701f7cab3ab680a43ebdba0e33
title: Automated copyright filter
uri: Automated-copyright-filter
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#2_March_2019_%28Automated_copyright_filter%29
content:
<p>
Google's automated copyright filter makes false copyright claims easy
to make, and hard to challenge.  Criminals
are <a href="https://boingboing.net/2019/01/30/moderation-at-scale.html">taking
advantage of this</a> for extortion.


feed_id: 76ee665c83cef487d1e4af8f86a52504
title: Children at home
uri: Children-at-home
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#2_March_2019_%28Children_at_home%29
content:
<p>
Mothers in the US who leave their children at home in the care of a
boyfriend in order to work
are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/jan/30/mother-imprisoned-child-abuse-she-didnt-commit-sexism-criminal-justice">vulnerable
to being imprisoned</a> if the boyfriend is accused of any sort of
abuse.
<p>
But what ought they to do instead?  Starve their children and/or
themselves?  Find a better boyfriend (that may be impossible)?  Pay
for child care that costs almost all their pay?  Our stingy
governments have left them no better choice than the one they make.
Parents of babies with Marfan's syndrome should get extra support.
<p>
They could have avoided the problem by using birth control, or
abortion.  If you are too poor to count on supporting a child, your
responsibility is not to make one.  States ought to help and encourage
this &mdash; but Republican states like Oklahoma do just the opposite.
"Abstinence only" sex miseducation is common there, and it is
a <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2011-sep-dec.html#4_December_2011_(Sex_Education)">recipe
for pregnancy</a>.


feed_id: ea89d253f6f7ea8ceece4510610f0f27
title: Militarism in sports
uri: Militarism-in-sports
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#2_March_2019_%28Militarism_in_sports%29
content:
<p>
The
Pentagon <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/30/does-super-bowl-feel-too-political-thank-militarism">pays
professional sports</a> to militarize the American public and build up
MAGA-style shallow patriotism.
<p>
If nobody protests when they play the US national anthem, that means
militaristic politics goes unchallenged.


feed_id: 7f4ee4c4e1f7847446a36b2f021b2b38
title: Nuclear strike bill
uri: Nuclear-strike-bill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#2_March_2019_%28Nuclear_strike_bill%29
content:
<p>
Democrats <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/30/citing-unpredictable-and-rash-trump-democratic-bill-would-restrict-presidential">introduced
a bill</a> that would require the US president to get authorization
from Congress before launching a nuclear first strike.


feed_id: da9d1e7bcacc9b90ab93a08e9d21e4e4
title: Jailed arbitrarily
uri: Jailed-arbitrarily
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#5_March_2019_%28Jailed_arbitrarily%29
content:
<p>
Two leaders of a group that demands better wages and working
conditions for Dalit sanitation workers were arrested, and told they
would be 
<a href="https://thewire.in/rights/modi-kumbh-sanitation-workers-detained">jailed
without trial</a> for "endangering national security."
<p>
This law 
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Act_(India)">permits
the Indian state to jail people arbitrarily</a>.


feed_id: cb3770572e006e4214b332cbf5f66420
title: US Congress
uri: US-Congress
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#5_March_2019_%28US_Congress%29
content:
<p>
(satire) &hellip; presumptuous congressional freshman Debbie
Mucarsel-Powell (D-FL) thought Thursday that she could just come in
and start
<a href="https://politics.theonion.com/presumptuous-congressional-freshman-thinks-she-can-just-1831842239">representing
her constituents</a>.


feed_id: 3be75514dd5c8117f275f3f174c210f2
title: Survivors of the Nagasaki nuclear bomb
uri: Survivors-of-the-Nagasaki-nuclear-bomb
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#5_March_2019_%28Survivors_of_the_Nagasaki_nuclear_bomb%29

content:
<p>
The few remaining survivors of the Nagasaki nuclear bomb 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/17/against-forgetting-ground-zero-nagasaki">work
to keep the world aware of the suffering caused by using a nuclear
weapon</a>.
<p>
The Japanese responsible for torturing American prisoners were
convicted (and executed, which is a bad thing to do).  That torture
included 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2008-jan-apr.html#26%20February%202008%20(US%20sentenced%20Japanese%20soldiers%20to%20death%20for%20waterboarding%20Americans)">waterboarding</a>.
When will the US demonstrate that it has higher moral standards than
the militarist Japan of the 1940s?


feed_id: 776aaa188406e4cf4faeef58004c2f07
title: Green New Deal
uri: 2019-03-05-Green-New-Deal
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#5_March_2019_%28Green_New_Deal%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/17/could-green-new-deal-save-civilization">Could
a Green New Deal Save Civilization?</a>
<p>
With so much time lost, it may not be enough &mdash; we may need to
make an even stronger effort.  But we may as well adopt the Green New
Deal, for starters.


feed_id: 5a3ca7406bc0ecd0affdfeaa6b55773d
title: Imprisoned refugee minors
uri: 2019-03-05-Imprisoned-refugee-minors
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#5_March_2019_%28Imprisoned_refugee_minors%29
content:
<p>
The Tornillo prison for refugee minors has closed, but that doesn't
mean they were freed.  A thousand refugee minors have 
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/16/1826787/-As-Texas-prison-camp-for-migrant-kids-closes-another-facility-in-Florida-nearly-doubles-in-size">appeared
in a prison in Florida</a>, also on federal land so it is easy to get
away with mistreating them.


feed_id: bd84aa909028682a801b37aaf96f35a9
title: Instagram "influencers"
uri: Instagram-influencers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#5_March_2019_%28Instagram_influencers%29
content:
<p>
The Instagram "influencers" are fundamentally 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/shortcuts/2019/jan/17/insta-scam-how-online-con-artists-have-adapted-for-the-instagram-era">parasites
used for commercial manipulation of other people</a>.  No wonder they
are so often scammed or scammers.
<p>
Instagram and WhatsApp are tentacles of Facebook.  Best to stay away
from them.


feed_id: 3c6899bafda4d1cfa6793be6df392359
title: Protesters arrested for staying home
uri: Protesters-arrested-for-staying-home
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#5_March_2019_%28Protesters_arrested_for_staying_home%29

content:
<p>
Zimbabwe's <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> are 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/18/zimbabwe-activists-protests-crackdown-spectre-of-mugabe-era">arresting
protesters for going on strike and staying home</a>.


feed_id: 8b4d2e2c2e94e5f554f6e7b28dac5d00
title: Urgent: Fake emergency
uri: Urgent-Fake-emergency
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#4_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Fake_emergency%29
content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="http://act.pfaw.org/sign/urge-senate-to-terminate-trumps-fake-emergency/">call
on the Senate</a> to block the bully's fake emergency.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: e3864de1ce9d86f2c0738d6a05c1a4c9
title: Urgent: Civic Info Consortium
uri: Urgent-Civic-Info-Consortium
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#4_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Civic_Info_Consortium%29
content:
<p>
Everyone: <a href="https://act.freepress.net/sign/journ_nvnj_national_funding">call
on New Jersey Governor Murphy</a> to fund the Civic Info Consortium.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 759c70ee551c89333abc1da396231346
title: Urgent: Coal plants in Vietnam
uri: Urgent-Coal-plants-in-Vietnam
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#4_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Coal_plants_in_Vietnam%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://act.priceofoil.org/sign/japan-van-phong-1/">Call on
Japan</a> to stop financing coal plants in Vietnam.
</p>
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#19_November_2016_(New_fossil_fuel_infrastructure_projects)">The
world cannot tolerate</a> new fossil fuel infrastructure, and
especially not for coal.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: bb5485c24cb1d678c3d8146dfe618911
title: Urgent: Emissions in Mass
uri: Urgent-Emissions-in-Mass
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#4_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Emissions_in_Mass%29
content:
<p>
Mass citizens: Phone your state legislators and call for increasing
spending on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.  This is to oppose the
governor's <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/02/27/baker-proposes-controversial-change-how-state-spends-money-address-global-warming/7eOiWL1P4tLg8bFlKN8wcK/story.html?et_rid=1841749494&s_campaign=metroheadlines:newsletter">plan
to do the opposite</a>.
</p>
<p>
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Governor Baker proposes to shift funds earmarked for prevention and
spend them on treating symptoms.  That is an instance of foolish,
short-term thinking &mash; like skimping on chemotherapy to get more
painkillers.
</p>
<p>
Is Governor Baker a Republican, by any chance?  Sad to say, he is.
</p>


feed_id: d10304d4b43bba444d3b2850260510b7
title: 'Politically possible'
uri: Politically-possible
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#4_March_2019_%28%27Politically_possible%27%29
content:
<p>
Advocating what is "politically possible" instead of what really fixes
the problem is
a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/03/dear-democrats-stop-substituting-so-called-possible-whats-morally-necessary">recipe
for long-term defeat</a>.
Campaigning for a bigger change, even if it fails at first, provides
a basis to build a movement that can someday succeed.


feed_id: 63976522efb3dab932ebb89cc1effaed
title: Ex-cons in Kentucky
uri: Ex-cons-in-Kentucky
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#4_March_2019_%28Ex-cons_in_Kentucky%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/30/1830905/-Kentucky-leads-the-nation-in-disenfranchising-black-voters-with-one-in-four-not-eligible-to-vote">1/4
of the black voters</a> in Kentucky are disenfranchised because they
are ex-cons.


feed_id: de712ed723b5d715f6c97f9c18d574c0
title: Design of the US Constitution
uri: Design-of-the-US-Constitution
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#4_March_2019_%28Design_of_the_US_Constitution%29
content:
<p>
The rich people of the day designed the US Constitution to maintain
their power.  Converting this into democracy has proceeded slowly and we
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/03/confronting-great-american-myth">have
not finished the job</a>.
<p>
I am glad to see recognition that the way to change low voter turnout
is via candidates that are worth supporting.


feed_id: 87962e8ff9351d556e3ec8a7fc612432
title: US military discrimination
uri: US-military-discrimination
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#4_March_2019_%28US_military_discrimination%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/02/even-anti-war-progressives-should-care-about-trans-military-ban">Why
it is important</a> to reject discrimination in the US military (in
this case, discrimination against transsexuals) despite the reasons to
criticize the US military itself.


feed_id: e3f9f16dcf662b9e8a4add36e2575abf
title: Plutonium shipment
uri: Plutonium-shipment
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#4_March_2019_%28Plutonium_shipment%29
content:
<p>
As the state of Nevada sues to stop shipments of plutonium to a waste
repository of questionable safety, the US government snuck in a
shipment before the suit was actually filed,
then <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/31/1831156/-Trump-Energy-Dept-secretly-ships-truckload-of-plutonium-to-dump-in-Nevada-ignoring-Federal-Judge">pretended
in court</a> it had not done so.


feed_id: 4f9d355a3fb10a305cf10671e10d094b
title: Global food system
uri: Global-food-system
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#4_March_2019_%28Global_food_system%29
content:
<p>
A study published by The Lancet holds the global food system
responsible for the obesity of many people and the malnutrition of
many others, as well as for
a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/28/new-study-confirms-degenerative-food-farming-system-poses-mortal-threat">substantial
part of global heating</a>.


feed_id: 6d8ab7086064e04696ee28d20e3d9296
title: Troops withdrawal resolution
uri: Troops-withdrawal-resolution
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#4_March_2019_%28Troops_withdrawal_resolution%29
content:
<p>
After the bullshitter talked of removing some of the US troops from
Afghanistan, the Senate started voting to condemn that withdrawal.
The one and only issue on which the Senate dares reprove the bullshitter
is when he doubts militarism.
<p>
Bernie
Sanders <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/01/voting-against-mcconnell-amendment-sanders-says-american-people-do-not-want-endless">voted
against the resolution</a>, saying he opposes endless war.


feed_id: b186578d1bec5e35c9fa1bd57324ed2d
title: Charity and taxes
uri: Charity-and-taxes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#4_March_2019_%28Charity_and_taxes%29
content:
<p>
It is not sufficient that some billionaires give large sums to
charity, seeking thus to influence society in accord with their own
wishes.  <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/02/forget-philanthropy-super-rich-should-be-paying-proper-taxes">We
must tax them</a> so the state has money to carry out the people's
decisions rather than the billionaires' wishes.
<p>
The state
has <a href="https://stallman.org/articles/why-we-need-a-state.html">a
big job to do</a>,
and that costs a lot of money.  Everyone but the poor must contribute
what they can, and wealthy people can contribute more.
<p>
The billionaires in Davos did not seem to worry that we might make
them pay their fair share of taxes.  Or even make them pay a 70%
marginal rate on the income after the first 10 million.
<p>
But we will get there.
<p>
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you,
then you win.  Thanks to Ms Ocasio-Cortez, we have reached the
stage where they laugh.


feed_id: ed7688fa2a49a3d0a0ccb17273140263
title: Prisoner voice data base
uri: Prisoner-voice-data-base
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#4_March_2019_%28Prisoner_voice_data_base%29
content:
<p>
US prisons are forcing prisoners to enter themselves in a voice print
data base, to recognize when they are calling.  When these prisoners
are
released, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/01/30/prison-voice-prints-databases-securus/">their
data won't be deleted</a>.
<p>
This practice will not remain limited to prisoners and former prisoners.


feed_id: e664b6dc913b0e4eaba7240509cd76f9
title: DNA sample collection
uri: DNA-sample-collection
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#4_March_2019_%28DNA_sample_collection%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">Thugs</a> in some parts of the US are collecting DNA samples from people
merely <a href="https://blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2019/01/police-use-dhs-tech-to-create-dna-databases-of-suspicious-people/">because
of vague suspicions</a>.


feed_id: 609d3149146430caeeb1f8cdc192fa47
title: Money laundering
uri: 2019-03-05-Money-laundering
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#4_March_2019_%28Money_laundering%29
content:
<p>
Arguing that the reason housing is so expensive is that there are ways
to <a href="https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1089340995731304450.html">use
it for money laundering</a>.


feed_id: e3d4564b285bcc07b959df50a2badcc6
title: Evicted for calling 911
uri: Evicted-for-calling-911
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#4_March_2019_%28Evicted_for_calling_911%29
content:
<p>
The ACLU has made a city near St Louis
stop <a href="https://www.aclu.org/blog/womens-rights/violence-against-women/disturbing-number-missouri-towns-evict-residents-calling">evicting
people for calling 911</a>, but many others have the same lousy rule.


feed_id: 3d09469a1b3f2387901918d8b81c585d
title: Toll collection privacy
uri: Toll-collection-privacy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#4_March_2019_%28Toll_collection_privacy%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.masslive.com/news/2019/01/big-brother-on-the-mass-pike-sen-eric-lesser-files-new-bill-to-strengthen-electronic-tolling-privacy.html">A
Massachusetts bill</a> would establish very strict privacy rules for
the data collected by digital toll collection systems.
<p>
This is good, but to really respect drivers' privacy calls for an
anonymous way to pay tolls.


feed_id: 13a00c064a0365ee3924c2923671dc4b
title: Nuclear fuel for Salafi Arabia
uri: Nuclear-fuel-for-Salafi-Arabia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#4_March_2019_%28Nuclear_fuel_for_Salafi_Arabia%29
content:
<p>
The bullshitter
is <a href="https://reason.com/archives/2019/02/03/bonesaw-diplomacy">planning
a deal</a> to give Salafi Arabia nuclear fuel to play with; meanwhile,
the butcher (acting king) has said he wants to develop nuclear
weapons.
<p>
The US claims to be going all-out to stop Iran from doing exactly this;
if <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#salafi">Salafi Arabia</a> did it, that would be even worse.


feed_id: 339cd2adb1729e6ae8d9fab83f4c649a
title: Happy Planet Index
uri: Happy-Planet-Index
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#4_March_2019_%28Happy_Planet_Index%29
content:
<p>
The Happy Planet Index measures how efficiently a country gives its
citizens a long and happy life.  The champion
country <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/01/why-costa-rica-tops-happiness-index">is
Costa Rica</a>.


feed_id: e1913c61541572475dcd5569db93e895
title: Venezuela
uri: 2019-03-05-Venezuela
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#4_March_2019_%28Venezuela%29
content:
<p>
Bolsonaro talks about efforts to reestablish democracy in Venezuela,
even though he has 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/18/bolsonaro-maduro-venezuela-video-message-democracy-reestablished">just
started eliminating democracy</a> in Brazil.


feed_id: 71a545c2cbca9f6e8e0b588b07f07560
title: President Bush I
uri: President-Bush-I
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#4_March_2019_%28President_Bush_I%29
content:
<p>
President Bush I was likely to be indicted in the Iran-Contra scandal,
so he 
<href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/16/triumph-conventional-wisdom-ap-expunges-irancontra-pardons-barrs-record">pardoned
the witnesses who could have been made to testify against him</a>.


feed_id: b26c0580474cfee8c365150145eaf473
title: College student debt trap
uri: College-student-debt-trap
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#4_March_2019_%28College_student_debt_trap%29
content:
<p>
Making college students pay for college with a share of their future
income can be more fair than what the US does now.  However, depending
on the details, it 
<a href="https://truthout.org/articles/universities-want-a-cut-of-students-future-income/">could
be another form of debt trap</a>.


feed_id: e9b66081a8fb1f6c4b1ccdce3bbc547a
title: Faux News
uri: 2019-03-05-Faux-News
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#4_March_2019_%28Faux_News%29
content:
<p>
(satire) <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#faux">Faux News</a> has a new live channel that offers 
<a href="https://www.theonion.com/fox-news-debuts-premium-channel-for-24-hour-coverage-of-1831814505">24-hour-a-day
coverage of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a>.


feed_id: 8ae51147b346da3e6dfa078ea3028414
title: Fish stocks continue to fall
uri: Fish-stocks-continue-to-fall
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#6_March_2019_%28Fish_stocks_continue_to_fall%29
content:
<p>
Fish Stocks Continuing to Fall 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/28/fish-stocks-continuing-to-fall-as-oceans-warm-study-finds">as
Oceans Warm</a>, Study Finds.


feed_id: dcbbee45ee90150457036cfe758ae360
title: Fossil fuel in Mediterranean sea
uri: Fossil-fuel-in-Mediterranean-sea
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#6_March_2019_%28Fossil_fuel_in_Mediterranean_sea%29
content:
<p>
The latest fashion in excuse for hurrying the world off the climate
cliff is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/28/huge-gas-discovery-off-cyprus-could-boost-eu-energy-security">"energy
security"</a>.  A large deposit of natural gas has been found in the
Mediterranean sea near Cyprus, and we are told it could give Europe
"energy security", if only the dispute between Cyprus and Turkey does
not prevent it.
<p>
The term "<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#global heating">global heating</a>" does not occur in the article, nor does any
of the usual terms to refer to that phenomenon.  The author displays
total ignorance about it &mdash; ignorance in a way that is often
obtained by purchase.
<p>
We who are not ignorant are aware that the world has 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#19_November_2016_(New_fossil_fuel_infrastructure_projects)">no
room for any new fossil fuel infrastructure</a>, nor is there any room
in the carbon budget for burning any new discoveries of fossil fuel.
<p>
The intelligent way to resolve the dispute between Cyprus and Turkey
about these fuel deposits is for the rest of the world to impose a
decision that none of that gas will be touched!


feed_id: 475af50f6a1622afe9f76d3da95bfdb2
title: Babies held in immigration prison
uri: Babies-held-in-immigration-prison
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#6_March_2019_%28Babies_held_in_immigration_prison%29

content:
<p>
Nine babies are being 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/28/ice-detention-children-infants-texas-immigration">held
in a US immigration prison</a> in Texas (with their mothers).  Most of
the babies are sick, perhaps because the water supply there is bad.


feed_id: 244da5a47ed71b63d7ed20dd3dde33ea
title: "Helpful" advice from right-wingers
uri: Helpful-advice-from-right-wingers
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#6_March_2019_%28Helpful_advice_from_right-wingers%29

content:
<p>
Right-wingers are now offering Democrats "helpful" advice to 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/27/return-inexplicable-republican-best-friend">support
plutocratists instead of progressives</a>.
<p>

I used to get "helpful" advice from open-source supporters to drop my
"radical" free software ideas and support 
<a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html">their
ideas</a> instead.
<p>
Meanwhile, 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/02/27/hr1-bill-voting-rights-republicans/">the
advice to conservatives is to oppose HR 1</a> because helping poor
people and blacks vote would undermine Republican voter suppression.


feed_id: ebbf9f3bddf7f7d9437d563f9020f696
title: Using a photo as a shooting range target
uri: Using-a-photo-as-a-shooting-range-target
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#6_March_2019_%28Using_a_photo_as_a_shooting_range_target%29

content:
<p>
A UK shooting range is using a picture of Shamima Begum, the UK
teenager that went to Syria and joined <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a>, 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/feb/27/uk-shooting-range-uses-shamima-begum-image-for-targets">as
a target for shooting at</a>.
<p>
I don't think anyone, not even the conman himself, should be used as a
target in a shooting range.  That practice encourages hatred.  If she
did lack empathy, the shooting range is not setting a example of more
empathy.


feed_id: 6aa9b74426a70d50890e37fa884fff2a
title: Tax on targeted ads
uri: Tax-on-targeted-ads
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#6_March_2019_%28Tax_on_targeted_ads%29
content:
<p>
Free Press calls for a 
<a href="https://www.freepress.net/news/press-releases/free-press-calls-tax-targeted-ads-fund-civic-minded-journalism">tax
on targeted ads, to support grants for journalism</a>.
<p>
I think the first part of the plan is basically good.  I would rather
prevent the data collection that makes targeted ads possible, and tax
some other profitable digital activity.
<p>
I think the second part is problematical.  I fear that plutocratist
politicians would find a way to direct the support at plutocratist
"journalism".


feed_id: 0016650f0145a72b7181d78647ccbc4e
title: Israel's equivalent of the KKK
uri: Israel-s-equivalent-of-the-KKK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#6_March_2019_%28Israels_equivalent_of_the_KKK%29
content:
<p>
Netanyahu Just 
<a href="https://forward.com/opinion/419676/netanyahu-just-invited-israels-kkk-to-join-the-government-american-jews/">Invited
Israel’s Equivalent Of The KKK To Join The Government</a>.
<p>
The whole spectrum of US Jewish organizations has 
<a href="https://forward.com/opinion/419883/netanyahu-just-saved-liberal-zionism/">condemned
Netanyahu</a> for this.
<p>
I'd expect the right-wing US supporters of Netanyahu are calling all
those organizations "antisemitic" by now.


feed_id: 723f8c0037c1bc5f2a78135a85fa4c01
title: Urgent: Income tax returns
uri: Urgent-Income-tax-returns
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#6_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Income_tax_returns%29
content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="http://act.pfaw.org/sign/release-trump-tax-returns/">call
on Congress</a> to demand the conman's income tax returns.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 737960a91f336a56b5c9bf68fcdefeaf
title: Urgent: Elliott Abrams
uri: Urgent-Elliott-Abrams
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#6_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Elliott_Abrams%29
content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://act.presente.org/sign/dropelliottabrams/">call
on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum</a> to immediately
remove Elliott Abrams as a member of its Committee on Conscience.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 1fa227c9661537f62bc1ff8e1fe8984e
title: Urgent: Gaetz's intimidation
uri: Urgent-Gaetz-s-intimidation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#6_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Gaetz%27s_intimidation%29
content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://act.democracyforamerica.com/sign/petition-gaetz-expel/">call
on Congress</a> to investigate Rep. Gaetz for trying to intimidate
witness Michael Cohen.
</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/27/legal-experts-trump-loyalist-matt-gaetz-committed-witness-tampering-threatening">Here
is</a> what lawyers say about it.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 961c7b0658649cd68f7d2fc9bc1d448c
title: Urgent: WATER Act
uri: Urgent-WATER-Act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#6_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_WATER_Act%29
content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://secure.foodandwaterwatch.org/act/tell-your-members-congress-co-sponsor-water-act">call
on members of Congress</a> to cosponsor the WATER Act.
</p>
<p>If you send a message, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: f383bfd6c887a0cf981acac25b9b297d
title: FamilyTreeDNA
uri: FamilyTreeDNA
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#6_March_2019_%28FamilyTreeDNA%29
content:
<p>
FamilyTreeDNA has
been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/04/business/family-tree-dna-fbi.html">giving
users' DNA sequence info</a> to the FBI.


feed_id: ea1f3432b6bb97ebd0ffc0ac8df76207
title: Jehova's Witnesses in Russia
uri: Jehova-s-Witnesses-in-Russia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#6_March_2019_%28Jehova%27s_Witnesses_in_Russia%29
content:
<p>
Russia
is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/06/jehovahs-witness-jailed-for-six-years-in-russia-in-crackdown">systematically
persecuting</a> Jehova's Witnesses, calling them an "extremist group"
and implying that they are terrorists.
<p>
They hold absurd beliefs, but they do not attack or hurt anyone.
It is wrong to repress them for those beliefs.


feed_id: ed3d9bcf7f443ef915589e7943de1b02
title: Hottest years on record
uri: Hottest-years-on-record
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#6_March_2019_%28Hottest_years_on_record%29
content:
<p>
2018 was
the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/06/global-temperatures-2018-record-climate-change-global-warming">fourth
hottest year</a> on record.
<p>
The 5 years starting in 2014 were the hottest five-year period on record.


feed_id: a0b9a8d0853704de3fd6842de43b5377
title: Wiping out large animals
uri: Wiping-out-large-animals
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#6_March_2019_%28Wiping_out_large_animals%29
content:
<p>
Humans are wiping out large
animals, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/06/the-killing-of-large-species-is-pushing-them-towards-extinction-study-finds">pushing
their species towards extinction</a>.
<p>
To avoid destroying the wild, we need to
leave <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2018-sep-dec.html#16_September_2018_(Avoiding_massive_extinction)">half
the Earth's land for wildlife</a>, and that will get harder and harder
if we keep increasing the human population.  For this reason, and so
many others, it is
important <a href="https://stallman.org/articles/children.html ">not
to have children</a>.


feed_id: f05d0325886874f54fdb28d39f87d22c
title: Imprisonment and education
uri: Imprisonment-and-education
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#6_March_2019_%28Imprisonment_and_education%29
content:
<p>
The American Federation of Teachers warns that imprisoning so many
people in the US
is <a href="https://www.prwatch.org/news/2019/02/13443/american-federation-teachers-targets-mass-incarceration-private-prison-profiteers">bad
for the education</a> of many children.


feed_id: f96c99d08673c778aca284b0e24acccf
title: Liam Neeson's past
uri: Liam-Neeson-s-past
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#6_March_2019_%28Liam_Neeson%27s_past%29
content:
<p>
Modern day racism still leads white men to think of murdering black
men to "protect" white women.  The victims need not have personally
done anything wrong; just being black is enough to
qualify, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/06/liam-neesons-racist-actions-avenge-white-woman-lynching-black-people">in
the racist mind</a>.
<p>
Neeson didn't actually kill anyone, and he seems to have started to
recognize that his reaction was wrong.  He has learned part of the
lesson, but not all of it.
<p>
What is the best way to react to this?  We could revile him and punish
him for thinking that way.  Perhaps some of that is necessary.  But it
might be more effective to offer him future forgiveness if he sets
himself to learn the rest of the lesson.


feed_id: 8ca41134a41545ac42700162363f1dcd
title: Fighting gangs in the UK
uri: Fighting-gangs-in-the-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#6_March_2019_%28Fighting_gangs_in_the_UK%29
content:
<p>
The UK
is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/06/dont-censor-drill-music-listen-skengdo-am">repressing
music as well as preteens</a> in the name of fighting gangs.


feed_id: 1b5d41f5a35bc6083616e7c4ebb4c12a
title: Debris from California fire
uri: Debris-from-California-fire
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#6_March_2019_%28Debris_from_California_fire%29
content:
<p>
Residents of Paradise, California, are being banned from living on
their own land (in RVs, for instance) until it gets cleared of debris
from the
fire, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/06/paradise-wildfire-california-fema">which
could take a year</a>.


feed_id: 51133b350f8010910e2ee992c99e3374
title: David Bernhardt
uri: David-Bernhardt
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#6_March_2019_%28David_Bernhardt%29
content:
<p>
The <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#saboteur">saboteur</a> in chief
has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/04/david-bernhardt-trump-oil-lobbyist-interior-department">nominated
a fossil fuel lobbyist</a> to run the interior department.
He will be excellently placed to help them pollute the whole world.


feed_id: 9fc5ed08f68963ab7677e53edd04ce1d
title: Disenfranchisement in Texas
uri: Disenfranchisement-in-Texas
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#6_March_2019_%28Disenfranchisement_in_Texas%29
content:
<p>
Texas Republicans
are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/05/texas-civil-rights-voters-unlawful-purge">constructing
a system</a> to disenfranchise thousands of legitimate voters who
became citizens in recent years.


feed_id: 37ea9d206d52f3e8dcd4e4b7c78a71be
title: UK gang recruiting
uri: UK-gang-recruiting
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#6_March_2019_%28UK_gang_recruiting%29
content:
<p>
Gangs in the UK recruit minors via social media, then tell them they are
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/feb/05/county-lines-drug-gangs-blackmailing-tracking-children-social-media">under
surveillance through their phones</a> so that they don't dare try to
get out of the gang.
<p>
This seems like the underground equivalent of China's "social credit" system,
the difference being mainly that the enslaver is a gang rather than a state.


feed_id: 75c143cab6467f0f80601260a5d4f8e0
title: Medhanie Tesfamariam Berhe
uri: Medhanie-Tesfamariam-Berhe
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#6_March_2019_%28Medhanie_Tesfamariam_Berhe%29
content:
<p>
Italian prosecutors are dead set on imprisoning Medhanie Tesfamariam
Berhe, claiming he is Medhanie Yehdego Mered,
despite <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/05/italy-asks-sudan-secret-police-to-testify-in-human-trafficker-case">various
evidence that he is not</a>.


feed_id: 85afcefd597ceb0767a3a0e8dbf67a60
title: Urgent: Medicare negotiation
uri: Urgent-Medicare-negotiation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#9_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Medicare_negotiation%29
content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/medicare-drug-negotiation">call
on Congress</a> to pass the Medicare Negotiation and Competitive
Licensing Act.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: b77d347c5d33e4274055870da7c348ba
title: Urgent: Medicare for all
uri: 2019-03-09-Urgent-Medicare-for-all
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#9_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Medicare_for_all%29
content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/m4a-jayapal">call
on Congress</a> to pass Medicare for All.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: ffdd7857dc31fb907d2f444737894b01
title: Urgent: Workers' rights and Google
uri: Urgent-Workers-rights-and-Google
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#9_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Workers%27_rights_and_Google%29

content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://act.demandprogress.org/sign/tell-google-withdraw-legal-filings-undermine-workers-rights/">call
on Google</a> to withdraw legal filings that aim to undermine workers'
rights.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 059eb63f7ae3e38669d3acf7bffff0c7
title: Article 13
uri: Article-13
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#9_March_2019_%28Article_13%29
content:
<p>
Part of the copyright industry, which pushed for the EU's automated
censorship, has declared the resulting article 13 so bad that they
would
rather <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/music-industry-asks-eu-to-scrap-article-13/">eliminate
it entirely</a>.
<p>
Europeans, don't count on this to get rid of it!  Phone your MEPs and
your national legislators and help kill it.


feed_id: 600d9df893207efb2523974a3ed245e0
title: Neeson's confession
uri: Neeson-s-confession
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#9_March_2019_%28Neeson%27s_confession%29
content:
<p>
Liam Neeson's confession about his murderous intention after the rape
of a
friend <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/09/what-does-liam-neeson-primal-urge-tell-us-about-racism">highlights
the central wrong</a> of racism: the unjust jump from judging one
person, to judging a large group of people that have one irrelevant
aspect in common.


feed_id: d6d4119d5e436608d3d0a8a8332ad096
title: Replacing EU treaties
uri: Replacing-EU-treaties
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#9_March_2019_%28Replacing_EU_treaties%29
content:
<p>
The EU is a ball of <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#business-supremacy">business-supremacy treaties</a>, but if the UK wants
to replace them with its own, the new
ones <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/08/japan-seeking-big-concessions-from-britain-in-trade-talks-eu-brexit">will
be even worse</a>.


feed_id: c0827b4247eee52bdc0712d0e8d8cf38
title: Asia Bibi
uri: 2019-03-09-Asia-Bibi
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#9_March_2019_%28Asia_Bibi%29
content:
<p>
Pakistan
is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/09/asia-bibi-pakistani-authorities-barring-her-from-leaving-friend-says">holding
Asia Bibi prisoner</a> and stopping her from going to exile.


feed_id: 700c9d736e79a0bc4a8628dc59cfa5e1
title: Pearson testing
uri: Pearson-testing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#9_March_2019_%28Pearson_testing%29
content:
<p>
Pearson dominates testing and test training in US education, and even
owns schools.  A number of
states <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/2/7/1833031/-New-Mexico-Declares-War-on-Pearson-Mis-Education">are
breaking loose</a>.


feed_id: 4f8fa67354dd83952df2685bea54a09c
title: Excuses to invade Venezuela
uri: Excuses-to-invade-Venezuela
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#9_March_2019_%28Excuses_to_invade_Venezuela%29
content:
<p>
Pompeo is spreading Iraq-style lies
as <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/07/replicating-regime-change-playbook-pompeo-says-us-obligated-take-down-hezbollah">excuses
to invade Venezuela</a>.
<p>
The idea that Hezbollah has "cells" in Venezuela, where nearly
everyone is Christian, is absurd.  Lebanese did emigrate to many Latin
American countries, but they were mostly Christians.
<p>
The idea of a Cuban "invasion" is absurd too.


feed_id: 23d95f142a55091dd0f5ef73267d360e
title: Blackface
uri: Blackface
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#9_March_2019_%28Blackface%29
content:
<p>
Blackface entertainers played an important role, starting before the
civil war,
in <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/07/jim-crow-jumps-game">teaching
white Americans to belittle blacks</a>, tolerate slavery, and demand
segregation.
<p>
The author argues that blackface was so widespread, so accepted among
whites, that it makes no sense to punish individuals heavily for having
done this 30 years ago.  However, we should be very strict with today's
young people, if they do this.  That way they will learn the lesson.
<p>
I recall when politicians' careers could be ruined for having done
various things that lots of people did.  At one point, it was using
marijuana.  At another point, it was hiring household help and not
paying social security tax for them.


feed_id: 19b4c59105605dc75128ebbb1d993a67
title: Rape victim in Kosovo
uri: Rape-victim-in-Kosovo
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#9_March_2019_%28Rape_victim_in_Kosovo%29
content:
<p>
A woman in Kosovo went to the <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> to report that her teacher had
raped her, and the investigating <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thug</a> handled the case
by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/08/kosovans-call-for-justice-after-alleged-of-teenage-girl">raping
her again, and again</a>.
<p>
To crown it all, the Kosovan state is prosecuting the people who tried
to help her with an abortion.  Kosovo must legalize abortion, for
everyone, as well as punish the rapists.
<p>
I speculate that the <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thug</a> chose her to rape partly because of the
patriarchal idea that an unmarried woman who is not a virgin has
become worthless.  Changing ways of looking at the world is not easy,
but that is the long-term change that is needed.
<p>
One detail that is morally irrelevant is the age of the woman.  In
fact, she was 16, but if she had been 6, 26, or 60, it would have made
no difference.  Rape, forcing or compelling someone to have sex, is
wrong no matter who it is done to.


feed_id: 04f1368a3a850895b3a4663568f5e4df
title: African refugees in Italy
uri: African-refugees-in-Italy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#9_March_2019_%28African_refugees_in_Italy%29
content:
<p>
African refugees in Italy are authorized to work, but they have to
work 10 hours a day on farms for below the minimum wage, and are
compelled
to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/09/african-migrants-italy-hard-right-authorities">live
in unlivable habitations</a>.


feed_id: dcef78c3ef7570cb3a85e29d2e6dee82
title: Forensic chemist
uri: Forensic-chemist
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#9_March_2019_%28Forensic_chemist%29
content:
<p>
A second Massachusetts forensic chemist was found to be messing up
systematically.  The state did not quickly investigate the
consequences of this misconduct, and eventually was compelled to
<a href="https://reason.com/archives/2019/02/09/the-chemists-and-the-cover-up">dismiss
thousands of drug cases</a>.
<p>
Legalizing drugs, and replacing repression with harm-reduction,
would lead to never bringing most of these cases.


feed_id: da4bea5384c6b755dbba053821936448
title: DR Congo election
uri: 2019-03-09-DR-Congo-election
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#9_March_2019_%28DR_Congo_election%29
content:
<p>
The theft of the DR Congo's presidential election has given crooks
control of the government, but non
necessarily <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/feb/09/democratic-republic-of-the-congo-election-a-defeat-for-democracy-disaster-for-people-mo-ibrahim">recognition
as legitimate</a>.
<p>
If they had given US plutocrats a share, the bullshitter would prop them up.


feed_id: deb150e7645e4a612f0c49cadbefe592
title: Thai princess
uri: Thai-princess
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#9_March_2019_%28Thai_princess%29
content:
<p>
The Thai
king <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/09/thai-princess-running-for-pm-says-she-wants-country-moving-forward">forbade
the Thai princess</a> from running for office.


feed_id: 70824a10e016b85498cc881d2fa7e28c
title: New South Wales festivals
uri: New-South-Wales-festivals
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#9_March_2019_%28New_South_Wales_festivals%29
content:
<p>
The government of New South Wales (one of the states of Australia) is
making music festivals close down by
imposing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/feb/09/war-on-festivals-second-new-south-wales-music-event-cancelled-in-a-week">new
"safety" requirements</a>.


feed_id: 89d5dd0a1fe68a707a653e968bbd547c
title: Whitaker testimony
uri: Whitaker-testimony
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#9_March_2019_%28Whitaker_testimony%29
content:
<p>
Nominee attorney general Whitaker testified to the House of
Representatives, but he somehow negotiated a time limit; then he
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/08/contentious-hearing-defiant-whitaker-tells-house-judiciary-chair-your-five-minutes">refused
to answer questions</a> that he did not like, running out the clock.
So the exercise was a waste of time.
<p>
Why cannot the House compel him to answer?


feed_id: d3c5fe51a86583dbbd54864415a647f1
title: Prime Air drones
uri: Prime-Air-drones
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#9_March_2019_%28Prime_Air_drones%29
content:
<p>
(satire) Jeff Bezos
reportedly <a href="https://www.theonion.com/fly-my-pretties-says-jeff-bezos-releasing-swarm-of-1832469973">set
loose hundreds of Prime Air drones</a> Friday to hunt down and
retrieve the nude photos of him obtained by the National Enquirer.


feed_id: 8ac4d57f64f6f1d9521def6a1151d849
title: Urgent: Ilhan Omar
uri: 2019-03-11-Urgent-Ilhan-Omar
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#10_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Ilhan_Omar%29
content:
<p>
Everyone: <a href="http://act.democracyforamerica.com/sign/ilhan-omar-thank-you-card/">sign
a note</a> of appreciation and support to Ilhan Omar.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: b9e766238c73f8653127b7af8b6a35d1
title: Urgent: Save the Internet Act
uri: Urgent-Save-the-Internet-Act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#10_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Save_the_Internet_Act%29
content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://act.freepress.net/sign/internet_good_nn_bill">support
the Save the Internet Act</a> (resurrect the FCC's former network
neutrality regulations).
</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/03/tell-congress-stand-real-net-neutrality-protections">Here
is</a> what the EFF has to say about the bill.
</p>
<p>
These regulations
are <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jan-apr.html#2_April_2017_(ISP_privacy_rules)">not
all we really need</a>
but they are a lot better than the nothing we have now.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 8ca14710cda19dfa3f273ef5add3b7df
title: Urgent: Military authorization
uri: Urgent-Military-authorization
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#10_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Military_authorization%29

content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/lee-aumf-2019">call
on Congress</a> to repeal the blanket Authorization for Use of
Military Force.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 0f3d7fc42854c9f61436e5aa0308d658
title: Professions as businesses
uri: Professions-as-businesses
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#10_March_2019_%28Professions_as_businesses%29
content:
<p>
Treating professions as mere
businesses <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/01/mass-production-and-market-models-are-ruining-our-medical-and-education-fields/">comes
at a cost to society</a>.
<p>
Supposedly, calling patients, clients and students "customers" was
going to make them "king", empowered.  But that's not what really
resulted.
<p>
With modern surveillance-based business methods, the customer is the
puppet king who reigns symbolically, whose every act is managed and
controlled by the "servants".  The extreme case is the medical
business today in the US, where hospitals and doctors look
for <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#6_February_2019_(SF_General_Hospital)">every
opportunity</a>
to <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_January_2019_(US_hospitals_hold_patients_to_ransom)">trick
and cheat</a> the customer.


feed_id: 0c89e6fd2aa46cc92acf763cae26ade7
title: Therapy for blindness
uri: Therapy-for-blindness
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#10_March_2019_%28Therapy_for_blindness%29
content:
<p>
A gene replacement therapy for an inherited form of blindness has
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jan/19/they-said-i-would-go-blind-gene-therapy-has-changed-that">received
approval</a>.


feed_id: 887ca8ee60e088efb11b7b6ed9843971
title: Women's March
uri: Women-s-March
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#10_March_2019_%28Women%27s_March%29
content:
<p>
The Women's
March <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/19/womens-march-criticism-leaders-political-action-visibility">focuses
on visibility</a>, not the political work to advance women's rights.


feed_id: ec4f2e70bdb0d4cf8c3820cce6ddfdac
title: Kamala Harris
uri: Kamala-Harris
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#10_March_2019_%28Kamala_Harris%29
content:
<p>
Kamala Harris, as attorney general of California, went hard on sex
workers and internet freedoms,
and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/19/kamala-harris-2020-election-top-cop-prosecutor">easy
on thugs and prisons</a>.
<p>
I would find it hard to vote for her for president, but I plan to avoid
the need to decide by supporting Bernie Sanders for president.
<p>
Watch out for Democratic "centrists" encouraging Democrats to support
some other candidate because <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#perse">perse</a> is nonwhite, female, or a billionaire.


feed_id: 19af778967bb3ff9dd6df234015f13b4
title: Protests in France
uri: Protests-in-France
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#10_March_2019_%28Protests_in_France%29
content:
<p>
French <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> fired rubber-coated steel bullets at protesters.  77
protesters have suffered grave head
wounds.  <a href="https://www.timesnownews.com/international/article/french-police-under-fire-as-yellow-vests-casualty-toll-mounts/350055">15
of them</a> have lost an eye.
<p>
Sometimes <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> aim directly at the heads of protesters, which indicates
the attempt to try to cause a grave wound.  Thus should 
<p>
The violent protesters are also doing wrong.  Wanton destruction is
not only wrong, it also bring the protest movement into disrepute.
In the US, protest groups used to appoint marshals to keep order
and prevent violence.  Europe needs to do this, too.


feed_id: 09b8a3df3dfae082d0e89711fc396e77
title: Queensland heatwave
uri: Queensland-heatwave
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#10_March_2019_%28Queensland_heatwave%29
content:
<p>
A <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/59vn8k/climate-change-driven-heat-wave-killed-a-third-of-a-bat-population-in-two-days">heatwave
in Queensland</a> killed 1/3 of its population of flying foxes.


feed_id: 9096b66b5bd6e1d0d40ff8800438b1bd
title: Meat and dairy consumption
uri: Meat-and-dairy-consumption
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#10_March_2019_%28Meat_and_dairy_consumption%29
content:
<p>
Avoiding global disaster, and avoiding obesity,
both <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/19/could-flexitarianism-save-the-planet">require
big decreases</a> in eating meat, and even in eating dairy products.
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/17/seeds-kale-red-meat-once-a-month-diet-save-the-world">Here
are details</a> of the diet suggested, to make it more concrete.
<p>
I don't eat land animal meat most days, when I am at home, but I would
find this diet very painful because of the limits on dairy and sugar.
I hope I could trade my avocado for more cheese.
<p>
The limits on production of meat and cheese are absolute:
population growth would reduce the amount each person could have,
and population decrease would increase it.


feed_id: 69f0b4b267acbd88e9732eec9824ab67
title: Hostility to government
uri: Hostility-to-government
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#10_March_2019_%28Hostility_to_government%29
content:
<p>
Republicans have become so hostile to government that they are happy
to keep government departments shut down ad
infinitem, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/18/government-shutdown-republicans-trump-truth">perhaps
to destroy them</a>.


feed_id: 023a7ee1ae1a0103f951088824c37282
title: Rio de Janeiro city council member
uri: Rio-de-Janeiro-city-council-member
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#10_March_2019_%28Rio_de_Janeiro_city_council_member%29

content:
<p>
Last year, a member of the Rio de Janeiro city council was
assassinated.  She had often criticized the <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a>' violence.  Now
witnesses identify the
killer: <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/01/17/marielle-franco-brazil-assassination-suspect/">a
former thug</a>.


feed_id: 1e8d4218bf69efc90a586beaf643df67
title: Being kept alive
uri: Being-kept-alive
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#10_March_2019_%28Being_kept_alive%29
content:
<p>
Should people who want to
die <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/jan/18/death-on-demand-has-euthanasia-gone-too-far-netherlands-assisted-dying">be
kept alive</a> to please their relatives?
I don't think so.  I think it is selfish and cruel to prolong the
suffering of your relative who finds living horrible.  The
compassionate thing to do is accept per decision to end per own life.
<p>
I think it makes sense to tell those people who are still physically
and mentally capable, "Here's a suicide pill, but it's up to you to
take it (or not)."  If person doesn't take the pill, that shows person
is ambivalent about dying.
<p>
However, it's a different matter for people lost to dementia, their
bodies alive but their minds dead.  Their previous orders should be
carried out.


feed_id: 222d4e45bdcd48df934316e383160316
title: Urgent: Grand Canyon
uri: Urgent-Grand-Canyon
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#12_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Grand_Canyon%29
content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/grand-canyon-mining">call
on Congress</a> to protect the whole Grand Canyon and its surroundings
from mining.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 739c6b77dbe3af5766df9bb4d5735154
title: Urgent: Families Belong Together Act
uri: Urgent-Families-Belong-Together-Act
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#12_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Families_Belong_Together_Act%29

content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/families-belong-together-act">call
on Congress</a> to pass the Families Belong Together Act to forbid the
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#bully">bully</a> from using prison to separate families of border-crossers.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 7b259884dc1563b0b4b017dc57cbb4dc
title: Urgent: Corporate Political Disclosure Act
uri: Urgent-Corporate-Political-Disclosure-Act
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#12_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Corporate_Political_Disclosure_Act%29

content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/disclose-corporate-political-spending">call
on Congress</a> to pass the Corporate Political Disclosure Act to hold
corporations responsible for their campaign spending.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 5b5c28bd0bfb263552baace28e5d9add
title: Urgent: Elsevier ads
uri: Urgent-Elsevier-ads
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#12_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Elsevier_ads%29
content:
<p>
In the US: if you listen to NPR, keep your ears peeled for ads for
Elsevier.  I heard one on a station in Boston yesterday.
</p>
<p>
If you hear one, phone your station and state your anger at hearing an
ad for a company that locks up science.  If this makes you feel
negatively towards the station itself, say so.
</p>
<p>
As More Universities ‘Ditch’ Elsevier, Sci-Hub Blossoms.
</p>
<p>
References (which you can cite, or quote from):
<br>
https://torrentfreak.com/as-more-universities-ditch-elsevier-sci-hub-blossoms/<br>
https://gnu.org/philosophy/push-copyright-aside.html</p>


feed_id: 8c3251208aac564e234948dec30cee05
title: Loan from Microsoft
uri: Loan-from-Microsoft
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#12_March_2019_%28Loan_from_Microsoft%29
content:
<p>
A big loan from Microsoft to
Seattle <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/22/microsoft-affordable-housing-crisis-seattle">is
no substitute</a> for taxing business more.


feed_id: 436a97aff8708a048834ae34c0c325eb
title: Posting photos of friends
uri: Posting-photos-of-friends
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#12_March_2019_%28Posting_photos_of_friends%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/shortcuts/2019/jan/22/why-you-shouldnt-post-photos-of-friends-without-permission-social-media-online">Why
You Shouldn't</a> Post Photos of Friends without Permission.


feed_id: a7de73b4dde6284966a14c95bb884d89
title: Problem of global heating
uri: Problem-of-global-heating
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#12_March_2019_%28Problem_of_global_heating%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/22/climate-change-concern-americans-poll">Over
70% of Americans</a> now acknowledge that global heating is a
present-day problem and are concerned about it.
<p>
Now we need to convert this awareness into adequate action.


feed_id: 92ea56add2395c98348c142036556442
title: Fines in UK cities
uri: Fines-in-UK-cities
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#12_March_2019_%28Fines_in_UK_cities%29
content:
<p>
UK cities have their own method of squeezing money out of poor people
through fines.  The enforcement has been privatized, which naturally
leads to
abuses, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/22/firm-uses-aggressive-tactics-to-collect-millions-in-fines-for-councils">including
false accusations</a> against old people on the expectation they would
pay rather than insist on their innocence.


feed_id: a27aa1d059faa1deb4d9c5e972a202be
title: Repression in Zimbabwe
uri: Repression-in-Zimbabwe
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#12_March_2019_%28Repression_in_Zimbabwe%29
content:
<p>
Zimbabwe's president says that repression while he was away
was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/22/mnangagwa-promises-investigation-of-brutal-zimbabwe-crackdown">done
against his will</a>.
It is hard to tell what really happened.


feed_id: 8c380d2ae03af0255fd5284e3c327d8b
title: Ireland's Citizens' Assembly
uri: Ireland-s-Citizens-Assembly
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#12_March_2019_%28Ireland%27s_Citizens%27_Assembly%29

content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/22/mnangagwa-promises-investigation-of-brutal-zimbabwe-crackdown">Ireland's
Citizens' Assembly</a> enabled Irish with different views to think
together about contentious issues including whether to legalize
abortion.


feed_id: 176f13cc827aff6b82ee07be7a7601de
title: French colonialism
uri: French-colonialism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#12_March_2019_%28French_colonialism%29
content:
<p>
An anti-immigration Italian
minister <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/22/france-summons-italian-envoy-over-hostile-africa-remarks">criticized
France</a> for colonialism in Africa.
<p>
It is true that France conquered a colonial empire in Africa.  It ran
its colonies for the profit of French business.  Other European
countries did likewise, including Belgium, Spain, Portugal, the UK,
Germany, and Italy (in Libya, Eritrea and for a while Ethiopia).
<p>
However, this criticism of France is simplistic and exaggerated.
<p>
The situation in Africa today is, as a whole, the outgrowth of
colonialism; it could not be otherwise.  However, the causes of
African poverty today also include religious wars, overpopulation,
extraction of minerals, disease (including HIV and Malaria), tax
evasion via tax havens, and making the people repay the loans received
by past dictators.
<p>
I suppose France plays a role in that, but so do the US and China,
which did not have colonies in Africa.


feed_id: f399c3fcf43289ba07a1926ac1f00414
title: Dying unauthorized immigrant
uri: Dying-unauthorized-immigrant
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#12_March_2019_%28Dying_unauthorized_immigrant%29
content:
<p>
A dying unauthorized immigrant in the UK has received a bill for
around $40,000 dollars for medical care.  If he does not pay this
&mdash; and he has no money &mdash; he will be made
to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jan/22/dying-man-bill-thousands-pounds-nhs-treatment">die
without pain treatment</a>.
<p>
The UK government has denied his family permission to visit him in the
UK before he dies.


feed_id: f2cf6b5b386f4adca8ba00e92add7d86
title: Spaces for children
uri: Spaces-for-children
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#12_March_2019_%28Spaces_for_children%29
content:
<p>
Presenting the history of spaces designed for children, in homes,
schools, and cities.  The design of cities
today <a href="https://reason.com/archives/2019/01/22/how-we-childproofed-our-cities">impedes
children from playing in autonomy</a>.


feed_id: 2fb2db446a155042def961bfae8a664c
title: Taking power from gangs
uri: Taking-power-from-gangs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#12_March_2019_%28Taking_power_from_gangs%29
content:
<p>
How Can We Take Power Away from Criminal
Gangs?  <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/jan/22/take-power-away-criminal-gangs-legalise-drugs">Legalize
Drugs.</a>
<p>
There are some problems of organized crime which we can't fix with
that approach.  For instance, sale of wild animals or their body
parts.  But we should use that approach where it is applicable.


feed_id: b9feee0809091b68c41fb2e2b709346a
title: Garment factory workers
uri: Garment-factory-workers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#12_March_2019_%28Garment_factory_workers%29
content:
<p>
Abuse of garment factory workers in Bangladesh reaches the level of
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/22/bangladeshi-factory-that-supplied-tesco-and-marks-and-spencer-compensates-abused-worker">threats
to murder them</a> when they complain.


feed_id: 52cab6e7d4775ec4491efae2095d3e48
title: Empathy for Palestinians
uri: Empathy-for-Palestinians
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#12_March_2019_%28Empathy_for_Palestinians%29
content:
<p>
Peace initiatives in Israel today work
to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/22/empathy-cycle-violence-israel-palestine">encourage
empathy for the Palestinians</a>.


feed_id: 0f1a04b5822d7ec15de7f4228b3463a4
title: Black market cell systems
uri: Black-market-cell-systems
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#12_March_2019_%28Black_market_cell_systems%29
content:
<p>
Black markets are developing a sort of cell system by which the
participants can't identify each other and can't betray each other.
The customers never see any of them, and
they <a href="https://opaque.link/post/dropgang/">can't identify the
customers either</a>.
<p>
As sale of prohibited goods becomes anonymous and safe, lawful sales
of lawful goods are becoming a dangerous system of massive
surveillance.  When will we be able to buy those through a darknet,
for our privacy?
<p>
If Tor sold its DRM-free contract-free e-books through a darknet, I
would in principle (some details are crucial) be glad to buy them
straight from the publisher that way.

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/jan/22/the-new-elites-phoney-crusade-to-save-the-world-without-changing-anything">through
markets they can dominate</a>.


feed_id: 90e9f5bafc9c0029fac4677b7c5a6cb1
title: North Korea missile bases
uri: North-Korea-missile-bases
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#12_March_2019_%28North_Korea_missile_bases%29
content:
<p>
North
Korea <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/22/north-korea-secret-missile-hq-uncovered-as-nuclear-summit-nears">has
missile bases</a> that it has refused to acknowledge.
If North Korea started to negotiate a nuclear disarmament treaty,
these bases would make the matter more difficult.
<p>
However, I think that relaxing the hostility that could lead to
renewed war in Korea is a good thing even if North Korea retains
nuclear weapons.

<p>


feed_id: 2589289f164f1f0b88bf20e4f4d66c32
title: Medical Providers
uri: Medical-Providers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#Medical%20Providers
content:
<p>
Imagine if your medical provider could collect data from absolutely <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/delivering-digital-transformation/2018/dec/10/can-data-sharing-improve-our-wellbeing">everything you did and everywhere you went</a>.  They could force you to do the healthy thing, all the time.
</p>


feed_id: 1854e3dad93d545ab5e89363ea0d7f1e
title: Don't go to Turkey
uri: Don-t-go-to-Turkey
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#Don%27t%20go%20to%20Turkey
content:
<p>
Turkey warned that people <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/german-travel-warning-for-turkey-after-minister-threatens-terrorists-traitors/a-47796961">who participate in rallies</a> in Germany in support of Kurds could be imprisoned if they visit Turkey.
</p>
<p>Don't take the risk: don't go to Turkey!</p>


feed_id: 3bdda3f311c7eb32832c14cd48f1a76d
title: Recycling
uri: Recycling
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#Recycling
content:
<p>
Recycling isn't a solution for the disposal of plastic. We need to <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/03/09/recycling-isn-enough/IAyiyINKYJ214ZFD5EwsDP/story.html?et_rid=1841749494&s_campaign=metroheadlines:newsletter">produce much less waste</a>.
</p>


feed_id: df969b6fe86f84d4d66c295cb798078c
title: Homeless in the UK
uri: Homeless-in-the-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#Homeless%20in%20the%20UK
content:
<p>
Could UK local governments <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/11/homeless-people-rough-sleepers">protect homeless people</a> from people that hate them?
</p>
<p> In principle they could, but it isn't likely to happen as long as governments would rather persecute them.</p>


feed_id: a87e4f525ddb1070e988f278b03e1c1f
title: Prohibit abortion
uri: Prohibit-abortion
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#Prohibit%20abortion
content:
<p>
Several US states have passed laws to <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/03/11/roe-v-wade-aboriton-restrictions-georgia/">prohibit abortion</a> and punish doctors that perform abortions.
</p>
<p> Supposedly there are a few exceptions, such as in case of rape or medical necessity, but they are not clear; doctors that tried to rely on them might be prosecuted anyway.</p> 
<p> Women might be imprisoned for using abortion medicines.</p>


feed_id: 7238fc00349f9811b9cb8d41c3f23ec1
title: Algerian President
uri: Algerian-President
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#Algerian%20President
content:
<p>
Bouteflika, the authoritarian president of Algeria, said he will not <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/11/algerian-president-says-he-will-not-run-again-after-weeks-of-protests">run for another term</a>.
</p>


feed_id: 1c42dba191c52d9172c97774e141d71a
title: Racist Card
uri: Racist-Card
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#Racist%20Card
content:
<p>
Netanyahu played the racist card, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/11/hes-using-his-last-bullet-israeli-arabs-condemn-netanyahu-comments">saying that Arab citizens are second-class citizens</a>.
</p>


feed_id: f3f699b7302ae543f7046dcfedec1dd8
title: PISSI comparison
uri: PISSI-comparison
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#PISSI%20comparison
content:
<p>
Comparing PISSI with nonwarlike cults -- <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/11/shamima-begum-cult-victim-isis">they have a lot in common</a>.
</p>


feed_id: 98b4cc30cc24075283a9bd147abb6fd4
title: Activist Repression
uri: Activist-Repression
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#Activist%20Repression
content:
<p>
US thugs and Mexican thugs joined together to investigate and <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/03/11/southern-us-border-mexico-journalists/">repress immigrants' rights activists</a>, including journalists and lawyers.
</p>


feed_id: 1d2e7df4c50e777a5f59ff0e75434bae
title: North Korean Hostility
uri: North-Korean-Hostility
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#North%20Korean%20Hostility
content:
<p>
Even though North Korea is not disarming, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/11/trump-kim-summit-north-korea-another-iraq">reduction of hostility</a> is a real step forward.
</p>


feed_id: 4ca87ebcdd0f1ba9d29eb5a418516208
title: Urgent: Chelsea Manning
uri: 2019-03-15-Urgent-Chelsea-Manning
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#14_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Chelsea_Manning%29
content:
<p>
Everyone: <a href="https://act.rootsaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=13627">call
for</a> Chelsea Manning to be released.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 827cf6e56462a50194b799f694ae72bf
title: Urgent: Darden waiters
uri: Urgent-Darden-waiters
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#14_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Darden_waiters%29
content:
<p>
Everyone: <a href="https://www.coworker.org/petitions/darden-we-need-2-weeks-notice-of-our-schedule-not-4-days">call
on the big restaurant company Darden</a> to give waiters two weeks
notice of their schedules.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 44fbc30e8bca24fdedc782e66f0278e7
title: Urgent: Sprint T-mobile merger
uri: 2019-03-15-Urgent-Sprint-T-mobile-merger
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#14_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Sprint_T-mobile_merger%29

content:
<p>
In the
US: <a href="https://act.freepress.net/sign/reject_sprint_tmobile_merger/">call
on the FCC</a> to block the proposed merger of Sprint and T-mobile.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 56e9ac17c4930af6603c776aa175fa5b
title: Urgent: Bogus national emergency
uri: Urgent-Bogus-national-emergency
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#14_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Bogus_national_emergency%29

content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://act.winwithoutwar.org/act/tell-senate-support-resolution-end-trumps-emergency-declaration">call
on the Senate</a> to pass SJ Res 10, to cancel the cheater's bogus
national emergency.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 718efad5ecd30f70c053e196339c467f
title: Wesley Bell
uri: Wesley-Bell
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#14_March_2019_%28Wesley_Bell%29
content:
<p>
Wesley Bell, the new head prosecutor of St Louis
County, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/01/24/wesley-bell-st-louis-prosecutor-ferguson/">has
changed policies</a> that were systemic injustice to people charged
with crimes.
<p>
He is doing the best that he personally can do, but what people really need
is to put these changes into the law.
<p>
Meanwhile, the cities that get their money by squeezing it out of poor
people do need money.  They need to be able to get that money through
methods that are just.  For instance, taxing the rich more.


feed_id: a35b330bb88ef85a6c0c9bd54e948d8e
title: 2020 emissions target
uri: 2020-emissions-target
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#14_March_2019_%282020_emissions_target%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/22/analysis-warns-lack-progress-2020-global-emissions-target">Analysis
Warns</a> of Lack of Progress on 2020 Global Emissions Target.


feed_id: 324026c8ee51788ec5ef9011d2dce6a2
title: Reporter in New Zealand
uri: Reporter-in-New-Zealand
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#14_March_2019_%28Reporter_in_New_Zealand%29
content:
<p>
Anne Brady, a New Zealander who has reported on how China intimidates
dissidents,
is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/23/im-being-watched-anne-marie-brady-the-china-critic-living-in-fear-of-beijing">targeted
with the same tactics</a> at home in New Zealand.
<p>
China is making repression in Hong Kong much
broader <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/23/hong-kong-bill-seeks-to-make-insulting-chinese-anthem-a">with
a law</a> to jail anyone that "insults" China's national anthem.
<p>
Previously only concrete political positions were prohibited.
<p>
It is only a matter of time before people in Hong Kong are required to
affirm their adoration of China.


feed_id: e379fa2788b540c3ac92e24c920195ad
title: 'Populists' in France and Germany
uri: Populists-in-France-and-Germany
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#14_March_2019_%28%27Populists%27_in_France_and_Germany%29

content:
<p>
A project to talk with many supporters of "populists" in France and
Germany <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/23/emmanuel-macron-presidency-gilets-jaunes">reports
that</a> their main concerns are "precarious working conditions,
worries about money and declining social infrastructure."


feed_id: 54cf42d373b5af9f156efff648284ec6
title: Crackpot theories
uri: Crackpot-theories
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#14_March_2019_%28Crackpot_theories%29
content:
<p>
Modern-day crackpot
theories <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/23/conspiracy-theories-internet-survivors-truth">don't
need any basis</a> in reality.  People make them up on the spur of the
moment, and fools take them on faith.
<p>
The crackpot belief that vaccines are
dangerous <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/24/anti-vaxxers-spread-misinformation-on-social-media-report">is
killing people</a>.


feed_id: ad00dc98600ffee962313215280972c4
title: Protesters in Iran
uri: Protesters-in-Iran
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#14_March_2019_%28Protesters_in_Iran%29
content:
<p>
Iran's
thugs <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/24/iran-arrested-more-than-7000-dissidents-last-year-says-amnesty">arrested
7000 protesters</a> in 2018, killing 35 of them.


feed_id: 1c734faa0ee2f80d10edfab4fe7ea3a5
title: Harassment in Tel Aviv airport
uri: Harassment-in-Tel-Aviv-airport
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#14_March_2019_%28Harassment_in_Tel_Aviv_airport%29
content:
<p>
Jazz student Nai
Barghouti <a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2019/01/defying-palestinian-musicians/">describes
the harassment</a> she received trying to fly out of Tel Aviv airport.


feed_id: 8309ffa34dd4b1856dac2c0120d12720
title: Killing Palestinians
uri: Killing-Palestinians
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#14_March_2019_%28Killing_Palestinians%29
content:
<p>
An Israeli
politician's <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/further/2019/01/22/israel-everything-including-fundamental-humanity">campaign
ads boast</a> of killing thousands of Palestinians.
<p>
B’tselem:
Israel <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/btselem-israel-killed-290-palestinians-in-2018-most-of-them-innocents/">Killed
290 Palestinians</a> in 2018, Most of Them Innocents.
<p>
The Palestinians undermine their own cause by using weapons such as
slingshots and firebombs to a protest that is supposed to be nonviolent.
The same is true for gilets jaunes protests in France.


feed_id: e1f47fa24f9c01bddc6a2d772a7e1721
title: Kamala Harris staffing
uri: Kamala-Harris-staffing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#14_March_2019_%28Kamala_Harris_staffing%29
content:
<p>
(satire) Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) reportedly began
<a href="https://politics.theonion.com/kamala-harris-assembles-campaign-staff-of-unpaid-califo-1831958905">staffing
her campaign</a> Tuesday with unpaid inmates from California
correctional facilities.


feed_id: 8fe6c1778ef6431a0eafe40b8cae5521
title: Health of migrants to Europe
uri: Health-of-migrants-to-Europe
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#14_March_2019_%28Health_of_migrants_to_Europe%29
content:
<p>
Migrants to Europe are generally in good health when they arrive.
Once there, unhealthful food and exclusion from medical care tend to
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/21/refugees-are-not-health-threat-host-countries-who-study-finds-fact-its-opposite">make
many of them sick</a>.


feed_id: 54b624c5c0f025857782ac70cbbfbe5f
title: Yang Hengjun
uri: Yang-Hengjun
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#14_March_2019_%28Yang_Hengjun%29
content:
<p>
China seems to
have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/23/friends-fear-australian-writer-yang-hengjun-has-been-detained-in-china">grabbed
and disappeared writer Yang Hengjun</a>, who emigrated and is now an
Australian citizen, and his wife.


feed_id: 6e51fcff7be8da1544b540bc59c6d395
title: 'Anti-capitalist' quotations
uri: Anti-capitalist-quotations
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#14_March_2019_%28%27Anti-capitalist%27_quotations%29

content:
<p>
Some quotations from Martin Luther King Jr., said to be
"anti-capitalist", strike me not as entirely opposed to capitalism,
but rather
as <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/21/11-most-anti-capitalist-quotes-martin-luther-king-jr">rejecting
it as a dogma</a> or as a justification for perpetuating poverty.
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/22/putting-tax-rates-and-billionaire-excess-moral-terms-ocasio-cortez-asks-what-kind">Likewise
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a> today.


feed_id: 666087c71aba2aee2f274aec0766bc4d
title: Bolsonaro
uri: Bolsonaro
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#15_March_2019_%28Bolsonaro%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Bolsonaro's son and wife <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/01/24/video-the-dramatic-scandal-swallowing-the-bolsonaro-presidency-and-which-just-drove-an-lgtb-congressman-to-flee-brazil/">are linked to corrupt payments</a> and to a
violent right-wing assassination gang.
</p>


feed_id: 30f910a24116d4f35dc45d424afcc4ef
title: Davos Attendees
uri: Davos-Attendees
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#15_March_2019_%28Davos_Attendees%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Davos Attendees Must Accept That They Have <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/24/davos-attendees-must-accept-they-have-too-much-money?cd-origin=rss">Too Much Money.</a>
</p>


feed_id: 985428ddc0377a7e8220fb769ef66226
title: Alan Singer
uri: Alan-Singer
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#15_March_2019_%28Alan_Singer%29
content:
<p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/24/1829081/-Challenging-Israeli-Policies-Does-Not-Make-Me-an-Anti-Semite?_=2019-01-24T03:53:33.319-08:00">Alan Singer</a>: Challenging Israeli Policies Does Not Make Me an Anti-Semite.
</p>


feed_id: 8622ec0fc7e9923c65f4a030204ecf97
title: Reusable Containers
uri: Reusable-Containers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#15_March_2019_%28Reusable_Containers%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Some companies <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jan/24/coalition-of-major-companies-trial-reusable-packaging-for-online-orders">have a plan</a> to deliver bulk products in reusablecontainers.
</p>
<p>
I support this in principle, and I would buy supplies this way if they
are sold this way in stores.  However, I will not order those products for
delivery because that is not anonymous.  I expect it also requires
running nonfree software.
</p>


feed_id: fd2b471bc21fc36105c8323d417042f6
title: US Convergence
uri: US-Convergence
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#15_March_2019_%28US_Convergence%29
content:
<p>
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#bully">The bully</a>'s supporters are starting to side openly with Russia against
Americans that don't support them.  Even worse, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/08/convergence-is-worse-than-collusion/567368/">he and his supporters
act like Putin and his supporters.</a>
</p>
<p>
When the article discusses US-Russia relations in this century, it omits to
mention unnecessary destabilizing moves that the US took, such as extending
NATO up to Russia's border.
</p>
<p>
[pol note]
</p>
<p>
If the US had valued cooperation with Russia more, perhaps that cooperation
would have continued into this century.
</p>


feed_id: 4d8e770dc6e0c087b706791fa1b4ce24
title: Zandrea Askew
uri: Zandrea-Askew
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#15_March_2019_%28Zandrea_Askew%29
content:
<p>
Zandrea Askew <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/woman-sues-sheriffs-office-claiming-forcibly-stripped-detained/story?id=60412081">is suing the Illinois thugs</a> that tied her and stripped her
in a jail cell, then left her there naked for 12 hours.
</p>
<p>
She says the charges were false and unjustified, too.  I am inclined to believe
her word rather than <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a>' word.
</p>
<p>
It would be wrong to treat anyone this way.  The fact that she is a
black woman is pertinent to mention, because those characteristics may
be part of why <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> did this to her.  That she is an ex-marine is not
relevant; to mention it suggests that non-veterans are less important.
</p>


feed_id: 1ffaab8c017f87308fa0c4e5da260832
title: Cut aid to Clinics
uri: Cut-aid-to-Clinics
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#15_March_2019_%28Cut_aid_to_Clinics%29
content:
<p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/glossary.html#bully">The bully's</a> global gag rule, which cut off US aid to clinics that
provide abortions or even counseling, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/23/two-years-trumps-global-gag-rule-responsible-immeasurable-suffering-and-death-around?cd-origin=rss">has caused suffering to women</a>
around the world.
</p>


feed_id: 28628b19b3e2fa27bc9eb46c2ea177ab
title: Greta Thunberg
uri: Greta-Thunberg
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#15_March_2019_%28Greta_Thunberg%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Greta Thunberg <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/23/greta-thunbergs-demand-davos-elite-act-urgently-climate-sake-beautiful-living-planet?cd-origin=rss">challenges the elite</a> at Davos to start doing something
to defend Earth's climate.
</p>
<p>
Here is the text of her speech: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/25/our-house-is-on-fire-greta-thunberg16-urges-leaders-to-act-on-climate">"Our house is on fire."</a>
</p>
<p>
I criticize one point: "panic" is not the word for what people must
do.  Panic is not the way to put out a fire.  We must confront the
danger rationally and effectively.
</p>


feed_id: 30ca142657f5591b559b546dab42ec2a
title: Spotting Ghost Users
uri: Spotting-Ghost-Users
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#15_March_2019_%28Spotting_Ghost_Users%29
content:
<p>
<p>
The proposed surveillance technique of inserting "ghost" users <a href="https://www.lawfareblog.com/detecting-ghosts-reverse-engineering-who-ya-gonna-call">would
be detectable</a> when used, in several ways.
</p>


feed_id: c9cc21b2ba6d874e241cc41b595b95ec
title: Wells Fargo Bank
uri: Wells-Fargo-Bank
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#15_March_2019_%28Wells_Fargo_Bank%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Wells Fargo Bank thinks of fossil fuels as <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/23/despicable-wells-fargo-bashed-plans-cash-global-climate-crisis?cd-origin=rss
">a great investment
opportunity.</a>
</p>
<p>
That is short-term thinking.  That investment might pay off for 20 or
30 years, but beyond that the disasters will start damaging the value
of investments.  20 more years and technological civilization could
collapse, and many of those investments will simply disappear.
</p>
<p>

That loss would serve the owners of Wells Fargo right.  Unfortunately,
the loss would not be limited to them.  So we can't afford to wait
quietly and tell them, "We told you so."  We must stop them from doing
what they intend to do.
</p>


feed_id: 024f15a1ae9b176bddb4caf391407407
title: Jean Wyllys
uri: Jean-Wyllys
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#15_March_2019_%28Jean_Wyllys%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Brazilian congressman Jean Wyllys has gone into exile due to death
threats, which were made against him <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/24/jean-wyllys-brazils-openly-gay-congressman-leaves-job-country-amid-death-threats
">because he is homosexual.</a>
</p>


feed_id: ad22ff9051e28e53cd9bf23f804e5358
title: Florida Senator
uri: Florida-Senator
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Florida_Senator%29
content:
<p>
<p>Florida's new Republican secretary of state <a href="
https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2019/01/24/new-secretary-state-ertel-dressed-blackface-halloween-2005/2649161002/">had to resign</a> after the
publication of photos of him made up and dressed as a black woman.
<p>
<p>I hope cross-dressing is not in danger of being banned.
<p>


feed_id: 1a2ac3d49b3c7f492c61e07d63762ef8
title: Loneliness Medicine
uri: Loneliness-Medicine
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Loneliness_Medicine%29
content:
<p>
<p>Can a medicine prevent the harmful physical effects of loneliness?
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/26/pill-for-loneliness-psychology-science-medicine
">Is it a good idea to do that?</a>
<p>


feed_id: 81a4e7c6a4135936b73eb9ae842cb62b
title: German Coal Goal
uri: German-Coal-Goal
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28German_Coal_Goal%29
content:
<p>
<p>Germany plans to <a href="
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/26/germany-agrees-to-end-reliance-on-coal-stations-by-2038">stop burning coal</a> for electricity in 2038.
<p>
<p>This is too little, too late.  We cut greenhouse emissions in half by
2030, in order to avoid disaster.
<p>


feed_id: cfcd945bb78d5c8f14c2826dd9f23b98
title: Israeli Likud Party
uri: Israeli-Likud-Party
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Israeli_Likud_Party%29
content:
<p>
<p>An Israeli soldier who murdered a helpless Palestinian prisoner <a href="
https://theintercept.com/2019/01/25/israeli-campaign-ad-stars-former-soldier-executed-prone-palestinian-suspect/">is now
seeking office</a> in the governing Likud Party.
<p>


feed_id: c2e097250ac0ee54e4d6016c6a348e6c
title: Senator Warren
uri: Senator-Warren
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Senator_Warren%29
content:
<p>
<p>Senator Warren has <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/01/24/elizabeth-warren-proposes-annual-wealth-tax-on-ultra-millionaires/">proposed a tax on wealth</a>.
<p>
<p>I am in favor, but to make it effective requires finding out all the
wealth that rich people own.  Tax havens and offshore disguises make
that difficult to do.
<p>


feed_id: d12b4465e95b3345bf862f21a04cc68d
title: Neo Nazis
uri: Neo-Nazis
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Neo_Nazis%29
content:
<p>
<p>After neo-Nazis at a rally stabbed antifascists, a California <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thug</a>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/25/california-police-neo-nazis-antifa-protest">intentionally protected the Nazis</a> and created excuses to prosecute the
antifascists.
<p>


feed_id: aa49a4e83a4c561b92ad5a4e35065876
title: Angela Davis
uri: Angela-Davis
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Angela_Davis%29
content:
<p>
<p>Angela Davis has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/25/alabama-civil-rights-museum-angela-davis">received a human rights award</a> for her work for civil rights.
<p>
<p>Her receipt of the award had been opposed because of her support for
the Palestinians BDS campaign.
<p>


feed_id: ff86171f53a6160c22d89150088b1c84
title: US Immigrants
uri: US-Immigrants
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28US_Immigrants%29
content:
<p>
<p>Giving immigrants US citizenship is <a href="
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/25/america-keeps-doors-open-citizenship-better-new-americans-old-americans-and?cd-origin=rss">good for them, and for society</a>,
and the younger the better.
<p>


feed_id: 8732b0453271d65c6e114eeee64d82e7
title: US Iran Relations
uri: US-Iran-Relations
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28US_Iran_Relations%29
content:
<p>
<p>The US is <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/25/war-against-iran-becoming-ever-more-likely?cd-origin=rss">drifting closer to starting a war with Iran</a>.  The bully's
current advisors and backers favor it, and he might hope to use it to
manipulate Americans through their misguided patriotism.
<p>
<p>The US appeared to win the unjust war
<p>
<p>[pol note about the injustice]
<p>
<p><a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#dubya">Dubya</a> started with Iraq, and the resulting harm
includes the existence of <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a>.
<p>
<p>[pol note about that relationship]
<p>
<p>The US would probably have such a "victory" in Iran, which is far more
populous and whose people would resist hard.
<p>


feed_id: 6406c23a096ffc762ecde0aed2fc2358
title: Carbon Dividend Bill
uri: Carbon-Dividend-Bill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Carbon_Dividend_Bill%29
content:
<p>
<p>Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act would <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/01/25/carbon-dividend-bill-house-would-gut-clean-air-act-authority-stop-climate-change?cd-origin=rss">eliminate the EPA's
authority</a> to regulate greenhouse gases, and institute an increasing
carbon tax.
<p>
<p> carbon tax would have a good effect, if the tax rate is high enough
to bring about rapid decarbonization.  I don't know how much would be
required, but this one would take some years to reach that level,
giving the <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#planet">planet roasters</a> a delay that we can't afford.
<p>
<p>I have a hunch that the "dividend" would not be aimed at the poor
people that need it most, and that the net result for poor Americans
would be harmful.
<p>
<p>If those things were corrected, I would support the carbon tax _in
addition to_ the regulatory authority.  Not instead of it.
<p>


feed_id: ca930d05629dd11c479e9ea7a37bf7d8
title: German Energy
uri: German-Energy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28German_Energy%29
content:
<p>
<p>Germany's <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/25/financial-secret-behind-germanys-green-energy-revolution?cd-origin=rss">advance in renewable energy</a> is fueled by state-owned banks.
<p>


feed_id: c2f20a98b5bd9a95956c02ad5e40f376
title: (Satire)
uri: (Satire)
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28%28Satire%29%29
content:
<p>
<p>(satire) marine biologists at the University of Hawaii reported Friday that they had trained <a href="
https://www.theonion.com/marine-biologists-train-highly-intelligent-octopus-to-p-1832053903
">a highly intelligent octopus</a> to profitably manage a mid-sized aluminum goods supplier.
<p>


feed_id: bb12f87b540b7f1c6f99b9190c9f467d
title: Kushner Clearance
uri: Kushner-Clearance
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Kushner_Clearance%29
content:
<p>
<p>Permanent officials <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/officials-rejected-jared-kushner-top-secret-security-clearance-were-overruled-n962221">rejected Jared Kushner's application</a> for top
secret security clearance.  <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#cheater">The cheater</a>'s political appointee
overruled them.
<p>


feed_id: bc273422fcd82920c7c9778729a2c329
title: Net Neutrality
uri: 2019-03-16-Net-Neutrality
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Net_Neutrality%29
content:
<p>
<p>Ajit Pai's trickle-down excuses for cancelling the US network neutrality
regulation <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/24/net-neutrality-repeal-evidence-shows-doing-none-good-stuff-ajit-pai-and-telecom?cd-origin=rss">have proved false</a>, as we knew they would.
<p>
<p>That regulation did not go far enough.  It permitted too much
surveillance.
<p>


feed_id: 0cb137e52114a17f86e37f4f097d0b3a
title: Soros at Davos
uri: Soros-at-Davos
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Soros_at_Davos%29
content:
<p>
<p><a href="
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jan/24/george-soros-china-using-tech-advances-to-repress-its-people">Soros at Davos:</a> China is leading the world in adapting AI to total
regimentation.
<p>
<p>I fear that the billionaires in his audience were thinking, "How can
we do that?"
<p>


feed_id: 1475c7f96eda04cfcdd07e723617d811
title: EPA Business
uri: EPA-Business
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28EPA_Business%29
content:
<p>
<p>The saboteurs running the EPA have <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/24/corporate-interests-helm-epa-polluter-fines-down-85-hitting-lowest-level-25-years?cd-origin=rss
">reduced the fines</a> collected from
businesses by 85%.
<p>


feed_id: 99964f5a8ce953c374ee5fb01814dc4f
title: (Satire)
uri: 2019-03-16-(Satire)
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28%28Satire%29%29
content:
<p>
<p>(satire) a <a href="https://local.theonion.com/masked-vigilante-takes-terrorizing-black-community-into-1832019922">masked vigilante</a> confirmed Thursday that he would
be taking the work of terrorizing the black community into his own
hands as long as law enforcement officers failed to do so.
<p>


feed_id: 9ee3094dda682517487b3bf0bf273691
title: Jared Kushner
uri: Jared-Kushner
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Jared_Kushner%29
content:
<p>
<p>Permanent officials <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/25/trump-appointee-overruled-rejection-of-jared-kushner-for-top-security-clearance">ruled that</a> Jared Kushner was not entitled to
top-level security clearance, but an official appointed by <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#cheater">the cheater</a>
himself overruled them.
<p>


feed_id: ecddda9b264a2de048f92e907d8e9336
title: War Torn Civilians
uri: War-Torn-Civilians
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28War_Torn_Civilians%29
content:
<p>
<p>The Central African Republic was torn apart several years ago by a
civil war on religious lines. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/jan/25/children-crucial-camp-classrooms-forging-central-african-republic-future-kaga-bandoro">Civilians are targets.</a>
<p>


feed_id: 8c7fd5c6955955b73c4a14f9b33b00e5
title: Giulio Regeni Murder
uri: Giulio-Regeni-Murder
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Giulio_Regeni_Murder%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Egypt is still blocking investigation of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/25/egypt-frustrates-giulio-regeni-investigation-three-years-on">murder of Italian
student Giulio Regeni</a>, in which members of the state repression agencies
have been named as subjects to investigate.
</p>
<p>
It would be wrong to convict a person based on limited evidence such
as that, but it is sufficient reason to conclude that the Egyptian
state is responsible.
</p>


feed_id: 5004550504ea0100aee4b7b2a00a5393
title: Urgent: Pass HR 6
uri: Urgent-Pass-HR-6
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Pass_HR_6%29
content:
<p>
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/dream-promise-2019?t=1001&akid=31899%2E1183552%2EJseSeQ">call on Congress</a> to pass HR 6 to give a path to citizens
to immigrants brought as children to the US without authorization.
</p>
<p>
Please don't use the soppy term "dreamers" for those people.
</p>
<p>
The Capitol Switchboard
numbers are 202-224-3121, 888-818-6641 and 888-355-3588.
</p>


feed_id: bde26d4bf89067d2e8ddd0009a4a3e21
title: Wells Fargo and Fuels
uri: Wells-Fargo-and-Fuels
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#15_March_2019_%28Wells_Fargo_and_Feuls%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Wells Fargo Bank thinks of fossil fuels as a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/23/despicable-wells-fargo-bashed-plans-cash-global-climate-crisis?cd-origin=rss">That loss would serve</a>the owners of Wells Fargo right.  Unfortunately,
the loss would not be limited to them.  So we can't afford to wait
quietly and tell them, "We told you so."  We must stop them from doing
what they intend to do.">great investment
opportunity.
</p>
<p>
That is short-term thinking.  That investment might pay off for 20 or
30 years, but beyond that the disasters will start damaging the value
of investments.  20 more years and technological civilization could
collapse, and many of those investments will simply disappear.
</p>
<p>
That loss would serve the owners of Wells Fargo right.  Unfortunately,
the loss would not be limited to them.  So we can't afford to wait
quietly and tell them, "We told you so."  We must stop them from doing
what they intend to do.
</p>


feed_id: 00fc1bd4090dd0bd093447b52bdf306e
title: Jean Wyllys
uri: 2019-03-16-Jean-Wyllys
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#15_March_2019_%28Jean_Wyllys%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Brazilian congressman Jean Wyllys has gone into exile due to death
threats, which were made against him <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/24/jean-wyllys-brazils-openly-gay-congressman-leaves-job-country-amid-death-threats"because he is homosexual.</a>
</p>


feed_id: b39f8fca8bfe0c61a57c91ee0d33fbfb
title: Beto O Rourke
uri: 2019-03-16-Beto-O-Rourke
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Beto_O_Rourke%29
content:
<p>
<p>Beto O'Rourke is running for president, but there is no sign that he
a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/14/born-run-beto-enters-2020-race-progressives-still-unclear-where-texas-democrat?cd-origin=rss
">stands for anything</a> good.
<p>
<p>He has given the <a href=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/15/beto-orourke-friend-fossil-fuel-industry-climate-change">fossil fuel industry</a> plenty of cooperation.
<p>
<p> He is a political example of a celebrity &mdash; someone famous for being
famous.
<p>
<p>Daniel Boorstin, in The Image, pointed out how Americans were coming
to adulate celebrities instead of heroes (people who were famous for
what they had done).  In US politics, we still have real heroes to
admire, alongside plenty of real evildoers.  Let's not waste our
attention on celebrities.
</p>
<p>One thing about Beto O'Rourke that is not an objection to him as a candidate
is that he belonged to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/15/beto-orourke-teenage-member-hacking-group-cult-of-the-dead-cow">Cult of the Dead Cow</a>.
<p>
<p>However, that is not a reason to vote for him.
<p>


feed_id: 08083ea32c4d3d282069f2eb01f4336f
title: Festering Addiction
uri: Festering-Addiction
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Festering_Addiction%29
content:
<p>
<p>Tobacco companies RJ Reynolds and Philip Morris worked on <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/14/big-tobacco-kool-aid-hawaiian-punch-kids-drinks">designing
strategies</a> to market sugary drinks to children, starting in the 1960s.
<p>


feed_id: dfbe488bf91fee5dedfb9e8a7347e748
title: Unconcious Racism
uri: Unconcious-Racism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Unconcious_Racism%29
content:
<p>
<p>Unconscious racism amounts to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2019/jan/26/racism-in-britain-how-we-revealed-the-shocking-impact-of-unconscious-bias">frequent harassment</a> across many areas of life.
<p>
<p>London <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2019/jan/26/met-police-disproportionately-use-stop-and-search-powers-on-black-people">thugs target blacks</a> twice as often as whites, for searching them on
the street without cause.
<p>


feed_id: 52a71d36cbf69a7d859404c0717fde4e
title: Jean Wyllys
uri: 2019-03-16-Jean-Wyllys
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#15_March_2019_%28Jean_Wyllys%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Brazilian congressman Jean Wyllys has gone into exile due to death
threats, which were made against him <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/24/jean-wyllys-brazils-openly-gay-congressman-leaves-job-country-amid-death-threats">because he is homosexual.</a>
</p>


feed_id: e0fce4d5e2ca3da348767b033d69b0c1
title: Tales of Torture
uri: Tales-of-Torture
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28Tales_of_Torture%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Tales of Torture from <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/tales-torture-israel-prisons-190121113101325.html">Israel's Prisons</a>.
<p>


feed_id: 5700d4b79d0573606e35dc9778ee464a
title: Children Detained
uri: Children-Detained
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28Children_Detained%29
content:
<p>
<p>
How accused <a href="https://www.btselem.org/video/20190124_security_forces_detain_four_children_in_hebron#full">Palestinian children</a> are treated when arrested.
<p>
<p>
The 13-year-old was on the border of adolescence.  The younger ones
were children.
<p>


feed_id: 7f748ef7bedac0968fe928ae67296a0f
title: Israel Palestine
uri: Israel-Palestine
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28Israel_Palestine%29
content:
<p>
<p>
A "<a href="http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=79603">negotiating conference</a>" involving Israelis and Palestinians 
follows the "national assembly" approach, including people chosen
to be demographically and politically diverse.
<p>


feed_id: 4b8be65e90f49dda46aa0f5aea0098cf
title: DHS Questions
uri: DHS-Questions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28DHS_Questions%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Did DHS agents <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/31/super-bowl-security-georgia-sex-trafficking-arrests">rescue slaves, or arrest customers</a>?
<p>
<p>
The four victims might have been people who were enslaved and forced
into sex work.  If so, bravo to the agents for freeing them.  But we
can't be sure what happened, or who did what to whom, because laws
redefine voluntary sex work by a minor as "trafficking" and pretend
that their customers have "trafficked" them.
<p>
<p>
So were the 33 arrested people brutal enslavers, or customers?  Were
the four sex workers enslaved, or only minors?  From this article, we
have no idea.
<p>
<p>
When the state tries to distort language, to decide which distinctions
we can make and which we are not supposed to know, it stops people
from thinking about what is right or wrong, and what justice means.
<p>


feed_id: 01fc4941c6164bb2b250377110fb167d
title: Green New Deal
uri: 2019-03-17-Green-New-Deal
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28Green_New_Deal%29
content:
<p>
<p>
In addition to avoiding global disaster, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/31/left-green-new-deal-ocasio-cortez">the Green New Deal provides
a way to cope with another financial crisis.
<p>


feed_id: 511e58e06fe74fe7988611a93aa3c086
title: Facebook Proposal
uri: Facebook-Proposal
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28Facebook_Proposal%29
content:
<p>
<p>
There is a proposal to require Facebook to hand over personal data about
young useds to researchers who will study whether being used by Facebook
does them harm.
<p>
<p>
This research project seems valid and useful to me, but it would legitimize
Facebook's collection of data about them &mdash; which is the basis of what is
wrong with Facebook.
<p>


feed_id: 6fa4abd73a44e19203aa88b302ef048c
title: Neil Prakash
uri: 2019-03-17-Neil-Prakash
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28Neil_Prakash%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Australia was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jan/30/peter-dutton-revoked-neil-prakashs-australian-citizenship-without-consulting-fiji">reckless in cancelling</a> Neil Prakash's Australian
citizenship.  No attempt was made to verify that Prakash was a Fijian
citizen before exiling him based on that assumption.
<p>
<p>
Since exile is a punishment, it should require a trial.  However, I
don't think exile is a legitimate punishment.  Countries have a
responsibility to and for their citizens, even when punishing them for
crimes.
<p>
<p>
Imagine what happens if a real dual citizen is accused of a crime
and each of the two countries tries to revoke per citizenship
on the ground that <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#perse">perse</a> has another citizenship.  They would have
to race for which one can finish this first and leave the other
holding the hot potato.
<p>


feed_id: af3c65ba4fba970d1ed5986de801a554
title: Passenger Planes
uri: Passenger-Planes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28Passenger_Planes%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Proposed new <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/30/heathrow-could-get-sonic-boom-every-five-minutes-from-fast-jets">supersonic passenger planes</a> would emit more CO2.
<p>
<p>
Barring some sort of miracle, we must not allow them to fly.
<p>


feed_id: be38c4e4d38f50c41663190e585cff2a
title: Microplastics Damage
uri: Microplastics-Damage
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28Microplastics_Damage%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Microplastics, in sufficient doses, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/30/mussels-lose-grip-when-exposed-to-microplastics-study">make mussels unable to cling to a surface</a>.
That could kill them and wipe out mussels.
<p>


feed_id: 7e84190afc20873388f296b5411624df
title: Fight For Choice
uri: Fight-For-Choice
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28Fight_For_Choice%29
content:
<p>
<p>
The Democrats in the House of Representatives could <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/28/defense-taxpayer-funded-abortion?cd-origin=rss">block this year</a>
the annual amendments that deny US government funding for abortions.
<p>


feed_id: 33fb9aea3d0aeb19a653e2ab2ae5791e
title: Urgent: Protect Grizzly Bears
uri: Urgent-Protect-Grizzly-Bears
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Protect_Grizzly_Bears%29
content:
<p>
<p>
US citizens: <a href="US citizens: call on Congress to maintain protection on grizzy bears.">call on Congress</a> to maintain protection on grizzy bears.
<p>


feed_id: 51f2b67d4b090b48d90d31a38cc3eaea
title: Mosque Shooting
uri: Mosque-Shooting
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28Mosque_Shooting%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Right-wing terrorists shot and killed 49 people in mosques in New Zealand.
<p>
<p>
The hate targets of the right wing won't be protected by "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/15/christchurch-muslims-thoughts-prayers-far-right">thoughts and
prayers</a>".
<p>
<p>
The author suggests condemning right-wing extremist politicians.
We condemn them already, but that has not proved effective.
Another measure that might help is to ban military-style high-velocity
weapons and high-capacity magazines.  New Zealand has not done this.
<p>


feed_id: 39eb7a9aa26a608d8207efba96399690
title: Pollution in China
uri: Pollution-in-China
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28Pollution_in_China%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Pollutionwatch: China Shows how <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/14/pollutionwatch-china-shows-how-political-will-can-take-on-air-pollution">Political Will</a> Can Take on Air Pollution.
<p>
<p>
There is a paradox here: although the Chinese state is autocratic,
and displays contempt for dissent and democracy, it does pay attention
to the big problems that hurt lots of people.
<p>
<p>
By contrast, the US government is a plutocracy and disregards problems
that the rich can buy an exemption from.
<p>


feed_id: 23f138f8c7e302f2be61432192eb2f1a
title: NY Climate Change
uri: NY-Climate-Change
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28NY_Climate_Change%29
content:
<p>
<p>
There is a plan to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/14/de-blasio-manhattan-new-york-climate-change">protecting downtown Manhattan</a> from coming floods by making
land around the edges.
<p>
<p>
The only problem I see is that it seems to be aimed at a low estimate of
how much sea level will rise.
<p>


feed_id: 59c031331b159fbc4c6eef57f45950a7
title: Climate Strike
uri: Climate-Strike
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28Climate_Strike%29
content:
<p>
<p>
"If children [and teenagers] don’t join the climate strike, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/14/children-climate-strike-schools-activism-pupils">their
schools are underachieving</a>."
<p>


feed_id: e726d226112a1e4beb11899f4cddb273
title: Saboteur Sideshow
uri: Saboteur-Sideshow
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28Saboteur_Sideshow%29
content:
<p>
<p>
A <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#saboteur">saboteur</a>-official said he finds it "thrilling" how the
saboteur-in-chief keeps public attention "<a href="
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/14/offshore-drilling-trump-official-reveals-plan-and-distractions-delight">focused somewhere else</a>"
so he can sabotage the country for extractivists.
<p>
<p>
In his case, the sabotage consists of approving sonic blasts to search
for oil in the Atlantic Ocean -- a prelude for the further sabotage
of drilling.
<p>
<p>
Let's not play into <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#trump">the troll</a>'s hands!  We should focus on the
sabotage, not the distraction.
<p>


feed_id: 3a27e937f44373e4eaa4cdf40cbc6da4
title: Marielle Franco
uri: Marielle-Franco
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28Marielle_Franco%29
content:
<p>
<p>
After thugs have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/14/marielle-franco-murder-brazi">charged with killing Marielle Franco</a>,
the next question is who ordered it &mdash; and how closely were they
tied to the fascist president, Bolsonaro.
<p>


feed_id: 0b0c277adc34c9d8887670f6ec2b45cc
title: Rejection of Peace
uri: Rejection-of-Peace
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28Rejection_of_Peace%29
content:
<p>
<p>
The right-wing majority in Israel today has the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/14/the-fall-of-the-israeli-peace-movement-and-why-leftists-continue-to-fight">same contempt for the
few that still advocate peace</a>, as it has for Palestinians.
<p>


feed_id: 05c2d7292f6ea7031835b33dbd297f6c
title: Cao Shunli
uri: Cao-Shunli
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28Cao_Shunli%29
content:
<p>
<p>
China kills some political prisoners by denying them medical care in
jail.  <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/14/cao-shunli-died-five-years-ago-she-stood-up-to-china-on-human-rights-and-so-must-we">China killed Cao Shunli this way</a> for giving the UN information
about torture of other prisoners in China.
<p>
<p>
The US must close the Guantanamo prison, and apologize for it, so that
it can denounce China's crimes from a position of moral superiority.
<p>


feed_id: 144215109bff7cd2ded1d9b8676eb791
title: Climate Solution
uri: Climate-Solution
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28Climate_Solution%29
content:
<p>
<p>
A number of activists and researchers say that <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/13/climate-solution-right-under-our-feet?cd-origin=rss">regenerative agriculture
can restore soils</a> while absorbing lots of CO2 from the air.
<p>
<p>
The claims may be valid or they may be pseudoscience.  I don't know
enough to judge, and I don't know of a scientific consensus I can
trust.
<p>
<p>
But seems established that we are losing topsoil fast with our current
system.  We need to stop that loss.  If regenerative agriculture is
the way to do that, then we need to use it &mdash; and we will see what
effect it has on greenhouse gases in the air.
<p>


feed_id: 7db586325405b3063db71de6f5da863a
title: Claire Colebourn
uri: Claire-Colebourn
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28Claire_Colebourn%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Taking religion too seriously <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/13/claire-colebourn-says-she-drowned-daughter-to-keep-her-safe">can be fatal</a>.  A mother on trial for
murdering her child offers the defense that this was a way to keep the
child safe in heaven.
<p>
<p>
After she killed the child, she then tried to kill herself, convinced
that she too would go to heaven.
<p>
<p>
What she did was entirely rational, taking belief in the afterlife
a premise.
<p>
<p>
It sounds like she and her daughter were suffering greatly, enough to
drive a person mad.  So my condemnation is directed not at her
personally, but at the religion that led her astray.
<p>


feed_id: c7d08a865e2d4f4cf2ba2fbdb1b1a81d
title: Adam and Eve(Satire)
uri: Adam-and-Eve(Satire)
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28Adam_and_Eve%28Satire%29%29
content:
<p>
<p>
&hellip; leading figures among the religious right gathered Wednesday
to <a href="https://www.theonion.com/religious-conservatives-argue-adam-and-eve-would-never-1833267416">issue a statement arguing that Adam and Eve would never have been
banished from the Garden of Eden if they had owned guns.
<p>


feed_id: 2c94743dd8694106736f192ac3f511df
title: CIA Investigated
uri: CIA-Investigated
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28CIA_Investigated%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Spanish investigators <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/13/spanish-investigators-believe-cia-was-involved-violent-attack-north-korean-embassy?cd-origin=rss">accuse the CIA for a recent armed attack</a> on the
North Korean embassy in Madrid.
<p>


feed_id: fc3214b83f3c38b73caf1834d826b085
title: US Consumer Protection
uri: US-Consumer-Protection
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28US_Consumer_Protection%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Federal Consumer Protection Enforcement <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/03/13/federal-consumer-protection-enforcement-drops-37-percent-under-president-tough?cd-origin=rss">Drops 37</a> Percent Under [the conman].
<p>
<p>
The bully wants to be tough on crime <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/13/new-report-shows-trumps-tough-crime-stance-doesnt-extend-lawbreaking-corporations?cd-origin=rss">only when the perpetrators are
not rich</a>.
<p>


feed_id: d28e77e995d79cbcd3b2e88610e274d8
title: US in the Yemen War
uri: US-in-the-Yemen-War
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28US_in_the_Yemen_War%29
content:
<P>
<P>
Senate Votes <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/03/13/senate-votes-to-end-u-s-support-for-yemen-war-but-republican-tricks-send-resolution-back-to-the-house-yet-again/">to End U.S. Support</a> for Yemen War
<p>


feed_id: e85c11f8d084c20c8d3d1e08d9499bee
title: proposed Housing Bill
uri: proposed-Housing-Bill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28Proposed_Housing_Bill%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Senator Warren has <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/03/13/sen-warrens-housing-and-economic-mobility-act?cd-origin=rss">proposed a bill</a> to fund lots of housing
construction in the US.
<p>


feed_id: 8c101ef59636b252d4962d4023d6990c
title: Urgent: Equal Rights Amendment
uri: Urgent-Equal-Rights-Amendment
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Equal_Rights_Amendment%29

content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://www.signherenow.org/petition/equal-rights/naral/">call
on Congress</a> to pass the Equal Rights Amendment.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 722e30dfe4b9fc1d3cb6c7222f333e5c
title: Urgent: Venezuela intervention
uri: Urgent-Venezuela-intervention
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Venezuela_intervention%29

content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/call/Venezuela-Pelosi">phone
Pelosi's office</a> to push for blocking military intervention in
Venezuela.
</p>
<p>If you phone, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 650ce3c23f2d4eab63a159f5478cfe70
title: Urgent: For the People Act
uri: Urgent-For-the-People-Act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_For_the_People_Act%29
content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/support-hr1">call
on the Senate</a> to pass HR1.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 9a1b3a4f1d68dc329445491c22ede980
title: Union organizing at Google
uri: Union-organizing-at-Google
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Union_organizing_at_Google%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://boingboing.net/2019/01/25/back-to-bush.html">Google
is lobbying</a> to ban using employees' work emails for union
organizing.


feed_id: eb03715895b1e41a3976e14e24abf713
title: Measles outbreak
uri: Measles-outbreak
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Measles_outbreak%29
content:
<p>
There
is <a href="http://mynorthwest.com/1254047/doctors-worry-measles-outbreak-will-get-worse-spread/">a
measles outbreak</a> in Vancouver because too many people have not
been vaccinated.


feed_id: 8f3fca7e3bc6ab08ff3976a017d415d0
title: Global heating denial conference
uri: Global-heating-denial-conference
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Global_heating_denial_conference%29

content:
<p>
Google, Facebook, and
Microsoft <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/01/google-facebook-and-microsoft-sponsored-a-conference-that-promoted-climate-change-denial/">Sponsored
a Conference</a> That Promoted [global heating] Denial.


feed_id: 28308df5a43df0e21686e541ee5d0e16
title: Venezuela crisis
uri: Venezuela-crisis
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Venezuela_crisis%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/25/confirming-us-orchestration-report-details-pences-key-phone-call-venezuelan">Reportedly
Pence phoned Guaidó</a> shortly before the latter claimed to be
"acting president" of Venezuela.
This means that the crisis in Venezuela is US intervention.
<p>
The story refers to Article 233 of Venezuela's Constitution.
Can anyone tell me what that article authorizes?
Does this give constitutional legitimacy to Guaidó's move?


feed_id: 6d51382748eb0700edce84f598860865
title: Kushner's assurance
uri: Kushner-s-assurance
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Kushner%27s_assurance%29
content:
<p>
(satire) Jared Kushner held a press conference Friday to assure
reporters he had never revealed government secrets to foreign
powers <a href="https://politics.theonion.com/jared-kushner-assures-reporters-he-never-revealed-state-1832056658">without
    turning an enormous profit</a>.


feed_id: 5d03f8acddddb8ddd556f1f30e9a5521
title: Bankrupting unions
uri: Bankrupting-unions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Bankrupting_unions%29
content:
<p>
ALEC’s New Union-Busting Toolkit Illustrates the [right-wing's] Goal
Is
to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/23/alecs-new-union-busting-toolkit-illustrates-goal-bankrupt-unions-not-protect">Bankrupt
Unions</a> Not Protect Workers.


feed_id: 888570ab023b5980534e1598d794b41a
title: Arrested for sleeping
uri: Arrested-for-sleeping
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Arrested_for_sleeping%29
content:
<p>
England makes it a crime to sleep anywhere but in a recognized
building, so homeless people are frequently arrested and even jailed.
People
are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/24/19-century-law-criminalises-homeless-vagrancy-act-rough-sleepers">fined
for begging</a>, then must beg for money to pay the fine.
<p>
Many US cities have
a <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-nov-feb.html#2_January_2018_(Fines_for_homeless)">similar
policy of cruelty</a>, but
others <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2018-sep-dec.html#18_November_2018_(San_Francisco_tax)">try
to help homeless people</a> instead.


feed_id: 8886f851179f0f3532fe67a204563260
title: Oil and gas production
uri: Oil-and-gas-production
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Oil_and_gas_production%29
content:
<p>
US Off Track to Reach Climate Goals
as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/24/us-climate-change-targets-off-track-latest-projections">Oil
and Gas Production Expand</a>.
<p>
The article is incorrect in claiming that natural gas emits less
greenhouse gas than coal.  That conclusion was based
on <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2011-jan-apr.html#14%20April%202011%20(Fracking%20and%20Warming)">underestimating
the methane leakage</a> from natural gas wells and handling
facilities.


feed_id: 53b4847ec25c89c552b996357582fc63
title: Charges against Salvini
uri: Charges-against-Salvini
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Charges_against_Salvini%29
content:
<p>
Italy's right-wing minister
Salvini <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/24/court-in-italy-rules-matteo-salvini-should-be-tried-for-kidnapping">faces
charges of kidnapping</a> for keeping refugees rescued at sea
effectively imprisoned in the ship that brought them into port.


feed_id: 3430998748a8ec017f352460664e0cd5
title: Facebook's mouths
uri: Facebook-s-mouths
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Facebook%27s_mouths%29
content:
<p>
Facebook plans
to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/25/facebook-integrate-instagram-messenger-whatsapp-messaging-platforms">integrate
its three mouths</a> &mdash; the services Facebook, Instagram and
WhatsApp &mdash; so all the data they swallow goes to the same
stomach.


feed_id: bd8f3324a527ea8e2d2fee594e8cc279
title: Unconscious racism
uri: 2019-03-17-Unconscious-racism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Unconscious_racism%29
content:
<p>
Unconscious racism amounts
to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2019/jan/26/racism-in-britain-how-we-revealed-the-shocking-impact-of-unconscious-bias">frequent
harassment</a> across many areas of life.
<p>
London <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> target
blacks <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2019/jan/26/met-police-disproportionately-use-stop-and-search-powers-on-black-people">twice
as often as whites</a>, for searching them on the street without
cause.


feed_id: 2475980550ec2a4f1532d6ce2d6832d9
title: Murder of Italian student
uri: Murder-of-Italian-student
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Murder_of_Italian_student%29
content:
<p>
Egypt
is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/25/egypt-frustrates-giulio-regeni-investigation-three-years-on">still
blocking investigation</a> of the murder of Italian student Giulio
Regeni, in which members of the state repression agencies have been
named as subjects to investigate.
<p>
It would be wrong to convict a person based on limited evidence such
as that, but it is sufficient reason to conclude that the Egyptian
state is responsible.


feed_id: d2697c66fe6ee02175e1e0a512e61137
title: Zimbabwe Army Crimes
uri: Zimbabwe-Army-Crimes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Zimbabwe_Army_Crimes%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Evidence implicates <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/30/zimbabwe-police-documents-army-abuses">Zimbabwe's army in murder and rape</a> during
repression of protests.
<p>
<p>
There is no cause that so easily stirs up big protests like increasing
the price of fossil fuels.  Yet this is one of the special issues on
which yielding to the protesters implies (even worse) disaster in a
few decades.
<p>
<p>
Perhaps if the price increase is entirely distributed to poor people
in other ways, they might accept it.
<p>


feed_id: 0a785935f1424f274c9ddb4945302f04
title: Ravi Ragbir
uri: Ravi-Ragbir
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Ravi_Ragbir%29
content:
<p>
<p>
When Ravi Ragbir, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/01/29/ice-ravi-ragbir-yvette-clarke-congress/">anti-deportation activist</a>, was summoned to meet with the US deportation department, Rep. Yvette Clarke and members of the
New York City government tried to accompany him.  <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">Thugs</a> told them they
were not allowed, and neither was his wife.  The result was a
standoff.
<p>
<p>
Clarke promised Congress would investigate those practices.
<p>


feed_id: 1cd47e0cd3be04d2a7339270617bb7a9
title: Asia Bibi
uri: 2019-03-17-Asia-Bibi
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Asia_Bibi%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Asia Bibi, her <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/29/asia-bibi-pakistans-top-court-upholds-blasphemy-acquittal">conviction for blasphemy finally overturned</a>, is now
free to leave Pakistan, if she can evade the Muslim fanatics that want
to kill her.
<p>
<p>
There is no progress, however, on repealing the law against blasphemy.
I recommend that people avoid visiting Pakistan unless it is for a
vital necessity.
<p>


feed_id: a079f87a5895a9e3f8c2ca46049272a1
title: Portland Right Wing
uri: Portland-Right-Wing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Portland_Right_Wing%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Right-wing extremists have adopted <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/29/portland-violent-rightwing-group-targets-mayor-with-threats">tactics of harassment and threats</a>
against progressives in Portland, including the mayor.
<p>
<p>
They have also forcibly shut down public talks &mdash; a tactic that is
wrong no matter who does it.
<p>
<p>
Demasking nonviolent protesters, especially protesting the deportation
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a>, must be seen as an act of violence, since it could result in
their deportation.
<p>


feed_id: 29d7339a6d82918b727da6d601e0f0da
title: Huawei Crimes
uri: Huawei-Crimes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Huawei_Crimes%29
content:
<p>
<p>
The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/29/huawei-criminal-indictments-us-china">charges against Huawei include</a> reselling US goods to Iran,
obstruction of justice, and theft of trade secrets.
<p>
<p>
Keeping technical trade secrets is antisocial, and if Huawei had
released them to the public, I for one would not criticize.  However,
it appears that Huawei proceeded to keep the same techniques secret.
<p>
<p>
I applaud the fact that this article avoided describing trade secrets
as "<a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.html">intellectual property</a>", which would have confused trade secrets with
other things that are totally different.
<p>


feed_id: d12aa3e57aa426ab4afaf2c4d268fd6c
title: Facebook vs Users
uri: Facebook-vs-Users
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Facebook_vs_Users%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Facebook is interfering with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/27/facebook-restricts-campaigners-ability-to-check-ads-for-political-transparency">political ad transparency investigators</a>,
blocking users from cooperating with their investigations.
<p>
<p>We should stop letting Facebook play games about this, by passing laws
that require political advertising platforms to give the public all
information about advertising campaigns, and allow each user to get
full information about the campaigns that targeted per and how.
<p>


feed_id: 704cdab36083089cd7b6f14efe974c59
title: Jerome Rodrigues
uri: Jerome-Rodrigues
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Jerome_Rodrigues%29
content:
<p>
<p>French thugs fired a non-lethal weapon and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/27/gilets-jaunes-leader-hit-in-eye-during-protest-will-be-disabled-for-life">hit protester Jérôme
Rodrigues in the eye</a>.  He will be disabled for life.
<p>


feed_id: 2ce0c010fb7a640f6cf2e0af622985bd
title: US and Children
uri: US-and-Children
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28US_and_Children%29
content:
<p>
<p><a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/reason/Articles/~3/zqqg1SXt8IE/after-living-abroad-kids-strug">Comparison with other countries</a> shows how insanely overprotective the
US is toward children.
<p>


feed_id: d59ee1ca68f92978797f2fa2d030afcd
title: Shoshana Zuboff
uri: Shoshana-Zuboff
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Shoshana_Zuboff%29
content:
<p>
<p>
"<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/20/shoshana-zuboff-age-of-surveillance-capitalism-google-facebook">The goal is to automate us</a>": Shoshana Zuboff on Surveillance
Capitalism, the business model of using surveillance to manipulate
every aspect of life.
<p>
<p>
Zuboff recognizes that the solutions usually proposed are inadequate:
<p>
<blockquote>
For example, the idea of "data ownership" is often championed as a
solution. But what is the point of owning data that should not exist in
the first place? All that does is further institutionalise and
legitimate data capture.
</blockquote>
<p>
I think she is heading towards <a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html">advocating the solution I advocate</a>:
stop systems from collecting data about people.
<p>


feed_id: 877676d8b801d219aabf33d7ae0df896
title: Polish Meat Quality
uri: Polish-Meat-Quality
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Polish_Meat_Quality%29
content:
<p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/27/secret-filming-shows-sick-cows-slaughtered-for-meat-in-poland">Secret Filming</a> Shows Sick Cows Slaughtered for Meat in Poland.
<p>


feed_id: f3f1f9427eff97727db9f6d39f6ccd5d
title: Military Negligence
uri: Military-Negligence
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Military_Negligence%29
content:
<p>
<p>The US military is <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/01/27/toxic-firefighting-foam-pfas-pfoa/">burning its firefighting foam</a> that contains
persistent toxic PFAS chemicals, but burning it may be producing
other toxins.  And the replacement may not be much safer.
<p>
<p>Toxins are not all alike.  Hydrofluoric acid is very dangerous in
macroscopic quantities.  Does ingesting a microscopic amount each day
do any harm?  I don't know.  Some toxic substances biodegrade and
others can remain for many years.
<p>


feed_id: 1e3a5d890fce16ff8962456e2b607510
title: Huawei The Spy
uri: Huawei-The-Spy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Huawei_The_Spy%29
content:
<p>
<p>As a Chinese company, Huawei is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/27/huaweis-problems-deepen-as-western-suspicions-mount">required to spy</a> for China.
<p>


feed_id: 23d63c9e799b68c2fd9353b6fe0bc752
title: Africa Urbanization
uri: Africa-Urbanization
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Africa_Urbanization%29
content:
<p>
<P>Urbanization in Africa is leading many <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/27/what-goes-up-population-crisis-wrong-fertility-rates-decline">women to have fewer children</a>.
Some argue that this might enable the human population to peak at a
only 8 or 9 billion.
<p>
<p>That is a theory, not a certainty, so let's not take that for granted!
We must not count our non-chickens before they don't hatch.
<p>
<p>If that theory is basically valid, campaigns for birth control will be
very important since they could lower that peak.
<p>
<p>Whatever happens to the global population, _you_ can make your life
easier, and contribute a lot more to the world, <a href="https://stallman.org/articles/children.html">if you avoid
reproducing</a>.
<p>


feed_id: 9f257ea40942b8895dc607cb41e38fbe
title: Polish Extremism
uri: Polish-Extremism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Polish_Extremism%29
content:
<p>
<p>A Polish right-wing extremist <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/27/polish-far-right-trial-raises-spectre-of-false-flag-tactics-german-journalist-russia-ukraine-fire-court">is on trial for an arson attack</a> in Ukraine against a Hungarian community center.  It was made to appear
that Ukrainian nationalist extremists had done it.
<p>
<p>The Polish arsonist says he was paid by a German right-wing extremist
who serves Russian interests in several other ways.
<p>


feed_id: 4ab80116177ce8a7703cc100f72df656
title: Privatization
uri: 2019-03-17-Privatization
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Privatization%29
content:
<p>
<p>Those who want us to believe that government inherently can't do
anything right (and do their damndest to make sure it doesn't) want to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/27/shutdown-government-functions-will-they-be-privatized">privatize some government functions</a>, such as the TSA and air traffic
control.
<p>
<p>Privatization would lead to paying low wages and getting lower-quality
staff with less training.  It would also lead to situations where your
local air traffic control company suddenly goes bankrupt due to
internal mismanagement, so your airport is shut for weeks till new
contracts are negotiated.
<p>


feed_id: d535b388081c2b646aec33963223caa9
title: Zimbabwe Crackdown
uri: Zimbabwe-Crackdown
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Zimbabwe_Crackdown%29
content:
<p>
<p>Zimbabwean <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/27/zimbabwe-crackdown-will-continue-for-forseeable-future-activists-fear">oppositionists are hiding</a>, fearing violent attacks and even
murder by uniformed <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> and soldiers.
<p>


feed_id: 202e17c21a6d30703bc362349df43ecc
title: Real Black Ops
uri: Real-Black-Ops
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Real_Black_Ops%29
content:
<p>
<p>Accusing a mercenary of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/27/south-african-intelligence-officers-spread-aids-black-communities">doing black ops</a> for apartheid-era South Africa
and of intentionally inoculating blacks with HIV with genocidal intent.
<p>


feed_id: e2735960b6793643188b0a4319c9e1bd
title: Venezuelan Hope
uri: Venezuelan-Hope
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Venezuelan_Hope%29
content:
<p>
<p>Some of Maduro's main <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/27/venezuela-opposition-leader-says-he-has-met-maduro-government-officials">supporters are meeting</a> with Guaidó and his
supporters.
<p>
<p>Urging Venezuela to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/27/the-observer-view-on-venezuela-consensus-not-conflict">negotiate return to democracy</a>.
<p>
<p>"Venezuelans cry out for change &mdash; but they dread foreign intervention."
<p>
<p>The Venezuelans quoted <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/26/juan-guaido-venezuelans-cry-out-for-change-but-dread-foreign-intervention">in the article</a> do not say they want "change",
pure and simple, regardless of details.  They have specific ideas of
what direction the change should go, and they don't agree about it.
<p>
<p>The one who opposed Chávez 20 years ago is evidently right-wing, and
wants a government that would run the country efficiently for the
well-off.  The former chavista wants a democratic government that
would help the poor as Chávez did.
<p>
<p>Now that we know Guaidó prearranged his claim with Pence,
  we have to expect he will do the former.  I can't believe that Pence
would want any other outcome.
<p>


feed_id: fdc73a9ee6fd100b6066fa9cc174e24e
title: Berlin for Climate
uri: Berlin-for-Climate
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Berlin_for_Climate%29
content:
<p>
<p>10,000 students in Berlin <a href="
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/25/ten-thousand-students-march-berlin-global-climatestrike-movement-rises?cd-origin=rss">participated in last Friday's strike</a> for
climate defense.
<p>


feed_id: b07b6f4415c0cbc3b82eacb48d13f2e9
title: Indian Censorship
uri: Indian-Censorship
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Indian_Censorship%29
content:
<p>
<p>An Indian elected official has been <a href="http://www.minoritiesofindia.org/crimes-humanity-former-indian-mp-convicted-1984-sikh-genocide/">sentenced to life in prison</a> for
promoting the massacre of Sikhs in 1984.
<p>
<p>This one exception illustrates how difficult it is to hold
murderous Hindu extremists in India responsible for their acts.
<p>


feed_id: ce55368f3f7e9dbef4c25d74ec16b246
title: Single Use Clothes
uri: Single-Use-Clothes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Single_Use_Clothes%29
content:
<p>
<p>Instagram is promoting a bubble of "clothing" <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2019/mar/15/like-clown-truth-shopping-on-instagram
">designed only for getting
photographed in</a>.  It is not durable enough to last for a few hours
of wearing it.
<p>
<p>
In society's terms, this is pure waste.  What we need is free software
to edit a photo to create an image in which you appear to be wearing
the clothing.  That would eliminate the need to really make and ship
the clothing.
<p>


feed_id: d239a41ea6977d0e85024baf1617a5e0
title: Hudson Yards
uri: Hudson-Yards
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Hudson_Yards%29
content:
<p>
<p>New York City's Hudson Yards is designed purely for the wealthy,
subsidized with lots of public money, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/15/hudson-yards-new-york-city-private-public-development">and used to break unions</a>.
<p>


feed_id: 703608575c20651fcab6d4248da1d53c
title: Pakistani Rights
uri: Pakistani-Rights
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Pakistani_Rights%29
content:
<p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/15/pakistan-torn-as-womens-day-march-sparks-wave-of-masculine-anxiety">A march for Women's rights</a> in Pakistan got the response of massive
intimidation.
<p>


feed_id: f0b37733a7a68c66b762daebf20e374a
title: Climate Manifesto
uri: Climate-Manifesto
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Climate_Manifesto%29
content:
<p>
<p>The UK Student <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/15/uk-student-climate-network-manifesto-declare-emergency">Climate Network manifesto</a>.
<p>
<p>Rebecca Solnit: Thank you, climate strikers. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/15/climate-strikers-letter-thank-you">Your action matters</a> and
your power will be felt.
<p>


feed_id: ea09ce3bc875668669af35e523011a5e
title: Female Apologism
uri: Female-Apologism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Female_Apologism%29
content:
<p>
<p>One unfairness that keeps women down is that they are <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/14/stop-making-women-apologize?cd-origin=rss">taught to apologize</a>
when someone mistreats them.
<p>
<p>It is unfortunate that the article uses "ingrained into our DNA" as a
metaphor for this, since the crucial point is that apologism is not
innate in women, rather taught to women.
<p>


feed_id: 0a935117cb0102c5987e4dbcdb0f3283
title: Pharma Smokescreen
uri: Pharma-Smokescreen
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Pharma_Smokescreen%29
content:
<p>
<p>Big Pharma's latest smokescreen: <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/14/beating-big-pharma-shell-game?cd-origin=rss">claiming that they give</a> big drugstore
chains so much discounts that price rises don't reach the pharma
companies.
<p>
<p>Even to the extent there is truth in this, it doesn't mean the system
is ok.  It permits horrible and sometimes deadly gouging.
<p>
<p>We should replace the private negotiations that benefit a few giant
chains of drugstores with a negotiation by the government that
benefits all people that need medicines.
<p>
<p>The government should make drug effect studies honest, by stopping Big
Pharma from paying for those studies and taxing those companies instead
to pay for them,
<p>


feed_id: 8baf939ddf60f453e3a37c1dd0d7f03c
title: War on Sex
uri: War-on-Sex
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28War_on_Sex%29
content:
<p>
<p>The internet <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2018/12/07/the-internet-war-on-sex-is-here/">war on sex</a>: ever more big platforms are censoring,
including Facebook and Starbucks.
<p>


feed_id: 2ca3b86072a7e8a5fa0f05864c207f00
title: Facebook Politics
uri: Facebook-Politics
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Facebook_Politics%29
content:
<p>
<p>Facebook said that political advertisers were required to identify
themselves, but many business front groups <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/how-big-oil-dodges-facebooks-new-ad-transparency-rules">.give fake identities</A>.
<p>


feed_id: f22bb7791d347a24e323d825b95b2f2d
title: Beto O Rourke
uri: 2019-03-17-Beto-O-Rourke
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#16_March_2019_%28Beto_O_Rourke%29
content:
<p>
<p>Beto O'Rourke is running for president, but there is no sign that he<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/14/born-run-beto-enters-2020-race-progressives-still-unclear-where-texas-democrat?cd-origin=rss">stands for anything</a> good.
<p>
<p>He has given the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/15/beto-orourke-friend-fossil-fuel-industry-climate-change">fossil fuel industry</a> plenty of cooperation.
<p>
<p> He is a political example of a celebrity &mdash; someone famous for being
famous.
<p>
<p>Daniel Boorstin, in The Image, pointed out how Americans were coming
to adulate celebrities instead of heroes (people who were famous for
what they had done).  In US politics, we still have real heroes to
admire, alongside plenty of real evildoers.  Let's not waste our
attention on celebrities.
</p>
<p>One thing about Beto O'Rourke that is not an objection to him as a candidate
is that he belonged to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/15/beto-orourke-teenage-member-hacking-group-cult-of-the-dead-cow">Cult of the Dead Cow</a>.
<p>
<p>However, that is not a reason to vote for him.
<p>


feed_id: de2cd3b7e39d0cc66b1ead7be95b8a07
title: Urgent: Big Pharma giveaways
uri: Urgent-Big-Pharma-giveaways
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#18_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Big_Pharma_giveaways%29
content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/eliminate-nafta-20-terms-that-lock-in-high-drug-prices?nowrapper=true">call
on Congress</a> to keep giveaways to Big Pharma out of the new NAFTA.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 313b9e90b69bb2df1014f0b14166d268
title: Urgent: Snooping at US border
uri: Urgent-Snooping-at-US-border
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#18_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Snooping_at_US_border%29
content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://act.demandprogress.org/sign/tell-homeland-security-stop-spying-journalists-legal-advocates-and-activists-border/">call
on the Department of Harassment and Surveillance</a> to stop snooping
on activists, journalists and legal aid lawyers at US border.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 739dce48e2e5ea50baff3649d4dc610a
title: Urgent: Marijuana and driving
uri: Urgent-Marijuana-and-driving
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#18_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Marijuana_and_driving%29
content:
<p>
Citizens of Massachusetts: call your state legislators
to <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/marijuana/2019/03/14/baker-pushes-bill-combat-impaired-driving/oO8fxDvDXKkTuMwAKz7b9H/story.html">oppose
a bill</a> that would imprison some people if they drive and used
marijuana in the past month or two.
</p>
<p>
Whether any particular person gets imprisoned will depends on how liked
or disliked person is.  I suspect that blacks will be imprisoned
especially often.
</p>
<p>
A law like this would be acceptable if and when there is a reliable
test for being impaired by marijuana <em>at the moment</em>.
</p>
<p>If you phone, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 31240dc257dabb54dd9736f0d5ff1150
title: Urgent: National emergencies
uri: Urgent-National-emergencies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#18_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_National_emergencies%29
content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/trump_emergency_powers">call
on Congress</a> to reform the laws governing national emergencies.
</p>
<p>
This is needed because the
bully <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/15/trump-veto-national-emergency-declaration-resolution-senate">vetoed
the bill</a> to override his bogus national emergency.
</p>
<p>
The exercise was useful &mdash; it got some Republicans to go on record
against the bogus emergency.  But not enough to eliminate it.
</p>
<p>
A congressional override of an emergency should not be a a bill.  It
should be exercise of a provision of a law, not needing the
president's signature.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 534d9c7cb59458a1e08bb6e708f53747
title: Unemployment drug tests
uri: Unemployment-drug-tests
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#18_March_2019_%28Unemployment_drug_tests%29
content:
<p>
The repressor wants to require people applying for unemployment
benefits <a href="https://www.thefix.com/proposed-unemployment-drug-testing-rule-set-be-finalized">to
take drug tests</a>.
<p>
There is no particular need for this, nor any justification.  It's
simply an opportunity for kicking people when they are down.
<p>
The US
government <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/01/massachusetts-weed-legalization-fired">imposes
on many organizations</a> the requirement to fire people for using
marijuana even in states that have legalized it.
<p>
Even supposing that people should be fired for being high on marijuana 
while at work, it would be an injustice to fire them based on a test
that shows they used it some time in the past month.  Perhaps there is a way
to legislate that such tests are not valid tests for use of marijuana.


feed_id: 99d15ed0bd0269052b7d799a6594abab
title: Conferences in Israel
uri: Conferences-in-Israel
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#18_March_2019_%28Conferences_in_Israel%29
content:
<p>
Israel <a href="https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/01/israel-airport-bds-tourists-freedom-of-expression-activists.html">asks
foreign visitors</a> attending conferences to list everyone they know
in Israel, and all the things they intend to do in Israel.


feed_id: dab7fce09601180a0ae5c2179658f475
title: Paris agreement target
uri: Paris-agreement-target
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#18_March_2019_%28Paris_agreement_target%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/30/australias-record-on-emissions-and-sustainability-condemned-by-oecd-review">The
OECD has recognized</a> that Australia is not trying to meet the Paris
agreement emissions target.
<p>
Of course, those targets are insufficient anyway.


feed_id: d080189a2c00cc1a2ef8b1dca5ae6326
title: Monitors in Hebron
uri: Monitors-in-Hebron
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#18_March_2019_%28Monitors_in_Hebron%29
content:
<p>
Israel
has <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-israel-suspends-hebron-observers-palestinians-call-for-permanent-un-force/">dismissed
the international team of monitors</a> that attempt to discourage
violence in Hebron, where Israel committed the provocation of
installing a group of fanatics in a neighborhood of that city and
forcing all the residents out.


feed_id: cc38e2e3becc84e41d4bc1ae4a2b3ec0
title: Gas field near Britain
uri: Gas-field-near-Britain
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#18_March_2019_%28Gas_field_near_Britain%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#planet">Planet roasters</a> have discovered a new gas field under the sea near
Britain.  Insanely, they
are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jan/29/discovery-of-biggest-uk-gas-field-in-a-decade-glengorm-north-sea">delighted
by the prospect</a> of burning all that.
<p>
How do these people not know that we risk making disaster unavoidable
if we do this?


feed_id: 8674f56efc2422ce46b065f7d8e64580
title: Intervention in Venezuela
uri: Intervention-in-Venezuela
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#18_March_2019_%28Intervention_in_Venezuela%29
content:
<p>
The US is considering military intervention in Venezuela, or at
least <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/29/boltons-legal-pad-saying-5000-troops-colombia-intensifies-fears-us-attack-venezuela">trying
to give the impression</a> that it is.
<p>
A few members of Congress call on the US
to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/28/trumps-war-hawks-threaten-venezuela-omar-and-jayapal-demand-us-rule-out-military">reject
military intervention</a> in Venezuela.


feed_id: ddf6262440acf2ee4c7c14cde863b3e0
title: Elimination of science
uri: Elimination-of-science
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#18_March_2019_%28Elimination_of_science%29
content:
<p>
The Union of Concerned Scientists reports on the bullshit
administration's <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/01/28/new-ucs-report-tallies-attacks-science-trump-era-harming-public-health">systematic
elimination of science</a> from the US government.


feed_id: 09cf75c4ec1e928835abbb6232310607
title: Apps reporting to Facebook
uri: Apps-reporting-to-Facebook
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#18_March_2019_%28Apps_reporting_to_Facebook%29
content:
<p>
Around <a href="https://privacyinternational.org/report/2647/how-apps-android-share-data-facebook-report">40%
of gratis Androids apps</a> report on the user's actions to Facebook.
<p>
Often they send the machine's "advertising ID", so that Facebook can
correlate the data it obtains from the same machine via various apps.
Some of them send Facebook detailed information about the user's
activities in the app; others only say that the user is using that
app, but that alone is often quite informative.
<p>
This spying occurs regardless of whether the user has a Facebook account.


feed_id: e8dda2206d5498a0efcaf03ff425e07f
title: Effect of tax giveaway
uri: Effect-of-tax-giveaway
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#18_March_2019_%28Effect_of_tax_giveaway%29
content:
<p>
The Republican tax giveaway to corporations
had <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/28/year-after-one-greatest-heists-us-history-survey-confirms-corporate-tax-cuts-didnt">very
little positive effect</a> &mdash; few corporations did more hiring or
investment.  They simply passed on the giveaway to executives and
stockholders.


feed_id: 9d066efc9e7731a8b0edbd286f78bf22
title: Line 3 oil pipeline
uri: Line-3-oil-pipeline
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#18_March_2019_%28Line_3_oil_pipeline%29
content:
<p>
Enbridge
is <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/01/30/enbridge-line-3-pipeline-minnesota/">preparing
in advance</a> to crush protests against the Line 3 oil pipeline
&mdash; using surveillance to identify possible organizers, and lining
up <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> to attack them.
<p>
Can anyone estimate the death toll from the added greenhouse gases that
will be emitted due to use of this pipeline?


feed_id: 250e0fe89d21c002cbc5cda0f8efa696
title: Cease-fire in Hodeida
uri: Cease-fire-in-Hodeida
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#18_March_2019_%28Cease-fire_in_Hodeida%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/30/yemen-ceasefire-is-holding-says-un-envoy">The
UN envoy says</a> that the cease-fire in Hodeida is holding.


feed_id: 5668af1d6e7f4b6cdff7842bdc70ae50
title: Howard Schultz
uri: Howard-Schultz
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#18_March_2019_%28Howard_Schultz%29
content:
<p>
Billionaire "centrist" Howard
Schultz <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/30/howard-schultz-starbucks-president-white-house">plans
to run for president</a> as an independent, apparently intending to
help <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#cheater">the cheater</a> defeat a progressive opponent.


feed_id: 2d027d8f9b51f2e7371c0a7c53d5bd15
title: Urgent: Protect Grizzly Bears
uri: 2019-03-18-Urgent-Protect-Grizzly-Bears
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#17_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Protect_Grizzly_Bears%29
content:
<p>
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://secure.defenders.org/site/Advocacy;jsessionid=00000000.app20114b?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=3437&s_src=3WDE1906H1XX1&s_subsrc=031319_ADVACTFF_GrizzDelist_A2D_nondonor">call on Congress</a> to maintain protection on grizzy bears.
<p>


feed_id: a680acf243a03e46c054082dc4694cb8
title: Wells Fargo and Fuels
uri: 2019-03-18-Wells-Fargo-and-Fuels
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#15_March_2019_%28Wells_Fargo_and_Feuls%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Wells Fargo Bank thinks of fossil fuels as
a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/23/despicable-wells-fargo-bashed-plans-cash-global-climate-crisis">That
    loss would serve</a> as a great investment
opportunity. The owners of Wells Fargo right.  Unfortunately,
the loss would not be limited to them.  So we can't afford to wait
quietly and tell them, "We told you so."  We must stop them from doing
what they intend to do.
</p>
<p>
That is short-term thinking.  That investment might pay off for 20 or
30 years, but beyond that the disasters will start damaging the value
of investments.  20 more years and technological civilization could
collapse, and many of those investments will simply disappear.
</p>
<p>
That loss would serve the owners of Wells Fargo right.  Unfortunately,
the loss would not be limited to them.  So we can't afford to wait
quietly and tell them, "We told you so."  We must stop them from doing
what they intend to do.
</p>


feed_id: 7c7364b5269e0cfc9ad23f7bed3d6513
title: Urgent: Asylum
uri: Urgent-Asylum
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#19_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Asylum%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://act.amnestyusa.org/page/39372/action/1">call on the
Department of Heartless Sadism</a> to stop making asylum seekers wait
in Mexico for months or years.
<p>
If you sign, please spread the word!


feed_id: dba230a4b729c56c16b1add964c9ba28
title: Sci-Hub
uri: Sci-Hub
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#19_March_2019_%28Sci-Hub%29
content:
<p>
As More Universities ‘Ditch’ Elsevier, 
<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/as-more-universities-ditch-elsevier-sci-hub-blossoms/">Sci-Hub</a>
Blossoms.
<p>
For the sake of science as well as freedom, we must legalize what
Sci-Hub does.


feed_id: 7e7b91b50908524605a30c0db2b5e6f2
title: Facebook stockholders
uri: Facebook-stockholders
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#19_March_2019_%28Facebook_stockholders%29
content:
<p>
Zuckerberg is now talking about making Facebook respect privacy.  The
stockholders think he 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/07/privacy-focused-facebook-kill-zuckerbergs-business-model">does
not plan to change much</a>.


feed_id: 416a26bdf96ab94f235c78ab668f944f
title: Alleged antisemitism
uri: Alleged-antisemitism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#19_March_2019_%28Alleged_antisemitism%29
content:
<p>
A "former Labour voter" has filed a 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/07/labour-antisemitism-investigation">complaint
for bigotry against the Labour Party</a>, claiming that it fails to
pursue alleged antisemitism.
<p>
The crucial question is, to what extent are these alleged antisemitic
incidents real antisemitism &mdash; that is, bigotry toward or
mistreatment of Jews qua Jews &mdash; and to what extent are they
criticism of Israel's occupation of Palestine.  The former should be
stamped out.  The latter are legitimate political views (one can agree
or disagree with them).
<p>
In principle, either or both may be present.
<p>
England has a long history of antisemitism; for centuries, Jews were
forbidden to live there.  Before World War II, antisemitism was overt
and widespread in Britain &mdash; as it was in the US.
<p>
At the same time, the UK is a hotspot in the global debate about
Israel's occupation of Palestine.  Accusations of "antisemitism" are
being 
<a href="#19_March_2019_(Weaponisation_of_antisemitism)">weaponized</a>.
In the US, defenders of the occupation fabricated false accusations of
antisemitism &mdash; not just misconstrued, but 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2018-sep-dec.html#27_November_2018_(US:_newly_elected_Ilhan_Omar_targeted)">factually
false</a>.  We cannot assume that people will not do this, either to
support the occupation or protect plutocracy from Corbyn.
<p>
Perhaps in the Labour Party there are some incidents of each kind.  If
so, what's crucial is to distinguish them clearly.  Perhaps there are
complex cases which combine some of both.  In those cases, the factors
need to be separated.


feed_id: 3b384fdf94240e6ed0ac10084e7a8061
title: Ghidra
uri: Ghidra
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#19_March_2019_%28Ghidra%29
content:
<p>
Releasing the 
<a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/panvm7/nsa-releases-ghidra-for-free-game-changer">NSA’s
Previously Classified Tool ‘Ghidra’</a> For Free Is a ‘Game Changer’.
<p>
It was designed for reverse-engineering "malware" &mdash; but 
<a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html">most
nonfree software nowadays <em>is</em> malware</a></a>; any driver or
firmware that is nonfree is a prime obstacle to freedom, even if it
does not have specific malicious functionalities.


feed_id: 4cd43bf42da85559167cf03fa345a705
title: Surveillance society in China
uri: Surveillance-society-in-China
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#19_March_2019_%28Surveillance_society_in_China%29
content:
<p>
Various Chinese workplaces and organizations demand that all staff
spend hours a day studying to be 
<a href="https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/03/chinas-democracy-includes-mandatory-apps-mass-chat-surveillance/">Xi-ple</a>.
<p>
That is the natural endpoint of the surveillance society.
<p>
We must take advantage of the fact that our countries have not reached
such intensity, to fight to move towards less surveillance.


feed_id: d5e05dee8a358eff172087e31befeb3b
title: Weaponisation of antisemitism
uri: Weaponisation-of-antisemitism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#19_March_2019_%28Weaponisation_of_antisemitism%29
content:
<p>
Ilhan Omar And the 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/06/ilhan-omar-weaponisation-of-anti-semitism">Weaponisation
of Antisemitism</a>.
<p>
Conflating Anti-Zionism with Jew-Hatred Is a 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/mar/07/debunking-myth-that-anti-zionism-is-antisemitic">Tragic
Mistake</a>.


feed_id: 8764f137a1ce850085992eea2e2f4ae0
title: Urgent: Support Ilhan Omar
uri: Urgent-Support-Ilhan-Omar
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#19_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Support_Ilhan_Omar%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: phone your congresscritter to 
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/call/Stand-with-Omar-calls/">support
Ilhan Omar</a>.
<p>
The Capitol Switchboard numbers are 202-224-3121, 888-818-6641
and 888-355-3588.</p>


feed_id: 8c76afbc7e9406726424e1a921504a60
title: Urgent: Voting Rights Advancement Act
uri: 2019-03-20-Urgent-Voting-Rights-Advancement-Act
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#19_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Voting_Rights_Advancement_Act%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="http://act.pfaw.org/sign/urge-congress-to-pass-vraa/">call on
Congress</a> to pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act.  This would
patch the hole, made by the Supreme Court, which has allowed so much
Republican voter-suppression in recent elections.
<p>
If you sign, please spread the word!


feed_id: 6e93f34306286a285ac2c9cda1126a8e
title: Refugee denied visa for medical care
uri: Refugee-denied-visa-for-medical-care
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#19_March_2019_%28Refugee_denied_visa_for_medical_care%29

content:
<p>
A gravely injured Syrian was denied a visa to visit the US for medical
care.  The US cited a reason which was 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/18/syria-refugee-bomb-victim-denied-visa-trump-travel-ban">pure
trumpery</a>.


feed_id: 846d72e250611a7ce4fc66fcab52654e
title: Google's censorship plans
uri: Google-s-censorship-plans
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#19_March_2019_%28Googles_censorship_plans%29
content:
<p>
Google is 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/01/18/google-dragonfly-project-protests/">facing
global protests</a> against its plans to censor for China.


feed_id: 155ce73df452b7187dd7015037e791a2
title: Advance preparation for local disasters
uri: Advance-preparation-for-local-disasters
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#19_March_2019_%28Advance_preparation_for_local_disasters%29

content:
<p>
The US could save a lot of money on future local disasters by
investing in 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/18/natural-disaster-preparation-fema-hurricanes">advance
preparation</a>.


feed_id: c269b06e769a843b440da7bd1493090e
title: Chicago thug convicted of murder
uri: Chicago-thug-convicted-of-murder
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#19_March_2019_%28Chicago_thug_convicted_of_murder%29

content:
<p>
The Chicago <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thug</a> that shot Laquan McDonald has been 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/18/laquan-mcdonald-police-killing-chicago-jason-van-dyke">sentenced
to almost 7 years in prison</a>.
<p>
Convictions may start to teach <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> that they shouldn't fly off the
handle and kill people.  But I think that change will require changes
in training and practices, as well.


feed_id: 68d04fd5ae0d6ad53ca77dcb83efe3a7
title: Reports about Cohen's testimony
uri: Reports-about-Cohen-s-testimony
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#19_March_2019_%28Reports_about_Cohens_testimony%29
content:
<p>
Mueller says that the recent reports about Michael Cohen's testimony,
claiming he said that the <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#bully">bully</a> told him to lie to Congress, were
false &mdash; 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/18/michael-cohen-robert-mueller-responds-lying-congress-buzzfeed-report">Cohen's
testimony did not say that</a>.


feed_id: 7741d0dd2f85de46ff96b0a3f799b2ed
title: Urgent: Drop Faux News
uri: 2019-03-20-Urgent-Drop-Faux-News
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Drop_Faux_News%29
content:
<p>
Everyone: <a href="https://act.freepress.net/sign/media_drop_fox/">call
on advertisers</a> to drop Faux News.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 0a87efdc7edad21e4500d43e726e9294
title: Urgent: S.J.Res. 11
uri: Urgent-S-J-Res-11
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_S.J.Res._11%29
content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://act.winwithoutwar.org/act/tell-sen-block-venezuela-military-action_Now_SJRes11">call
on your senators</a> to support S.J.Res 11 to block US intervention in
Venezuela.
</p>
<p>If you send a letter, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 045fc78e9e14bb032c7dd591704997df
title: Urgent: Indigenous People in Brazil
uri: Urgent-Indigenous-People-in-Brazil
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Indigenous_People_in_Brazil%29

content:
<p>
Everyone: <a href="https://amazonwatch.org/take-action/halt-the-brazilian-governments-assault-on-indigenous-peoples">call
on the Brazilian government</a> to respect indigenous people's lands.
</p>
<p>
The way to sign without running nonfree Javascript code is with Lynx.
</p>


feed_id: c0435034d93f77e792b7df1b9c369e8f
title: Urgent: Fossil fuel investment
uri: Urgent-Fossil-fuel-investment
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Fossil_fuel_investment%29

content:
<p>
Everyone: <a href="https://act.priceofoil.org/sign/EIB-stop-funding-fossils/">call
on the European Investment Bank</a> not to invest in fossil fuels.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: a53d6182a4e93393d1bb4994e2ba2fbd
title: Visa at age 90
uri: Visa-at-age-90
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Visa_at_age_90%29
content:
<p>
The UK
has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jan/30/man-90-told-to-fly-to-us-to-get-correct-visa-to-remain-in-uk-with-wife">told
a man of age 90</a>, developing dementia, that he has to go to the US
before he can apply for a visa to live with his British wife.  If he
went to the US, he might not be competent to apply for the visa;
supposing he did so, he might not live long enough as a homeless
person to see the answer to the application.
<p>
The many cruel immigration decisions coming from the UK vary in their
details, but they all embody a basic attitude of rigidity even to the
point of cruelty.  That attitude is no accident; it has been instilled
somehow.


feed_id: 539bb12f1290228bca9cf64a5a47d3a7
title: Border wall of surveillance
uri: Border-wall-of-surveillance
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Border_wall_of_surveillance%29
content:
<p>
EFF: a border wall of surveillance would
be <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/31/surveillance-wall-not-good-alternative-concrete-wall">as
bad as a physical wall</a>.
<p>
The surveillance would affect everyone, including US citizens, and could
be applied to a zone extending quite far from the actual border.


feed_id: 04f4761c612b0bb148e6379514982ece
title: Indian dissidents
uri: Indian-dissidents
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Indian_dissidents%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.thewire.in/rights/faculty-students-and-iims-iit-condemn-false-charges-against-anand-teltumbde">Several
leading Indian dissidents</a> face trumped-up, absurd criminal
charges.
<p>
Teltumbde is under bail conditions that make it nearly impossible for
him to travel even within India.  He can only be away from home for
up to 18 hours.
<p>
He was supposed to speak at the Kerala Literature Festival, which had
arranged a way he could come to Calicut (Kozhikode) and speak without
being away from home more than 18 hours, but the trip was sabotaged
and he could not go there.


feed_id: 801da71f3fcbb3c1fbd90c0d698bd225
title: Two-state solution
uri: Two-state-solution
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Two-state_solution%29
content:
<p>
UN Expert to Int'l Community: Don't Say You Want a Two-State Solution While
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/30/un-expert-intl-community-dont-say-you-want-two-state-solution-while-turning-blind">Turning
Blind Eye</a> to "Engine" of Israeli Occupation.


feed_id: 57c3783c54335bd1d94232f6328af476
title: Glacier cavity
uri: Glacier-cavity
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Glacier_cavity%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/31/city-sized-1000-foot-deep-cavity-found-glacier-warns-nasa-signaling-rapid-decay">A
giant cavity has appeared</a> at the bottom of a glacier in
Antarctica.  It appears that the cavity has developed in a few years,
so fast has the ice melted.


feed_id: f947625b31639c7b024b4644ce9175ce
title: Estate tax bill
uri: Estate-tax-bill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Estate_tax_bill%29
content:
<p>
Sanders
has <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/31/bernies-plutocracy-prevention-act">introduced
a bill</a> to increase the estate tax, with a progressive tax rate.
<p>
The article mentions closing loopholes as well.  I would like to read
more about the details of that, because that point is crucial to
success of the measure.


feed_id: 3624e4b17f6e817ed1460af0ac16fc2d
title: Elliott Abrams
uri: Elliott-Abrams
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Elliott_Abrams%29
content:
<p>
Elliott Abrams, associated with brutal and violent US interventions in
banana republics, has been
named <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/01/30/elliott-abrams-venezuela-coup/">US
special envoy to Venezuela</a>.
<p>
In effect, this threatens Venezuela with something tantamount to war.
<p>
Remember Saddam Hussein, the murderous dictator that ruled Iraq?
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#dubya">Dubya</a> said he invaded Iraq to give that country democracy.
<p>
I <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2004-may-aug.html#08%20August%202004%20(Control%20of%20Iraq)">opposed
that invasion</a>,
saying that invading a country to overthrow a
dictator is only morally justified if (1) the people of that country
want such assistance and (2) we can expect the replacement government
to be better.  Neither of these was true in Iraq, and that was clear
in advance.
<p>
Not coincidentally, the actual result of that invasion was bloodshed
that continues to this day, as well as Al Qa'ida in the Arabian
Peninsula, and <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a>.
<p>
Maduro is likewise a dictator, though not as murderous as Saddam, but
Venezuelans do not want an invasion, and we can hardly expect the
would-be dictator of the US to give democracy to any conquered
country.
<p>
Thus, I oppose his plans for Venezuela.
<p>
Venezuela: <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/31/venezuela-no-intervention-no-maduro">No
to Intervention, No to Maduro</a>.


feed_id: b807e073c03e8fec5a183d1fb24c6686
title: 10 million arrests
uri: 10-million-arrests
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%2810_million_arrests%29
content:
<p>
US <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> arrest
people <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/01/31/arrests-policing-vera-institute-of-justice/">10
million times a year</a>, and 80% of them are for minor matters,
racial harassment, squeezing fines out of the poor, etc.


feed_id: 20dd6b3fd4968243fa7192e3d59d9f82
title: Capturing biometrics
uri: Capturing-biometrics
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Capturing_biometrics%29
content:
<p>
Illinois supreme court: capturing your biometrics is, in itself,
damage to you,
and <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/01/victory-illinois-supreme-court-protects-biometric-privacy">enough
basis for you to sue</a>.


feed_id: b0f0652c819e93c1bb104f56ca72cc43
title: Civil forfeiture in NM
uri: Civil-forfeiture-in-NM
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Civil_forfeiture_in_NM%29
content:
<p>
Even after New Mexico passed a law that totally eliminated "civil
forfeiture" (a form of punishment without trial) in the state, sleazy
Albuquerque officials kept doing it, claiming the law
mysteriously <a href="https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/civil-asset-forfeiture-suffers-a-crushing-defeat/">did
not apply to them</a>.
<p>
It turns out their salaries were paid from the funds obtained by seizing
people's money, cars and houses without charging them with a crime.


feed_id: 4e4e38ce96928507f25d3be951b6721e
title: License plate tracking
uri: 2019-03-20-License-plate-tracking
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28License_plate_tracking%29
content:
<p>
Many US cities use license plate
tracking, <a href="https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/grosse-ile-uses-cameras-to-track-vehicle-locations-and-its-not-alone/Content?oid=19584612">even
on parked cars</a>.  Even if they normally delete the data after a few
days, there is no telling which other agencies might have got copies
in the meantime.
<p>
<a href="https://blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2019/01/new-york-bill-would-limit-alpr-use-help-block-national-license-plate-tracking-program/">A
bill being considered</a> in New York State would put limits on the
use of data from license plate cameras.
<p>
This would be a big step forward, but I fear it would be insufficient
because the FBI
could <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2018-sep-dec.html#23_September_2018_('Data_privacy'_hearing)">seize
the whole database</a> every day under the PAT RIOT act.
<p>
To make license plate cameras safe, we need a law to require that the
system fail to recognize any license plates other than those specified
individually by court order.
<p>
Cameras are not the only way to track
cars.  <a href="https://www.pymnts.com/innovation/2019/digital-license-plates-connected-car-ecosystem/">"Digital
license plates"</a> could track a car's movements all the time.
<p>
Of course, a "connected car" does the same thing.  The "connection"
works via a cellular modem, and the phone system always knows
approximately where it is.  Perhaps the car also has a GPS system to
give it more precise tracking data.
<p>
If you own a "connected car", I suggest you disconnect it.
The car's computers might record all the GPS locations for the next
time it is serviced.  So I suggest disconnecting the GPS too.
<p>
Can anyone determine whether putting aluminum foil around the antennas
is feasible, and whether it is effective at cutting off connectivity
and GPS?


feed_id: d4f40874e48f0ae79838623ad90471ec
title: Tech platforms and state surveillance
uri: Tech-platforms-and-state-surveillance
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Tech_platforms_and_state_surveillance%29

content:
<p>
The main US tech platforms
are <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/is-big-tech-merging-with-big-brother-kinda-looks-like-it/">integrating
with the US "security" apparatus</a> to form a system of total
surveillance that would make the state totally "secure" against us.
<p>
Most criticism of these companies fails to recognize that aspect of
what they do.  Here is a criticism of Facebook from a former insider
that addresses many of its dangers, but omits the danger of its
collaboration with the state.  Its suggestion that users "own" the
data and metadata about them, and
be <a href="http://time.com/magazine/us/5505429/january-28th-2019-vol-193-no-3-u-s/">asked
to approve each use</a>,
would be inadequate unless it included use by the state.
<p>
In the US, the U SAP AT RIOT act prevents Facebook from carrying out
such a policy even if it wanted to.  However, even if that law were
changed, I would not trust a data platform's word about this, unless
it were headed
by <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2013-may-aug.html#11_August_2013_(The_shutdown_of_Lavabit)">Ladar
Levison</a>.
And even then, the state might find a way to take all the data
without his knowing.


feed_id: c14a39749afa9bb538148d02af20c47c
title: Urgent: Red Flag law
uri: Urgent-Red-Flag-law
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Red_Flag_law%29
content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://act.everytown.org/sign/Tell-Your-Senators-pass-a-red-flag-law/">call
on your Senators to pass a Red Flag law</a>.  This would allow courts
to order guns taken away from someone for cause; for instance, for
domestic violence.


feed_id: 9b93df28af321f936e601c6d65f0bc63
title: UN conference on women's rights
uri: UN-conference-on-women-s-rights
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28UN_conference_on_womens_rights%29
content:
<p>
The US
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/20/women-losing-out-under-us-visa-policy">appears
to have tried to sabotage</a> UN accords about women's rights by
refusing visas to women that sought to attend the UN conference on
women's rights.


feed_id: 23ea0186e82efd4e3b2dad5e407cdd45
title: Learning not to be be prejudiced
uri: Learning-not-to-be-be-prejudiced
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Learning_not_to_be_be_prejudiced%29

content:
<p>
Lives Are Ruined by Shame And Stigma.
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/20/lives-shame-lgbt-lessons-schools-parent-protests">LGBT
Lessons in Schools Are Vital</a>.
<p>
This is so that all children learn not to be prejudiced.


feed_id: e4c5f2034ac73d9c5983d2c105038775
title: US attempt to stop trade with Iran
uri: US-attempt-to-stop-trade-with-Iran
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28US_attempt_to_stop_trade_with_Iran%29

content:
<p>
The US attempt to stop Europe from trading with Iran is
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/01/will-iran-sanctions-herald-fall-imperial-dollar">provoking
efforts to take that power away from the US for good</a>.
<p>
China is no less imperialist than the US, and even more oppressive.
For China to replace US financial hegemony with its own
would not be a step forward.


feed_id: 1f06efe4fdd35e4e70c9469b369d4726
title: Netanyahu's main rival
uri: Netanyahu-s-main-rival
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Netanyahus_main_rival%29
content:
<p>
Netanyahu's main rival in the coming election is a former general who
boasts of bombing Gaza and
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/29/israel-netanyahu-chief-rival-benny-gantz-launches-election-campaign">refers
to all the casualties as "terrorists"</a>, although
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2014-may-aug.html#11_July_2014_(The_people_killed_by_bombing_Gaza)">only
a fraction of them were fighters</a>.
<p>
I don't think Palestine is likely to have a partner for peace any time
soon.


feed_id: 253ec547c4e370b675f8e1f3eee386b9
title: Falling short in climate defense
uri: Falling-short-in-climate-defense
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Falling_short_in_climate_defense%29

content:
<p>
One sign that we're falling short in climate defense is that Big Oil
gets its hopes up
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jan/29/discovery-of-biggest-uk-gas-field-in-a-decade-glengorm-north-sea">when
a new deposit of underground methane is discovered</a>.
<p>
We
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#19_November_2016_(New_fossil_fuel_infrastructure_projects)">should
have made it totally clear by now</a> that new fossil fuel discoveries
will not be extracted.
<p>
A few years ago, we needed to leave 80% of the known reserves in the
ground.  By now, what we need to leave must be more than 80%.


feed_id: 7556a048157a8937fdf3012ab79420d2
title: People happier after quitting Facebook
uri: People-happier-after-quitting-Facebook
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28People_happier_after_quitting_Facebook%29

content:
<p>
A study found that people get
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/feb/01/facebook-mental-health-study-happiness-delete-account">measurably
happier (on the average)</a> if they stop being used by Facebook.


feed_id: c107a8ffa0d667ca3777e8bf5aaf0292
title: INF nuclear missile treaty
uri: 2019-03-21-INF-nuclear-missile-treaty
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28INF_nuclear_missile_treaty%29
content:
<p>
The undiplomat has
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/01/inf-donald-trump-confirms-us-withdrawal-nuclear-treaty">"suspended
US compliance"</a> with the INF nuclear missile treaty, but not
actually canceled it yet.
<p>
This seems to be an attempt at diplomacy, but carried out in a
heavy-handed way that would be unlikely to result an agreement.


feed_id: 0f4f0e492f444087c0fa28ea9a10255b
title: Interim president of Venezuela
uri: Interim-president-of-Venezuela
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Interim_president_of_Venezuela%29
content:
<p>
Guaidó, as leader of Venezuela's National Assembly, had the
constitutional authority to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/31/si-se-puede-shouts-rapturous-crowd-at-juan-guaido-rally">declare
himself interim president and to call new elections</a>.  This
explains why Maduro has not charged him with a crime such as
rebellion.  If Guaidó wins the confrontation and it is not due to US
intervention, it will not be a coup d'etat.
<p>
I still have misgivings about Guaidó because of his association 
with right-wing governments that support plutocrats in their
own countries and internationally.


feed_id: ba23bf99715510b183a2246fb12bb474
title: Freedom of expression in Burma
uri: Freedom-of-expression-in-Burma
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Freedom_of_expression_in_Burma%29
content:
<p>
Freedom of expression in Burma is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/01/myanmar-freedom-of-expression-getting-worse-day-by-day-report-finds">rapidly
deteriorating</a>.  Promises to allow a free press have not been kept.


feed_id: a846ac9a78a738f3c81cbb867a7fdc7b
title: Terrorism and Media
uri: Terrorism-and-Media
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Terrorism_and_Media%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Refusing to call the New Zealand terrorist by name is a good way of
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/19/naming-christchurch-suspect-media-jacinda-ardern-name">reducing the appeal of terrorism to others</a>.
</p>
<p>
I do the same thing, including to the terrorism-promoter in the White House.
</p>


feed_id: 93fabec8341fe0820da1bc8af2e1b4ff
title: Israeli Politics
uri: Israeli-Politics
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Israeli_Politics%29
content:
<p>
<p>
A right-wing extremist Israeli politician <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/19/far-right-israeli-campaign-ad-jokes-of-fascism-perfume-ayelet-shaked">is cozying up to the word
"fascism"</a>.
</p>


feed_id: 59b20ab782aa186a93283f509cc14b58
title: Climate Strike
uri: 2019-03-21-Climate-Strike
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Climate_Strike%29
content:
<p>
<p>
The organizers say that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/19/school-climate-strikes-more-than-1-million-took-part-say-campaigners-greta-thunberg">1.4 million people participated</a> in Friday's
climate strike rallies.
</p>
<p>
The education ministers who criticized the student strikers are
part of right-wing planet-roaster governments.
</p>
<p>
To make the planet-roaster politicians give ground, we need even
bigger protests.  You can help, by participating in nonviolent climate
defense rallies in the future.
</p>


feed_id: 846dcb1256cb1d21e6c5f6d2be72fffc
title: Sexism In Campaigns
uri: Sexism-In-Campaigns
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Sexism_In_Campaigns%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Clinton's campaigns in 2008 and 2016 were held back by <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/3/17/1842415/-Sexist-campaign-coverage-can-t-be-fixed-if-media-won-t-admit-to-2016-fiasco?detail=emaildkre">persistent sexism
in the mainstream media</a>.
</p>
<p>
She deserved criticism for her "centrist" plutocratist positions, but not for her gender.
</p>


feed_id: 1159392342ccc31134937eb13edf1ff5
title: SEC Helping Banks
uri: SEC-Helping-Banks
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28SEC_Helping_Banks%29
content:
<p>
<p>
The SEC allowed two big planet-roaster banks to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/03/18/shareholders-silenced-banks-evade-responsibility-climate-impacts?cd-origin=rss">suppress shareholder
resolutions</a> requiring them to disclose climate protection plans.
</p>

<P>


feed_id: d03c0b5479f74236d6be25c4f2ab245f
title: Green New Deal
uri: 2019-03-21-Green-New-Deal
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Green_New_Deal%29
content:
<p>
<p>
The Green New Deal can't be funded by printing more money.
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/18/paying-green-new-deal-modern-monetary-theory?cd-origin=rss">It will require taxes</a>.
</p>
<p>
That's no a real obstacle.  We can get the money by taxing the rich,
and businesses, and fossil fuels.
</p>


feed_id: 2a72aff9a4beae11bd424dc84e78e82e
title: Elecia Dexter
uri: Elecia-Dexter
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Elecia_Dexter%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Elecia Dexter had to <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/3/16/1842662/-Remember-that-newspaper-owner-who-wanted-the-KKK-to-ride-again-His-black-replacement-just-quit?detail=emaildkre">resign as editor of a local newspaper</a> in Alabama.
The owner, who was castigated for a racist editorial, told her she
was in charge, then continued to interfere.
</p>

<P>


feed_id: 26d9f5d4faa2fd823edc5877b23a0bfd
title: Hate Spreaders
uri: Hate-Spreaders
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Hate_Spreaders%29
content:
<p>
Right-wing hate-spreaders have formed an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/16/extreme-right-was-once-loose-group-of-loners-not-any-more">international movement</a>.  The
New Zealand terrorist cited British right-wing extremists, as well as the bullshitter.
</p>
<p>
The <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/03/18/new-zealand-mosque-shooter-manifesto/">New Zealand terrorist's attack</a> comes out of this movement, which
calls everyone other than white Christians "invaders".
</p>
<p>
This attitude is especially ironic in a country such as New Zealand or
the USA, since they were conquered by white Christian invaders just a
few hundred years ago.
</p>


feed_id: 062d048733f0192f491b145a738512e0
title: Gilets Jaunes
uri: Gilets-Jaunes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Gilets_Jaunes%29
content:
<p>
<p>
France will shut down gilets jaunes protests &mdash;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/18/french-pm-removes-police-chief-and-vows-to-shut-down-rioters">the whole protest</a>&mdash; if
a black bloc is present.
</p>
<p>
Nonviolent protesters should not tolerate the participation those bent
on violence.  If the protest degenerates into violence, its moral
force is lost.  If only part degenerates into violence, the rest does
not deserve to lose its moral force, but plutocratists will try to
blame them all.
</p>
<p>
That's exactly what the plutocratist French state is trying to do now.
</p>


feed_id: be8f68a7aac80306b0bb24d2277780d6
title: Money in US politics
uri: Money-in-US-politics
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Money_in_US_politics%29
content:
<p>
Beto O'Rourke raised a lot of money for his campaign, but he 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/19/beto-orourke-raised-61m-in-a-day-proof-theres-too-much-money-in-us-politics">won't
say whether they are many small donations or fewer large ones</a>.


feed_id: fa887414dde94e966ecccfe11ce52ef6
title: Proprietary software
uri: 2019-03-21-Proprietary-software
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Proprietary_software%29
content:
<p>
Adobe 
<a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/3kgw83/is-adobes-creative-cloud-too-powerful-for-its-own-good">calls
for condemnation</a>, along with other companies that dominate users
and push them around.
<p>
The author sees the harm of monopoly power, but does not recognize the
role of proprietary software in generating that power.  At least he is
starting to realize that there is a problem.


feed_id: 7d3562474738ab243a90d246fcedddb7
title: Trillion-dollar bailout for US banks
uri: Trillion-dollar-bailout-for-US-banks
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Trillion-dollar_bailout_for_US_banks%29

content:
<p>
US banks got a trillion-dollar bailout, ten years ago.  Plutocratists
say it wasn't one; here's 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/19/trillion-dollar-wall-street-bailouts-bernie-sanders-and-washington-post">why
it was one</a>.


feed_id: b27cd4403b885a7b46df561b4daf304b
title: Indian garment workers
uri: Indian-garment-workers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Indian_garment_workers%29
content:
<p>
Indian garment workers, working at home, get 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/feb/01/major-western-brands-pay-indian-garment-workers-11p-an-hour">even
less pay than Bangladeshi garment workers</a>.  And that's if they get paid at all.
<p>
This is the 
<a href="https://stallman.org/business-supremacy-treaties.html">World Trade
Organization</a> in action, making all countries compete to attract
business away from other countries.  It's the same as when Amazon
makes US cities bid to pay to host its new headquarters.


feed_id: 53da887e6acd96a0fb26dfe7626fc0e6
title: Right-wing terrorist threat
uri: Right-wing-terrorist-threat
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Right-wing_terrorist_threat%29
content:
<p>
The main terrorist threat in the US comes from US citizens with
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/01/forget-trumps-border-distraction-the-real-threat-is-inside-the-house">right-wing
views</a>.
<p>
This threat is exacerbated by the right-wing bias of <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> in general.
"The FBI is &hellip; a political police force that primarily targets
the left."
<p>
After right-wing extremists stabbed antifascist protesters including
supporters of BAMN, the FBI 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/01/sacramento-rally-fbi-kkk-domestic-terrorism-california">investigated
the antifascists as a possible threat to the rights of the right-wing
extremists</a> (which the FBI identified as "KKK").
<p>
I can understand, given the right-wing bias of federal and state
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a>, why antifascists would be tempted to reject the idea of
respecting freedom of speech for right-wing extremists.
<p>
But that is a fundamental wrong.  Freedom of speech covers all views,
and we must not advocate denying it to views we abhor.  Antifascists
had better support freedom of speech for all views, or (as these
events demonstrate) the antifascists will be the ones persecuted.


feed_id: b3c247d8f6334d3293e8ddd2d8482c93
title: Shootings
uri: Shootings
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Shootings%29
content:
<p>
The frequent shootings in the US 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/01/an-indelible-mark-effects-related-to-gun-violence-are-widespread-and-lasting">traumatize
many people for each one that is killed by a shooting</a>.


feed_id: 13c0b787bf59856fef874ecd641d9107
title: "Little ice age" of 1600s - 1700s
uri: Little-ice-age-of-1600s-1700s
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Little_ice_age_of_1600s_-_1700s%29
content:
<p>
European diseases killed roughly 90% of the population of the Americas
during the 1500s, and large amounts of farmland became wild.  This is
suspected as the cause of the 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/31/european-colonization-of-americas-helped-cause-climate-change">"little
ice age" of the 1600s - 1700s</a>.


feed_id: 0eed0ce2c7cce5a6edb71b4aff4389da
title: Extinction Rebellion
uri: 2019-03-21-Extinction-Rebellion
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_%28Extinction_Rebellion%29
content:
<p>
Extinction Rebellion began its campaign in the US with a 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/further/2019/01/29/ignore-moron-were-all-gonna-die">die-in
in Rockefeller Center</a>.


feed_id: 102db0e99d18f60730371d976519e340
title: The campaign for a "drug-free world"
uri: The-campaign-for-a-drug-free-world
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28The_campaign_for_a_drug-free_world%29

content:
<p>
"The campaign for a 'drug-free world' is 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/mar/20/the-campaign-for-a-drug-free-world-is-costing-lives">costing
lives</a>."


feed_id: 45685de788e28dd8eccc1b683893c5d4
title: US border thugs' blacklist
uri: US-border-thugs-blacklist
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28US_border_thugs_blacklist%29
content:
<p>
US border <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> use a 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/20/leaked-database-targeting-journalists-immigration-activists">blacklist
of activists and journalists</a> as a guide for systematic harassment
at the US border, then make it worse by refusing to acknowledge that
this is a system for harassment.
<p>
It's like the way city <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> use 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2015-may-aug.html#2_June_2015_(Black_citizens)">"stop
and frisk" policies</a> to systematically harass black males, then
deny this because there is no written policy saying "search each black
male".


feed_id: d77f06a1cd64f97ab5816ae2b30dce1a
title: Roundup and cancer
uri: 2019-03-21-Roundup-and-cancer
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Roundup_and_cancer%29
content:
<p>
Bayer/Monsanto has been 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/mar/19/monsanto-trial-roundup-verdict-edwin-hardeman-cancer">held
responsible</a> for causing (via Roundup) a man's cancer.


feed_id: 5f5f1785ab951147c26d3c01c97e35e3
title: iThing assembly-line
uri: iThing-assembly-line
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28iThing_assembly-line%29
content:
<p>
(satire) Foxconn’s first fully automated [iPhone-making] assembly-line
robot immediately 
<a href="https://www.theonion.com/first-automated-foxconn-machine-immediately-tries-to-co-1832242264">attempted
suicide after being powered up Thursday</a>.


feed_id: b7f781f29dd4bf009e1170696fbb2fbf
title: Venezuelans against US economic sanctions
uri: Venezuelans-against-US-economic-sanctions
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Venezuelans_against_US_economic_sanctions%29

content:
<p>
A poll found that 80% of Venezuelans oppose the US economic sanctions
and 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/01/venezuelan-people-are-whoever-agrees-donald-trump">even
more are against any US military intervention</a>.


feed_id: 23260b330318621a6f2a3ec6556d4633
title: Caucuses on nonfree apps and services
uri: Caucuses-on-nonfree-apps-and-services
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Caucuses_on_nonfree_apps_and_services%29

content:
<p>
Some US political party caucuses have been run based on 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/01/online-voting-revolution-coming-2020-dems-starting-iowa-biggest-changes-nomination">proprietary
apps, and digital services</a> such as Eventbrite that collect
personal information about participants.
<p>
If you are in Iowa and reading this, please write to me.


feed_id: b457fd2550ce4cf720f9892fe6522afe
title: Billionaire presidential candidates
uri: Billionaire-presidential-candidates
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Billionaire_presidential_candidates%29

content:
<p>
The billionaire presidential candidates, Schultz and Bloomberg, stand
clearly and firmly 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/01/why-billionaires-make-horrible-candidates-and-presidents">for
keeping non-rich Americans down</a>.


feed_id: 056a6460625c2bb78ee8eefcfe45e2d1
title: Dubya's invasion of Iraq
uri: Dubya-s-invasion-of-Iraq
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Dubyas_invasion_of_Iraq%29
content:
<p>
Arguing that <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#dubya">Dubya</a> invaded Iraq 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/20/why-did-bush-go-war-iraq-answer-more-sinister-you-think">to
intimidate other countries</a>, by showing that the US was a tough
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#bully">bully</a>, one that would not be held back from war by moral scruples,
expenses, humanity, or anything.
<p>
The US would be in a much better position today if it had had a
conscience then.


feed_id: bfb7cfdef278cb124d9c574412f77133
title: Using preferred gender pronouns
uri: Using-preferred-gender-pronouns
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Using_preferred_gender_pronouns%29
content:
<p>
In the UK, using a pronoun of the wrong gender to refer to someone 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/mar/20/catholic-journalist-investigated-by-police-after-misgendering-trans-woman">can
be a crime</a>.
<p>
The UK has a penchant for punishing people for what they say.
I believe in referring to people by the genders they profess, but it
is wrong to criminalize the failure to do so.


feed_id: faf85a6413dbf75ee6b8f1a644a107d7
title: "Thoughts and prayers"
uri: Thoughts-and-prayers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Thoughts_and_prayers%29
content:
<p>
Sending "thoughts and prayers" to people won't help them, and it can
be an 
<a href="http://cosmicshambles.com/words/blogs/deanburnett/thoughts-and-prayers">excuse
for politicians in failing to carry out their responsibilities</a>.


feed_id: c522060bcbf18dcffe675e97c0afc0e5
title: Mueller and Wikileaks
uri: Mueller-and-Wikileaks
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Mueller_and_Wikileaks%29
content:
<p>
Greg Palast warns that Mueller seems to be 
<a href="https://www.gregpalast.com/roger-stone-indictment-my-friend-person-2/">targeting
Wikileaks for publishing real and important news</a> &mdash; bona fide
Democratic National Committee emails that show it was corrupt.


feed_id: a637f1b88c17ed8a8fca967b9a8f36b0
title: Winston Churchill
uri: Winston-Churchill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Winston_Churchill%29
content:
<p>
Winston Churchill was crucial to defeating Hitler.  At the same time,
he
<a href="https://www.indy100.com/article/piers-morgan-ross-greer-winston-churchill-gmb-interview-white-supremacist-mass-murderer-8751711">was
a white supremacist, and defended some vicious practices, such as
using poison gas in battle, and imprisoning masses of civilians</a>.
What are we to make of this?
<p>
Now that we understand that bigotry is flat-out wrong, rejecting it is
nothing to be specially proud of, simply what we expect of everyone.
Those who endorse bigotry deserve special condemnation.
<p>
It was different in Churchill's day.  At that time, only a vanguard
rejected racism.  They deserve special admiration, while the rest were
merely people of their time.
<p>
Churchill defended use of poison gas, but I do not know whether he
ever actually gave an order to use it.  (Neither side used poison gas
in World War II.)  As Prime Minister when Britain put Kikuyu civilians
in prison camps (which the British called "villages") in the 1950s, he
was responsible for it.
<p>
I disapprove of those views and actions of Churchill's.  Also of his
being a Tory and thus opposing efforts to help poor people in Britain.
But in my mind these things do not negate his heroism in standing
against Hitler.
<p>
To demand that people never do or think wrong, before we can admire
them for doing something right, is setting the bar too high, and
hardly anyone will pass.


feed_id: 3d7666aad0062af0efa239e289b7dcaa
title: Israeli soldiers "neutralize" teenager
uri: Israeli-soldiers-neutralize-teenager
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Israeli_soldiers_neutralize_teenager%29

content:
<p>
Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian teenager, then
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/further/2019/01/31/assassins-israeli-soldiers-just-neutralized-female-terrorist-aka-16-year-old">pretended
she had tried to stab them with a kitchen knife</a> and said they had
"neutralized a terrorist".
<p>
It's not clear she really had the kitchen knife at all.
Israeli <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> plant weapons just like US thugs.


feed_id: 43fe2550791baae3b1b4c3f4e83da2b2
title: Israel's promise to "investigate"
uri: Israel-s-promise-to-investigate
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Israels_promise_to_investigate%29
content:
<p>
B'Tselem: don't believe Israel's promise it will "investigate"
instances 
<a href="https://www.btselem.org/press_release/20190318_gaza_demonstrations_investigations_charade">where
soldiers killed people in Gaza</a>.  The "investigations" will be
whitewashes.


feed_id: 31353b812ed89c93b0eaf892d23d49f7
title: New daily heat records
uri: New-daily-heat-records
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28New_daily_heat_records%29
content:
<p>
In the US since 1999, there have been 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/19/trend-unmistakable-new-analysis-shows-heat-records-broken-twice-often-cold-ones">twice
as many new daily heat records as new daily cold records</a>.


feed_id: 15f5fd9bdccda527dc7715e91705265b
title: Right to Repair
uri: Right-to-Repair
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Right_to_Repair%29
content:
<p>
Manufacturers are 
<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/right-to-repair-co-opt/">trying
to co-opt</a> the Right to Repair movement with plans that give just a
tiny part of that right.
<p>
The real Right to Repair movement demands some information about
software in the product, which falls short of what we deserve: that
the software in products be 
<a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html">free software</a>.


feed_id: 3484e66e202157cb1184f308ac21bf07
title: Attributing success to superiority
uri: Attributing-success-to-superiority
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Attributing_success_to_superiority%29

content:
<p>
Attributing people's success to their superiority 
<a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/40510522/meritocracy-doesnt-exist-and-believing-it-does-is-bad-for-you">tends
to lead people to care less about others</a> and to be more
prejudiced.


feed_id: 14a5dd1a758554b3345c09112a7ce0fb
title: Rashna Farrukh quits job at Sky News
uri: Rashna-Farrukh-quits-job-at-Sky-News
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Rashna_Farrukh_quits_job_at_Sky_News%29

content:
<p>
Rashna Farrukh quit a job at Sky News because 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/mar/19/muslim-sky-news-staffer-quits-and-says-channel-increases-polarisation-and-paranoia">its
broadcasts encourage hostility within society</a>.


feed_id: 4095b03cb4ebbdef5dcae534401fe523
title: Chelsea Manning jailed
uri: Chelsea-Manning-jailed
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Chelsea_Manning_jailed%29
content:
<p>
Chelsea Manning refused to answer some of the grand jury's questions,
claiming that the questioning violated her constitutional rights, and
in response was 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/08/i-will-not-comply-chelsea-manning-sent-back-prison-over-grand-jury-refusal">jailed</a>.
<p>
She hopes that an appeals court will rule that the grand jury had no
valid reason to ask her those questions.


feed_id: 4efb73560171e30945a8b90e2588f580
title: Australian hero David McBride
uri: Australian-hero-David-McBride
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Australian_hero_David_McBride%29
content:
<p>
Australian hero David McBride is being prosecuted, like Chelsea
Manning, for 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/mar/07/whistleblower-charged-with-exposing-alleged-military-misconduct-not-afraid-to-go-to-jail">revealing
atrocities committed by the Australian army</a>.


feed_id: 9b148cd5f80193842cf24f944b943c0b
title: Job loss due to automation
uri: Job-loss-due-to-automation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Job_loss_due_to_automation%29
content:
<p>
Job loss due to automation is not usually a matter of replacing one
worker with one robot.  It's part of the way that the plutocratic
elite decides how work is done, and 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/05/what-john-oliver-gets-wrong-about-robots-and-jobs">pushes
down wages</a>.
<p>
Occasionally, though, we see an example which is pretty much like "one
robot, one less worker" &mdash; automatic checkout counters in stores.
I refuse to use them &mdash; no exceptions!  If I can't but from a
human sales agent, I leave without buying.  But I do more than that: I
tell the other customers what I am doing, and urge them to join me.


feed_id: b7515b66b6b01912c2ba6794e1da1d72
title: Soldiers that report crimes
uri: Soldiers-that-report-crimes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Soldiers_that_report_crimes%29
content:
<p>
The Pentagon's inspector general quietly reported that soldiers that
report crimes and abuses through official legal channels 
<a href="https://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/pentagon-whistleblowers-often-face-retaliation-that-goes-unpunished">almost
always face harsh retaliation while their reports are disregarded</a>.
<p>
If Chelsea Manning had reported the 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2010-jan-apr.html#13%20April%202010%20(Josh%20Stieber%20talks%20about%20Collateral%20Murder%20video)">"collateral
murder" atrocities</a> through channels, she would have been punished
less, but it would have achieved nothing at all.


feed_id: accdcba8cde9d321a19ed4f313b1a4cc
title: Chelsea Manning ordered to testify
uri: Chelsea-Manning-ordered-to-testify
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Chelsea_Manning_ordered_to_testify%29

content:
<p>
Chelsea Manning has been 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/01/punish-outspoken-whistleblower-chelsea-manning-subpoeaned-testify-grand-jury">ordered
to testify to a grand jury</a> which hopes to use her testimony to
prosecute Julian Assange and/or Wikileaks.
<p>
Nine years after the events, she will not remember the details
clearly.  If they make her answer many questions about them, surely a
few of the answers will contradict her testimony from 2013.  That
would provide an excuse to imprison her.


feed_id: debc83dfda0d6247b7804238488da072
title: Glyphosate
uri: 2019-03-22-Glyphosate
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Glyphosate%29
content:
<p>
Glyphosate has been linked to a 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/14/analysis-shows-exposure-monsantos-glyphosate-based-roundup-increases-cancer-risk">substantial
increase in cancer for the people that spray it</a>.
<p>
This demonstrates that the EPA 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/feb/14/weed-killing-products-increase-cancer-risk-of-cancer">disregarded
proper scientific procedure</a> when it judged that glyphosate was
safe.
<p>
Whether this implies a substantial increase in danger for people who
eat food on which glyphosate has been applied, is another question.
In principle, the answer might be yes, or it might be no.  The
increase will surely not be a large percentage, but it might amount to
a substantial number of people.
<p>
I am interested in seeing the answer, when it is known.


feed_id: 5152120a1729b1e86b5b1741f9945d69
title: Political gestures
uri: Political-gestures
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Political_gestures%29
content:
<p>
Guaidó's supporters are 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/06/venezuelan-troops-blockade-bridge-to-stop-aid-from-colombia">shipping
food aid from Colombia as a political gesture</a>.  (The US donated
the aid as a political gesture.)  Maduro's sent troops to block the
frontier bridge to Colombia as a political gesture.
<p>
They are equally gestures.  Nonetheless, there is a moral difference
between giving aid as a political gesture and blocking aid as a
political gesture.
<p>
It seems this is not, as I believed, the bridge I had used to cross to
get to Cúcuta &mdash; rather, a new bridge constructed in 2015, which
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/10/western-media-fall-lockstep-cheap-trumprubio-venezuela-aid-pr-stunt">has
never actually been used</a>.
<p>
The article points out there are grounds to suspect the US is
including weapons guns in the humanitarian aid.
<p>
Indeed, the US could do that.  But it should be possible to check the
aid to make sure there are no weapons in it.


feed_id: 36978166381bdf1fa6dde2c843e52bef
title: Hakeem al-Araibi
uri: Hakeem-al-Araibi
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Hakeem_al-Araibi%29
content:
<p>
Hakeem al-Araibi condemned Bahrain's repression 2011, and was tortured
for it.  He fled to Australia.  Thailand grabbed him and was
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/02/01/bahrain-soccer-player-thailand/">determined
to send him to Bahrain for more torture</a>.


feed_id: 63cef594357a0e42a472b9c2a252b6de
title: Record heat waves in Australia
uri: Record-heat-waves-in-Australia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Record_heat_waves_in_Australia%29
content:
<p>
Australia's 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/feb/01/australia-extreme-heat-sign-of-things-to-come-scientists-warn-climate">record
heat waves in January</a>, together with drought, led to very bad
fires.  But it's only going to get worse.


feed_id: 6838e1d5c2f0106405fb3442bc2b7119
title: Protests in Caracas
uri: Protests-in-Caracas
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Protests_in_Caracas%29
content:
<p>
There were 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/02/protesters-flood-streets-but-maduro-holds-on-in-venezuela">massive
protests in Caracas demanding that Maduro step down.
<p>
I would support them, if not for the fact that Guaidó is in league
with neo-nazis such as Bolsonaro and Trump.  It's theoretically
possible he is not as bad as they are, but how can we trust that?


feed_id: 345be8a369e3fcd53ff489a7a56b01c2
title: UN report condemns troll and GOP
uri: UN-report-condemns-troll-and-GOP
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28UN_report_condemns_troll_and_GOP%29

content:
<p>
Scathing UN Report 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/06/01/scathing-un-report-condemns-trump-and-gop-deliberately-driving-already-devastating">Condemns
Trump and GOP</a> for 'Deliberately' Driving Up Already Devastating
Inequality.


feed_id: 3aecc01dbb63f6bd5acc28b51d58e861
title: German activists being prosecuted
uri: German-activists-being-prosecuted
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28German_activists_being_prosecuted%29

content:
<p>
German activists for Palestinians' rights are being prosecuted for
disrupting an Israeli official's speech, and are being 
<a href="https://972mag.com/germany-puts-pro-bds-activists-trial-disrupting-israeli-mk/140509/">falsely
called "violent" and "antisemitic"</a>.


feed_id: d2fd4dd46dc77d2c3e4b6d4928c20a7e
title: Attacks by Israeli colonists
uri: Attacks-by-Israeli-colonists
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Attacks_by_Israeli_colonists%29
content:
<p>
Attacks by Israeli colonists on Palestinians in the West Bank 
<a href="https://972mag.com/the-entire-world-know-the-settlers-have-declared-war-on-us/140605/">doubled
in 2018</a>, occurring almost twice a day.
<p>
The attacks, which reach the point of terrorism, come from a political
tendency that labels them as reprisals for occasional Palestinian
terrorism.  The reprisals are launched against victims chosen simply
for being Palestinian and conveniently available.
<p>
This is on top of 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2015-sep-dec.html#08_October_2015_(Israel_demolishing_family_houses)">official
Israeli government retaliation</a> against the families of Palestinian
terrorists.
<p>
Two Israeli soldiers that attacked and injured Palestinians as
retaliation have been 
<a href="https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2019/03/11/Israeli-court-sentences-soldiers-for-assault-on-Palestinians.html">sentenced
to prison by the army</a>.


feed_id: 780d776e3505b1c99eb0780f0bff28f2
title: Low wages and few new good jobs
uri: Low-wages-and-few-new-good-jobs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Low_wages_and_few_new_good_jobs%29
content:
<p>
High employment rates disguise the problem of 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/feb/02/america-record-job-growth-economics-wage-stagnation">low
wages and few new good jobs</a>.


feed_id: abae1c58d1d967fbe4dbff35c0732941
title: Cost of prescription drugs
uri: Cost-of-prescription-drugs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Cost_of_prescription_drugs%29
content:
<p>
Sanders and Warren are 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/02/bernie-sanders-and-elizabeth-warren-team-lower-prescription-drug-prices">proposing
bills to curb the cost of prescription drugs</a> in the US.


feed_id: 91b6eb969d0e5a21a9a5f8deabd163bd
title: Italy being pushed into recession
uri: Italy-being-pushed-into-recession
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Italy_being_pushed_into_recession%29

content:
<p>
The 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/feb/02/italy-tumbles-back-into-recession-dolce-vita-slips-away">euro
zone rules</a> are pushing already-battered Italy into recession.
<p>
The way to get out of a recession is well known: deficit spending.
Since the euro zone does not allow that, it functions as a trap
that imposes neoliberalism on every country in it.
<p>
The economists that designed it 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2007-jul-oct.html#06%20September%202007%20(Neoliberalism)">knew
this in advance</a>.


feed_id: 3cced0a68c50ac6f367fffcce4ceae52
title: Fanatics trying to take house by fraud
uri: Fanatics-trying-to-take-house-by-fraud
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Fanatics_trying_to_take_house_by_fraud%29

content:
<p>
Israeli soldiers 
<a href="https://palsolidarity.org/2019/03/israeli-soldiers-kill-palestinian-delivering-legal-documents-at-rajabi-house/">killed
a Palestinian man who was trying to distribute court documents</a> to a
house in the Palestinian city of Hebron.
<p>
The fanatical Israelis who forcibly set up a colony in the center of
Hebron, and 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2011-jan-apr.html#07%20April%202011%20(Israeli%20Colonists)">kicked
all Palestinians out of the neighborhood</a>, are trying to take one
Palestinian house by fraud.  This fraud was blocked by an Israeli
court.  The courier was distributing court documents to that house,
perhaps from the same Israeli court.
<p>
I can't see the video &mdash; I cannot play videos from dailmotion.com
due to its Javascript code &mdash; but it would not surprise me if his
killing had to do with the documents he was carrying.
<p>
This isn't the first time Israeli soldiers have 
<a href="">blocked medical aid
workers</a> from treating Palestinians they have shot.


feed_id: a2c55ded630bf56be6dcd1d38ef258b2
title: The prison of identity
uri: The-prison-of-identity
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28The_prison_of_identity%29
content:
<p>
Novelist Zadie Smith 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/feb/02/zadie-smith-political-correctness-hay-cartagena">rejects
the prison of identity</a>.  "If I didn’t take a chance I’d only ever
be able to write novels about mixed-race girls growing up in
Willesden.”
<p>
By the same token she also rejects the idea that "cultural
appropriation" is wrong.


feed_id: 291cf54c7570877643e7167cf73212fd
title: Surveillance capitalism
uri: 2019-03-22-Surveillance-capitalism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Surveillance_capitalism%29
content:
<p>
"Surveillance capitalism, run as the code for everyday
life, 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/feb/02/age-of-surveillance-capitalism-shoshana-zuboff-review">erases
both free will and free markets</a>."


feed_id: 5fc053f0f17585f50ee370fca3210d59
title: Global heating
uri: 2019-03-22-Global-heating
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Global_heating%29
content:
<p>
People underestimate the disaster that <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#global heating">global heating</a> can cause and
how soon it threatens.  At worst, it 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/02/the-devastation-of-human-life-is-in-view-what-a-burning-world-tells-us-about-climate-change-global-warming">could
render large parts of Earth uninhabitable or dangerous for human
beings</a>.
<p>
How will the US deal with 140 million climate refugees in 2050,
desperate because their home has become unlivable?  No wall could keep
them out.
<p>
Will the US make a vigorous effort now to stop things from getting
that bad?


feed_id: d706047abe8f638994d8c071877277c8
title: Evidence destroyed by SF sheriff department
uri: Evidence-destroyed-by-SF-sheriff-department
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Evidence_destroyed_by_SF_sheriff_department%29

content:
<p>
The San Francisco sheriff department protected some of its <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> from
a criminal investigation by 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/02/san-francisco-jail-fight-club-sheriff-deputies-charges-dropped">destroying
the evidence</a>.
<p>
If they can't be prosecuted for obstruction of justice, the law needs
to be changed to allow that.


feed_id: 0e35fd4017c7e6a61f2324de958288d8
title: Wealth Tax
uri: Wealth-Tax
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Wealth_Tax%29
content:
<p>
A Wealth Tax 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/02/wealth-tax-could-raise-trillions-and-save-our-democracy">Could
Raise Trillions</a> &mdash; and Save Our Democracy.


feed_id: 2b6c520335fa4ae22f8fc58a7f85ce36
title: Medicare for All
uri: 2019-03-22-Medicare-for-All
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Medicare_for_All%29
content:
<p>
Plutocratist Democrats are 
<a herf="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/30/wasserman-schultz-exemplifies-muddled-stance-reminder-medicare-all-aint-slogan-its">working
hard to mislead people about Medicare for All</a>.


feed_id: 39aaffb257c3a9b766e0d49bc6eaae55
title: Network Neutrality
uri: 2019-03-22-Network-Neutrality
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Network_Neutrality%29
content:
<p>
An organization suspected of fabricating hundreds of thousands of
fraudulent comments opposing Network Neutrality was 
<a href="https://gizmodo.com/fake-fcc-comments-linked-to-ex-trump-campaign-directors-1832233664">headed
by one of the bullshitter's campaign officials</a> and has ties to
Roger Stone.


feed_id: 7d8c9f32947ff527991f42b9bcc4fb2a
title: On Hoaxes
uri: On-Hoaxes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28On_Hoaxes%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Should hoaxes <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/reason/Articles/~3/_MorBwM5uIw/stossel-debating-a-hoaxed-journal-editor">require approval</a> as "experiments with human subjects"?
</p>
<p>
I think the idea is absurd.
</p>


feed_id: 9fe3b1d81b38b462ceb810c4a9a43a41
title: US Gun Lobby
uri: US-Gun-Lobby
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28US_Gun_Lobby%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Contrast US Republicans, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/19/us-republicans-follow-ardern-lead-stand-up-gun-lobby">defending the right to own all kinds of guns</a> no matter
how dangerous, with New Zealand's politicians.
</p>


feed_id: f814d1e2cd82cd0ee2bbe2c67912caa3
title: Blocking Regulation
uri: Blocking-Regulation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Blocking_Regulation%29
content:
<p>
<p>
The US is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/18/us-and-saudi-arabia-blocking-regulation-of-geoengineering-sources-say">joining Salafi Arabia</a> to block international regulation of
geoengineering.
</p>
<p>
I think it is a good idea to require international consensus before
carrying out geoengineering efforts that would have worldwide effects.
However, there is no reason to rule out localized experiments
on a smaller scale.  We may need geoengineering to avoid global disaster
even after working hard to curb emissions.
</p>
<p>
Geoengineering methods that only reduce temperature, not CO2, will not
protect coral and molluscs from death from ocean acidification.  They
are inadequate.
</p>
<p>
Seeding oceans with iron might perhaps sequester a lot of CO2 -- if it
works.  That is not guaranteed.  I think it would be a good idea to do
more regional experiments of this type, to find out to what extent it
could really work, and what side effects there might be.
</p>


feed_id: 1e98211bc4935c090556419fe4666a41
title: Gender Equality
uri: Gender-Equality
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Gender_Equality%29
content:
<p>
<p>
The US is pushing to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/mar/18/us-accused-of-trying-to-dilute-international-agreements-un-commission-status-of-women">undo parts of the 1995 Beijing declaration
on gender equality.
</p>


feed_id: 131e4ed9874bdd1816418de8260fb623
title: Muslim Prejudice
uri: Muslim-Prejudice
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Muslim_Prejudice%29
content:
<p>
<P>
The politicians and other extremists <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/18/christchurch-islamophobes-media-anti-muslim">that whip up hatred</a> &mdash; against
Muslims, for instance &mdash; know what they are doing.  Let's stop accepting
their pretense of innocence.
</p>


feed_id: ea14c146781ea42c9af117120fc9b3fc
title: State of the Ocean
uri: State-of-the-Ocean
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28State_of_the_Ocean%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Dead Whale Washed Up in Philippines Had <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/18/dead-whale-washed-up-in-philippines-had-40kg-of-plastic-bags-in-its-stomach">40kg of Plastic Bags</a> in its Stomach.
</p>
<p>
It is funny to think that one whale might be "curvier" than another,
but I have a hunch the whale in question belonged to the species known
as "Cuvier's beaked whale".
</p>


feed_id: 057a9c4af3b2bf9e499ed2d8329602c7
title: Boing 737 Negligence
uri: Boing-737-Negligence
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Boing_737_Negligence%29
content:
<p>
<p>
FAA employees say that <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/failed-certification-faa-missed-safety-issues-in-the-737-max-system-implicated-in-the-lion-air-crash/">the FAA skipped independent review</a> of the
Boeing 737 MAX computerized flight control system, trusting Boeing
engineers instead, and that this disregarded a fatal flaw.
</p>
<p>
The pressure to "get it working now" by disregarding safety concerns
reminds me of the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger.  In the
Challenger case, the pressure was for the sake of NASA's success.  In
this case, the pressure was for Boeing's success in competition.
We can see it as a form of regulatory capture.
</p>


feed_id: 9607c344228f112ba1ed9765a3971260
title: Shamina Begum
uri: Shamina-Begum
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Shamina_Begum%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Shamima Begum's lawyer needs her signature on the papers to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/17/shamima-begum-lawyer-held-back-by-syrian-forces">appeal
her punishment</a> (imposed arbitrarily -- without trial) of exile from the UK,
but the guards of the prison where she is being held will not let him in.
</p>


feed_id: 985e1847a5271ed5d2e97a3e5dd4c32b
title: Shady Real Estate
uri: Shady-Real-Estate
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Shady_Real_Estate%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Over 100 billion UKP worth of real estate in England and Wales is owned
by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/17/100-billion-of-uk-propert-secretly-owned-anonymous-firms-tax-havens
">anonymous corporations</a> set up in tax havens.
</p>
<p>
It would be easy to make this problem disappear: just put a heavy tax
on ownership of property through chains that cannot be tracked backed to
real people.  An even stronger measure would be to make that a crime,
so that on demonstration that a given property is owned that way, the
government could seize it.
</p>


feed_id: 0d292fc7b73fedbc961d77a3d1835aef
title: Broken Windows
uri: Broken-Windows
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Broken_Windows%29
content:
<p>
<p>
"Broken windows" backfires because it assumes that violence is
characteristic of entire neighborhoods, so thugs <a href="https://www.citylab.com/perspective/2019/02/broken-windows-theory-policing-urban-violence-crime-data/583030/">repress everyone
there</a>.  In fact, it is generally a tiny subset of the people in the
neighborhood who commit violence.
</o>


feed_id: dff4b74547e076bd85ffc5b1b60076db
title: Smart listening devices
uri: Smart-listening-devices
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#21_March_2019_%28Smart_listening_devices%29
content:
<p>
<p>
There is a proposal to design <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6733417/Digital-assistants-discuss-moral-AI-report-illegal-immoral-activity.html">"smart" listening devices</a> to check
whether their "owners" are breaking laws, and report this.
</p>


feed_id: 2a4924fa24a40c055a50164db780e93f
title: Attacking Iran
uri: Attacking-Iran
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Attacking_Iran%29
content:
<p>
Attacking Iran
would <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/04/could-trump-really-launch-war-iran">bog
the US down</a> in a long war, but that doesn't mean the bullshitter
and his idiots won't do it.


feed_id: 6312aa33c5a851ae5ebf35f82564b6d1
title: Himalayan ice cap
uri: Himalayan-ice-cap
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Himalayan_ice_cap%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/04/a-third-of-himalayan-ice-cap-doomed-finds-shocking-reporty">"A
third of Himalayan ice cap doomed,"</a> even if we curb emissions now.
<p>
That means 2 billion people's water supply is endangered.


feed_id: a82ccc53c5f51d4ac7a8b6c769e43c85
title: Venezuela's oil reserves
uri: Venezuela-s-oil-reserves
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Venezuela%27s_oil_reserves%29
content:
<p>
Guaidó says he will sell Venezuela's oil reserves to foreigners.
That's why the <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#bully">bully</a>
is <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/04/venezuela-uss-68th-regime-change-disaster">applying
economic sanctions</a>.
<p>
Maduro <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/04/venezuela-maduro-hits-back-at-gringo-plot-to-overthrow-revolution">denounces
foreign support</a> for Guaidó as a "gringo plot" to steal Venezuela's
wealth.
<p>
He's right, of course.  <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#bully">The bully</a> cares no more about freedom for
Venezuelans than he does about freedom for Americans.  It is all about
hegemony for the masters he serves.
<p>
This means that Venezuela has a choice between a dictator that is
making people hungry, and a bunch of foreign thieves.
<p>
I hope they find a way to create another choice.


feed_id: 114b09553c747ba17f2592afdb0a01af
title: Tasmania drying up
uri: Tasmania-drying-up
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Tasmania_drying_up%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#global heating">Global heating</a> is making Tasmania dry up and
burn.  <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/05/tasmania-is-burning-the-climate-disaster-future-has-arrived-while-those-in-power-laugh-at-us">3%
of its land area</a> has burned in the past few weeks.
<p>
Over this century, its unique forests will disappear, and many of their
species driven extinct.  Sooner or later fires will spread so fast
that many of the inhabitants will be killed.


feed_id: bbf2442e0bd913da304f9dae9fdb9daf
title: Press manipulation
uri: Press-manipulation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Press_manipulation%29
content:
<p>
How amoral politicians such as Trump, and now
Schultz, <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/31/1831163/-Trump-Isn-t-Attacking-the-Press-He-s-Manipulating-It">manipulate
the press</a>.


feed_id: 9f937db2a16169f6db0aafacdedcb0b6
title: The bullshitter's writing errors
uri: The-bullshitter-s-writing-errors
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28The_bullshitter%27s_writing_errors%29

content:
<p>
The bullshitter wants us to mock his errors in writing English.
That <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/01/30/1830864/-Why-Trump-WANTS-Us-to-Mock-his-Typos">wins
more support</a> from his supporters.
<p>
Please keep your focus on the important points: the bad things that he <em>does</em>. 


feed_id: dbfc4f22f7e00209bff00803b0234b0d
title: Iowa caucuses
uri: 2019-03-22-Iowa-caucuses
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Iowa_caucuses%29
content:
<p>
Plutocratist Democrats are discovering that
they <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/02/socialism-surging-iowa-giving-cold-feet-centrist-democrats-contemplating-2020-run">won't
get very far</a> in the Iowa caucuses.
<p>
"Capitalism" is viewed negatively, and "Socialism" positively.


feed_id: e82ca2318e382dfe47afdaf3b79d89ce
title: Censorship in Indonesia
uri: Censorship-in-Indonesia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Censorship_in_Indonesia%29
content:
<p>
Indonesia's
congress <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/04/indonesia-seeks-to-ban-negative-foreign-influences-on-music">proposes
censorship</a> of "negative foreign influences" in art.
<p>
There is no objective way to define "negative", so I suppose it will
mean imposing some people's tastes.
<p>
Indonesia already censors "pornography" (which includes a lot more
than what we would describe as "pornography") and blasphemy.
Both of those prohibitions are unjust, too.


feed_id: 9053aff86c56fbabe5372a84e8412727
title: Nathan Phillips
uri: Nathan-Phillips
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Nathan_Phillips%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/04/nathan-phillips-his-story-hate-division-covington">Nathan
Phillips's story</a> &mdash; his confrontation with an anti-abortion
protester and the hard life that led up to it.
<p>
I get the impression that neither of them did wrong to the other on
that occasion.  I disagree with the views of the anti-abortion protester,
but that's a different matter.


feed_id: 26c166d208250176fb9726b63df6d33c
title: Activists in Salafi Arabia
uri: 2019-03-22-Activists-in-Salafi-Arabia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Activists_in_Salafi_Arabia%29
content:
<p>
Salafi
Arabia <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/04/saudi-arabia-holding-women-in-torture-conditions-say-uk-mps">is
torturing</a> imprisoned womens' rights activists.


feed_id: 129e59bab97a2151dbbddfe80c1a2f6b
title: Sexual harassment accusations
uri: Sexual-harassment-accusations
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Sexual_harassment_accusations%29
content:
<p>
A French politician whose career was ruined by accusations of sexual
harassment
has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/04/former-french-mp-denis-baupin-sues-sexual-harassment-accusers">sued
his accusers for defamation</a>.
<p>
Both he and the accusers seem to believe they can prevail in court.
From the shreds of information in the article, I can't begin to judge
what the truth is.  I am glad there will be a trial to judge the
question.


feed_id: 8a36fff3954efd1c29625bf7c69e3abf
title: American public schools
uri: 2019-03-22-American-public-schools
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28American_public_schools%29
content:
<p>
While meddlesome billionaires have strewn ruin in American public
schools, grass-roots reformers
have <a href="https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/millionaire-driven-education-reform-has-failed-heres-what-works">made
their schools better</a>.


feed_id: 04ee799de4ca3e0cd6ec5ec6ed375255
title: Puerto Rican Debt
uri: Puerto-Rican-Debt
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Puerto_Rican_Debt%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Puerto Rico's debt is being "<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/02/05/puerto-rico-debt-deal-receives-court-approval?cd-origin=rss">restructured</a>" in a way that will allow the debt
to continue squeezing people there into poverty.
</p>


feed_id: a280af765ce8a7d78742f5ad8fcf2499
title: Global Heating
uri: 2019-03-22-Global-Heating
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Global_Heating%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Global heating <a href="
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/06/met-office-global-warming-could-exceed-1-point-5-c-in-five-years">could go beyond 1.5C</a> within five years.
</p>


feed_id: 444d0d2428053fbaa502e0772693ccc1
title: Weapon Importing
uri: Weapon-Importing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Weapon_Importing%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Salafi Arabia bought <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/05/bolstering-case-end-american-role-saudis-reportedly-providing-us-weapons-al-qaeda?cd-origin=rss">lots of weapons from the US</a>; some of them are now
in the hands of Islamist fanatics.
</p>


feed_id: 099ce9d7ab47cb4818520ff791a368f8
title: Automated Censorship
uri: Automated-Censorship
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Automated_Censorship%29
content:
<p>
<p>
The EU proposes to require <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/05/civil-liberties-groups-warn-proposed-eu-terrorist-content-rule-threat-democratic?cd-origin=rss">automatic censorship</a> of postings accused of
advocating terrorism.  EFF and EDRi are concerned the effect won't be
limited to real advocacy of terrorism.
</p>


feed_id: dc4c8023ce64baef52d60daa26f80d2c
title: UAE Tyranny
uri: UAE-Tyranny
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28UAE_Tyranny%29
content:
<p>
<p>
A visitor from Britain in the UAE went to a football match in which
Qatar was playing Iraq.  He put on a shirt that supported Qatar, <a href="
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/05/british-man-detained-in-uae-after-wearing-qatar-football-t-shirt-to-match">and
was arrested for it</a>.
</p>


feed_id: f8776499756f53e59438302ee70a36ea
title: Bruce Tenety (Satire)
uri: Bruce-Tenety-(Satire)
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Bruce_Tenety_%28Satire%29%29
content:
<p>
<p>
(satire) local father Bruce Tenety, 54, expressed the
<a href="https://local.theonion.com/dad-heartbreakingly-thinks-his-connections-can-help-son-1832329368">heartbreaking belief</a> Monday that his connections could help his son
Justin, a recent college graduate, find a job.
</p>


feed_id: ac730b1d3330130365d705fae95094e1
title: Smart Wall
uri: Smart-Wall
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Smart_Wall%29
content:
<p>
<p>
ACLU: Congress, Don't <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/04/congress-dont-give-dhs-unrestricted-authority-build-smart-wall?cd-origin=rss">Give DHS Unrestricted Authority</a> to Build a 'Smart Wall'.
</p>
<p>
Instead, we should put limits on the border <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a>' power to search anyone
without a warrant.  Most of the population of the US lives within 100 miles
of a border or a coastline.
</p>


feed_id: 64ddcd423f8736e9bf61d64d0f21401b
title: US In Iran
uri: US-In-Iran
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28US_In_Iran%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Iraq and Iraqis are unwilling to host <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/04/trump-says-he-wants-us-troops-iraq-watch-iran-iraqis-response-get-out?cd-origin=rss">US troops so they can "watch"
(spy on and menace) Iran.
</p>
<p>
There is no valid reason to keep US troops in Iraq any longer.
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a> no longer holds territory; what remains of it is underground
and calls for policing rather than war.  It is time to pull them out.
</p>


feed_id: 5dc86eba8ee905c33ed1cb23b88e9853
title: Hakeep al-Araibi
uri: Hakeep-al-Araibi
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Hakeep_al-Araibi%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Hakeem al-Araibi condemned Bahrain's repression 2011, and was tortured
for it.  He fled to Australia.  Now Thailand has grabbed him and is
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/02/01/bahrain-soccer-player-thailand/">determined to send him to Bahrain</a> for more torture.
</p>


feed_id: 2ece7f4c678f74f7a64c7c1f9a5ab3f8
title: Interpol Retaliation
uri: Interpol-Retaliation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Interpol_Retaliation%29
content:
<p>
<p>
The US is using Interpol to <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/2/2/1831688/-Four-critics-of-U-S-immigration-policy-denied-entry-to-Mexico-passports-flagged?detail=emaildkre">trick Mexico into stopping some US
citizens</a> when they enter Mexico.  It is doing this as retaliation for
their legal efforts to defend the right of Central American refugees
to apply for asylum in the US.
</p>
<p>
This is similar to what Bahrain is doing to Hakeem al-Araibi.
</p>


feed_id: 08acabc460bbba8d0d4d4022f1fce608
title: Google Antics
uri: Google-Antics
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Google_Antics%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Google invites people to let Google <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/04/google-screenwise-unwise-trade-all-your-privacy-cash?cd-origin=rss">monitor their phone use</a>, and all
internet use in their homes, for an extravagant payment of $20.
</p>
<p>
This is not a malicious functionality of a program with some other
purpose; this is the software's sole purpose, and Google says so.  But
Google says it in a way that encourages most people to ignore the
details and remain unaware of the extent of the spying.  Anyway, mere
consent does not legitimize massive surveillance,
</p>
<p>
Whether or not you let Google spy in this way, your ISP is taking note
of many of the same things, and that is equally wrong.
</p>


feed_id: 103546c96bbd9187bdcc3771245f36cd
title: Volvo to install cameras inside cars
uri: Volvo-to-install-cameras-inside-cars
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Volvo_to_install_cameras_inside_cars%29

content:
<p>
Volvo plans to install cameras inside cars to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/mar/20/volvo-to-install-cameras-in-new-cars-to-reduce-road-deaths">monitor
the driver</a> for signs of impairment that could cause an accident.
<p>
This feature, in and of itself, is admirable. It could prevent a
considerable number of deaths due to driving while intoxicated, as
well as others due to driving while sleepy or sick.
<p>
What worries me is that there is nothing to prevent these cameras from
doing other things, such as biometrically identifying the driver,
other than proprietary software which Volvo &mdash; or various
governments and criminals &mdash; could change at any time.
<p>
To make computer-based safety features secure, we need laws requiring
them to be designed for security &mdash; which means that no outsider
can convert them into surveillance systems by installing software
changes.
<p>
Of course, a "connected" car is a surveillance device because the
"connection", a cellular data modem, is tracked.  To make the car
secure, you need to block its connection physically.


feed_id: 61f22c9ae77ed8a81a40956d27dfaa5a
title: Nunes defamation
uri: Nunes-defamation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Nunes_defamation%29
content:
<p>
(satire) Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) announced Wednesday he was
considering
<a href="https://politics.theonion.com/devin-nunes-threatens-defamation-lawsuit-after-reputati-1833444233">filing
a defamation lawsuit against his official Twitter account</a> for
ruining his reputation.


feed_id: badf24253486f825724a56cf3d77d80e
title: Remembering how the Iraq War was sold
uri: Remembering-how-the-Iraq-War-was-sold
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Remembering_how_the_Iraq_War_was_sold%29

content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/20/stoking-fear-we-must-remember-how-iraq-war-was-sold">Stoking
Fear</a>: We Must Remember How the Iraq War Was Sold.
<p>
Militarist politicians said there might be a disaster if the US did
not attack Iraq, which was probably false since they based the claim
on lies.  They didn't mention that there might be a disaster if the US
did attack.


feed_id: 4b4f4e564af352ea160e0e0937fd2fee
title: Large banks with money in fossil fuels
uri: Large-banks-with-money-in-fossil-fuels
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Large_banks_with_money_in_fossil_fuels%29

content:
<p>
The world's largest banks have put
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/03/20/report-finds-global-banks-poured-19-trillion-fossil-fuel-financing-paris">almost
2 trillion dollars</a> into fossil fuels since December 2015.
<p>
In the UK, Barclays faces a
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/mar/20/uk-environmentalists-launch-campaign-against-barclays-bank">protest
campaign with at least 40 actions planned</a>, for putting around 30
billion dollars into fossil fuels, including coal and fracking.
<p>
Individuals, companies and governments can move their money out of
these banks.


feed_id: 21094a41748d69655d11aa8395150ffc
title: World Food Program surveillance deal
uri: World-Food-Program-surveillance-deal
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28World_Food_Program_surveillance_deal%29

content:
<p>
The World Food Program is
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/06/breathtaking-and-terrifying-un-food-relief-agency-partners-cia-funded-software-firm">making
a surveillance deal with Palantir</a>.


feed_id: aee29916c9ed99a795d139dbd89fa937
title: Tencent censorship
uri: Tencent-censorship
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Tencent_censorship%29
content:
<p>
Tencent, a Chinese megacorporation that is heavily involved in
censorship, is
<a href="https://gizmodo.com/reddit-banned-in-china-is-reportedly-set-to-land-150-1832375439">buying
substantial shares of many Western internet corporations</a>.  This
could be dangerous.


feed_id: 1dec6679d94222f47b986cb81253bc26
title: Nauru prison
uri: Nauru-prison
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Nauru_prison%29
content:
<p>
Australia's prisoners on Nauru have been
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/feb/07/australian-government-ignored-refugee-transfer-advice-from-its-own-doctors-for-up-to-five-years">kept
waiting for years</a> after doctors said they needed to be sent to
Australia for specialist medical care.


feed_id: b3f206c6829cde0f22f30aba7289aa6b
title: Guaidó's mentor
uri: Guaidó-s-mentor
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Guaid%C3%83%C2%B3s_mentor%29
content:
<p>
Guaidó's mentor is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/06/leopoldo-lopez-venezuelan-elite-opposition-guaido">unabashedly
opposed to "socialism"</a>, meaning government programs designed to
help the poor.


feed_id: 29963b1033bf8579b1b5065b7c50fcea
title: Hypersensitivity to acts of affection
uri: Hypersensitivity-to-acts-of-affection
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Hypersensitivity_to_acts_of_affection%29

content:
<p>
An Australian MP was served with an official complaint
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/feb/07/known-hugger-scott-buchholz-told-colleagues-he-may-have-misread-the-situation">for
hugging someone</a>.
<p>
Encouraging hypersensitivity to the slightest act of affection &mdash;
on the grounds that affection hints at sex &mdash; is cruel and
threatens to ruin lives for no reason.
<p>
I understand how some hugs can be uncomfortable.  We all need to learn
to b sensitive to whether someone else wants to be hugged.  But that's
not as easy as falling off a log, since people may cover up their
preference not to be hugged.  Nobody can be expected to read minds.
<p>
So we have to forgive people for small errors like that.


feed_id: 1b62398579a6cd147d4c099013139c69
title: Union for Jet Blue workers
uri: Union-for-Jet-Blue-workers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Union_for_Jet_Blue_workers%29
content:
<p>
Jet Blue's management is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/07/jetblue-president-warned-workers-against-joining-union">trying
very hard to badmouth the idea</a> of a union for for its workers.


feed_id: 5dd380152a759292984181932f8eead4
title: George Monbiot
uri: George-Monbiot
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28George_Monbiot%29
content:
<p>
<p>
George Monbiot questions the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/15/capitalism-destroying-earth-human-right-climate-strike-children">moral basis</a> of turning land, once and
forever, into perpetually inheritable property.
</p>


feed_id: 13e9c8d3067e47397104615ae4d7f744
title: Luxembourg Taxes
uri: Luxembourg-Taxes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Luxembourg_Taxes%29
content:
<p>
<p>
The EU is finally <a href="https://braveneweurope.com/tax-justice-network-european-commission-to-investigate-secret-luxleaks-tax-deal">starting to investigate</a> Luxembourg's secret tax deals
that were set up by its prime minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, who 
is now president of the EU.
</p>
<p>
The investigation could be important if it leads to reforms that prevent
any EU country from doing this from now on.
</p>


feed_id: b495ea64a80a9b54f56a7dfc50505eee
title: Criminalizing Protest
uri: Criminalizing-Protest
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Criminalizing_Protest%29
content:
<p>
<p>
ALEC has led various oil-state legislatures <a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2019/03/15/state-bills-to-criminalize-peaceful-protest-of-oil-gas-critical-infrastructure/">to propose bills</a>
to put heavy punishments for protests that coe near oil facilities
and power plants.
</p>


feed_id: e543409a773aaf496061ce89875ade5c
title: Fanaticism
uri: Fanaticism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Fanaticism%29
content:
<p>
<p>
We need to treat the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/15/prevent-another-christchurch-confront-right-hate-preachers">fanatical Christianist jihadis</a> like the fanatical
Islamist jihadis.
</p>
<p>

It will not be easy to do that when they have control of the US government
and several others.
</p>
<p>
The Christianist jihadis <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/15/what-does-christchurch-attack-tell-us-about-rightwing-extremism">use similar tactics</a> and methods of radicalization,
and they are a lot more numerous in the west.
</p>


feed_id: 3f7414b4f4dfe2d7c2fdf3fdcf6e64be
title: Iran Vs Journalists
uri: Iran-Vs-Journalists
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Iran_Vs_Journalists%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Iran <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/commentisfree/2019/mar/17/irans-threats-to-bbc-persian-staff-must-be-confronted
">tries to intimidate BBC journalists</a> by punishing their relatives.
</p>


feed_id: ef1e4ed297e67b342938776b32c5fbe7
title: UK Surveillance
uri: UK-Surveillance
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28UK_Surveillance%29
content:
<p>
<p>
The UK's new porn censorship system <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/mar/17/pornography-websites-age-check-data-leak-risk">doubles as a surveillance system</a>
that will study each person's tastes.
</p>
<p>
Today's typical porn gives teenagers misleading and/or unhelpful ideas
about sex.  Rather than making them work harder to get access to porn,
it would be better to do some social engineering that would lead them
to porn that would show sex that is more realistic, pleases women as
well as men, and includes relationships.
</p>
<p>
(Defining "porn" to exclude such videos is counterproductive, unless
censorship and repression are your goals.)
</p>


feed_id: d60c533a055aad12c79769653799e50d
title: Chechnya Human Rights
uri: Chechnya-Human-Rights
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Chechnya_Human_Rights%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Chechnya plans to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/17/chechnya-verdict-could-mark-new-purge-of-human-rights-activists-oyub-titiev">get rid of human rights activists</a>.
One leader is on trial for possession of marijuana.
</p>
<p>
It is wrong in general to punish people for having, smoking 
or growing marijuana.  But it is even worse when the charges
are used for more important kinds of repression.
</p>


feed_id: 267c71dda7d0a140b91fafe01382736f
title: Future of Fossil Fuel
uri: Future-of-Fossil-Fuel
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Future_of_Fossil_Fuel%29
content:
<p>

<p>
Replacement of fossil fuels is becoming <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/16/future-without-fossil-fuels?cd-origin=rss">economically inevitable</a>, but that
may not happen fast enough to avoid disaster without government impetus.
</p>


feed_id: a06c4419739cec5dfc21ad040f27eda6
title: Campaign Union
uri: Campaign-Union
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Campaign_Union%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Sanders' presidential campaign workers have unionized.
</p>
<p>
This is the first presidential campaign to have done so.
</p>


feed_id: 3384641d84afd7d1cc634e7ba2e00837
title: Ethnic Censorship
uri: Ethnic-Censorship
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Ethnic_Censorship%29
content:
<p>
<p>
The theater and cinema are fighting against demands for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/mar/16/foreign-accent-actors-cultural-appropriation-authenticity">ethnic
censorship</a>.
</p>
<p>
There is no inherent limit to how far this kind of censorship can be
pressed.  My position is that it is unjustified at the root.
</p>
<p>
Women are increasingly given roles that were written for men.  Perhaps
in a few years most roles could be played by any actor regardless of
demographics.  The only exceptions might be for historic figures:
it would be confusing to have George Washington played by a black,
especially if his involvement in slave-owning is part of the story.
However, perhaps future makeup could solve that.
</p>


feed_id: 9f85d8a6530b6a70b7bda2455f916288
title: Voter Suppression
uri: 2019-03-23-Voter-Suppression
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Voter_Suppression%29
content:
<p>
Iowa Republicans are trying <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/3/15/1842419/-Iowa-Republicans-want-to-make-it-legally-impossible-for-many-public-college-students-to-vote??detail=emaildkre">a new voter-suppression measure</a>, aimed at
college students.
<p>


feed_id: 4ed9a4517d524f3fe1382c45063fe6c5
title: Online predators
uri: Online-predators
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Online_predators%29
content:
<p>
Teenagers these days get warnings about online predators,
but these warnings seem to focus on predatory individuals
and disregard the biggest online predators: corporations
such as 
<a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90315706/kids-parents-social-media-sharing">Facebook,
Google, Uber, Amazon</a>, and so on.
<p>
How naive it is to think that 
<a href="https://stallman.org/facebook.html">Facebook's data</a> is no threat to you if
you mark your account "private" &mdash; or that when you're 18 you
might learn a safe way to be a used of Facebook.


feed_id: d8ea870426273a07cc73ec0b135ec628
title: Asbestos-mining town
uri: Asbestos-mining-town
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Asbestos-mining_town%29
content:
<p>
An old asbestos-mining town in Australia 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/mar/21/final-wittenoom-residents-to-be-forced-out-of-asbestos-ridden-mining-town">can
never be cleaned up enough to be safe for human habitation</a>, but
tourists visit it to demonstrate how bullheadedly self-destructive
they can be.  They even bring children, who don't get the chance to
protect their health by staying away.
<p>
The plan to efface the town's buildings and the roads to get there
seems wise to me.  There will still be a few idiots ready to hike in
and risk cancer just to prove how stubborn they are, but not so many,
and they probably won't bring children.
<p>
I wonder if stupidity cults tend to promote each other.  Do
anti-vaxxers tend to become asbestos denialists?  Do asbestos
denialists tend to become anti-vaxxers?  It seems plausible.


feed_id: 69610b1d991bbebaf4bd73a9fa640589
title: Organic family farms
uri: Organic-family-farms
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Organic_family_farms%29
content:
<p>
Organic family farms in the US are 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/20/organic-farms-are-under-attack-agribusiness-weakened-standards">being
driven out of business</a> by big companies that twist or break the rules.


feed_id: a5696fd36cd0b1dc79588da1e7c6b92a
title: The right to die
uri: 2019-03-23-The-right-to-die
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28The_right_to_die%29
content:
<p>
Geoffrey Whaley, suffering from incurable motor neuron disease,
had arranged suicide in Switzerland.  UK <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> found out, and 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/feb/07/assisted-dying-couple-tell-of-anguish-over-police-inquiry-dignitas">threatened
to prosecute his wife</a> for buying his tickets to go there.


feed_id: 25bbc7b80ed14afca624bfa6e4ed5a1e
title: The death penalty
uri: 2019-03-23-The-death-penalty
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28The_death_penalty%29
content:
<p>
There is a controversy about using a particular drug for executions,
because 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/02/07/death-penalty-lethal-injection-midazolam-ohio/">autopsies
suggest that it feels like drowning</a>.
<p>
I consider this a side issue, because 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2012-may-aug.html#18_May_2012_(Death_penalty_in_the_US)">the
death penalty is wrong in itself</a>, regardless of what methods are
used.


feed_id: db51cde500003bcd22f1f76fc377d0d4
title: Key West bans certain sunscreens
uri: Key-West-bans-certain-sunscreens
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Key_West_bans_certain_sunscreens%29

content:
<p>
Key West has banned 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/07/key-west-florida-sunscreen-ban-coral-reefs">certain
sunscreens which tend to kill coral</a>.
<p>
It's a small step in the right direction, <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#global heating">Global heating</a> will kill
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2010-sep-dec.html#9%20December%202010%20(No%20more%20coral%20reefs%20by%202050)">all
the world's coral</a> and inundate Key West, if we don't curb it fast.


feed_id: 15c7c5d8cf2d3b3d518db64610886a1f
title: Blackface
uri: 2019-03-23-Blackface
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Blackface%29
content:
<p>
The governor of Virginia and the attorney general face demands to
resign because they were photographed in blackface in the 1980s
&mdash; 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/06/mark-herring-blackface-scandal-virginia-ralph-northam-latest">more
than 30 years ago</a>.
<p>
Blackface mocks blacks, and that makes a racist statement.  (I did not
know this until a few months ago; before that, I had come across the
concept of blackface only in regard to minstrel plays a century ago.)
I would not put on blackface because I don't want to appear to endorse
racism.  I urge others also not to do so, for the same reason.
<p>
What should we make of someone who did that 40 years ago as a gag?
Maybe Herring's intention was racist, or maybe he was following a
foolish fashion, as young people so often do.
<p>
It is absurd to demand that officials resign over racist gags 30-40
years ago, in their youth.  Our legal system forgets even crimes that
people commit before age 18.  Mere mockery is far less grave than a
crime.
<p>
Are these officials racist now?  That is the question that matters.


feed_id: e5e80bc96ad1ee9a894af9267a43ec81
title: Barbed wire on border of Nogales
uri: Barbed-wire-on-border-of-Nogales
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Barbed_wire_on_border_of_Nogales%29

content:
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#bully">The bully</a> 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/06/arizona-razor-wire-border-wall-nogales">had
soldiers put barbed wire on the border</a> of Nogales, Texas; the town
council is considering ordering it taken down.


feed_id: 364286c164ca121da474405f227be9e6
title: Valve-turners protest
uri: Valve-turners-protest
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Valve-turners_protest%29
content:
<p>
Another valve-turners protest: shutting off 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/04/calling-unprecedented-and-urgent-action-solve-climate-crisis-four-organizers-shut">two
planet-roasting pipelines</a>.


feed_id: f0d43dd11784936caf42882714862a39
title: Israeli army seizes Palestinian land
uri: Israeli-army-seizes-Palestinian-land
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Israeli_army_seizes_Palestinian_land%29

content:
<p>
Israeli army seizes land from Palestinians "for military purposes",
then 
<a href="http://www.countdown2040.com/ShowNews/2728/How-Palestinian-Land-Goes-From-the-Israeli-Army-to-the-Settlers/">hands
it over for more illegal Israeli colonization</a> of the occupied
territory.


feed_id: 856a5b32997ec55a9943993552baf773
title: Gun control law in New Zealand
uri: Gun-control-law-in-New-Zealand
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Gun_control_law_in_New_Zealand%29
content:
<p>
New Zealand has 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/21/new-zealand-brings-in-sweeping-gun-law-changes-in-wake-of-christchurch-attacks">banned
the sale of military-style semiautomatic rifles</a>, as well as the
parts and devices to make them fire automatically.  Also large
magazines.
<p>
This will make it difficult to obtain a near-automatic rifle for a
massacre.  It will also impede plans to shoot people with
semiautomatic military-style rifles.  That is a benefit because their
bullets travel with a high velocity that 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#1_March_2018_(Banning_assault_weapons)">makes
them more likely to kill or cause severe wounds</a>.


feed_id: 478c82744a9877173f21836abb22b825
title: Hamas crushes protests
uri: Hamas-crushes-protests
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Hamas_crushes_protests%29
content:
<p>
Hamas violently 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/21/hamas-violently-suppresses-gaza-economic-israeli-border-protests">crushed
protests in Gaza against Hamas</a> over economic policies.


feed_id: ddab6b1809ba5c202e62fc2403a3088b
title: Irresponsible speculation by big banks
uri: Irresponsible-speculation-by-big-banks
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Irresponsible_speculation_by_big_banks%29

content:
<p>
Plutocratist Democrats support a move to eliminate 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/20/help-democrats-regulators-move-gut-last-line-defense-against-wall-street-gambling">part
of the US's inadequate protections</a> against irresponsible
speculation by big banks.
<p>
Why are big banks inclined towards irresponsible speculation?  Because
of "moral hazard": they figure they will get 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2013-sep-dec.html#23_September_2013_(The_billionaire_bailout_society)">bailed
out if they lose a bet, as long as the bet is big enough</a>.


feed_id: 1bacb82bff730abb793c276a0e699178
title: Global heating denial
uri: 2019-03-23-Global-heating-denial
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Global_heating_denial%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/30/1831008/-Science-correspondent-provides-a-very-clear-and-rational-way-to-talk-with-climate-change-deniers">Suggestions</a>
for convincing denialists that <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#global heating">global heating</a> is a real danger.


feed_id: e94e894bb190f81829fb5f8c03d4040d
title: The cost of being poor
uri: The-cost-of-being-poor
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28The_cost_of_being_poor%29
content:
<p>
13 Ways It 
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/2/3/1831044/-13-ways-it-costs-more-to-be-poor">Costs
More To Be Poor</a>.


feed_id: 0a13595b131e576667423ee0620d6152
title: Thugs burst into home and kill couple
uri: Thugs-burst-into-home-and-kill-couple
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Thugs_burst_into_home_and_kill_couple%29

content:
<p>
Houston <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> burst into a couple's home, not wearing uniforms, and
shot their dog.  Since they had guns, they shot back, and 
<a href="https://reason.com/archives/2019/02/06/one-deadly-drug-raid-and-two-red-herring">the
thugs killed them</a>.


feed_id: 92bad0cee723334aa8d7d9c0f58b0f17
title: Green New Deal
uri: 2019-03-23-Green-New-Deal
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Green_New_Deal%29
content:
<p>
Demanding Lawmakers Forge 'Path Away From Climate Suicide,' Groups
Kick Off 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/04/demanding-lawmakers-forge-path-away-climate-suicide-groups-kick-green-new-deal-push">Green
New Deal</a> Push.


feed_id: 8eda72e0a454853aa71b5dcf21e3bd39
title: Former president Temer arrested
uri: Former-president-Temer-arrested
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Former_president_Temer_arrested%29
content:
<p>
Brazil's known-to-be-corrupt former president Temer has been 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/21/brazils-former-president-michel-temer-arrested-in-corruption-investigation">arrested
for corruption</a>.
<p>
It was impossible to touch him while he was president.


feed_id: c920a58b9661296a7e83578a3fa069dc
title: Global heating and insurance prices
uri: Global-heating-and-insurance-prices
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Global_heating_and_insurance_prices%29

content:
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#global heating">Global heating</a> effects could make home insurance 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/21/climate-change-could-make-insurance-too-expensive-for-ordinary-people-report">so
expensive that only rich people could afford it</a>.


feed_id: b3c16c05842b50fe0b655321ce21fe1b
title: "Centrist" Democrats
uri: 2019-03-23-Centrist-Democrats
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Centrist_Democrats%29
content:
<p>
"Centrist" Democrats
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/20/democrats-are-also-to-blame-for-the-trump-kim-summit-collapse">worked
against the negotiations</a> between the bullshitter and dictator Kim.
<p>
I can understand why they would not want him to have any successes,
but I don't think that is the right way to decide about an issue of
any inherent significance.


feed_id: d8051c4c9ee74a77837e3cd7fb740e44
title: "Waivers" for illegal cruelty
uri: Waivers-for-illegal-cruelty
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Waivers_for_illegal_cruelty%29
content:
<p>
The Department of Hurt and Suffering gives prison contractors
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/04/crimes-against-humanity-abuses-persist-immigrant-detention-centers-dhs-hands-out">>"waivers"
to let them engage in illegal cruelty</a>.


feed_id: 5f04344efc126fbdd73bcbbc28547a72
title: "Cyber" charter schools
uri: Cyber-charter-schools
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Cyber_charter_schools%29
content:
<p>
"Cyber" charter schools are run by private contractors and don't have
physical premises.  In Pennsylvania, 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/05/ten-15-cyber-charter-schools-pa-are-operating-without-charter-close-them-all">their
charters have expired</a>.  This means the state could shut them down.
<p>
They surely require students to run nonfree software and agree to
unjust contracts for copies of what they use instead of textbooks.
That is bad moral education.  They should all be shut down.


feed_id: eb2896512c5edd857bdba96262158eb6
title: Threats from violent Israeli "settlers"
uri: Threats-from-violent-Israeli-settlers
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Threats_from_violent_Israeli_settlers%29

content:
<p>
Violent Israeli "settlers" 
<a href="http://imemc.org/article/israeli-paramilitary-settlers-post-threats-to-palestinian-farmers/">threatened
to boycott a Palestinian town</a> if the people of the town worked
with lawyers or foreign monitors to protect their farm land from the
settlers' plans to drive them off.


feed_id: f19a372751b78cee7c861d3a1585c9c7
title: Murderous Israeli soldiers
uri: Murderous-Israeli-soldiers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Murderous_Israeli_soldiers%29
content:
<p>
Murderous Israeli soldiers surrounded Saleh Barghouti's taxi, with
cars in front and behind so he could not move it, then 
<a href="https://www.btselem.org/press_releases/20190130_killing_of_saleh_al_barghuti">shot
him in cold blood</a>.
<p>
Then, as usual, they lied about what happened.


feed_id: f6658d0ec9d46afeed123c758111b65b
title: Taxes
uri: 2019-03-23-Taxes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Taxes%29
content:
<p>
The OECD did polling in 21 countries and found that, in each country,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/mar/19/most-people-want-higher-taxes-on-rich-to-support-poor-oecd">most
people wanted to increase taxes on the rich and provide more help to
the poor</a>.
<p>
Overall, 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/20/68-want-hike-taxes-rich-help-poor-survey-21-oecd-nations-shows">68%
were in favor of this</a>.
<p>
The countries surveyed are Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Denmark,
Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Ireland, Italy,
Lithuania, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia
and the United States.


feed_id: 085cbe07365ba11039a3484e8647c704
title: FBI invents imaginary terrorist threat
uri: FBI-invents-imaginary-terrorist-threat
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28FBI_invents_imaginary_terrorist_threat%29

content:
<p>
The FBI 
<a href="https://jezebel.com/exclusive-fbi-warned-law-enforcement-agencies-of-threa-1832134408">warned
about the supposed terrorist threat from imaginary organized
"pro-choice extremists."</a>  The FBI invented this to create a false
image of balance against the real danger of violent anti-abortion
extremists.
<p>
This fits a general pattern of 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#20_March_2019_(Right-wing_terrorist_threat)">downplaying
the real violent extremists of the right wing and persecuting
nonviolent activists on the left</a>.


feed_id: 1723820fc3956814f20bdf3ebc7de3d1
title: Car location monitoring in China
uri: Car-location-monitoring-in-China
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Car_location_monitoring_in_China%29

content:
<p>
In China, every electric car is 
<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/30/18120148/car-companies-china-location-data-electric-cars-mercedes-tesla">required
to report its location continuously</a> to a monitoring center.
<p>
Does anyone know how this works?  I would guess it uses
a cellular modem, but I would like to be sure.
<p>
The US and Europe do not have a law requiring this, but "connected"
cars do something more or less equivalent, and the government can get
that data.  We should see the totalitarian surveillance of China as a
warning for what will happen everywhere &mdash; unless we fight and
stop it.


feed_id: d8867032e04ae1979201418e718bbd87
title: Regrets of former Facebook president
uri: Regrets-of-former-Facebook-president
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Regrets_of_former_Facebook_president%29

content:
<p>
A former president of Facebook 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/09/facebook-sean-parker-vulnerability-brain-psychology">regrets
what he did</a> to make it lure in so many people for Facebook to use.
<p>
The last statement quoted in the article is not correct: not "all" of
us are ensnared by Facebook.  It is not hard to refuse to have a
Facebook account.  To block its other ways of surveilling people, you
need a browser that blocks tracking tokens and you need to reject the
nonfree apps.  (With few or no exceptions, the apps in the commercial
app stores, whether gratis or paid, are nonfree.)


feed_id: 4f34968a2a59358f9ea3b19d8e23aef2
title: The INF nuclear treaty
uri: The-INF-nuclear-treaty
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28The_INF_nuclear_treaty%29
content:
<p>
Putin followed the bullshitter in 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/02/russia-follows-us-in-suspending-nuclear-deal">suspending
the INF nuclear treaty</a>.
<p>
This does not make it impossible to resolve the dispute, but I've seen
it suggested that they want an arms race.


feed_id: 1982317ca7ac54dcfc272a7e6bb427b6
title: Making refugees wait in Mexico
uri: Making-refugees-wait-in-Mexico
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28Making_refugees_wait_in_Mexico%29
content:
<p>
Amnesty International explains 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/02/trump-immigration-policy-mexico-border-illegal-amnesty-international">why
it is illegal</a> to make refugees wait in Mexico while their asylum
claims are processed.


feed_id: cc94b09eb9074797e7e3f4edf4f64568
title: US In Iran
uri: 2019-03-23-US-In-Iran
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#22_March_2019_%28US_In_Iran%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Iraq and Iraqis are unwilling to host <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/04/trump-says-he-wants-us-troops-iraq-watch-iran-iraqis-response-get-out?cd-origin=rss">US troops so they can "watch"</a>
(spy on and menace) Iran.
</p>
<p>
There is no valid reason to keep US troops in Iraq any longer.
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a> no longer holds territory; what remains of it is underground
and calls for policing rather than war.  It is time to pull them out.
</p>


feed_id: 52dbe860f908358353ffa3168a7afa18
title: Urgent: Fire Miami thug
uri: Urgent-Fire-Miami-thug
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Fire_Miami_thug%29
content:
<p>
Everyone:
<a href="https://act.weareultraviolet.org/sign/loving/">call on
Miami</a> to fire the thug that attacked Dyma Loving, who had called
the emergency phone number because a neighbor threatened her.


feed_id: 33eee308c6aad1466161b5557f9c08f6
title: Injustices of Uber and Lyft
uri: Injustices-of-Uber-and-Lyft
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Injustices_of_Uber_and_Lyft%29
content:
<p>
Uber and Lyft drivers in the US are
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/22/uber-lyft-ipo-drivers-unionize-low-pay-expenses">trying
to form a union</a>.
<p>
The union could win them improved pay, but it will do nothing to
end the injustices of these companies towards customers:
making them run nonfree software, demanding to know their names,
and tracking where they go.


feed_id: 6e55eebd10d0b1591d6413dd893ea8ea
title: Thug acquitted for killing unarmed man
uri: Thug-acquitted-for-killing-unarmed-man
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Thug_acquitted_for_killing_unarmed_man%29

content:
<p>
Due to laws that make it easy for <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> to get away with killing
blacks, a Pittsburgh <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thug</a> was
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/23/pittsburgh-antwon-rose-ii-officer-acquitted-protests">acquitted
of killing Antwon Rose, who was running away</a>.
<p>
Rose was not carrying a gun.  Two guns were reportedly found in the
car he had been in.  Were they present in the car when Rose was there,
or were they planted?


feed_id: 8dd8a67b970fc531730d57c9edaf4701
title: Fringe Catholic sect
uri: Fringe-Catholic-sect
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Fringe_Catholic_sect%29
content:
<p>
(satire) a fringe Catholic sect
<a href="https://www.theonion.com/fringe-catholic-sect-doesn-t-tolerate-child-abuse-1832400583">doesn't
tolerate child abuse</a>.


feed_id: 90d777092470eae673ed126f987dcc28
title: Global heating and medical problems
uri: Global-heating-and-medical-problems
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Global_heating_and_medical_problems%29

content:
<p>
Medical schools must start teaching doctors to cope with the
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/06/im-future-physician-my-patients-health-depends-addressing-climate-change">medical
problems that global heating will cause</a>.


feed_id: 66af4243c6d6de306f6b737262728695
title: University Endowments
uri: University-Endowments
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28University_Endowments%29
content:
<p>
<p>
US universities <a href="http://theconversation.com/subsidized-privilege-the-real-scandal-of-american-universities-113792">are competing for big endowments</a>, which they pay no
taxes on.  This distorts the system in many ways.
</p>


feed_id: 8e4c5a4c0791812f6840a8570163092f
title: George Monbiot
uri: 2019-03-24-George-Monbiot
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28George_Monbiot%29
content:
<p>
<p>
George Monbiot: "If you are caught lying, cheating, boasting or
behaving like an idiot,<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/22/political-monsters-media-jacob-rees-mogg-platforms"> you’ll be flooded</a> with invitations to
appear on current affairs programmes."
</p>


feed_id: 803e6ef786873396b4665e1a7f002ea6
title: Maduro's aid Arrested
uri: Maduro-s-aid-Arrested
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Maduro%27s_aid_Arrested%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Maduro's men arrested Guaidó's chief aide, and accused him of
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/22/venezuela-juan-guaido-roberto-marrero-arrest-accused-terrorist-cell">organizing "terrorism" and possessing unauthorized weapons</a>.The aide says it is a frame-up.
</p>
<p>
I don't know any way to determine what the truth is.
As far as I know, either side could be lying.  
</p>


feed_id: f1f3d09ddb1bf7e71dec228992a0955f
title: Hate in the UK
uri: Hate-in-the-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Hate_in_the_UK%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Displays of hatred in the UK, aimed at Muslims, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/mar/22/anti-muslim-hate-crimes-soar-in-uk-after-christchurch-shootings">surged in the past week</a>,
evidently inspired by the massacre in Christchurch.
</p>


feed_id: b118a8a420479ddb4bdf6877e6d1f518
title: Italy and Xi
uri: Italy-and-Xi
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Italy_and_Xi%29
content:
<p>
<p>
The government of Italy <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/22/italy-pulls-out-red-carpet-for-xi-jinping-in-trade-charm-offensive">is sucking up</a> to President Xi.
</p>
<p>
This is as sickening as when rulers suck up to the <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#bully">bully</a>.
</p>


feed_id: 76856a879e7f9c277f9315e2a3f64d71
title: Gilets Jaunes
uri: 2019-03-24-Gilets-Jaunes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Gilets_Jaunes%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Gilets jaunes are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/22/france-drafts-in-troops-to-prevent-further-gilets-jaunes-violence">threatening violence in Nice</a>, and soldiers are being
brought in to prevent that.
</p>
<p>
I am very disappointed with the gilets jaunes protesters for not maintaining
nonviolence.  Violent protests only help repression.
</p>


feed_id: f7011fee6cadbf5eb42d557710474973
title: Immigrants Imprisoned
uri: Immigrants-Imprisoned
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Immigrants_Imprisoned%29
content:
<p>
<p>
The UK deportation thugs <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/21/home-office-has-utterly-failed-in-immigration-detention-mps-find">imprison immigrants</a> in a "careless and
cavalier" fashion, disregarding laws meant to protect their rights
and their safety.
</p>


feed_id: 403991db1cc7f2df8614ca1162fc096c
title: Netanyahu Boost
uri: Netanyahu-Boost
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Netanyahu_Boost%29
content:
<p>
The conman wants to <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/03/21/trump-gives-netanyahu-part-syria-boost-israeli-leaders-flagging-reelection-campaign/">give Netanyahu a boost</a> for getting reelected despite
corruption charges against him, by calling the Golan Heights an Israeli
possession rather than occupied territory. 
</p>


feed_id: 0fd8540485a39106ba495402de3e036c
title: Imprisoned Minors
uri: Imprisoned-Minors
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Imprisoned_Minors%29
content:
<p>
<p>
The DHS (Department of Harassment and Suffering) is holding some
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/3/20/1843583/-Some-migrant-kids-are-being-held-in-secret-facilities-unknown-to-even-their-attorneys-report-says??detail=emaildkre">refugee minors</a> (including some children) in secret prisons, and their
lawyers can't find them.
</p>


feed_id: 002937d394a44978c737dc4e47235f0d
title: Military Spending
uri: 2019-03-24-Military-Spending
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Military_Spending%29
content:
<p>
<p>
The conman called for a <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-defense-budget-810413/">big increase</a> in already excessive US military spending.
Plutocratist Democrats responded by proposing a smaller increase.
</p>
<p>
This illustrates the general problem with plutocratist Democrats, the
ones that call themselves "centrist" or "moderate": they want to continue
feeding the whole US to businesses and rich people, just not quite as
fast as Republicans want to do it.
</p>


feed_id: 46b5c229b688c27621c56c1a8d47900f
title: Urgent: Black Lives Matter activists
uri: Urgent-Black-Lives-Matter-activists
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Black_Lives_Matter_activists%29

content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/fbi-drop-bie">call
on the FBI</a> to stop pretending that Black Lives Matter activists
are extremists.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 1cb5cc4a99ba4611b95889e2e554af60
title: Urgent: 2017 tax cuts
uri: Urgent-2017-tax-cuts
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_2017_tax_cuts%29
content:
<p>
US
citizens: <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/sign-this-petition-to-demand-congress-repeal-the-trump-gop-tax-scam-for-the-rich">call
on Congress</a> to repeal the 2017 Republican tax cuts.
</p>
<p>If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 7afb69d9b1a2798a3a5733cab4552f73
title: Hazem Hamouda
uri: Hazem-Hamouda
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Hazem_Hamouda%29
content:
<p>
Hazem Hamouda, an Egyptian emigrant and Australian citizen visiting
Egypt as a tourist, has been jailed in Egypt for a year.  His family
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/10/australian-man-held-in-egypt-jail-for-over-a-year-after-holiday-arrest">can
only try to guess why</a>.


feed_id: 55a36e2fd9202ed6f201c52913a4601b
title: New Yorkers to Amazon
uri: New-Yorkers-to-Amazon
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28New_Yorkers_to_Amazon%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/08/dont-let-door-hit-you-way-out-people-power-credited-amazon-reportedly-reconsiders">New
Yorkers to Amazon</a>, "Don't Let Door Hit You on the Way Out."
<p>
The rest of us can help pressure Amazon by refusing to buy from it.
<p>
Ignore Amazon's claims it will create jobs (in only a few places),
because Amazon has eliminated a much larger number of jobs.


feed_id: 97d4d04ce47e17e20913865b073a42c0
title: Google censoring for Russia
uri: Google-censoring-for-Russia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Google_censoring_for_Russia%29
content:
<p>
Google is
now <a href="https://themoscowtimes.com/news/google-began-censoring-search-results-russia-reports-say-64423">censoring
search results for Russia</a>.


feed_id: e944f8c4ae1b8c48c882dd3696207b4f
title: Badmouthing Medicare for All
uri: Badmouthing-Medicare-for-All
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Badmouthing_Medicare_for_All%29
content:
<p>
Mainstream US media are still badmouthing Medicare for All
(single-payer medical care), but at
least <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/08/everybody-wants-medicare-all-except-our-leaders">some
of them cover it</a>.


feed_id: db7612b5382b87360e2ea9f4f32e65d3
title: Abortion harassment
uri: Abortion-harassment
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Abortion_harassment%29
content:
<p>
The Supreme
Court <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/02/08/scotus-blocks-anti-abortion-louisiana-law">blocked
temporarily</a> a Louisiana law designed to add pointless harassment
to the process of getting an abortion.


feed_id: 8c2da3124b93fcddb4a2105d62b8e182
title: Crimes by thugs
uri: Crimes-by-thugs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Crimes_by_thugs%29
content:
<p>
Working
to <a href="https://reason.com/archives/2019/02/08/new-york-police-killed-womans-son-50a">change
the New York State law</a> that makes it impossible in practice to
investigate crimes by <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a>.


feed_id: df65d82a82ea307aa5d2f74ba2a23dd5
title: Department of Labor rule
uri: Department-of-Labor-rule
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Department_of_Labor_rule%29
content:
<p>
The US Department of Labor's new "transparency" rule makes it easier
for employers
to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/08/trump-administration-labor-google-lawsuit-gender-pay-gap">get
away with discrimination</a>.


feed_id: 1a8423bbf6a329dc88bc200755464015
title: Confederacy monuments
uri: Confederacy-monuments
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Confederacy_monuments%29
content:
<p>
The movement to remove monuments that praise the Confederacy is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/08/racism-confederate-statues-taken-down">getting
stronger</a> and making progress.


feed_id: 64dcce59252732ad0b93ce266780100f
title: Rand Paul's exceptions
uri: Rand-Paul-s-exceptions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Rand_Paul%27s_exceptions%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#anti">Antisocialist</a> Senator Rand Paul condemns government programs that
actively help people, but he makes
exceptions <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/07/rand-paul-fairweather-libertarian">when
they help him</a>.


feed_id: 63da03bde028af8b28beb1935f1a31ed
title: Thai princess
uri: 2019-03-24-Thai-princess
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Thai_princess%29
content:
<p>
A Thai princess will run for prime minister, in an election that will
be even less fair than with the other candidates, since saying
anything critical about
her <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/08/thai-princess-to-run-for-prime-minister-against-ruling-military-junta">will
be a crime</a>.
<p>
However, it could
also <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/08/princesss-ubolratana-decision-run-thailand-pm-shot-in-arm-thai-politics">knock
our military rule</a>.


feed_id: fcb2e0671fac519307bb02b5e001dbdf
title: Green New Deal proposal
uri: Green-New-Deal-proposal
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Green_New_Deal_proposal%29
content:
<p>
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Markey have proposed a Green New Deal
resolution which states a set of goals.  The precise plan to achieve
them will be drawn up over the next two years.  This is intended to
create pressure on Pelosi
to <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/02/07/green-new-deal-resolution/">drop
her opposition to the idea</a>.
<p>
The proposed resolution does not talk directly about cutting down use
of fossil
fuels; <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/02/07/national-and-grassroots-groups-any-green-new-deal-must-directly-address-fossil">it
needs to do that</a>.
<p>
Failing to directly limit fossil fuel development projects leaves a
loophole that thousands of businesses will conspire to exploit.


feed_id: f299e6975f9f27e566010100e0a9e263
title: Using 'racist' and 'bigot'
uri: Using-racist-and-bigot
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Using_%27racist%27_and_%27bigot%27%29

content:
<p>
Some US journalists tell of
being <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/reporters-asked-to-ignore-racism_us_5c4f69fbe4b00906b26c38c9">ordered
to avoid</a> the words "racist" and "bigot" in their stories.


feed_id: a739436f74cf65bf48f63e975c0ab778
title: The Israel lobby
uri: The-Israel-lobby
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28The_Israel_lobby%29
content:
<p>
"The fierce backlash against [Congresswoman Ilhan Omar] for stating
the obvious can be seen as a sign that the Israel lobby, though still
powerful, is
<a href='https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/11/ilhan-omar-under-attack-telling-truth-about-israel-lobby'>losing
some of its oomph</a>."


feed_id: c8e9cd03f55b67971f63bcb2833c7044
title: The real anti-semites
uri: The-real-anti-semites
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28The_real_anti-semites%29
content:
<p>
Real anti-semites in Congress
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/02/15/ilhan-omar-aipac-republicans-anti-semitism/">falsely
accused Ilhan Omar of anti-semitism</a> because she talked about the
heavily-funded lobby that pressures US politicians to support Israel's
policies.
<p>
That's not anti-semitic; also, it happens to be
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/15/pro-israel-donors-spent-over-22m-on-lobbying-and-contributions-in-2018">the
fact</a>.
<p>
It is a mistake to assert that this money comes only from Jews,
because rich fanatical US Christians contribute a lot of it.  They
want Israel to build a new temple so that their prophecies about the
end of the world could be realized.
<p>
Why a supposedly omnipotent god would need this sort of help from
humans, I can't grasp.


feed_id: a1cb3b2a1901289c1f36c64689b82b9a
title: Omar holds Abrams responsible
uri: Omar-holds-Abrams-responsible
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Omar_holds_Abrams_responsible%29
content:
<p>
Ilhan Omar
<a href="">held Elliott Abrams responsible</a> for his support of previous
massacres in Latin America, and his convictions for false testimony.


feed_id: 5c588e7741e9f2f9acc3c0030ae78b43
title: Criticism of Israel's occupation policy
uri: Criticism-of-Israel-s-occupation-policy
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#24_March_2019_%28Criticism_of_Israels_occupation_policy%29

content:
<p>
We must reject
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/13/ilhan-omar-is-right-about-the-influence-of-the-israel-lobby">AIPAC's
attempt to conflate criticism of Israel's occupation policy with
anti-semitism</a>.
<p>
There are real anti-semites with political power stirring up violence
in the US, but they are allies of the <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#bully">bully</a>, not defenders of
Palestinians' rights.


feed_id: 2080fb4479d4862ddbc028d1fbbe1e56
title: Suffolk County
uri: Suffolk-County
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#26_March_2019_%28Suffolk_County%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Rachael Rollins, newly elected DA of Suffolk County, Mass, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/03/24/rachael-rollins-da-petty-crime/">is continuing
to push to end prosecution</a> of petty, poverty-related crimes, but
other officials are trying to slow this down.
</p>


feed_id: e0bc12a05f5349f2ca41a831806651e3
title: Pangolins Endangered
uri: Pangolins-Endangered
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#26_March_2019_%28Pangolins_Endangered%29
content:
<p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/24/pangolins-bogus-asthma-cure-trafficked-animal-decline">Pangolins are endangered</a>, partly due to Asian medical superstition.
</p>
<p>
It's like the danger to tigers and rhinoceroses.
</p>


feed_id: 889078e43c112388de9b7cdf4e1e0a05
title: Outsourcing Ban
uri: Outsourcing-Ban
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#26_March_2019_%28Outsourcing_Ban%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Labour <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/mar/24/labour-ban-outsourcing-public-services-private-firms">‘Will Ban’</a> Outsourcing of Public Services to Private Firms.
</p>
<p>
Hooray!
</p>


feed_id: 010cfeba2f164159d2c77621530b9d78
title: Censorship Goals
uri: Censorship-Goals
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#26_March_2019_%28Censorship_Goals%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Arguing that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/24/silencing-islamophobes-is-as-futile-as-banning-quran
">censoring criticism of Islam</a> to oppose right-wing
terrorism would be comparable to censoring Muslim writings to oppose
Islamist terrorism.
</p>
<p>
I am very happy to see this reasoned criticism of the term
"Islamophobia", which I make a point of never using.
Ironic that the editors stuck that word into the article's title.
</p>


feed_id: 13a0dd38d07d66d6ace2478be455a6d0
title: Chelsea Manning
uri: 2019-03-26-Chelsea-Manning
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#26_March_2019_%28Chelsea_Manning%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Chelsea Manning <a href="https://xychelsea.is/?page_id=28">is being held</a> in solitary confinement.
</p>


feed_id: 5cfab3a8685c68943dbaac6f364ab448
title: Mueller Indictments
uri: Mueller-Indictments
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#26_March_2019_%28Mueller_Indictments%29
content:
<p>
<p>
It seems that Mueller <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/23/trump-investigations-are-far-over?cd-origin=rss">will not issue any more indictments</a>, but that
doesn't imply that the conman and his henchmen will not later be
indicted for crimes based on Mueller's evidence.
</p>


feed_id: 26cc47bd7cf459ea1b60b1935ee83ba9
title: NHS Collects
uri: NHS-Collects
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#26_March_2019_%28NHS_Collects%29
content:
<p>
<p>
The NHS in Britain <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/23/nhs-trusts-use-bailiffs-collect-debts-ineligible-patients-asylum-seekers-immigrants">sends private debt collectors</a> to harass people in
penury to pay for medical care.  In addition to being cruel, it hardly
gets any money &mdash; only 7% of the debts.
</p>
<p>
I have a hunch that the debt collectors make off with more than that.
The article doesn't give facts to tell whether that is true.
</p>


feed_id: 7908461db4a342c6e9806f25a0996059
title: Uni Endowments
uri: Uni-Endowments
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#26_March_2019_%28Uni_Endowments%29
content:
<p>
<p>
US universities are <a href="http://theconversation.com/subsidized-privilege-the-real-scandal-of-american-universities-113792">competing for big endowments</a>, which they pay no
taxes on.  This distorts the system in many ways.
</p>


feed_id: 1ba62bdac8966a5e999c0d023f99e12c
title: Antibiotics failing
uri: Antibiotics-failing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#26_March_2019_%28Antibiotics_failing%29
content:
<p>
Antibiotics are now
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global/2019/mar/24/the-drugs-dont-work-what-happens-after-antibiotics">failing
for many patients</a>.  There is active research on new ways to fight
bacteria, but don't take for granted that we will succeed.


feed_id: a409bcd72e8caf853c4eec918f06a0b4
title: French thugs fracture protester's skull
uri: French-thugs-fracture-protester-s-skull
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#26_March_2019_%28French_thugs_fracture_protesters_skull%29

content:
<p>
French <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> attacking gilets jaunes fractured Geneviève Legay's skull
by
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/24/gilets-jaunes-protester-police-complaint-genevieve-legay-nice">bashing
her with sticks and shields</a>.
<p>
She was protesting against the ban on protesting.


feed_id: fc5bafdb68ae33ba8adb4012c497c5fb
title: Level of support for bigotry and hate
uri: Level-of-support-for-bigotry-and-hate
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#26_March_2019_%28Level_of_support_for_bigotry_and_hate%29

content:
<p>
After the massacre in New Zealand,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/24/christchurch-shows-how-social-media-sites-help-spread-poison-far-right-ideology-youtube-facebook">thousands
of people went to the trouble of reposting</a> the terrorist's murder
video in ways that YouTube would not automatically recognize.
<p>
I agree with the author that the level of support for bigotry and hate
is alarming.
<p>
It also shows that not even Google can satisfy Article 13 of Europe's
proposed copyright directive.


feed_id: 986316e47cf36c2e1855a8ad5be7fe04
title: Report on left-wing "extremism"
uri: Report-on-left-wing-extremism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#26_March_2019_%28Report_on_left-wing_extremism%29
content:
<p>
Some UK elected officials want to see the government's report on
left-wing "extremism"
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/10/home-office-urged-to-release-leftwing-extremist-report">to
see if they, and other protesters and opposition leaders, are on
it</a>.


feed_id: fcfa02a9e963bfcc0fd5c9add986f358
title: Harris not progressive
uri: Harris-not-progressive
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#26_March_2019_%28Harris_not_progressive%29
content:
<p>
Kamala Harris's positions are not very progressive, even
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/10/how-convincing-is-kamala-harris-leftward-shift">setting
aside her campaign for internet censorship</a>.


feed_id: 72954890b7f5b8730dd780fa65f680c0
title: Sheriff snoops on lawyer's notes
uri: Sheriff-snoops-on-lawyer-s-notes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#25_March_2019_%28Sheriff_snoops_on_lawyers_notes%29
content:
<p>
Criminal Case Dismissed After Sheriff
<a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/428478-criminal-case-in-washington-dismissed-after-sheriffs-use-of">Uses
Camera to Zoom in on Lawyer's Notes</a>.
<p>
Dismissing one case is not, I think, enough of a discouragement
for <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> to try this sort of thing again and again.
<p>
Maybe the cameras in the courtroom should be placed somewhere else.


feed_id: 0f3b9973ed24f570f46898efaad9d93d
title: The electoral college
uri: The-electoral-college
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#25_March_2019_%28The_electoral_college%29
content:
<p>
The final argument for the electoral college was that the electors would
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/09/founders-created-electoral-college-prevent-foreign-influenced-candidate-winning-it">detect
foreign agents running for president</a>.  Clearly they can't do that
today.
<p>
However, it is a mistake to say that the electoral college was
responsible for the
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2007-jul-oct.html#30%20July%202007%20(Proof%20of%20Republican%20efforts%20to%20steal%20election)">"victory"
of Dubya</a> and the
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_November_2016_(The_election_was_stolen)">"victory"
of the numbskull</a>, since both were stolen by voter-suppression.


feed_id: 4c624bd8ed99e214f4c5426bd265d776
title: How prosecutors support thugs
uri: How-prosecutors-support-thugs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#25_March_2019_%28How_prosecutors_support_thugs%29
content:
<p>
Prosecutors support <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> by practicing 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/20/us-police-killings-district-attorney-prosecutor-reports">character
assassination against those that the thugs have killed</a>.


feed_id: 9df30542d8f7a2c5a331ba8ea9ba83f4
title: American mercenaries in Haiti
uri: American-mercenaries-in-Haiti
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#25_March_2019_%28American_mercenaries_in_Haiti%29
content:
<p>
The imposed president of Haiti brought in American mercenaries to move
80 million dollars in cash for him, but people caught them and they
were 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/03/20/haiti-president-mercenary-operation/">arrested</a>.
<p>
Now they have been sent back to the US after demonstrating that the
president is even more crooked than the conman.


feed_id: f9895642c16a51ea8ab9ac69f92b190e
title: National Security Council
uri: National-Security-Council
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#25_March_2019_%28National_Security_Council%29
content:
<p>
The National Security Council is setting up a "scientific" panel of
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/20/donald-trump-stalinist-techniques-climate-science">crackpot
scientists who deny global heating</a>.


feed_id: 19ac4b6df9e91a9e461134d85106f3a2
title: Nicotine in e-cigarette vapor
uri: Nicotine-in-e-cigarette-vapor
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#25_March_2019_%28Nicotine_in_e-cigarette_vapor%29
content:
<p>
Juul has been 
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/07/health/juul-nicotine-arms-race-study/index.html">quietly
ramping up the nicotine level</a> in its e-cigarette vapor.


feed_id: 5d895631a96d98f6a75bfc2c1b670ba4
title: US phone companies sell location data
uri: US-phone-companies-sell-location-data
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#25_March_2019_%28US_phone_companies_sell_location_data%29

content:
<p>
The location data US phone companies 
<a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/43z3dn/hundreds-bounty-hunters-att-tmobile-sprint-customer-location-data-years">sold
to bounty hunters</a> (and lots of others) included GPS locations.
<p>
They have stopped selling this to bounty hunters, but they are surely
still collecting it.  A portable phone is 
<a href="https://gnu.org/malware/malware-mobiles.html">Stalin's
Dream</a>.


feed_id: 793ebce9dab4718b7f4bfba4ad24f4c1
title: Facebook data sources
uri: Facebook-data-sources
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#25_March_2019_%28Facebook_data_sources%29
content:
<p>
Germany has blocked Facebook from 
<a href="https://boingboing.net/2019/02/07/zuckerbackpfeifengesicht.html">combining
data from various sources</a>.
<p>
This article explains 
<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/germany-facebook-antitrust-ruling/">how
far-reaching</a> that is.


feed_id: a378b1e4a0fbddbb80e03660f578ef51
title: Corruption of US banks and laws
uri: Corruption-of-US-banks-and-laws
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#25_March_2019_%28Corruption_of_US_banks_and_laws%29
content:
<p>
The money taken out by Russian oligarchs after the fall of the Soviet
Union &mdash; in which they had had central political roles &mdash;
has 
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/03/how-kleptocracy-came-to-america/580471/">corrupted
US banks and in many cases US laws</a>.


feed_id: 5d0d77a42f3835023ed58277e43ec1e5
title: Internet service providers
uri: Internet-service-providers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#25_March_2019_%28Internet_service_providers%29
content:
<p>
In countries that allowed ISPs to charge zero for access to certain
web sites that pay for this special privilege, the 
<a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/02/countries-zero-rating-have-more-expensive-wireless-broadband-countries-without-it">consumer
price of broadband went up</a>.


feed_id: b61365e66e238eb4a2028d809bc1eee8
title: Urgent: Red Flag law
uri: 2019-03-26-Urgent-Red-Flag-law
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#25_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Red_Flag_law%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://act.everytown.org/sign/Tell-Your-Senators-pass-a-red-flag-law/">Call
on senators</a> to pass a a Red Flag law.
<p>
If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: d240609b74663d75a4538ca92671599e
title: Urgent: Fire corrupt Pittsburgh thug
uri: Urgent-Fire-corrupt-Pittsburgh-thug
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#25_March_2019_%28Urgent%3A_Fire_corrupt_Pittsburgh_thug%29

content:
<p>
Everyone: 
<a href="https://campaigns.organizefor.org/petitions/stop-the-pittsburgh-police-cover-up-machine-fire-robert-swartzwelder">call
on Pittsburgh City Officials</a> to Fire the Corrupt [thug] Who Heads
Pittsburgh's Police Union.
<p>
Can they prosecute him, too?
<p>
If you sign, please spread the word!</p>


feed_id: 64548f576162afe8dd0e216667a92033
title: Ilhan Omar
uri: Ilhan-Omar
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#25_March_2019_%28Ilhan_Omar%29
content:
<p>
The House of Representatives was considering a resolution to condemn
Rep. Ilhan Omar, but modified it to condemn antisemitism and
anti-Muslim bigotry.  Ilhan Omar 
<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/07/politics/anti-semitism-resolution-text/index.html">voted
for it</a>.  I would have voted for it too.
<p>
The only point I critique is the use of the absurd expression "people
of color", because color is not something one can be 
<a href="https://stallman.org/antiglossary.html#poc">"of"</a>.  How
about "disprivileged racial groups"?
<p>
A transcript of Ilhan Omar's remarks on replacing the Israeli
occupation of Palestine with peace, and dignity for all, shows
there is 
<a href="http://www.publicseminar.org/2019/03/in-defense-of-ilhan-omar-again/?fbclid=IwAR1YhtSyQbo2196paa8wUq5xKEM9brzrQnUW6fEjW6k9qKBCfzUxvgBrQP4">no
antisemitism in it</a.>


feed_id: d91f254f3a05623a6759d519297a6b4c
title: Funding from Israel's lobby
uri: Funding-from-Israel-s-lobby
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#25_March_2019_%28Funding_from_Israels_lobby%29
content:
<p>
The Democrats' varied responses to Ilhan Omar 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/09/democrats-israel-lobbying-ilhan-omar">correlate
with funding</a> from the lobby that supports Israel's occupation
policies.


feed_id: e5b3baffe365d030cadfa4b65a868d9f
title: False accusations of "antisemitism"
uri: 2019-03-26-False-accusations-of-antisemitism
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#25_March_2019_%28False_accusations_of_antisemitism%29

content:
<p>
Republicans are trying to use Congressional Democrats' false
accusations of "antisemitism" against Ilhan Omar 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/05/public-rebuke-ilhan-omar-substantive-critique-israeli-policy-disgrace-say">as
a base to pressure them to take away Ilhan Omar's committee
assignments</a>.


feed_id: c9f155e36b9bf20c36eade940b91b3fe
title: Criticizing occupation of Palestine
uri: Criticizing-occupation-of-Palestine
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#25_March_2019_%28Criticizing_occupation_of_Palestine%29

content:
<p>
US right-wing extremists, up to the bullshitter himself, have 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/03/05/republicans-and-democrats-say-their-criticism-of-ilhan-omar-is-about-anti-semitism-theyre-gaslighting-you/">poured
out antisemitism for years</a>, but the only person Congress plans to
censure for "antisemitism" is Ilhan Omar &mdash; for her criticism of
Israel's occupation of Palestine, which is not antisemitism.
<p>
The resolution to condemn her 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/03/05/the-house-democrats-rebuke-of-rep-ilhan-omar-is-a-fraud-for-many-reasons-including-its-wild-distortion-of-her-comments/">misrepresents
what she said</a>, also.


feed_id: 4c23993956d8e4978b803d5247d8c3c2
title: Criticizing Israel's lobby
uri: Criticizing-Israel-s-lobby
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#25_March_2019_%28Criticizing_Israels_lobby%29
content:
<p>
Ilhan Omar is making a 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/02/ilhan-omar-attacks-pro-israel-lobby-antisemitic">strenuous
and careful effort</a> to criticize the power of Israel's lobby while
rejecting antisemitism.
<p>
The lobby's supporters try, as usual, to muddy the line so as to
paint her as "antisemitic".


feed_id: 5723887872d435c3ca5883b609b4cb2c
title: Conservation in Peru
uri: Conservation-in-Peru
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#27_March_2019_%28Conservation_in_Peru%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Peru <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/mar/25/la-pampa-the-illegal-mining-city-peru-wants-wiped-out">is making a strong effort</a> to clamp down on illegal gold mining
that pollutes the rainforest with toxic wastes.
</p>


feed_id: 93d94d4e1a13a185b36ec895740cdb6a
title: University Bribes
uri: University-Bribes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#27_March_2019_%28University_Bribes%29
content:
<p>
<p>
An anonymous professor says that rich family brats who can't do the
schoolwork <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/25/what-happens-after-rich-kids-bribe-their-way-into-college-i-teach-them">pressure universities to give them good grades</a> despite this,
and their family money gives them the power to <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#bully">bully</a> professors into
doing so. They also pressure professors into spending 10 hours a week on remedial
education for them.
</p>
<p>
One would suppose that the school could afford to hire some special
remedial professors to do that job.
</p>


feed_id: 31112964863a842e30ed83eed864057c
title: Use of Coal
uri: Use-of-Coal
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#27_March_2019_%28Use_of_Coal%29
content:
<p>
<p>
US use of coal <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/25/coal-more-expensive-wind-solar-us-energy-study">is declining</a> because renewables and natural gas are
cheaper.  But this decline is not fast enough to avoid disaster.
</p>
<p>
Some coal is being replaced by natural gas, which is not really an
improvement.
</p>


feed_id: 39179b2ab9b31ac716688667384fb66f
title: Pay to Play
uri: Pay-to-Play
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#27_March_2019_%28Pay_to_Play%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Too Poor to Play: Children in [public] Housing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/mar/25/too-poor-to-play-children-in-social-housing-blocked-from-communal-playground">Blocked from Communal
Playground</a>.
</p>


feed_id: 86b3a9036a8e33d230c8b1591530eef3
title: Mueller Conclusion
uri: Mueller-Conclusion
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#27_March_2019_%28Mueller_Conclusion%29
content:
<p>
<p>
An analysis of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/25/william-barr-letter-mueller-report">what we know about</a> Mueller's investigation's conclusions.
</p>
<p>
He could not reach a conclusion about whether the known actions of the
conman and his men constituted obstruction of justice.  He found no
evidence for collusion with Russia, but that could be because the man
who could testify to it has refused to testify.
</p>


feed_id: 4e7add2e8dbb8783fbdb45a8c02f1732
title: Indian Basic Income
uri: Indian-Basic-Income
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#27_March_2019_%28Indian_Basic_Income%29
content:
<p>
<p>
India: Congress Party Leader <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/25/india-congress-party-universal-basic-income-rahul-gandhi">Promises Universal Basic Income</a>.
</p>


feed_id: fb30a2284f586d2350d255167de68aed
title: Salafi Arabia
uri: 2019-03-27-Salafi-Arabia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#27_March_2019_%28Salafi_Arabia%29
content:
<p>
<p>
The two sisters from <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#salafi">Salafi Arabia</a> who had fled to Hong Kong, and were
blocked from reaching Australia, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/25/now-i-own-my-life-saudi-sisters-who-fled-family-granted-asylum">have been given asylum</a> in another country.
</p>
<p>
I think it is a wise precaution not to say which country.  Their relatives
might try to kidnap them.
</p>


feed_id: 88772b923ff40c9f4bc464fa12a83b52
title: Plutocratist Politics
uri: Plutocratist-Politics
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#27_March_2019_%28Plutocratist_Politics%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Plutocratist Democrats <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/03/25/dccc-blacklist-democratic-party/">are trying all sorts of dirty tricks</a> to
stay in power.
</p>


feed_id: 7b7a1a97b853ea98181f0fb7d89b4a29
title: Indigenous Mistreated
uri: Indigenous-Mistreated
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#27_March_2019_%28Indigenous_Mistreated%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Mexico Demands Spain <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/25/mexico-demands-spain-apology-colonialism-obrador">Apologize for</a> Colonial Abuse of Indigenous People.
</p>
<p>
I agree that Spain's actions call for an apology, but Spaniards were
not the first conquerors to oppress people in what is now Mexico.
That was standard practice in the region before they arrived.  At
least the kings of Spain tried to restrain the cruelest practices
(though with little effect).
</p>
<p>
I call on Mexico to apologize also, for the Mexicas' practice of
conquering many other indigenous peoples, and using large numbers of
them for human sacrifices and then as food.
</p>
<p>
Nowadays, things are different: the elite Mexicans recruit enforcers
from among the poor Mexicans to oppress the rest of the Mexicans.
Giving Mexico real democracy includes putting an end to this.
</p>


feed_id: 475ef49c47810d0e9aa70f00b4420512
title: Coal Contribution
uri: Coal-Contribution
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#27_March_2019_%28Coal_Contribution%29
content:
<p>
<p>
Coal use for electricity <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/26/global-coal-use-up-by-third-as-greenhouse-gas-emissions-rise">has increased by 1/3</a> in the past decade.
(And burning of gas has increased in recent years.)
</p>
<p>
We cannot allow these new coal power plants to remain in use for 10
more years.
</p>


