# articles

feed_id: 0dd57161dc620616b79ce9db02a0c860
title: Too ignorant to be President
uri: Too-ignorant-to-be-President
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#12_June_2017_%28Too_ignorant_to_be_President%29
content:
<p>

If Trump is 
<a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/143184/trump-ignorant-guilty-hes-ignorant-president">too ignorant to be guilty,</a>
 he's too ignorant to be President.


feed_id: 066c17fbb7998e87c861b82bd1fb67fd
title: Suspicion about Sessions
uri: Suspicion-about-Sessions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#12_June_2017_%28Suspicion_about_Sessions%29
content:
<p>

<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/6/8/1670139/-The-cloud-over-Jeff-Sessions-grows-darker-with-new-reports-of-a-third-Russian-meeting?detail=emaildkre">More suspicion about Sessions' actions</a>
 in relation to Flynn and Russia.


feed_id: 8465ebc2a5be2d44688349fbd7f21946
title: Temer escapes corruption charges
uri: Temer-escapes-corruption-charges
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#12_June_2017_%28Temer_escapes_corruption_charges%29
content:
<p>

Brazil's corrupt President Temer 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/10/brazilian-court-dismisses-corruption-case-againt-president-michel-temer
">escaped from corruption charges.</a>
<p>
This is a bad blow to all hopes for Brazil. Temer and his corrupt
allies seek to cut down the Amazon rain forest and crush the poor.


feed_id: 19a7961fd9e83d91121ebc6ad487e2db
title: Freedom of speech
uri: 2017-06-14-Freedom-of-speech
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#13_June_2017_%28Freedom_of_speech%29
content:
<p>

Right-wingers think freedom of speech includes 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/05/free-speech-is-at-the-core-of-the-left-right-divide-but-what-are-we-fighting-over">freedom to intimidate others</a>
into silence.


feed_id: 2e89ab3d3344258cd2fc119ad14915e5
title: Anti-Muslim rallies
uri: Anti-Muslim-rallies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#13_June_2017_%28Anti-muslim_rallies%29
content:
<p>

On Saturday there were rallies in the US to condemn Shari'a law.
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/10/anti-muslim-rallies-across-us-denounced-by-civil-rights-groups">Some civil rights groups denounced the marches.</a>
<p>
Here's an idea for another response: suggest that other people join
the rallies to condemn, more generally, religion-based denial of human
rights.  Then it would cover the intolerant Christians, Hindus and
Jews as well as intolerant Muslims.
<p>
There could be more of these broadeners than the number of right-wing
division-spreaders.


feed_id: 24c1976605c3d203f22229050ee6c1ec
title: Accepting Corbyn as leader
uri: Accepting-Corbyn-as-leader
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#13_June_2017_%28Accepting_Corbyn_as_leader%29
content:
<p>

For Labour to win the next UK election, the "right-wingers" that tried to
remove him as leader must accept him as the leader, and his policies
too, and 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/11/message-to-rebels-work-with-corbyn-labour-can-win">stop trying to find fault with him.</a>
<p>
If they had given him support before, Labour might have won this time.
<p>
They have now more or less recognized he can lead the party, but some
of them are still attacking his traditional Labour policies and
demanding more right-wing policies.  Corbyn can surely judge better
than I, but it seems to me that they will never really support the
revived Labour party.
<p>
We have a similar problem in the US, with the right-wing "centrist"
establishment Democrats.  Sanders says 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/11/bernie-sanders-lambasts-absolute-failure-of-democratic-partys-strategy">they have learned nothing</a>
 from their defeat, and are still fighting to keep Wall Street in
 power.


feed_id: 8138a01a5bbc34ef05230adcc9a109a7
title: NAFTA lets US control Canadian oil
uri: NAFTA-lets-US-control-Canadian-oil
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#13_June_2017_%28NAFTA_lets_US_control_Canadian_oil%29

content:
<p>

<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/11/naftas-dirty-secret-it-lets-us-control-canadas-oil
">NAFTA has a special provision</a>
 that says Canada cannot reduce its oil exports to the US.


feed_id: 2d7ef7c6152a7a14752b3634c50176e5
title: Saudi Arabia destabilizing world
uri: Saudi-Arabia-destabilizing-world
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#13_June_2017_%28Saudi_Arabia_destabilizing_world%29
content:
<p>

<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/11/saudi-arabia-destabilizing-world">Saudi Arabia is destabilizing the world.</a>
  And especially Indonesia.
<p>
I call it "<a href="/glossary.html#salafi">Salafi Arabia</a>", for spreading the harsh and rigid Salafi
form of Islam.


feed_id: dd309bd889cbd3e583742f5db1eda821
title: UK: do not let the bully visit
uri: UK-do-not-let-the-bully-visit
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#13_June_2017_%28UK%3A_do_not_let_the_bully_visit%29
content:
<p>

Why the UK 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/11/observer-view-donald-trump-state-visit-uk">should not allow the bully to visit.</a>
<p>
It is misguided, though, to worry about danger to the "special
relationship" between the UK and the US.  The name of that kind of
relationship is "submission", and it facilitated <a href="/glossary.html#dubya">Dubya</a>'s conquest and
occupation of Iraq.
<p>
British condemnation 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/11/trump-scared-uk-protest-us-president">was too much for Trump,</a>
 who has put the visit to the UK on hold.


feed_id: 1d47c72bc79b088bed31f5371ed95892
title: Sex offender registry
uri: Sex-offender-registry
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#13_June_2017_%28Sex_offender_registry%29
content:
<p>

The sex offender registry treats any sexual crime as 
<a href="http://nationalrsol.org/foul-ball-oregonian-drags-pitcher-through-the-mud/">far worse than murder.</a>


feed_id: 0bbb8608b7d4dd90260ff5fb7e1d33b1
title: Urgent: Medical care funding
uri: Urgent-Medical-care-funding
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#13_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Medical_care_funding%29
content:
<p>

US citizens: 
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/tell-the-senate-dont-take-away-our-health-care?nowrapper=true&referrer=&source=retamer">call on the Senate</a>
 not to cut off US medical care funding.


feed_id: 19a2573e646115e6edb925db7747cf60
title: Urgent: Oppose anti-abortion nominees
uri: Urgent-Oppose-anti-abortion-nominees
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#13_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Oppose_anti-abortion_nominees%29

content:
<p>

US citizens: 
<a href="http://actnow.prochoiceamerica.org/sign/170605-antichoice-federal-judges/?t=5&akid=2724.390021.FgY6_J">Oppose anti-abortion nominees</a>
 for federal judgeships.


feed_id: 5d660a3ad7b1a4cb87ab57cdbe155e43
title: Klein's book on fighting the troll
uri: Klein-s-book-on-fighting-the-troll
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#13_June_2017_%28Kleins_book_on_fighting_the_troll%29

content:
<p>

Naomi Klein's latest book aims to show people
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jun/11/naomi-klein-donald-trump-no-is-not-enough-interview">how to fight the troll.</a>
  She previously explained the way plutocrats exploit economic and
social shocks.  <a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> makes his own shocks every day, to give them
something to exploit.


feed_id: caed916667976837b2ab40713835b553
title: Oakland thugs more polite to whites
uri: Oakland-thugs-more-polite-to-whites
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#13_June_2017_%28Oakland_thugs_more_polite_to_whites%29

content:
<p>

<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/6/6/1669392/-Body-cam-footage-confirms-Police-are-just-plain-more-polite-to-white-people?detail=emaildkre">A study of many body camera recordings</a>
 show that Oakland thugs are generally polite to whites, and generally
much less so to blacks.  Although circumstances affect their behavior,
that starts from the racist base.


feed_id: d323c16bd8dfb0c43886f86fee16d7a8
title: Students sue thugs in Georgia
uri: Students-sue-thugs-in-Georgia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#13_June_2017_%28Students_sue_thugs_in_Georgia%29
content:
<p>

A team of thugs in Georgia entered a high school with no warrant,
locked 900 students into rooms, then 
<a href="http://thefreethoughtproject.com/students-sue-after-entire-high-school-illegally-groped-and-molested-by-cops/#R">sexually assaulted many of them.</a>


feed_id: 6966931ad8490ccf26f69578605051ab
title: Urgent: Demand answers from Sessions
uri: Urgent-Demand-answers-from-Sessions
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#13_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Demand_answers_from_Sessions%29

content:
<p>

US citizens: 
<a href="https://action.aclu.org/secure/questions-for-sessions">call on Congress</a>
 to demand answers from Sessions about
his relations with Russia and his involvement in the Flynn scandal.


feed_id: fd38a64b932ebd67c135d584d298a566
title: Urgent: Impeach the saboteur-in-chief
uri: Urgent-Impeach-the-saboteur-in-chief
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#13_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Impeach_the_saboteur-in-chief%29

content:
<p>

US citizens: 
<a href="https://petitions.moveon.org/sign/congress-begin-impeachment?akid=184362.2794606.SVArSf&rd=1&source=mo&t=1018">call on Congress</a>
 to start now to impeach the saboteur-in-chief.


feed_id: b0935a6fa5f893c0bcc785657e2cfd38
title: Evicting families in Flint
uri: Evicting-families-in-Flint
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#13_June_2017_%28Evicting_families_in_Flint%29
content:
<p>

Thousands of families in Flint are 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/09/promise-land-despair-crisis-not-over-flint-michigan
">threatened with eviction</a>
 because they
can't afford the high prices charged for water that made them sick.
<p>
This is what Republicans do when they get a chance.  It was Governor
Synder and Michigan Republicans that imposed a non-accountable
government of occupation on Flint, and the occupation officials
poisoned the water to save money.  Now they plan to make families
homeless to save money.


feed_id: e80b9eeb3fa84de53440db9ac899d30b
title: Delaware and abortion
uri: Delaware-and-abortion
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#13_June_2017_%28Delaware_and_abortion%29
content:
<p>

Delaware has repealed 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/09/defend-against-trump-delaware-just-preemptively-enshrined-abortion-rights
">all state-level restrictions on abortion,</a>
including allowing teenage women to get abortions without anyone
else's approval.


feed_id: 63368df03194d2cee772744ad3d740ed
title: Self-inspecting chicken processing
uri: Self-inspecting-chicken-processing
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#13_June_2017_%28Self-inspecting_chicken_processing%29

content:
<p>

Chicken processing companies claim that 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/06/09/food-safety-advocates-file-lawsuit-shed-light-privatized-poultry-inspection">their own inspections</a>
 will maintain safety better than government-run inspections.  But
they evidently are not confident of this statement, since they want
the fact that they run their own inspections to be secret.
<p>
I think that the US government is putting the fox in charge of our
hen house.  Note that this started under Obama.  While he wasn't a
bully and a bigot like the troll, he was no great shakes for defending
people against abuses by businesses.  I am proud not to have voted for
him.


feed_id: 0116202ec76dacdb3d3b97dfa8b3bd58
title: The troll and Comey
uri: The-troll-and-Comey
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#13_June_2017_%28The_troll_and_Comey%29
content:
<p>

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/06/09/theres-no-indication-comey-violated-the-law-trump-may-be-about-to/">The troll could commit a crime</a>
 if he keeps trying to punish
or intimidate Comey.


feed_id: 70f2fdeeeba1c046f8be99111974cc30
title: Pakistani sentenced to death for blasphemy
uri: Pakistani-sentenced-to-death-for-blasphemy
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#13_June_2017_%28Pakistani_sentenced_to_death_for_blasphemy%29

content:
<p>

A Pakistani man has been 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/11/pakistan-man-sentenced-to-death-for-blasphemy-on-facebook
">sentenced to death for a statement</a>
 that supposedly insulted Muhammad.  I wonder what he actually said.
Can anyone send me an English translation?  If you encrypt it to my
GPG key (stallman.org/gpg.html), and mine alone, and put something
irrelevant in the Subject field, no one in Pakistan will be able to
tell what you sent me.
<p>
People should stay away from Pakistan except for vital humanitarian
missions.


feed_id: c33f07a0a711953f9fb10969661a56f1
title: Film maker charged with spying in Cambodia
uri: Film-maker-charged-with-spying-in-Cambodia
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#13_June_2017_%28Film_maker_charged_with_spying_in_Cabodia%29

content:
<p>

Cambodia has 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/11/australian-film-maker-charged-with-espionage-in-cambodia">charged Australian documentarist James Ricketson with spying.</a>


feed_id: a5478d255a525ebed252c39bef0dc827
title: Oil and gas
uri: Oil-and-gas
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#13_June_2017_%28Oil_and_gas%29
content:
<p>
Oil and gas companies
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/21/time-oil-industry-snuff-out-flares-pollutionwatch">must stop burning the fossil fuel</a> that isn't
worth collecting.
<p>
We should require them to collect all the hydrocarbons that come out
of the well, and if that makes the well too expensive to run, they
should shut it.
<p>
Of course, we should charge them a lot more than that.
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/21/time-oil-industry-snuff-out-flares-pollutionwatch">We need a carbon tax.</a>


feed_id: cccfd233c1d1ab71f026095660ec5222
title: Government ID
uri: 2017-06-14-Government-ID
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#13_June_2017_%28Government_ID%29
content:
<p>
People in the US that don't have government ID are
<a href="http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2017/05/15/without-id-homeless-trapped-in-vicious-cycle">locked out of many
aspects of life</a>.  Even visiting government offices to try to get
replacement ID.
<p>
To require people to prove a permanent address to get ID is a direct
and intolerable injustice to homeless people.  But the injustice here
is deeper and broader than that.  The US is being converted, step by
step, into a state where everyone must be identified.  To fix this
problem we must eliminate the ID requirements for many of these
activities — starting with visiting government offices.


feed_id: 678aadac287a0e535fbda97c51f1cdaa
title: Big IT
uri: Big-IT
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#13_June_2017_%28Big_IT%29
content:
<p>
The US government is leaving it up to big IT companies to decide
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/17/technology/personaltech/google-not-the-government-is-building-the-future.html">the
future of computing</a> — to their advantage over us.
<p>
The article doesn't go far enough.  We need to do more than just
participate
in the development of AI, through our democratic state (as it ought to
be);
we need to legislate to stop it from being used to subjugate people.


feed_id: c7a120e0c24a13e445b4b667134c8a4f
title: Britons against extremism
uri: 2017-06-14-Britons-against-extremism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#12_June_2017_%28Britons_against_extremism%29
content:
<p>
As British Muslims pour out anger and rejection at the few terrorists
in their midst, the Britons in general must seize the opportunity to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/10/baroness-warsi-britain-must-hit-reset-muslims-relationship
">solidify an alliance with them against extremism.</a>


feed_id: 176e2e68f86d956725758d8756409905
title: Urgent: oppose Dontcare bill
uri: Urgent-oppose-Dontcare-bill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_oppose_Dontcare_bill%29
content:
<p>

US citizens: 
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/call/stop_trumpcare_rcalls2?t=1002&akid=23519.1183552.svaeBI
">Phone certain key Republican senators</a>
 to oppose the <a href="/glossary.html#care">Dontcare</a> bill.


feed_id: 845d5b2de05c538358f51a183d6fc075
title: Secret briefing by US military
uri: Secret-briefing-by-US-military
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Secret_briefing_by_US_military%29
content:
<p>

The US military is 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/06/12/trump-saudi-arms-deal-secret-briefing-mcconnell-chris-murphy/">trying a secret briefing</a>
to convince senators to support arms for <a href="/glossary.html#salafi">Salafi Arabia</a> to bombard
Yemen. Doing it in secret means they can present a one-sided picture
and no one else will be able to call them on it.


feed_id: af11454a6693c150104f391d294b6a41
title: Orlando massacre
uri: Orlando-massacre
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Orlando_massacre%29
content:
<p>

By its secrecy, 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/06/12/one-year-after-pulse-shooting-in-orlando-fbi-hasnt-publicly-addressed-its-counterterrorism-failures/">the FBI blocks us from judging</a>
 whether through incompetence it allowed the massacre in Orlando to
 occur.


feed_id: e95f4f101ca496d5ee3fd44094ec61fa
title: Protesters arrested in Russia
uri: Protesters-arrested-in-Russia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Protesters_arrested_in_Russia%29
content:
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2017/jun/12/anti-government-demonstrations-in-russia-in-pictures">Hundreds of protesters were arrested in Russia,</a>
 after Navalny.


feed_id: 9817a62fbd4f8bf6bfdca578533b2183
title: Jacobs responds to Gianforte
uri: Jacobs-responds-to-Gianforte
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Jacobs_responds_to_Gianforte%29
content:
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/12/ben-jacobs-greg-gianforte-sentence-free-press">Ben Jacobs responds</a>
 to Greg Gianforte's sentence and apology for
attacking him.


feed_id: 8ea5255d3988451cd1bc5f0ccf167209
title: Tories and the NHS
uri: Tories-and-the-NHS
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Tories_and_the_NHS%29
content:
<p>

The Tories plan to continue 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/13/may-reappointment-jeremy-hunt-contempt-nhs">crushing the NHS to their last gasp or power.</a>
<p>
Britons are dying from this.  I suggest to their families and friends:
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/may/11/uk-uncut-emergency-operation-nhs">don't mourn, organize!</a>


feed_id: 022da1201e0a3066a22c8d0f51c6953c
title: Argentine daughters
uri: Argentine-daughters
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Argentine_daughters%29
content:
<p>

Argentine women whose fathers murdered dissidents in the 1970s 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/13/argentina-daughters-military-dictatorship-father">have condemned them publicly, </a>
to counter a wave of support for the military
government.


feed_id: fe4267c828c5137b199aa51598baba3b
title: Gianforte and immigrants
uri: Gianforte-and-immigrants
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Gianforte_and_immigrants%29
content:
<p>

Gianforte pled guilty to a fairly minor crime.  Should immigrants be
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/13/greg-gianforte-immigrant-deported-congress
">deported for such crimes?</a>


feed_id: 2be238cdf52318343b0205ce0a41b97b
title: Criticizing Japan
uri: Criticizing-Japan
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Criticizing_Japan%29
content:
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/13/japan-accused-of-eroding-press-freedom-by-un-special-rapporteur">The UN special rapporteur has criticized Japan</a>
 for political pressure on journalists.


feed_id: 7d94641421f970eef9883f3320349d54
title: Ireland's abortion laws
uri: Ireland-s-abortion-laws
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Irelands_abortion_laws%29
content:
<p>
The UN recognized once again that
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/13/un-denounces-ireland-abortion-laws-as-cruel-and-inhumane-again">Ireland's abortion laws violate human rights,</a>
 specifically in the case where they apply to a fetus
that will be born dead.


feed_id: d44a20cb6a9f33ad78bb4c06e372644d
title: Women riding bicycles
uri: Women-riding-bicycles
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Women_riding_bicycles%29
content:
<p>

In many countries, including the UK, women riding bicycles 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jun/13/harassment-stigma-fatwas-cycle-woman">frequently face condemnation and violent attacks.</a>


feed_id: b191e03cdb04182b83585d2107d98b03
title: Companies censoring the public
uri: Companies-censoring-the-public
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Companies_censoring_the_public%29
content:
<p>

Several European countries want to 
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/12/opinion/making-google-the-censor.html">force companies to censor the public.</a>

Fearing huge fines, they will censor in the strictest way they can
imagine.


feed_id: 8ca60865dd865bcdb1555fc7137a3606
title: Urgent: Protect computer users' freedom
uri: Urgent-Protect-computer-users-freedom
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Protect_computer_users_freedom%29

content:
<p>

EU citizens: The European Parliament is considering a directive that
could attack computer users' freedom in several ways. 
<a href="https://www.laquadrature.net/en/EECC-protect-Internet-decentralised-infrastructure">Please call your MEPs!</a>


feed_id: ddbda623033055c6d26a9fda88078e02
title: Another inmate dies of dehydration
uri: Another-inmate-dies-of-dehydration
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Another_inmate_dies_of_dehydration%29

content:
<p>
Records show girl begged for her life as officers 
<a href="http://thefreethoughtproject.com/another-inmate-deprived-water-dies-jail/">dehydrated her to death.</a>
<p>
It's standard practice for US prisons to find excuses to deny prisoners
medical care, then lie about it when that results (as it sometimes does) 
in death or permanent injury.


feed_id: 7a07540cfc122d0064dbee5f998f7dfc
title: Facebook surveillance
uri: Facebook-surveillance
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Facebook_surveillance%29
content:
<p>

Facebook's app listens all the time, to snoop on what people are
listening to or watching.  In addition, 
<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/facebook-using-people-s-phones-to-listen-in-on-what-they-re-saying-claims-professor-a7057526.html">it may be recognizing their conversations.</a>


feed_id: c2305e2ddfa795e0cf0ee3d852655441
title: Troll intimidating journalists
uri: Troll-intimidating-journalists
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Troll_intimidating_journalists%29
content:
<p>

<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> admitted in court that he made a practice of telling
journalists — falsely — that he was taping their interviews, and said
<a href="http://www.rawstory.com/2017/06/biographer-who-caught-trump-lying-30-times-he-tried-to-intimidate-me-by-lying-about-taping-conversations/">it was to "intimidate" them.</a>
<p>
I don't think it is wrong for the interviewee to tape an interview.
After all, journalists generally do so.  If you worry about being
misrepresented, taping the interview is an effective precaution.  I
don't see why this should intimidate, but that's how the troll saw it.


feed_id: 4edd23bf550a75abe9bad4fd9c8b6084
title: Amazon delays orders for non-prime
uri: Amazon-delays-orders-for-non-prime
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Amazon_delays_orders_for_non-prime%29

content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.quora.com/Has-Amazon-slowed-down-their-free-shipping-speed-intentionally">Amazon delays order processing</a>
 for customers that have not paid a subscription fee for "prime"
delivery.


feed_id: 95a97a7f5353174444bd48565da2ff43
title: Cars concentrate pollution
uri: Cars-concentrate-pollution
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Cars_concentrate_pollution%29
content:
<p>

Cars concentrate toxic pollution, often to a level ten times that in
the outside air.  Thus, being driven to and from school 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/12/children-risk-air-pollution-cars-former-uk-chief-scientist-warns">harms children's health,</a>
 and their ability to concentrate.


feed_id: d360aefa2b112dd221472a9d937b67d1
title: Urgent: Repeal PAT RIOT Act Section 702
uri: Urgent-Repeal-PAT-RIOT-Act-Section-702
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Repeal_PAT_RIOT_Act_Section_702%29

content:
<p>

US citizens: 
<a href="http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/tell-congress-end-mass-surveillance-americans-under-section-702/?source=702message2&t=1001&akid=5854.96703.o9eKnu">call on Congress</a>
 to repeal PAT RIOT Act Section 702
which allows for mass surveillance, in practice even of Americans.


feed_id: 3505faa9d6e61ec20a541e4637bbc2ac
title: Russia arrested Navalny before protest
uri: Russia-arrested-Navalny-before-protest
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Russia_arrested_Navalny_before_protest%29

content:
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/12/russian-opposition-leader-alexei-navalny-detained-moscow-protest">Russia arrested Alexei Navalny</a>
 half an hour before his protest rally was supposed to
start. Meanwhile, they couldn't rent a stage and PA system, because
the government told every company to refuse to rent to them.
<p>
This sort of contempt for democracy has been standard practice for
Putin 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2007-nov-feb.html#14%20December%202007%20(Kasparov%20resigns%20in%20early%20mid-game)">since 10 years ago.</a>


feed_id: abcd578d4751e992aa5adf3f631e3a6c
title: "I hope"
uri: I-hope
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28I_hope%29
content:
<p>

A Republican senator tried to pretend that if you say "I hope" when
trying to stop an investigation, 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/06/08/obstruction-of-justice-heres-the-legal-definition/">it isn't obstruction of justice.</a>
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/08/trump-just-new-comey-hearing-concludes-paul-ryan-jumps-defend-president">Paul Ryan said</a>
 we should forgive the troll because he's "new to this".
<p>
However, bullying and threatening is nothing new for him.


feed_id: 9470ce5cad837df778ca0a6e7ec15c28
title: Troll threatens iconic species
uri: Troll-threatens-iconic-species
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Troll_threatens_iconic_species%29
content:
<p>

<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> threatens to wipe out iconic species 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/12/public-lands-wildlife-corridors-migration-routes">by allowing development in their migration corridors.</a>


feed_id: dc92e5e20b4b87c2ca5184b8b4e4e454
title: Oil industry and the future
uri: Oil-industry-and-the-future
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Oil_industry_and_the_future%29
content:
<p>

People connected with the oil industry 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/12/oil-giants-need-to-invest-heavily-in-renewables-by-2035-analysis-finds
">just don't get the point.</a>
Analysts think they are predicting a good future when they forecast .5%
annual growth in use of oil.


feed_id: 4234ec8cf588beb6797a33eec1a8759e
title: Spreading paranoia to parents
uri: Spreading-paranoia-to-parents
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Spreading_paranoia_to_parents%29
content:
<p>

Spreading paranoia to American parents keeps getting more and more
exaggerated — 
<a href="http://www.freerangekids.com/children-of-any-age-should-not-go-into-public-restrooms-alone/">including fear of totally nonexistent dangers.</a>


feed_id: 2dd519b423b876fb7cb874eaa962fa14
title: Being overweight kills
uri: Being-overweight-kills
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Being_overweight_kills%29
content:
<p>

Excessive weight, even when it doesn't reach the point of obesity,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jun/12/being-overweight-not-just-obese-kills-millions-a-year-say-experts">kills millions of people each year.</a>
<p>
If only it were not so hard to avoid.


feed_id: 6f8cf1f69ba70e97df6f79f148df54e5
title: Tories: "Strong and stable"
uri: Tories-Strong-and-stable
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Tories%3A_Strong_and_stable%29
content:
<p>

The Tories say that only they are "strong and stable" enough
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/12/remember-kids-strong-stable-conservatives-fix-mess-theresa-may-gwyneth-paltrow-michael-gove">to fix the messes they keep making.</a>


feed_id: 38d29f8adfc16b5c785032ed6c443d4f
title: Inequality grows
uri: Inequality-grows
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Inequality_grows%29
content:
<p>

A year ago, the richest 8 men owned as much as the poorer half of
humanity.  
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/12/now-just-five-men-own-almost-much-wealth-half-worlds-population">As inequality grows,</a>
 the richest 5 men now own almost as
much as the poorer half of humanity.
<p>
Those men claim to deserve this great wealth because of the benefit
that their work has provided to humanity, but the benefit is not so much
and they depended on others (some of whom they ripped off).
<p>
The article embodies confusion and ignorance where it uses the term
<a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.html ">"intellectual property".</a>
 I think the events in question involved
copyright, and only copyright.


feed_id: 97b6a894ebfef9ad5477bcdc6b17d568
title: Finland buries nuclear waste
uri: Finland-buries-nuclear-waste
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Finland_buries_nuclear_waste%29
content:
<p>

Finland works, quietly, to 
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/09/science/nuclear-reactor-waste-finland.html
">bury its nuclear reactor waste.</a>


feed_id: bfb1b805047d07cb3e68a4fd1f027692
title: Thugs boil prisoner's brain
uri: Thugs-boil-prisoner-s-brain
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Thugs_boil_prisoners_brain%29
content:
<p>

<a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/40852-forced-to-endure-extreme-heat-prisoners-are-casualties-of-the-texas-s-climate-denial">Texas prison thugs killed a prisoner</a>
 by boiling his brain, as the heat
in his cell gave him a fatal fever.
<p>
The water in the prison is unsafe to drink, so drinking more to stay
cool is dangerous too.
<p>
Statistics from a few years ago showed that around 50 people a day died
from effects of heat.


feed_id: 2d53b864a5499f54f93813a8338e8232
title: Humans endangering deep ocean species
uri: Humans-endangering-deep-ocean-species
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Humans_endangering_deep_ocean_species%29

content:
<p>

Fishing and and toxic wastes (including CO2) endanger species that live
in the deep ocean.  
<a href="http://www.climatecentral.org/news/human-activities-toll-in-deep-ocean-21527">Soon mining may do that too.</a>
<p>
One mine, at a volcanic vent, could wipe out a species that lives only
there.
<p>
Deep sea mining can be very useful — it could end some of the wars
over "conflict minerals" and reduce the pollution of the land.
But only if it is done safely.
<p>
Perhaps we should limit deep sea mining to collection of nodules by
robots that can pick them up one at a time.  Not by dragging nets
along the sea bottom!


feed_id: 369b8d498d32232b3decdb18561c5969
title: Urgent: Save US ocean monument
uri: Urgent-Save-US-ocean-monument
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Save_US_ocean_monument%29
content:
<p>

US citizens: Support 
<a href="https://secure.nrdconline.org/site/Advocacy;jsessionid=00000000.app337a?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=4276">the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument.</a>


feed_id: e484fe0159633115faf577faa7182b0d
title: Australia condemned
uri: Australia-condemned
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Australia_condemned%29
content:
<p>

The UN special rapporteur condemned Australia 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jun/12/un-official-says-australia-responsible-for-inhuman-treatment-of-asylum-seekers">for "inhuman" treatment of boat people.</a>


feed_id: ce1b02fc1afa79b9d24a33c33af812a1
title: Challenge Islamists
uri: Challenge-Islamists
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Challenge_Islamists%29
content:
<p>

Don't let Islamists, even nonviolent ones, go unchallenged
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/10/stop-fretting-over-religious-sensitivities-push-back-against-islamists">in speaking to or for Muslims in general.</a>


feed_id: 5c80290942de928ca11d89f0e15a5930
title: Troll contradiction
uri: Troll-contradiction
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Troll_contradiction%29
content:
<p>

Tillerson called for an end to the blockade of Qatar; immediately after,
<a href="http://time.com/4813247/donald-trump-contradict-rex-tillerson-qatar/">the troll spoke in favor of it.</a>
<p>
I don't suppose Tillerson liked this.  If this continues, he might
resign, or turn state's evidence.


feed_id: cb3bd21cf3d5c97cda1ad9232a88aafe
title: Troll meets standards for impeachment
uri: Troll-meets-standards-for-impeachment
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Troll_meets_standards_for_impeachment%29

content:
<p>

<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/11/republicans-set-standard-impeachment-and-trump-has-met-it">meets the standards for impeachment charges</a>
 that were asserted against Nixon and Bill Clinton.


feed_id: 29acbf2e12389f98ea89aee489158f95
title: Spreading lies
uri: Spreading-lies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Spreading_lies%29
content:
<p>

How the troll's active supporters post blatant lies and 
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/10/us/politics/comey-fake-news-twitter-posobiec.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0">then spread them around the internet.</a>
<p>
This is what protects the body of his supporters from all the scandals
the troll regularly produces: they don't believe the truth.
<p>
Those supporters include crackers, who 
<a href="http://gizmodo.com/hackers-hijacking-verified-accounts-to-spread-fake-news-1795997941">steal the Twitter accounts of real people</a>
 and use them to spread their lies, attributing them to
other real people.
<p>
Please don't use the word "hackers" to refer to people that break
computer security.


feed_id: 97f77df0e83925b7cfa71594497e7d6e
title: Facebook patent
uri: Facebook-patent
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Facebook_patent%29
content:
<p>

Facebook's new patent suggests that Facebook may be planning to use
the computer's camera 
<a href="http://thefreethoughtproject.com/new-facebook-patent-will-secretly-watch-users-cameras-monitor-emotions/">to detect its useds' emotions.</a>
 It might already be doing so.


feed_id: 862d17187dcfd8f903b16e8a20f47601
title: Urgent: Reject Poison Our Waters Act
uri: Urgent-Reject-Poison-Our-Waters-Act
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Reject_Poison_Our_Waters_Act%29

content:
<p>

US citizens: 
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/poison_waters_act?t=1001&akid=23539.1183552.6HZ1Oc">tell the Senate</a>
 to reject the Poison Our Waters Act.


feed_id: 7321be8c5cbc9873ce5c8ffb8de5667c
title: Massive surveillance
uri: 2017-06-15-Massive-surveillance
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Massive_surveillance%29
content:
<p>

Massive surveillance enables the few real potential terrorists 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/10/london-bridge-attackers-intelligence-overload">to hide in a haystack of data.</a>
<p>
This injustice is sold to us as a way to catch terrorists, but even if
it really worked it wouldn't justify the offense against our freedom.
Since in fact it doesn't work, let's end it with no further ado.
<p>
The sensible way to find the few terrorists 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/10/how-to-detect-potential-terrorist-heed-warnings-of-family-and-friends">is to listen</a>
 when their friends and relatives warn that they are dangerous.


feed_id: f9f6f662e35fe4e7e5e633deba291aec
title: Puerto Ricans and statehood
uri: Puerto-Ricans-and-statehood
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_%28Puerto_Ricans_and_statehood%29
content:
<p>

Puerto Ricans voted almost entirely to request statehood in the US,
but since only 23% of them voted at all, 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/12/puerto-ricans-vote-in-favour-of-being-51st-us-state-but-doubts-remain">it doesn't really signify much.</a>


feed_id: 297715f4cf1a4b9b193fb263e79f4afd
title: Rich people hiding wealth
uri: Rich-people-hiding-wealth
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#15_June_2017_%28Rich_people_hiding_wealth%29
content:
<p>

Analysis of leaks from banks shows that rich people are hiding around 30%
of their wealth.  This implies that 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/jun/14/tax-evaders-exposed-why-super-rich-are-even-richer-than-we-thought">inequality is bigger than was formerly believed.</a>


feed_id: aa3c8728129f239e4a9c2d3da43382be
title: Debt in England
uri: Debt-in-England
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#15_June_2017_%28Debt_in_England%29
content:
<p>

Families in England 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jun/14/low-income-families-forced-to-walk-relentless-financial-tightrope">go without beds, cookers, clothes, even meals,</a>
because of debt. Many of them consider suicide.


feed_id: 571910c54b587b6659572fec3f8b1c7c
title: Urgent: Pollution from power plants
uri: Urgent-Pollution-from-power-plants
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#15_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Pollution_from_power_plants%29

content:
<p>

US citizens: Tell <a href="/glossary.html#saboteur">Saboteur</a> Pruitt 
<a href="https://secure.earthjustice.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1972&utm_source=crm">not to cancel proposed regulation</a>
 of toxic pollution from exhaust and waste from power plants.


feed_id: 69242dad18f1137a1ea0449cf8c82cc9
title: Elephant poaching
uri: 2017-06-16-Elephant-poaching
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#15_June_2017_%28Elephant_poaching%29
content:
<p>

"If we stopped poaching tomorrow, 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/14/if-we-stopped-poaching-tomorrow-elephants-would-still-be-in-big-trouble">elephants would still be in big trouble.</a>"


feed_id: 5a6b5ec00bf2562504f17d91bfd8a893
title: White phosphorus
uri: White-phosphorus
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#15_June_2017_%28White_phosphorus%29
content:
<p>

It looks like the 
<a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/06/12/wpho-j12.html
">US artillery is using white phosphorus</a>
 as an incendiary weapon in Iraq.


feed_id: e939fe1d7a3969ac920aac83a1904646
title: Sessions testimony
uri: Sessions-testimony
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#15_June_2017_%28Sessions_testimony%29
content:
<p>

Sessions avoided inculpating the troll by 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/13/jeff-sessions-trump-russia-senate-testimony-analysis">not really answering most of the questions.</a>


feed_id: b4492aceb832c271cdd8a6a420388533
title: Human rights in Cuba
uri: Human-rights-in-Cuba
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#15_June_2017_%28Human_rights_in_Cuba%29
content:
<p>

Tillerson said that 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/13/cuba-human-rights-violations-rex-tillerson-us-relations">Cuba has to improve its respect for human rights.</a>
<p>
I agree that Cuba should respect human rights more.  However, for Cuba
to be as good as the US on that issue, it only needs to wait a few
years for Republicans to bring the US down to Cuba's level.


feed_id: 1caebb923ff256802856f95744189486
title: Astroturf social media campaigns
uri: Astroturf-social-media-campaigns
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#15_June_2017_%28Astroturf_social_media_campaigns%29
content:
<p>

Astroturf social media campaigns, to make bullshit appear accepted,
are 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/jun/13/fake-news-manipulate-elections-paid-propaganda">so cheap that any political group can use them.</a>


feed_id: 37fa1ae6fb22ed1e0a98527eee54618b
title: US not winning in Afghanistan
uri: US-not-winning-in-Afghanistan
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#15_June_2017_%28US_not_winning_in_Afghanistan%29
content:
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/13/us-afghanistan-james-mattis-john-mccain-senate">The Secretary of Defense admitted</a>
 that the US is not winning in Afghanistan.
<p>
To recognize the facts is a step forward, but he can't possibly come up
with a strategy to defeat the Taliban, because the corrupt Afghan government
lacks the capacity to win no matter what the strategy.  The US can prop it up
by continuing to fight there, but that will not lead to a victory.
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/notes/2005-nov-feb.html#04%20February%202006%20(Afghanistan%205%20years%20after)">I said this many years ago.</a>
<p>
The Taliban are perverted enemies of human rights, and I wish it were
possible to defeat them conclusively, but we have to recognize that we
can't.


feed_id: 7ac27ac60bca11c5c89fbbbab5f64931
title: Navalny sentenced to jail
uri: Navalny-sentenced-to-jail
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Navalny_sentenced_to_jail%29
content:
<p>

Navalny was sentenced to 30 days jail 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/13/russian-courts-sentence-protesters-arrested-anti-corruption-rallies">for launching a protest in Moscow.</a>
  Hundreds more were arrested and some face prosecution.
<p>
Getting permission for a protest in Russia is not easy.


feed_id: cbd32ec69f86755acc7736cf126ca835
title: Taxing businesses for public assistance
uri: Taxing-businesses-for-public-assistance
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Taxing_businesses_for_public_assistance%29

content:
<p>

Democrats 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/06/13/theres-a-new-way-to-make-walmart-pay-for-the-food-stamps-employees-rely-on/">have proposed a bill</a>
 to tax businesses to cover the costs of any public assistance their
employees are eligible for.
<p>
I hope it covers indirect employees and supposed "independent
contractors".  If not, it will encourage uberization.


feed_id: 2bb7a9c0fcba1901e425799fc4ba24fa
title: Right-wing double standard
uri: Right-wing-double-standard
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Right-wing_double_standard%29
content:
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/13/in-trumps-america-a-thick-headed-mans-incredibly-thin-skin-is-threatening-free-speech">The right-wing double standard:</a>
 supporters of the troll demand that
nobody insult him, and exaggerate the slightest reference to call it
"incitement."  Meanwhile, they flaunt their own threats, and actual
violence.


feed_id: 6c26716ddc273d38fa0f00de07f05d35
title: Obeisance
uri: Obeisance
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Obeisance%29
content:
<p>

<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> is making Republican officials give him 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/13/emperor-trumps-sycophantic-cabinet-meeting-stinks-beijing-obeisance">personal public obeisance.</a>


feed_id: 3754fa07bf9834a83f7f220f6768333a
title: Urgent: Demand an investigation
uri: Urgent-Demand-an-investigation
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Demand_an_investigation%29

content:
<p>

US citizens: phone your congresscritter to demand an independent
commission to investigate the connections between the cheater
and Russia.
<p>
With reports that the cheater is 
<a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20170612/news/306129841/">thinking about firing special investigator Mueller,</a>
 this is absolutely necessary.


feed_id: f42e745f8bf991ba31628d109d3832f9
title: Worldwide use of coal declined
uri: Worldwide-use-of-coal-declined
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#15_June_2017_%28Worldwide_use_of_coal_declined%29
content:
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/13/coal-global-demand-falls-2016-second-year-in-row-fossil-fuel">Worldwide use of coal declined 1.7% last year.</a>
<p>
If it continues at this rate, in 20 years coal use will decline 30%.
I don't think that's enough to rejoice about.


feed_id: 44919ed25fe03a037b176c20b98f5759
title: Tories and disability
uri: Tories-and-disability
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#15_June_2017_%28Tories_and_disability%29
content:
<p>

The Tories' "assessments", 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jun/13/pip-disability-assessment-intrusive-election-conservative-government">to determine whether disabled people are really disabled,</a>
 are idiotic and ignorant.
<p>
The idiocy makes sense when you understand it as one of many means
intended to advance the Tories' unstated goal: every penny less for
the disabled, the poor, the homeless, and the hungry is one penny more
for the elite.


feed_id: a45711881366c8fc06cbd8dc65e5b0bc
title: Rayon factories and pollution
uri: Rayon-factories-and-pollution
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#15_June_2017_%28Rayon_factories_and_pollution%29
content:
<p>

Factories that make rayon in countries without effective laws
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jun/13/hm-zara-marks-spencer-linked-polluting-viscose-factories-asia-fashion">poison the air and water</a>
 because they don't bother to prevent this.
<p>
One possible partial solution is through import regulation.  If all
importers of rayon are required to tell customs when they make an
order, and then every shipment is held until a certain period of time
has elapsed from the order, there would be no more pressure to speed
delivery.  If a tax is imposed on every order of rayon, and it goes to
antipollution measures in factories that make rayon, the pressure to
cut costs would no longer boost pollution.
<p>
In order to be able to do this, and a thousand other things, we need
to replace plutocratic government with democratic government.  We need
officials who are prepared to tell businesses, when they say they
"need" to be cruel in order to compete with other cruel businesses,
"For all we care, you can go broke.  You're the 'risk-takers', right?
When you take a risk of making people sick, you henceforth take a risk
of going broke."


feed_id: 910fb6204d263959e8425ad4d697b4f2
title: Oslo eliminating street parking
uri: Oslo-eliminating-street-parking
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#15_June_2017_%28Oslo_eliminating_street_parking%29
content:
<p>

Oslo is 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jun/13/oslo-ban-cars-backlash-parking">eliminating street parking in the center city</a>
 with the idea of
getting rid of most car traffic, to reduce CO2 emissions.
<p>
If this is accompanied by good enough public transportation, all
usable anonymously with cash, I'd be in favor.


feed_id: c622caa125813416f2156da17028d969
title: Urgent: Protect Bristol Bay salmon
uri: Urgent-Protect-Bristol-Bay-salmon
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#15_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Protect_Bristol_Bay_salmon%29

content:
<p>

US citizens: 
<a href="https://secure.earthjustice.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1970&utm_source=crm">Protect Bristol Bay salmon</a>
 from new giant mine.


feed_id: f9a44a12f61910b4b45c2119514965ed
title: Children, poverty, and dental care
uri: Children-poverty-and-dental-care
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#15_June_2017_%28Children%2C_poverty%2C_and_dental_care%29

content:
<p>

Children growing up in poverty in the US find it hard to afford to see
a dentist.  
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/jun/13/healthcare-gap-how-can-a-child-die-of-toothache-in-the-us">Occasionally one dies from this.</a>
 Lesser disease problems are widespread.


feed_id: ea7c9248f7b1c492c5e1984ad1021463
title: Making clothing for Ivanka
uri: Making-clothing-for-Ivanka
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#15_June_2017_%28Making_clothing_for_Ivanka%29
content:
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/13/revealed-reality-of-a-life-working-in-an-ivanka-trump-clothing-factory">What the working conditions are like</a>
 making clothing for Ivanka Trump
to sell.


feed_id: ea72126b6bc28dff61d1848b1f3a055e
title: Forcing censorship
uri: Forcing-censorship
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#15_June_2017_%28Forcing_censorship%29
content:
<p>

France and the UK both want to 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/12/may-macron-online-terror-radicalisation">force tech companies to impose censorship</a>
 according to their specifications. This time the specific target is
Islamist ideology, but the use of words such as "inflammatory" shows
they aim to suppress more.
<p>
They also want to work together to abolish privacy of communications
world-wide.
<p>
Once privacy and freedom of speech are rejected as principles, what
target will be next?  Corbyn?  Quoting 
<a href="media/62a79bb0.anuran-bevan.jpg" data-original-source="https://stallman.org/images/anuran-bevan.jpg">Aneuran Bevan?</a>
 Will saying that global heating is likely to kill billions of people,
and that the victims have the right to fight to prevent killing them,
be forbidden too?
<p>
There could be one good effect.  Since global heating denial promotes
mass murder, that too could be censored.  Austerity policies kill far
more people, in the US and UK, than terrorism.  (It may not be true in
France because it is not so right-wing — but Macron may establish
that.)  If publications arguing for austerity and neoliberalism were
banned, it might become more difficult to radicalize people to become
Tories or Republicans.
<p>
Even so, I am still opposed to censorship.  Respecting freedom of
speech includes letting people say things that we despise.


feed_id: 3ab1294ac95516e74a7cc645a0149dd8
title: Troll and the Constitution
uri: Troll-and-the-Constitution
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#15_June_2017_%28Troll_and_the_Constitution%29
content:
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/12/trump-sued-maryland-washington-business-lawsuits">Maryland and Washington DC have sued the troll</a>
 for violations of the Constitution.  They demand release of the
troll's tax returns so that the violations can be measured.
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/14/trump-sued-democratic-lawmakers-foreign-payments-business-empire">Democrats in Congress are suing too.</a>


feed_id: e2dc9b9830579608a2d8f02e30901188
title: Corbyn won the first battle
uri: Corbyn-won-the-first-battle
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#15_June_2017_%28Corbyn_won_the_first_battle%29
content:
<p>

Jeremy Corbyn has won the first battle 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/commentisfree/2017/jun/12/paul-mason-jeremy-corbyn-defeat-ruling-elite-antonio-gramsci">in a long war against the ruling elite.</a>


feed_id: 53dc43750168e5eb22730fec34cc024a
title: NY publicity law
uri: NY-publicity-law
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28NY_publicity_law%29
content:
<p>

New York rushes to enact terrible 
<a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/06/new-york-rushes-enact-terrible-right-publicity-law">right of publicity law.</a>


feed_id: f9b8a6e9f31b8dfd6279849e7c03f665
title: Australia and boat people
uri: Australia-and-boat-people
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Australia_and_boat_people%29
content:
<p>

Australia will pay any amount of money to cover up its 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jun/15/brutal-truth-of-australias-detention-regime-cant-be-written-off-not-even-for-70m">cruel treatment of boat people.</a>


feed_id: 01888cbef573c5ff49e42e42528c8eb3
title: Deporting in the UK
uri: Deporting-in-the-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Deporting_in_the_UK%29
content:
<p>

Deporting foreigners before they have a chance to appeal 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/jun/14/supreme-court-rules-uk-system-for-deporting-foreign-criminals-unlawful">has been ruled illegal in the UK.</a>
<p>
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/notes/2017-jan-apr.html#21_April_2017_(US_border_thugs_spit_on_the_law)">Now what about the US?</a>


feed_id: 31e4866331caa67487e282ebaeab026c
title: Michigan officials charged for Flint
uri: Michigan-officials-charged-for-Flint
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Michigan_officals_charged_for_Flint%29

content:
<p>

Michigan officials have been charged with involuntary manslaughter 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/14/flint-water-crisis-manslaughter-charges-government-officials">for poisoning the water in Flint.</a>
<p>
I suspect Governor Snyder was equally involved, and that the lower
officials are protecting him.


feed_id: d536bc96fb2fc921694af0ad5c768e38
title: Tory austerity and a fire
uri: Tory-austerity-and-a-fire
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Tory_austerity_and_a_fire%29
content:
<p>

Tory austerity was 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/14/grenfell-tower-fire-safety-tower-blocks">part of the cause of the fire</a>
 that raged through a
large apartment building in the UK.
<p>
Tory 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/15/grenfell-tower-red-tape-safety-deregulation">"ripping up red tape"</a>
 was another part.


feed_id: 8fce889845a685e958d72b2670cd84d0
title: Turkish opposition politician jailed
uri: Turkish-opposition-politician-jailed
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Turkish_opposition_politician_jailed%29

content:
<p>

Turkish opposition politician 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/14/turkish-opposition-politician-jailed-spying-charges-enis-berberoglu
">jailed for 25 years on spying charges.</a>
  He helped publish the news that Turkey was sending arms to jihadis in
Syria.
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2012-jul-oct.html#09_August_2012_(Obamas_War_on_Leakers)">Obama, I see you!</a>
<p>
We see that the US disapproval of countries that "support terrorists"
is essentially arbitrary.


feed_id: 6b7f2365d0148ab2776bc4ad5fbff058
title: Personalized ads
uri: Personalized-ads
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Personalized_ads%29
content:
<p>

Some stores want to 
<a href="http://www.dw.com/en/personalized-ads-in-the-real-world/a-39133518">use vision systems to personalize ads</a>
 according to demographics.
<p>
In terms of the threat of massive surveillance, this peculiar system
might be acceptable, if we could be sure that no one (not the state,
not crackers) could have access to collect its images.


feed_id: 04823574fba52ff7ced3bc0908bb1495
title: Plan to cut health care
uri: Plan-to-cut-health-care
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Plan_to_cut_health_care%29
content:
<p>

Senate Republicans are secretly developing their plan to 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/14/republican-senators-proposal-healthcare-affordable-care-act">drastically cut medical care</a>
 for millions of Americans.


feed_id: a29995af77c246b9d6f11a7f4b13cb7c
title: Russian disinformation not new
uri: Russian-disinformation-not-new
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Russian_disinformation_not_new%29
content:
<p>

The Soviet Union developed disinformation 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2017/jun/14/russian-fake-news-is-not-new-soviet-aids-propaganda-cost-countless-lives">as a form of attack in the 1920s</a>
and practiced it intensively since then.


feed_id: f1c4c2d810e476fc88e310fc83e2112d
title: European gas pipeline
uri: European-gas-pipeline
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28European_gas_pipeline%29
content:
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/14/gas-pipeline-nord-stream-2-funnel-billions-putin-bypass-sanctions">Ignoring sanctions against Russia,</a>
 European countries are building a pipeline to buy gas from there.
<p>


feed_id: c96bc5326d69cc64305dce3996d5fe3a
title: Violence against Democrats
uri: Violence-against-Democrats
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Violence_against_Democrats%29
content:
<p>

The Republicans, led by the troll, have 
<a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/trump-violent-rhetoric-history-226873
">encouraged political violence</a>
 against Democrats since almost a year ago.
<p>
<a href="http://addictinginfo.com/2017/06/14/rand-paul-forgot-to-delete-tweet-calling-for-people-to-use-2nd-amendment-to-shoot-at-the-government/">One suggested using guns to do it.</a>
<p>
They are also repeatedly 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#30_May_2017_(Attacking_reporters)">violent against reporters,</a>
 too.
<p>
Today someone who opposes the Republicans shot at some <a href="/glossary.html#scrotus">SCROTUS</a>, and
some Republicans have 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/15/steve-scalise-condition-virginia-shooting">the gall to claim Democrats fomented this.</a>
It's clear what must have happened, though.  The shooter loathed
Republican policies, and had violent tendencies; after seeing plenty
of right-wing violence and Republican incitement, he turned it around
at them.
<p>
If Republican leaders have human decency, they will learn the lesson
to stop inciting political violence.  
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#9_June_2017_(Gianforte_apologized_for_attack)">Gianforte's humble apology</a>
set an example that others can follow.
<p>
I don't expect many will do this, because it would require a complete
reversal of attitude.
<p>
Republicans have rejected the Golden Rule, dehumanized everyone else,
and set out to take and hold power no matter what damage it does to
America and Americans.  Probing how far they can go in violence is
just one part of that.


feed_id: 5c2472d09404f920b5efb3ab2f54c177
title: Urgent: Refuse to visit troll
uri: Urgent-Refuse-to-visit-troll
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Refuse_to_visit_troll%29
content:
<p>

Everyone: call on the Golden State Warriors sports team 
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/warriors?t=1001&akid=23590.1183552.lmgXSA">to refuse to visit the troll</a>
 at the White House.
<p>
But they shouldn't simply stay away.  They should hold a protest
across the street!


feed_id: 2647cd7ee7732cb44bf2e558ff6db193
title: Urgent: Show the revised Dontcare bill
uri: Urgent-Show-the-revised-Dontcare-bill
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Show_the_revised_Dontcare_bill%29

content:
<p>

US citizens: 
<a href="http://actnow.prochoiceamerica.org/sign/show-us-bill/?t=1004&akid=2735.390021.xeaV8_">sign this petition</a>
 calling on Senate Republicans to show us their revised <a href="/glossary.html#care">Dontcare</a> bill.


feed_id: fdc51e5d2d5d66e9cc6a97c31391cda2
title: Urgent: Justice for Jordan Edwards
uri: Urgent-Justice-for-Jordan-Edwards
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Justice_for_Jordan_Edwards%29

content:
<p>

Everyone: call for 
<a href="https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/special-prosecutor-for-jordan-edwards-case/source=moveon">full pursuit of justice</a>
 against the thugs involved in killing Jordan Edwards.


feed_id: d028b978dad6b787cf882d4db3d49b5d
title: Homeless immigrants in the UK
uri: Homeless-immigrants-in-the-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Homeless_immigrants_in_the_UK%29
content:
<p>

In the UK, officials often tell homeless immigrants their children can
have housing 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/13/destitute-immigrants-uk-threatened-with-having-children-removed">if the parents give them up.</a>
<p>
When the same officials are confronted about this, they deny it, but
it's clear they are lying.
<p>
Many of these immigrants can get permission to live in the UK, after a
lengthy process during which they have to 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/13/she-was-screaming-council-tried-to-take-girl-3-from-asylum-family">starve on the street.</a>
<p>
This is the standard Tory pattern of 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jan-apr.html#27_April_2017_(Tories_delay_in_welfare_support)">kicking weak people while they are down:</a>
 rather than make a careful decision, seize any excuse to be
harsh, and 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#11_May_2017_(Tory_welfare_reform)">inflict cruel punishment.</a>


feed_id: 3dce523a138e20cb50aa51ea2b7f98e6
title: Urgent: Object to the secret Dontcare bill
uri: Urgent-Object-to-the-secret-Dontcare-bill
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Object_to_the_secret_Dontcare_bill%29

content:
<p>

US citizens: 
<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/6/12/1671161/-Republican-senators-say-their-phones-aren-t-ringing-to-save-the-ACA-so-here-s-the-contact-list?detail=emaildkre">phone your senators</a>
 to object to the Republicans' secret <a href="/glossary.html#care">Dontcare</a> bill.


feed_id: eff5d4ed22183ec378227c2bca79157e
title: Guns are dangerous
uri: Guns-are-dangerous
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Guns_are_dangerous%29
content:
<p>

<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/6/10/1649646/-Is-no-one-safe-Embarrassing-wave-of-accidents-befall-experts-GunFAIL-CCXL?detail=emaildkre">Guns are dangerous,</a>
 to the people that carry them and to others who
are near them.


feed_id: cb9ba47d0ff46072f1c8986de3382353
title: Doubts about the troll
uri: Doubts-about-the-troll
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Doubts_about_the_troll%29
content:
<p>

Considerable fractions of the troll's supporters are 
<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/6/12/1671175/-Trump-s-Stalwart-Base-Is-Deserting-Him-According-To-A-New-Poll-White-House-Freaking-Out?detail=emaildkre">having doubts about him.</a>
<p>
If this continues, it will encourage <a href="/glossary.html#scrotus">SCROTUS</a> to protect him less.


feed_id: aeeacf293f3b0da36ec252ad3c5d22fd
title: Medicare for all
uri: Medicare-for-all
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Medicare_for_all%29
content:
<p>

Every Democrat should 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/13/every-democrat-america-should-support-medicare-all">support Medicare for all.</a>


feed_id: d0c24dce3a605be9630667ce8c57762e
title: Urgent: Defend press freedom
uri: Urgent-Defend-press-freedom
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Defend_press_freedom%29
content:
<p>

US citizens: Call on all US elected officials to 
<a href="https://petitions.signforgood.com/defendpressfreedom/?code=CC">defend press freedom.</a>


feed_id: f421d8617967dac03c5bbed4ad90a6c3
title: More US troops in Afghanistan
uri: More-US-troops-in-Afghanistan
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28More_US_troops_in_Afghanistan%29
content:
<p>

<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> is sending 4000 more troops to Afghanistan, supposedly 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/15/us-troops-afghanistan-trump-administration">to train the Afghan army better.</a>
 I expect that they will participate in the fighting, too.
<p>
This added support might push the Taliban back, but that effect will
be only temporary.
<p>
To defeat the Taliban, better training for the Afghan army is not
enough.  Better artillery or air support is not enough.  What's needed
is better morale in the Afghan army, and really caring about victory.
<p>
The corrupt Afghan government is 
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#4_May_2017_(US_troops_return_to_Helmand)">not likely ever to inspire such loyalty.</a>


feed_id: 8a98c1807724f6ac7490fc7fed0421c1
title: Republican definition of freedom
uri: Republican-definition-of-freedom
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28Republican_definition_of_freedom%29
content:
<p>

<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/14/gop-will-free-you-having-health-care">The Republican definition of "freedom"</a>
 is "Free to buy any product —
if you have money.  And if you're destitute, you're free to live on
the street, starve, and die if you get sick."
<p>
The Republican party serves the rich, and that's what the rich want
everyone else's life to be like.


feed_id: 76b95005d2f0383c7dc4aaa335eec978
title: Privatizing Penn Station
uri: Privatizing-Penn-Station
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28Privatizing_Penn_Station%29
content:
<p>

Wall-Street Democrat Cuomo, the governor of New York, wants to
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/14/cuomo-wants-privatize-penn-station-thats-bad-republican-idea">privatize Penn Station.</a>
<p>
Privatizing anything tends to result in bad service for the users and bad wages
for the workers, but some rich cronies will profit.


feed_id: 8b5256cf6e5c722f2f97c48616fadd7e
title: Hawkish Democrats
uri: Hawkish-Democrats
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28Hawkish_Democrats%29
content:
<p>

Democratic politicians are more hawkish than the voters that support
them.  Democrats should start pushing for 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/14/democrats-dont-have-progressive-foreign-policy-vision-and-they-need-one">diplomacy instead of war.</a>


feed_id: 8ce329e5e7bd7866a80fda047eb2a856
title: Macron's pledges
uri: Macron-s-pledges
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28Macrons_pledges%29
content:
<p>

<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/14/long-term-threat-europe-isnt-le-pen-its-capitalism">Macron pledges</a>
 to cut 120,000 public jobs, reduce spending by 60
billion Euros, jettison the 35-hour workweek, raise the retirement
age, weaken unionsâ negotiating strength, and cut corporate taxes.
All the standard neoliberal "trickle-down" policies that really
represent <a href="/glossary.html#doohnibor">dooH niboR</a>.
<p>
This will lead to more unemployment and more inequality in France.
The rich will get richer, but nothing will trickle down to the poor.
<p>
Youth unemployment, the lack of a future to hope for, tends to be
concentrated in minority groups.  In France that means Muslims.
That's the exact opposite of what is needed to discourage Islamist
radicalization.
<p>
Let's hope it is Mélanchon rather than Le Pen that gets the support
of the victims in the next French election.


feed_id: c16e5905fbf841fcb555d981beb35d2e
title: Telegram and censorship
uri: Telegram-and-censorship
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28Telegram_and_censorship%29
content:
<p>

<a href="https://globalvoices.org/2017/06/14/after-campaigning-on-internet-freedom-rouhanis-ict-minister-boasts-of-internet-censorship/">Telegram is cooperating with Iran on censorship</a>
 of certain topics 
including "anti-religious" material. Maybe stallman.org.
<p>
Isn't Telegram supposed to offer end-to-end encryption?
If that works, how can it tell whether messages are anti-religious?
How can it tell whether they are pornography?


feed_id: c1a2a6ee0e086b016a262ed7b63cb805
title: Expanding fracking
uri: Expanding-fracking
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28Expanding_fracking%29
content:
<p>

Business wants to 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/06/14/petrochemical-expansion-europe-means-more-fracking-united-states">expand fracking in the US,</a>
 and export the gas in ships to Europe, to make plastic.
<p>
This is so wasteful it is crazy.
<p>
The oil that is made into plastic is not burnt; it doesn't turn into
greenhouse gases.  But fracking leaks methane, so it adds to the
greenhouse effect.
<p>
Since plastic gets into the ocean and kills sea life, we need to make
less of it.  A higher price would have that effect.


feed_id: a5e415397aa6691d4c8f95c1eeca87ed
title: UK not charging thug
uri: UK-not-charging-thug
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28UK_not_charging_thug%29
content:
<p>

The UK made a political decision not to prosecute a thug that 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/14/mother-of-man-killed-by-police-slams-decision-not-to-charge-officer">shot an unarmed man dead.</a>
<p>
The government admitted its decision was made to avoid disapproval by
other armed thugs.  If that is accepted as a reason not to prosecute,
it will give thugs carte blanche to kill.


feed_id: ffe1935dd3ee9425fe59a9c0f1441012
title: Urgent: North Korean disarmament and peace
uri: Urgent-North-Korean-disarmament-and-peace
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_North_Korean_disarmament_and_peace%29

content:
<p>

Everyone: 
<a href="https://petitions.signforgood.com/NorthKoreaDiplomacy/?code=RA">call on the new president of South Korea</a>
 to start
negotiations with North Korea about nuclear disarmament and peace.


feed_id: 7a10331d16cb34c5a873ce9cd6357f2e
title: Equating opposition with murder
uri: Equating-opposition-with-murder
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28Equating_opposition_with_murder%29
content:
<p>

Naomi Klein warns that Republicans will now try to 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/14/naomi-klein-any-efforts-equate-hateful-violence-trump-resistance-are-lies">equate all opposition activities,</a>
 such as protest and resistance, with murder.


feed_id: d3fc937f03b2226764a6c38bd30e0c74
title: Urgent: Burr, stop interrupting Harris
uri: Urgent-Burr-stop-interrupting-Harris
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Burr_stop_interrupting_Harris%29

content:
<p>

US citizens: call on Senator Richard Burr to 
<a href="https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/stop-interrupting-kamala-harris/?t=1007&akid=7585.1242918.t4Xs3-">stop interrupting Senator Kamala Harris.</a>


feed_id: ad673662a33809faba96f50e686a0244
title: DeVos and for-profit colleges
uri: DeVos-and-for-profit-colleges
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28DeVos_and_for-profit_colleges%29
content:
<p>

<a href="/glossary.html#saboteur">Saboteur</a> of Education DeVos 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/14/trump-devos-betray-students-gift-predatory-profit-schools">sabotaged the new rules</a>
 to protect students
from for-profit colleges.
<p>
Not surprising that the troll wanted this, since he owned such a
school.  He 
<a href="https://stallman.org/notes/2016-nov-feb.html#21_November_2016_(Trump_avoids_showing_evidence_in_lawsuit)">settled with the students who were suing him</a>
 for cheating them.
<p>
The "education" offered by such colleges 
<a href="https://stallman.org/notes/2010-jan-apr.html#19%20March%202010%20(For-profit%20schools%20in%20the%20US%20)">is often lousy and useless</a>
for any career.


feed_id: 2f8cd78cba85b99e5056564c027c8b50
title: Delayed limits on methane emissions
uri: Delayed-limits-on-methane-emissions
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28Delayed_limits_on_methane_emissions%29

content:
<p>

The saboteurs of land management arbitrarily 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/06/14/interior-bows-oil-and-gas-industry-allows-continued-methane-waste">delayed the new limits on methane emissions</a>
 from oil and gas wells.


feed_id: c9bef90c60f7938ab1c12dfeaef52e87
title: More fracking leases
uri: More-fracking-leases
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28More_fracking_leases%29
content:
<p>

<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a>'s saboteurs are doing permanent damage to the US and the
ecosphere by 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/06/14/trump-administration-offers-195000-nevada-acres-fracking">selling more fracking leases.</a>
<p>
This sort of sabotage is very hard to undo.


feed_id: 164da7fe582b2e03fdd7c9c5e7ca78bc
title: WIPO super-copyright
uri: WIPO-super-copyright
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28WIPO_super-copyright%29
content:
<p>

WIPO is still trying to set up a super-copyright 
<a href="http://reason.com/blog/2017/06/14/a-un-effort-to-make-cultural-appropriati">covering any group's cultural traditions.</a>
<p>
Culture is for appropriating.  The injustice is that companies such as
Disney can for such a long time stop people from appropriating
commercially generated important parts of world culture.


feed_id: c0e66d3b7d9cf6253eef7c2061f446b3
title: Becoming Liberal again
uri: Becoming-Liberal-again
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28Becoming_Liberal_again%29
content:
<p>

The Democratic Party can only win if it becomes Liberal again 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/15/power-or-principles-how-establishment-branch-democratic-party-choosing-lose-both">instead of following the phony "center".</a>
 This requires defending the word "Liberal" instead of attacking it.
<p>
That is why I refuse to call plutocratist politicians such as Clinton
"Liberal", and why I disagree when people attack "Liberals" (which
includes me) based on what right-wing Democrats do.


feed_id: 3c064ba88b97da79ffd582bf97ab3d1c
title: Obstruction of justice
uri: 2017-06-18-Obstruction-of-justice
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28Obstruction_of_justice%29
content:
<p>

Those who argue that firing Comey wasn't obstruction of justice
are 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/15/obstruction-justice-seeing-forest-and-trees">focusing on minor details</a>
 and then stretching their significance.


feed_id: f8a87be77f0ffe8f0be1a1ad72ddef0e
title: Gambling with our money
uri: Gambling-with-our-money
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28Gambling_with_our_money%29
content:
<p>

Republicans want to allow banks to 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/15/what-they-want-hide-tells-you-who-they-are">gamble with our money,</a>
 dump the
losses on us, provoke new global financial crises, lay traps with
mortgages, commit fraudulent foreclosures again, and disguise their
racial bias.


feed_id: 114e499a18c5f120f31a6f3422698563
title: Riding a bike in Denmark
uri: Riding-a-bike-in-Denmark
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28Riding_a_bike_in_Denmark%29
content:
<p>

In Denmark, riding a bike to school alone is not merely permitted,
it's 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jun/15/urban-planners-let-child-cycle-here-denmark">an explicit goal of urban planning.</a>


feed_id: 5dffb3af29747c9ca90a686bb05b1e34
title: Deporting Iraqi Christians
uri: Deporting-Iraqi-Christians
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28Deporting_Iraqi_Christians%29
content:
<p>

<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> regime is now 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/15/iraqi-christians-targeted-for-deportation">deporting authorized immigrants,</a>
 Christians from Iraq, back to Iraq where they face almost certain death.


feed_id: 67ad1e22424c28871d11d3f278d5f4f4
title: Governor Snyder and Flint
uri: Governor-Snyder-and-Flint
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28Governor_Snyder_and_Flint%29
content:
<p>

Governor Snyder 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/15/flint-officials-may-face-jail-water-crisis-bittersweet-news">evaded possible prosecution for Flint's poisoned water</a>
by refusing to talk to investigators.


feed_id: 04f2c95497822133dbcad5fabdcac27c
title: Forensic psychological profiling
uri: Forensic-psychological-profiling
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28Forensic_psychological_profiling%29
content:
<p>

Forensic psychological profiling is unscientific, and useless for
finding criminals, 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/sep/14/psychological-profile-behavioural-psychology">according to psychologists</a>
 who have studied the practice.


feed_id: 411735df61c0c02e6066b2577961a466
title: American released from North Korea
uri: American-released-from-North-Korea
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28American_released_from_North_Korea%29

content:
<p>

American student Otto Warmbier visited North Korea and was imprisoned
for some meaningless "crimes".  Recently he was allowed to return to
the US, and it was discovered that 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/15/otto-warmbier-north-korea-severe-injury">he has been in a coma for a year.</a>
<p>
I am no neurologist, but I get the impression it is unlikely he
will ever be conscious again.
<p>
Were you thinking of visiting North Korea?  I am curious about it,
but I won't take the foolish risk of going there.  I can learn about the
place from what others write, and I recommend you do the same.
<p>
This sort of treatment is not limited to North Korea.  US prisons have
practices that systematically 
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#14_June_2017_(Another_inmate_dies_of_dehydration)">deny prisoners needed medical care,</a>
 such as saying it is too dangerous/inconvenient/whatever to let
them see a doctor, refusing to believe they are sick, or insisting
they have only minor ailments rather than cancer until it is too late.
<p>
But they don't go as far as covering up for a year that a prisoner is
permanently unconscious.


feed_id: 2a97ada60afa38ba2357b92cf1ac5f4b
title: US media and Corbyn
uri: US-media-and-Corbyn
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28US_media_and_Corbyn%29
content:
<p>

The US mainstream media are trying to convince Americans to 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/15/corbyn-america-drain-spotter-threat-west-week-labour">regard Corbyn as unclean and suspect.</a>
<p>
They don't want is influence to help Sanders.


feed_id: 9d651a1734efa4f6ea964a8dc4c13be4
title: Contempt for the poor
uri: Contempt-for-the-poor
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28Contempt_for_the_poor%29
content:
<p>

A decades-long right-wing campaign has produced a 
<a href="https://thinkprogress.org/bad-theology-conservative-benefits-1d42ef90b387">perverse variant of Christianity</a>
 that cites the bible to argue for contempt for the poor.


feed_id: 6f7486f528a6eb6438b4228723e9289a
title: Torrents and copyright
uri: Torrents-and-copyright
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28Torrents_and_copyright%29
content:
<p>

The European Court of Justice gave a 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/15/pirate-bay-european-court-of-justice-rules-infringing-copyright-torrent-sites">victory to the copyright industry</a>
by equating torrent trackers with actual redistribution of copies.
<p>
The result might be to enforce blocking of torrent sites.  That would
be very unfortunate for people in Europe.
<p>
Aside from sharing copies between people, the only form of
distribution of movies today that is not oppressive is by sale or
rental of DVDs.  That is just barely not oppressive, because there is free
software that can play a DVD.


feed_id: 9d87706e716ff0ddd31e8bdfe29b72d0
title: Very hot weather
uri: Very-hot-weather
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28Very_hot_weather%29
content:
<p>

Some parts of 
<a href="https://thinkprogress.org/heat-wave-delivers-record-breaking-highs-8640ec9dc2a">the US just got a taste of very hot weather</a>
 that will be
common a few decades from now.


feed_id: 986b79ce1704c0b2b6df8ba786790788
title: EPA cuts hit vulnerable
uri: EPA-cuts-hit-vulnerable
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28EPA_cuts_hit_vulnerable%29
content:
<p>

<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a>'s planned EPA cuts will 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/15/trumps-planned-epa-cuts-americas-most-vulnerable">hit America's most vulnerable.</a>


feed_id: 780a2d4e5e0cf3752d1b1f3b55184c47
title: Millenials leaking
uri: Millenials-leaking
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28Millenials_leaking%29
content:
<p>

Millenials were taught to take initiative and not trust their
employers.  
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/06/09/why-do-millennials-keep-leaking-government-secrets/">Naturally, they keep leaking.</a>


feed_id: bfde52e2f15d6e4f471545911409183e
title: Selling jets to Qatar
uri: Selling-jets-to-Qatar
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28Selling_jets_to_Qatar%29
content:
<p>

The US will sell fighter jets to Qatar, after the troll 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/15/us-signs-deal-to-supply-f-15-jets-to-qatar-after-trump-terror-claims">just endorsed the Salafi Arabian blockade of Qatar.</a>


feed_id: 1307a271757fe4037052f1001a2eb9bc
title: Palestinians' cisterns and water pipes
uri: Palestinians-cisterns-and-water-pipes
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Palestinians_cisterns_and_water_pipes%29

content:
<p>
Israel's legal trap for the Palestinians of Al-Amniyr: to keep their
land they need water, but Israel
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/sep/14/west-bank-villagers-battle-water">destroys
their cisterns and water pipes</a>.


feed_id: b7e0b6e582fc8458eed3a2b8438f2b84
title: Erdo&gbreve;ans bodyguards face arrest
uri: Erdo-gbreve-ans-bodyguards-face-arrest
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Erdogans_bodyguards_face_arrest%29
content:
<p>
12 of Erdo&gbreve;an's bodyguards
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/15/turkey-security-officials-washington-dc-protests-arrests">face
arrest</a> for their violence in Washington, DC.


feed_id: dd605d7d446a77adb9038f067de9ec55
title: Flammable insulation materials
uri: Flammable-insulation-materials
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Flammable_insulation_materials%29
content:
<p>
The use of flammable insulation materials has
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/15/experts-warned-government-against-cladding-material-used-on-grenfell">created
a danger of big fires in apartment buildings</a>.
<p>
We had better make sure insulation is not flammable.


feed_id: 9cfbd5b8ea7265ece5bf11cf5591738e
title: Arbitrary confiscation by thugs
uri: Arbitrary-confiscation-by-thugs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Arbitrary_confiscation_by_thugs%29
content:
<p>
In Chicago, arbitrary confiscation by thugs
<a href="http://reason.com/blog/2017/06/13/poor-neighborhoods-hit-hardest-by-asset">tends
to hit low-income neighborhoods most</a>.


feed_id: bb3c2b338bde9426daa8c4fc134088bb
title: Dakota Access Pipeline
uri: 2017-06-18-Dakota-Access-Pipeline
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Dakota_Access_Pipeline%29
content:
<p>
A court has
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/14/dakota-access-pipeline-environmental-study-inadequate">blocked
operation</a> of the Dakota Access pipeline, saying that the study of
the effects of a potential oil spill was inadequate.
<p>
Of course it was inadequate.  That's how the machine works: when
wealthy interests want a project done, public agencies tend to try to
cover up the harm it will so, by making shoddy reports that close
their eyes to the unpleasant truth.


feed_id: 7194e56e561c13edb8a7cdf2e0ddd68b
title: Tropical waters losing fish
uri: Tropical-waters-losing-fish
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Tropical_waters_losing_fish%29
content:
<p>
Tropical waters are losing their fish populations, as they become
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/15/marine-expert-warns-of-climate-emergency-as-fish-abandon-tropical-waters">too
hot</a> for most of the fish species that live there.


feed_id: 4ce9685b49c69400d0643cf5a369af62
title: Petroleum interests in schools
uri: Petroleum-interests-in-schools
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Petroleum_interests_in_schools%29
content:
<p>
Republican officials work with petroleum interests to fill
schoolchildren's minds with petroleum.  They have been doing this for
decades, with the help of ignorant teachers that love to get any
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/15/big-oil-classrooms-pipeline-oklahoma-education">"educational"
videos</a>.
<p>
The children being mistaught today are very likely to die prematurely
from the consequences of global heating, which seem headed to include
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2015-mar-jun.html#03_May_2015_(Apes_wiped_out_by_global_heating)">disease,
famine, and war</a>.  If that happens, the disinformation campaign
described here will be partly responsible for killing them.


feed_id: 2bb3d99d29d73653d08dfff54474efa2
title: Troll lets generals do whatever they wish
uri: Troll-lets-generals-do-whatever-they-wish
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Troll_lets_generals_do_whatever_they_wish%29

content:
<p>
After the troll was criticized for a couple of ineffective military
actions that he ordered, now he has
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/14/donald-trumps-hands-off-approach-gives-us-military-free-rein">told
the generals to do whatever they wish</a>.


feed_id: 04ebdb08128df12c3facc80fb4f33699
title: Very urgent: Planned Parenthood rally
uri: Very-urgent-Planned-Parenthood-rally
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Planned_Parenthood_rally%29

content:
<p>
In the US:
<a href="https://secure.ppaction.org/site/SPageServer/?pagename=pp_ppaf_PODVisibility_0617">join
a rally</a> in favor of Planned Parenthood on June 21.
<p>
More events:
<a href="https://resistancenearme.org/">https://resistancenearme.org</a>
<p>
Also, keep phoning your senators to oppose the <a href="/glossary.html#care">Dontcare</a> bill,
even if you phoned before.
<p>
Women plan to hold
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/16/denouncing-gops-war-women-nationwide-sit-ins-target-trumpcare">sit-in
protests in Republican senators' offices</a>.
<p>
The Capitol Switchboard numbers are 202-224-3121, 888-818-6641
and 888-355-3588.


feed_id: 5a7535c5ef8834394a54c3e2ea1fcae6
title: Urgent: CARERs Act
uri: Urgent-CARERs-Act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_CARERs_Act%29
content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://engage.drugpolicy.org/secure/end-war-on-medical-marijuana">call
on Congress</a> to pass the CARERs Act, which would stop federal
prosecution for marijuana-related activities that are legal at state
level.


feed_id: 6f6dd4986f2da3795b2bcf07aa660ddf
title: Urgent: Free Fate Vincent Winslow
uri: Urgent-Free-Fate-Vincent-Winslow
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Free_Fate_Vincent_Winslow%29

content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://campaigns.organizefor.org/petitions/serving-life-w-hard-labor-w-o-parole-for-20-of-marijuana">Free
Fate Vincent Winslow</a> — sentenced to life in prison for
agreeing to carry $20 of marijuana from a seller to a buyer.


feed_id: 70e9a64cb5a9f2421a2e3fafa31715d2
title: Urgent: Sue the troll
uri: Urgent-Sue-the-troll
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Sue_the_troll%29
content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/emoluments_lawsuit">call on
more representatives and senators</a> to join those suing the troll
about his unconstitutional foreign income.


feed_id: 308cefb8de9f4c164e037efb9b83ca79
title: Urgent: Close the Revolving Door
uri: Urgent-Close-the-Revolving-Door
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Close_the_Revolving_Door%29

content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/ban-members-congress-lobbyists/">call
on Congress</a> to ban former members of Congress from becoming
lobbyists.


feed_id: 28749ad744672d94131df7480e46a3be
title: Dontcare bill would destroy Americans
uri: Dontcare-bill-would-destroy-Americans
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Dontcare_bill_would_destroy_Americans%29

content:
<p>

<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/17/maybe-article-will-convince-you-not-cut-medicaid">One concrete example</a>
 is concrete proof that the <a href="/glossary.html#care">Dontcare</a> bill would
destroy Americans.


feed_id: 9af41a4d30bff5e133e0f53fa67ef4ed
title: Limiting thugs' snooping equipment
uri: Limiting-thugs-snooping-equipment
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Limiting_thugs_snooping_equipment%29

content:
<p>

As the ACLU encourages cities to limit thugs' snooping equipment,
<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/14/15795056/aclu-police-surveillance-curb-campaign-nationwide">only thugs are opposed</a>.


feed_id: 13fd462f4d759fc9f366936610ff95de
title: Rental bikes track user
uri: Rental-bikes-track-user
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Rental_bikes_track_user%29
content:
<p>

New "dockless" bike rental schemes admit that they 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jun/12/uber-bikes-manchester-mobike-china-global-ofo">track the user's movements</a>
 <em>all the time</em> with GPS.
<p>
These schemes would work even better, and without spying on people, if
the bikes allowed anonymous use limited to a certain area.


feed_id: 0cacb8c0c6ddc00638aa3b79ad7af583
title: Giving thugs unchecked power to mistreat
uri: Giving-thugs-unchecked-power-to-mistreat
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Giving_thugs_unchecked_power_to_mistreat%29

content:
<p>

The Supreme Court and other courts have given US thugs 
<a href="http://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/twilight_of_the_courts_the_elusive_search_for_justice_in_the_american_">unchecked power to mistreat anyone</a>,
 effectively at will.


feed_id: 1eb7710128270e565c55f56fae04b045
title: NOAA's funding redirected
uri: NOAA-s-funding-redirected
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28NOAAs_funding_redirected%29
content:
<p>

A new US law redirects NOAA's funding 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jun/18/us-weather-system-revamp-farmers">towards weather forecasting</a>.

Since it doesn't give NOAA more money, this money has been taken
away from something.  What, I wonder?  Could it be climate science,
perhaps?  Is the idea to make good 2-month and 2-year forecasts,
at the expense of the 20-year and 40-year forecasts our civilization
will live or die by?


feed_id: 688fc3e4806054a51437df349905a3c3
title: UK woodlands privatization
uri: UK-woodlands-privatization
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28UK_woodlands_privitisation%29
content:
<p>

Privatization of UK woodlands is 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2015/feb/17/privatisation-uk-woodlands-happening-by-backdoor">happening by the backdoor</a>.
  Might this be Tories at work?


feed_id: b6577c5c47b2429a5a02ea62b205b957
title: Surveillance by internet businesses
uri: Surveillance-by-internet-businesses
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Surveillance_by_internet_businesses%29

content:
<p>

Surveillance by internet businesses is dangerous and the 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/18/google-not-gchq--truly-chilling-spy-network">chilling effect applies to most of what people do</a>.
<p>
It is misleading, however, to treat commercial surveillance and state
surveillance as seriously distinct.  Under the PAT RIOT Act, the
databases companies accumulate are immediately and totally accessible
to the US government.  I consider the companies to be data collectors
for the corporatist state.


feed_id: 8e4d9d59325bf05154880d0a00c22f94
title: Resistance against the troll
uri: Resistance-against-the-troll
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Resistance_against_the_troll%29
content:
<p>

Resistance against the troll is mounting and has 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/18/resistance-victories-trump-mounting-final-blow
">thwarted most of what he wants do</a>.

This is not complete success, however.  Resistance has not thwarted
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_April_2017_(Killer_Gorsuch)">putting Gorsuch on the Supreme Court</a>,
 nor the 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#16_February_2017_(Deregulatory_executive_orders)">deregulatory sabotage</a>
of
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#28_May_2017_(Cuts_for_the_EPA_and_endangered_species)">many agencies</a>.
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#3_June_2017_(Paris_climate_agreement)">Pulling out from the Paris climate agreement</a>
 is purely symbolic, but the troll has already canceled
the measures that the US was using to
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#3_June_2017_%28US_and_Paris_climate_agreement%29">carry out its inadequate pledges</a>.
<p>
I am not confident we can stop the 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_(Republican_election-rigging)">Republican election-rigging</a>
 that
enabled the troll to "win" the election.


feed_id: aacb755fd3ad2464153f6c199ed3817d
title: Sheriff Clark turns down DHS post
uri: Sheriff-Clark-turns-down-DHS-post
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Sheriff_Clark_turns_down_DHS_post%29

content:
<p>

Sheriff Clarke has 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/18/trump-administration-sheriff-david-clarke-withdraws-from-homeland-security-post">decided not to accept a post</a>
 in the Department of Homeland Suppression.
<p>
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_May_2017_(Troll_appoints_hateful_sheriff)">Here's why he aroused so much opposition.</a>
<p>
  I speculate that public pressure and investigation had something
to do with his decision.


feed_id: 99b4e83e2d18391e0999620e5787d0a5
title: Contempt for poor
uri: Contempt-for-poor
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Contempt_for_poor%29
content:
<p>

The big fire was the crowning event of a long history of contempt for
poor people 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/17/for-years-ive-seen-kensington-poor-treated-with-disdain">by the Tory-run local council of Kensington</a>.
<p>
And, behind them, Tory 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/17/grenfell-tower-tragedy-exposes-tawdry-culture">deregulationism and unwillingness to redistribute wealth</a>
 to the poor.


feed_id: cb0f294f930b9129d848d2c26e322419
title: PISSI captures territory near Tora Bora
uri: PISSI-captures-territory-near-Tora-Bora
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28PISSI_captures_territory_near_Tora_Bora%29

content:
<p>

<a href="/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a> has 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/14/isis-afghanistan-taliban-tora-bora-osama-bin-laden">captured territory in Afghanistan near Tora Bora</a>.
<p>
Maybe the US should make an informal alliance ally with the Taliban
to keep <a href="/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a> out.


feed_id: 9fd855cc2e98e2d83a91e118946d43e7
title: Public cool with backdoors?
uri: Public-cool-with-backdoors
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Public_cool_with_backdoors%29
content:
<p>

Techdirt: Australia's Attorney General Says The Public Will Be 
<a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20170611/09023937561/australias-ag-says-public-will-be-cool-with-encryption-backdoors-because-they-use-facebook.shtml">Cool with Encryption Backdoors</a>
 Because They Use Facebook.

The argument is fallacious, but it might appear rational to someone
who squints at it hard enough.  You can pull the rug out from under
this fallacy by getting off Facebook.
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/facebook.html">You ought to do it anyway!</a>


feed_id: 7f23a16e164f8b93f793177a3e7d3002
title: US Customs seizes travel bags
uri: US-Customs-seizes-travel-bags
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28US_Customs_seizes_travel_bags%29
content:
<p>

<a href="http://reason.com/blog/2017/06/12/us-customs-and-border-protection-seizes">US customs seized lockable travel bags</a>,
 calling them "drug paraphernalia".


feed_id: 7aefcfeca4c8bdc250ec7126351fc6e6
title: Tracking store returns
uri: Tracking-store-returns
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Tracking_store_returns%29
content:
<p>

Some US stores demand customers show a photo ID to return merchandise.
This is not just to know who the customers are.  The stores scan the
ID, and all the data goes into the 
<a href="https://dealnews.com/features/Point-of-No-Returns-Stores-Are-Tracking-Your-Returned-Merchandise-History/823311.html">database of Retail Equation</a>.
<p>
This is an unjust surveillance system.  While it is less than the surveillance
of an online retailer, it is still too much.  Before you buy anything you might
want to return, verify that the store does not use Retail Equation, at least
if you have the receipt.  (You can keep the receipt.)


feed_id: 7a9de8d57ace31d498cd9c4822e3b2b0
title: The Dontcare bill
uri: The-Dontcare-bill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28The_Dontcare_bill%29
content:
<p>
Republican senators are
<a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/6/16/15810524/senate-ahca-explain-please">totally
at a loss</a> when asked what benefits the Dontcare bill is supposed
to give the US.


feed_id: 98f007ddf4e1c001cd4d233a22447583
title: Women's rights protest
uri: Women-s-rights-protest
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Womens_rights_protest%29
content:
<p>
Women
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/further/2017/06/15/red-pairs-handmaids-are-resisting">dressed
as fictional handmaids</a> are protesting against abortion rights and
medical care for women.


feed_id: 2199e520a4c023f76fb31b022d49aba2
title: Divestment from fossil fuel companies
uri: 2017-06-19-Divestment-from-fossil-fuel-companies
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Divestment_from_fossil_fuel_companies%29

content:
<p>
Sweden's largest pension fund has
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/06/16/swedens-largest-pension-divests-paris-accord-violators-exxonmobil-and">decided
to divest completely</a> from six important fossil fuel companies,
including Exxon and the pipeline company TransCanada.


feed_id: 1c7ceee93ae6b133366086acb8e2e9cc
title: The Dontcare bill
uri: 2017-06-19-The-Dontcare-bill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28The_Dontcare_bill%29
content:
<p>
The <a href="/glossary.html#care">Dontcare</a> bill could cause
<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/6/15/1672080/-27-million-people-who-have-health-insurance-from-their-job-could-lose-it-under-Trumpcare">27
million Americans</a> who get medical coverage from their employers to
lose it, or find that it covers less.


feed_id: 1d66722d9199b3d4f814f9aeffe5b3d6
title: The Espionage Act
uri: The-Espionage-Act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28The_Espionage_Act%29
content:
<p>
The Espionage Act
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/17/espionage-act-one-hundred-years-murky-law">needs
to be reformed</a> so it can't be used against reporters.  Sessions is
itching to try.
<p>
A proper reform ought to protect whistleblowers, too.


feed_id: 59afa564af126d622afbfc0f7be38e11
title: Dangerous merger
uri: Dangerous-merger
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Dangerous_merger%29
content:
<p>
Another dangerous merger:
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/06/16/amazons-acquisition-whole-foods-higher-prices-fewer-choices-consumers-and-more">Amazon
and Whole Paycheck</a>.
<p>
Simply making companies so large gives them more lobbying power and
more power to defy enforcement of regulations and laws.


feed_id: 7775ce8f8464a7a744b853e163b433fb
title: Your personal information
uri: Your-personal-information
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Your_personal_information%29
content:
<p>
ACLU: The US Intelligence Community
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/13/us-intelligence-community-can-share-your-personal-information-other-governments-and">Can
Share Your Personal Information With Other Governments</a>, and We're
Demanding Answers.


feed_id: ac69169e545f2249437130cab54bd0db
title: Thugs' body camera videos
uri: Thugs-body-camera-videos
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Thugs_body_camera_videos%29
content:
<p>
Several US states
<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/12/15768920/police-body-camera-state-secret">plan
to make it impossible for the public to get thugs' body camera
videos</a>.
<p>
Access to the images should be limited somewhat, so that neither the
public nor the state can see it unless there is a specific
justification.  But when the justification is good enough for the
state to look, it is good enough for the public to look.


feed_id: 29070555893c2bde4cfa12aa506e639b
title: Japanese "anti-terror" law
uri: Japanese-anti-terror-law
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Japanese_anti-terror_law%29
content:
<p>
A new Japanese "anti-terror" law would
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/15/japan-passes-brutal-new-terror-law-which-opponents-fear-will-quash-freedoms">treat
sit-in strikes as "terrorism" and make it easy to snoop on
dissidents</a>.
<p>
Such laws are far more dangerous than terrorism itself.


feed_id: de48dca1797004c2e12d7560e20517f0
title: Killer thug acquitted
uri: 2017-06-19-Killer-thug-acquitted
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Killer_thug_acquitted%29
content:
<p>
The thug that killed Philando Castile was
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/16/philando-castile-death-police-officer-not-guilty">acquitted</a>.
<p>
Unconscious racism leads many thugs to immediately suppose their lives
are in danger, when confronting a black man is armed, even if he acts
in the most calm and reasonable way.  As long as juries accept that
irrational and unjustified fear as a get-out-of-jail-free card, thugs
will get away with unjustified killings.  To put an end to this reign
of terror, we have to change the system.  Where can we change it?


feed_id: 0e9c5b984c51f43a8577b7be735c374c
title: Progressives
uri: Progressives
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Progressives%29
content:
<p>
Polls show that Americans
<a href="https://theprogressivecynic.com/2014/05/02/is-the-usa-center-right-an-issue-by-issue-breakdown/">mostly
support positions that are typically called progressive</a>.
<p>
Democrats that call themselves "centrist" are actually moderately
right-wing.  Only progressive candidates represent Americans.


feed_id: a45a67652be354f67c6c2e03584644a6
title: Digital privacy
uri: Digital-privacy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Digital_privacy%29
content:
<p>
The European Parliament is
<a href="https://www.laquadrature.net/en/ePrivacy-no-time-for-weakness">on
the verge of either protecting digital privacy to some extent or
destroying it completely</a>.


feed_id: 783db77546ed6f00014e13e67a87b9d0
title: Program to discourage violence canceled
uri: Program-to-discourage-violence-canceled
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Program_to_discourage_violence_cancelled%29

content:
<p>

The US had a program to try to discourage recruiting by violent
white-supremacists and Islamists.  <a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> has canceled it and
<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/6/7/1669668/-DHS-looking-to-withhold-grants-to-counter-white-supremacist-violence?detail=emaildkre">plans to redirect it only against Islamists.</a>
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> and his supporters openly support right-wing violence; naturally
they don't want this program to get in the way.


feed_id: dccb9e84dd7468bd6a87ccfa71a67bfb
title: Permission to interview senators
uri: Permission-to-interview-senators
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Permission_to_interview_senators%29
content:
<p>

A Republican senator ordered journalists to get permission from 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/jun/13/senate-republicans-media-press-questions">one specific Republican staffer</a>
 for interviewing any senator in the halls of the senate.
<p>
I suspect that the staffer will give permission to interview
Republican senators, not Democrat senators.


feed_id: 254893333408f3023f738a15f6baf7fe
title: Republicans condemn Shakespeare production
uri: Republicans-condemn-Shakespeare-production
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Republicans_condemn_Shakespeare_production%29

content:
<p>

Republicans condemned a production of Julius Caesar in which Caesar
looked like the troll, 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/13/donald-trump-julius-caesar-killed-shakespeare-republicans-real-blood
">misconstruing it as advocacy of assassination</a>
(which is not what the play says).
<p>
For Republicans, the truth is unimportant since they they lie with
impunity and no shame.


feed_id: 8f1ba85e1c96ef1db3a48bc008f39488
title: Lethal drone strikes
uri: Lethal-drone-strikes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Lethal_drone_strikes%29
content:
<p>

U.S. has only acknowledged a fifth of lethal drone strikes, 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/06/13/drone-strikes-columbia-law-human-rights-yemen/">a new study finds.</a>


feed_id: 58b42db4af83d0a73786d47f3443ca0d
title: Border thugs raid camp
uri: Border-thugs-raid-camp
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Border_thugs_raid_camp%29
content:
<p>

US border thugs followed border-crossers to a well-known camp 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/16/us-mexico-border-aid-camp-raid">that provides medical care and water,</a>
 in order to arrest them there.
<p>
The camp has been rendered unsafe; border-crossers will die as a
result.


feed_id: 41d6500a305c9c53d1d6eb6523a872c0
title: Cruelties of neoliberalism
uri: Cruelties-of-neoliberalism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Cruelties_of_neoliberalism%29
content:
<p>

The fire that engulfed a tall building full of poor people shows
clearly how the various cruelties of neoliberalism 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/16/grenfell-tower-rebuke-right-rampant-inequality">came together fatally.</a>
<p>
Dare to rebuke the Tories with words that do justice to their nature.
Dare to believe that you can change the rules that keep the plutocrats
on top.  I suggest that protesters dare to chant, "Lower than vermin!"


feed_id: fcd47e09e9230f184204b4b031788e99
title: Gouging on prisoners' phone calls
uri: Gouging-on-prisoners-phone-calls
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Gouging_on_prisoners_phone_calls%29
content:
<p>

A US appeals court 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/06/16/fcc-prison-phone-call-rates-court-deregulate-trump/">blocked the FCC's efforts</a>
 to stop prison phone companies
from gouging on prisoners' phone calls.


feed_id: 667704008b6e95ad366d4a2c0b436766
title: EU's move to BPA regulation
uri: EU-s-move-to-BPA-regulation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28EUs_move_to_BPA_regulation%29
content:
<p>

The EU will 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jun/16/eu-moves-to-restrict-hormone-disrupting-chemical-found-in-plastics">move to regulate Bisphenol A</a>
 to reduce people's exposure to it.


feed_id: d00c284c08d1546da26ac158824b9812
title: Tories cut fire safety funds
uri: Tories-cut-fire-safety-funds
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Tories_cut_fire_safety_funds%29
content:
<p>

The Tories 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/16/worked-kctmo-nightmares-burning-tower-blocks">drastically cut the funds</a>
 for fire safety inspection of
buildings.


feed_id: 120f8644982499422fbfeb86f864055c
title: Flooding in Houston
uri: Flooding-in-Houston
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Flooding_in_Houston%29
content:
<p>

Houston is hit often by big floods, and 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/16/texas-flooding-houston-climate-change-disaster">global heating will make it worse.</a>


feed_id: 2bc8ce67c2b46eac508b54d069f4b5bb
title: Subsidizing stadiums
uri: Subsidizing-stadiums
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Subsidizing_stadiums%29
content:
<p>

A bipartisan bill could stop US cities from 
<a href="http://reason.com/blog/2017/06/15/congress-wants-to-make-it-more-expensive">using tax-free bonds to finance stadiums.</a>

This would tend to interfere with the harmful practice of subsidizing
stadiums, which overall hurts the public around the world.


feed_id: ef0b37795b3f8fe95ab1fbbf31f071b7
title: Gas drilling near Frisian coast
uri: Gas-drilling-near-Frisian-coast
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Gas_drilling_near_Frisian_coast%29
content:
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/16/gas-grab-and-global-warming-could-wipe-out-wadden-sea-heritage-site">Gas drilling near the Frisian coast</a>
 may cause sand banks needed by migratory birds to sink out of
 existence.


feed_id: 60bc7ef11d5f98fe7f7febac1bab795d
title: Recovering Malaysian funds
uri: Recovering-Malaysian-funds
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Recovering_Malaysian_funds%29
content:
<p>

US prosecutors are 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/16/leonardo-dicaprio-returns-a-picasso-as-us-investigates-1mdb-scandal">trying to recover 1.7 billion dollars</a>
 stolen from the Malaysian state's funds by its prime minister.


feed_id: 34cf8921f62327a8a06e7cf22cb88dff
title: Homeless from the London apartment fire
uri: Homeless-from-the-London-apartment-fire
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Homeless_from_the_London_apartment_fire%29

content:
<p>

The apartment building fire has made many people homeless in London,
adding to thousands already homeless.  To house them, 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/16/house-grenfell-homeless-expropriate-empty-property">seize the empty apartments that were bought as investments.</a>


feed_id: 04ce9b163bb4ba51e3a74fd3158bfd00
title: Spying on students in RI
uri: Spying-on-students-in-RI
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Spying_on_students_in_RI%29
content:
<p>

In Rhode Island, some schools think they have 
<a href="https://www.aclu.org/blog/speak-freely/rhode-island-some-schools-think-they-have-right-spy-students-school-laptops">the right to spy on 
students</a>
 with school laptops.
<p>
Let's not forget to mention that other companies, 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#3_June_2017_(Chromebooks)">including Google,</a>
also think they have the right to spy on students.


feed_id: 745c0787c1ad508c268bed7e3002a710
title: Military "aid" to Latin America
uri: Military-aid-to-Latin-America
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Military_aid_to_Latin_America%29
content:
<p>

<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> is making US "aid" to countries in Latin America
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/16/miami-conference-signals-further-militarization-us-policy-central-america">increasingly military and increasingly secret.</a>


feed_id: 079cb3727e7504f3a0253f5b57f61024
title: DUIs and proprietary software
uri: DUIs-and-proprietary-software
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28DUIs_and_proprietary_software%29
content:
<p>

People convicted of drunk driving are being ordered to install additional
proprietary software in their computers (mobile phones): specifically, 
<a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/06/a-judge-is-ordering-drunken-drivers-to-install-uber-lyft/">the nonfree apps for Uber and Lyft.</a>
<p>
The one for Uber 
<a href="https://stallman.org/uber.html#privacy">spies on the user.</a>
<p>
I wonder what the judge would do when the defendant has no mobile
phone.  I fear this judge might order the person to carry a mobile
phone.  Mobile phones' movements and usage 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2015-sep-dec.html#21_December_2015_(How_government_tracks_cell_phones)">can be tracked and monitored</a>
 by absolutely anyone, so being required to carry one is a big
 injustice.
<p>
There are occasions when it is legitimate for a court to require
someone to wear a tracker, but such an order should always be explicit,
not camouflaged behind "always have a mobile phone."


feed_id: 85b795b3406392d96f6226ac3098761e
title: BAE and repressive countries
uri: BAE-and-repressive-countries
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28BAE_and_repressive_countries%29
content:
<p>

A British arms and surveillance company 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jun/15/bae-mass-surveillance-technology-repressive-regimes">secretly sold massive surveillance gear to Salafi Arabia</a>
 and some other repressive countries.


feed_id: d3b59e3a1fff798ffa64163ac13fd812
title: IMF backs down on Greece bailout
uri: IMF-backs-down-on-Greece-bailout
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28IMF_backs_down_on_Greece_bailout%29
content:
<p>

The IMF backed down and let the Euro-banksters impose terms on Greece
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/16/creditors-agree-terms-to-disburse-greeces-85bn-bailout-funds">with little or no debt relief.</a>
<p>
For Greece's creditors there will be an additional bailout.  For
Greece, there will be increased cruelty, lasting at least 5 years,
together with even more debt that will be as impossible to pay as the
existing debt.
<p>
Maybe Greece should start printing its own 100-euro bills.
That would be a more effective defense.


feed_id: 02a0eda049ccd49378d53f68f8a7ae05
title: Trademark on "rock hand"?
uri: Trademark-on-rock-hand
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Trademark_on_rock_hand_%29
content:
<p>

Gene Simmons filed an application for a 
<a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/gene-simmons-seeks-register-trademark-iconic-rock-hand-gesture-1013378">trademark on the "rock hand" gesture.</a>


feed_id: c20590efde2ee97718dc0c380f64b2bb
title: Urgent: Block the Dontcare bill
uri: Urgent-Block-the-Dontcare-bill
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Block_the_Dontcare_bill%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="http://act.democracyforamerica.com/sign/shut-down-the-senate-trumpcare/">call
on Senate democrats</a> to do all they can to block the progress of
the <a href="/glossary.html#care">Dontcare</a> bill.
<p>
To do this all the time would be sabotage, and wrong.  As a response
to the sabotage manner that Republicans are using to push the <a href="/glossary.html#care">Dontcare</a>
bill through fast without scrutiny, using this approach for a few
weeks is justified.  Once people have a chance to confront them on
what the bill says, and what it would do, the Democrats could go back
to usual practices.


feed_id: aa5e5df47bbf547e146a379dabc47416
title: Deadly heatwaves
uri: Deadly-heatwaves
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Deadly_heatwaves%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/19/a-third-of-the-world-now-faces-deadly-heatwaves-as-result-of-climate-change">1/3
of the human population</a> faces deadly heatwaves.  By 2100 it will
be half, or more.


feed_id: 3025704e5b5b52bae58ea25ceefe56e4
title: Condemning violent hatred
uri: Condemning-violent-hatred
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Condemning_violent_hatred%29
content:
<p>
The UK describes 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/06/19/attack-muslims-london-terrorism-u-k-theresa-may-finsbury-park-mosque/">bigotry
against Muslims</a> as "extremism" and called an attack on British
Muslims with a van "terrorism".
<p>
By joining together to condemn all the flavors of violent hatred,
we can stop them.
<p>
But do remember that hatred for the poor — manifested in Tory
and Republican policies — is far more deadly in the west than
all the terrorists put together.


feed_id: f1f3fd21430141d99ff1a050441bc81a
title: Corporate mainstream media
uri: Corporate-mainstream-media
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Corporate_mainstream_media%29
content:
<p>
The corporate mainstream media are 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/19/behind-media-surge-against-bernie-sanders">working
hard to disparage Bernie Sanders</a>.
<p>
This attack by big business (through its media) shows they think
Sanders will really try to protect us from them.  Sanders for
President!


feed_id: cd562be74f94f00ab9b07199416840ad
title: Urging suicide not the same as killing
uri: Urging-suicide-not-the-same-as-killing
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Urging_suicide_not_the_same_as_killing%29

content:
<p>
It was 
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/16/opinion/michelle-carter-didnt-kill-with-a-text.html?_r=0">wrong</a>
to convict a person for killing someone by means of repeatedly urging
the person to commit suicide.


feed_id: 64a2a0ae05303fe2c698086035b4ffda
title: Rural Americans getting screwed
uri: Rural-Americans-getting-screwed
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Rural_Americans_getting_screwed%29
content:
<p>
For decades, rural Americans have been getting screwed 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jun/19/americas-great-fallout-rural-areas-resent-cities-republican-democrat">much
like poor Americans in cities</a>.  Towns are dying, and everyone has
to drive a long way to find groceries, gasoline, clothing, or any sort
of job.
<p>
They already blame corporations, and business-subservient government.
Many voted for the troll but don't expect him to do them any real
good.  I see a great opportunity here for progressives that can
propose realistic solutions.
<p>
The loss of most of these towns may be inevitable; the economic reason
for them has disappeared.  However, the secondary suffering might be
reduced greatly by feasible policies.  I can think of two right now:
(1) funding schools from the state budget rather than local property
taxes, and (2) helping people move closer to the remaining towns.


feed_id: 52f15cfc050b54894bb428512e8b162b
title: Nuclear and coal power in South Korea
uri: Nuclear-and-coal-power-in-South-Korea
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Nuclear_and_coal_power_in_South_Korea%29

content:
<p>
South Korea's new president 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/19/new-south-korean-president-vows-to-end-use-of-nuclear-power">plans
to get rid of nuclear power and coal power</a>, though not in a hurry.


feed_id: 38c7bd813e9dd92533021bc6d4663a35
title: Workers treated like robots
uri: Workers-treated-like-robots
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Workers_treated_like_robots%29
content:
<p>
When workers aren't replaced by robots, they are often 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/17/worry-less-about-robots-more-about-sweatshops">run
like robots</a>.
<p>
Cockroaches have been turned effectively into robots with 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/mar/04/cockroach-robots-not-nightmare-fantasy-but-science-lab-reality">brain
implants that make them go one way or another</a>.  The difference
between that and what is done to workers today is substantial but it
may not alter the injustice much.
<p>
The article is mistaken in saying that the state can't legislate
against this.  Use your imagination!


feed_id: b01ad524de679acb3f7f01d0b52d3bf2
title: Will troll allow neocons to launch war?
uri: Will-troll-allow-neocons-to-launch-war
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Will_troll_allow_neocons_to_launch_war_%29

content:
<p>
Will the troll allow neocons to launch 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/18/donald-trump-syria-iran-isis-james-mattis">the
war with Iran that they have wanted for many years</a>?


feed_id: 00146f917cc8bb2e3e13a97869c168ad
title: Attack on the UN and international peace
uri: Attack-on-the-UN-and-international-peace
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Attack_on_the_UN_and_international_peace%29

content:
<p>
North Korea accused US agents of 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/18/north-korea-jfk-airport-mugging-united-nations">stealing
a diplomatic package</a> from North Korean representatives to the UN.
<p>
You don't have to admire North Korea to see that such behavior attacks
the UN and international peace.


feed_id: 0feee58015dd49ef38bec47e0668d5b8
title: Protection of civil rights for students
uri: Protection-of-civil-rights-for-students
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Protection_of_civil_rights_for_students%29

content:
<p>
DeVos wants to make civil rights protections for students inoperative
by 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/17/stunning-and-dangerous-devos-memo-reveals-plan-roll-back-civil-rights">cutting
the funds for enforcing them</a>.
<p>
One part of this change, that concerning "sexual assault" accusations,
might be an advance — it seems that school procedures 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jan-apr.html#16_April_2017_(Title_IX)">deny
the accused the legal rights that anyone accused of a crime is
entitled to</a>.
<p>
The rest is entirely bad.


feed_id: 8766d03bbc307a9591c5de8a6b3d5ccc
title: Urgent: Kroger and neonicotinoids
uri: Urgent-Kroger-and-neonicotinoids
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Kroger_and_neonicotinoids%29

content:
<p>

In the US: 
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/kroger_bees">tell Kroger to stop</a>
 food grown with neonicotinoids.


feed_id: 7e46c882c05de100f69ae21f20d8f995
title: Big Pharma and drug prices
uri: Big-Pharma-and-drug-prices
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Big_Pharma_and_drug_prices%29
content:
<p>

<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a>'s saboteurs are working with Big Pharma on 
<a href="https://www.statnews.com/2017/06/16/white-house-drug-prices/">a plan to deal with high drug prices</a>
 — but the measures they are discussing would not help.


feed_id: d5e272024b0d9dea393bf92fde8770f9
title: Arresting and banning Democrats
uri: Arresting-and-banning-Democrats
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Arresting_and_banning_Democrats%29
content:
<p>

A Republican has called for Democrats to be arrested and 
<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/6/16/1672532/-Religious-right-pastor-goes-full-fascist-calls-for-liberals-to-be-purged-after-Alexandria-shooting?detail=emaildkre">the Democratic Party to be banned</a>.


feed_id: 539050505cc1914ea54ec1c9dfd4dd99
title: Sessions failing memory
uri: Sessions-failing-memory
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Sessions_failing_memory%29
content:
<p>

Sessions is unfit for the office of Attorney General
<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/6/14/1671725/-Jefferson-Beauregard-Sessions-III-has-acute-memory-lapses-and-is-unfit-to-serve-as-Attorney-General?detail=emaildkre">because of his failing memory</a>.


feed_id: b8faee1eda11dc34cbca5662f60adc3e
title: Brin: Impeaching troll a mistake
uri: Brin-Impeaching-troll-a-mistake
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Brin%3A_Impeaching_troll_a_mistake%29

content:
<p>

David Brin argues that impeaching the troll would be a tactical
mistake, because
<a href="https://ieet.org/index.php/IEET2/more/Brin20170618">it would enrage his base</a>,
 and Pence would be just as bad.
<p>
He has valid points, but I see one on the other side.  <a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a>'s
bullshit seems to be necessary to keep some of his base from waking up
to the truth.  I don't think Pence could do that the way the troll does.
<p>
Also, Pence may avoid doing some bad things out of stupidity or wild idiocy.


feed_id: 70b2b79cbc93e4992e3261c5e2b6842a
title: UK Stores "randomly" searching
uri: UK-Stores-randomly-searching
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28UK_Stores_randomly_searching%29
content:
<p>

Some UK stores now "randomly" search people leaving.  Of course, it
isn't really random — it is 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/jun/18/high-street-security-guards-shoppers-theft">based on their ethnicity and how they look</a>.


feed_id: 724be9850bba1a908b7f31cc9a4af5d5
title: Right-wing quilters
uri: Right-wing-quilters
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Right-wing_quilters%29
content:
<p>

Right-wing US quilters 
<a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-40278684">organized secretly to try to harm</a>
 the careers
of progressive quilting artists.


feed_id: 15cb79cab22de8f1afee55409a721a60
title: "Nonprofit" charter schools
uri: Nonprofit-charter-schools
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Nonprofit_charter_schools%29
content:
<p>

Some "nonprofit" charter schools are effectively business owned by
their founders, and their founders 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/17/are-nonprofit-charter-schools-distinction-without-difference">get paid lots of money</a>
 in direct and indirect ways.


feed_id: 8f99e1dc6991de1a63cf40af1ef1e083
title: Squashing poor residents
uri: Squashing-poor-residents
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Squashing_poor_residents%29
content:
<p>

The Kensington and Chelsea council squashed its poor residents so hard
last year that 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/16/my-council-tax-rebate-from-kensington-and-chelsea-is-blood-money">it had a surplus</a>
 — which it divided among the wealthy residents.  This is not
 unrelated to the fatal fire.
<p>
The author of the article donated per rebate to charity, feeling it
was blood money.


feed_id: 331dc24ad6f843f373a6c366e74efc8a
title: Greece bows to China
uri: Greece-bows-to-China
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Greece_bows_to_China%29
content:
<p>

Greece blocked the EU from 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/18/greece-eu-criticism-un-china-human-rights-record">condemning China's human rights violations</a>.
<p>
I agree this is a dishonorable vote, but Greece had to bow to China
because of the EU terrible wrong the EU did to Greece.


feed_id: 1803ef39191296bda3fc2053b8ae9c74
title: Resistance against the troll
uri: 2017-06-20-Resistance-against-the-troll
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Resistance_against_the_troll%29
content:
<p>

Resistance against the troll is mounting and has 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/18/resistance-victories-trump-mounting-final-blow
">thwarted most of what he wants do</a>.

This is not complete success, however.  Resistance has not thwarted
<a href="#26_April_2017_(Killer_Gorsuch)">putting Gorsuch on the Supreme Court</a>,
 nor the 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#16_February_2017_(Deregulatory_executive_orders)">deregulatory sabotage</a>
of
<a href="#28_May_2017_(Cuts_for_the_EPA_and_endangered_species)">many agencies</a>.
<p>
<a href="#3_June_2017_(Paris_climate_agreement)">Pulling out from the Paris climate agreement</a>
 is purely symbolic, but the troll has already canceled
the measures that the US was using to
<a href="#3_June_2017_%28US_and_Paris_climate_agreement%29">carry out its inadequate pledges</a>.
<p>
I am not confident we can stop the 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_(Republican_election-rigging)">Republican election-rigging</a>
 that
enabled the troll to "win" the election.


feed_id: 5d82adb7a9ded648d3f97a300a466216
title: Sheriff Clark turns down DHS post
uri: 2017-06-20-Sheriff-Clark-turns-down-DHS-post
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Sheriff_Clark_turns_down_DHS_post%29

content:
<p>

Sheriff Clarke has 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/18/trump-administration-sheriff-david-clarke-withdraws-from-homeland-security-post">decided not to accept a post</a>
 in the Department of Homeland Suppression.
<p>
<a href="#26_May_2017_(Troll_appoints_hateful_sheriff)">Here's why he aroused so much opposition.</a>
<p>
  I speculate that public pressure and investigation had something
to do with his decision.


feed_id: ce4402e66e8c8f86cc40435809d547c2
title: Spying on students in RI
uri: 2017-06-20-Spying-on-students-in-RI
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Spying_on_students_in_RI%29
content:
<p>

In Rhode Island, some schools think they have 
<a href="https://www.aclu.org/blog/speak-freely/rhode-island-some-schools-think-they-have-right-spy-students-school-laptops">the right to spy on 
students</a>
 with school laptops.
<p>
Let's not forget to mention that other companies, 
<a href="#3_June_2017_(Chromebooks)">including Google,</a>
also think they have the right to spy on students.


feed_id: 5b1c78510ba1b5e7fc941a27a10cb09f
title: More US troops in Afghanistan
uri: 2017-06-20-More-US-troops-in-Afghanistan
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28More_US_troops_in_Afghanistan%29
content:
<p>

<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> is sending 4000 more troops to Afghanistan, supposedly 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/15/us-troops-afghanistan-trump-administration">to train the Afghan army better.</a>
 I expect that they will participate in the fighting, too.
<p>
This added support might push the Taliban back, but that effect will
be only temporary.
<p>
To defeat the Taliban, better training for the Afghan army is not
enough.  Better artillery or air support is not enough.  What's needed
is better morale in the Afghan army, and really caring about victory.
<p>
The corrupt Afghan government is 
<a href="#4_May_2017_(US_troops_return_to_Helmand)">not likely ever to inspire such loyalty.</a>


feed_id: 67f984774d1a2b9eec967ffe7329ada0
title: Urgent: Burr, stop interrupting Harris
uri: 2017-06-20-Urgent-Burr-stop-interrupting-Harris
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Burr_stop_interrupting_Harris%29

content:
<p>

US citizens: call on Senator Richard Burr to 
<a href="https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/stop-interrupting-kamala-harris/">stop interrupting Senator Kamala Harris.</a>


feed_id: 325845ea2bcb30819da46de1f4568e25
title: American released from North Korea
uri: 2017-06-20-American-released-from-North-Korea
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#17_June_2017_%28American_released_from_North_Korea%29

content:
<p>

American student Otto Warmbier visited North Korea and was imprisoned
for some meaningless "crimes".  Recently he was allowed to return to
the US, and it was discovered that 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/15/otto-warmbier-north-korea-severe-injury">he has been in a coma for a year.</a>
<p>
I am no neurologist, but I get the impression it is unlikely he
will ever be conscious again.
<p>
Were you thinking of visiting North Korea?  I am curious about it,
but I won't take the foolish risk of going there.  I can learn about the
place from what others write, and I recommend you do the same.
<p>
This sort of treatment is not limited to North Korea.  US prisons have
practices that systematically 
<a href="#14_June_2017_(Another_inmate_dies_of_dehydration)">deny prisoners needed medical care,</a>
 such as saying it is too dangerous/inconvenient/whatever to let
them see a doctor, refusing to believe they are sick, or insisting
they have only minor ailments rather than cancer until it is too late.
<p>
But they don't go as far as covering up for a year that a prisoner is
permanently unconscious.


feed_id: d8c83098411c5a012d5449dd9853c94e
title: Violence against Democrats
uri: 2017-06-20-Violence-against-Democrats
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Violence_against_Democrats%29
content:
<p>

The Republicans, led by the troll, have 
<a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/trump-violent-rhetoric-history-226873
">encouraged political violence</a>
 against Democrats since almost a year ago.
<p>
<a href="http://addictinginfo.com/2017/06/14/rand-paul-forgot-to-delete-tweet-calling-for-people-to-use-2nd-amendment-to-shoot-at-the-government/">One suggested using guns to do it.</a>
<p>
They are also repeatedly 
<a href="#30_May_2017_(Attacking_reporters)">violent against reporters,</a>
 too.
<p>
Today someone who opposes the Republicans shot at some <a href="/glossary.html#scrotus">SCROTUS</a>, and
some Republicans have 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/15/steve-scalise-condition-virginia-shooting">the gall to claim Democrats fomented this.</a>
It's clear what must have happened, though.  The shooter loathed
Republican policies, and had violent tendencies; after seeing plenty
of right-wing violence and Republican incitement, he turned it around
at them.
<p>
If Republican leaders have human decency, they will learn the lesson
to stop inciting political violence.  
<a href="#9_June_2017_(Gianforte_apologized_for_attack)">Gianforte's humble apology</a>
set an example that others can follow.
<p>
I don't expect many will do this, because it would require a complete
reversal of attitude.
<p>
Republicans have rejected the Golden Rule, dehumanized everyone else,
and set out to take and hold power no matter what damage it does to
America and Americans.  Probing how far they can go in violence is
just one part of that.


feed_id: 0be0ffe5f479516653ede1ffb04f89aa
title: Urgent: Refuse to visit troll
uri: 2017-06-20-Urgent-Refuse-to-visit-troll
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Refuse_to_visit_troll%29
content:
<p>

Everyone: call on the Golden State Warriors sports team 
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/warriors">to refuse to visit the troll</a>
 at the White House.
<p>
But they shouldn't simply stay away.  They should hold a protest
across the street!


feed_id: b0d5bb69a9cbdd19b0fa2f627ded6533
title: Urgent: Show the revised Dontcare bill
uri: 2017-06-20-Urgent-Show-the-revised-Dontcare-bill
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Show_the_revised_Dontcare_bill%29

content:
<p>

US citizens: 
<a href="http://actnow.prochoiceamerica.org/sign/show-us-bill/">sign this petition</a>
 calling on Senate Republicans to show us their revised <a href="/glossary.html#care">Dontcare</a> bill.


feed_id: 2ef7a8d235348dcf6f1f62016ab814b3
title: Urgent: Justice for Jordan Edwards
uri: 2017-06-20-Urgent-Justice-for-Jordan-Edwards
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Justice_for_Jordan_Edwards%29

content:
<p>

Everyone: call for 
<a href="https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/special-prosecutor-for-jordan-edwards-case/">full pursuit of justice</a>
 against the thugs involved in killing Jordan Edwards.


feed_id: f01e63b7f7c412371f669f89c83aacf0
title: Homeless immigrants in the UK
uri: 2017-06-20-Homeless-immigrants-in-the-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#16_June_2017_%28Homeless_immigrants_in_the_UK%29
content:
<p>

In the UK, officials often tell homeless immigrants their children can
have housing 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/13/destitute-immigrants-uk-threatened-with-having-children-removed">if the parents give them up.</a>
<p>
When the same officials are confronted about this, they deny it, but
it's clear they are lying.
<p>
Many of these immigrants can get permission to live in the UK, after a
lengthy process during which they have to 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/13/she-was-screaming-council-tried-to-take-girl-3-from-asylum-family">starve on the street.</a>
<p>
This is the standard Tory pattern of 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jan-apr.html#27_April_2017_(Tories_delay_in_welfare_support)">kicking weak people while they are down:</a>
 rather than make a careful decision, seize any excuse to be
harsh, and 
<a href="#11_May_2017_(Tory_welfare_reform)">inflict cruel punishment.</a>


feed_id: e91ef8d95938790e76ad64e17b137c4a
title: Very urgent: Resistance Summer Community Cookout
uri: Very-urgent-Resistance-Summer-Community-Cookout
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#20_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Resistance_Summer_Community_Cookout%29

content:
<p>
In the US: 
<a href="https://www.resistancesummer.com/">participate</a> in a
Resistance Summer Community Cookout.


feed_id: 6288f4b35932a334a8c7ed8b4aac3a9d
title: Urgent: Phone your senators
uri: Urgent-Phone-your-senators
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#20_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Phone_your_senators%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: phone your senators at 1-844-334-5514 and say they should
not have 
<a href="http://act.moveon.org/go/10693">imperiled the nuclear deal
with Iran by voting for more sanctions</a>.
<p>
This applies to all senators except the two, Bernie Sanders and
Rand Paul, that voted against the sanctions.
<p>
For more info:
<p>
<a href="http://act.moveon.org/go/10694">http://act.moveon.org/go/10694</a>
<p>


feed_id: 163ab1c46c05f9c477e73506df3472b2
title: Prison torture
uri: Prison-torture
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#20_June_2017_%28Prison_torture%29
content:
<p>
Otto Warmbier has 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/19/otto-warmbier-dies-coma-student-north-korea-prison">died
from the injuries he sustained in prison</a> in North Korea.
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> is against torture when it's done by North Koreans, but 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jan-apr.html#30_January_2017_(Trolls_plan_to_resume_torture)">in
favor of torture by US government agents</a>.


feed_id: 94aeb51aa412b63a856d13f8a6b442fe
title: Special coat for homeless people
uri: Special-coat-for-homeless-people
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#20_June_2017_%28Special_coat_for_homeless_people%29
content:
<p>
A special coat for homeless people 
<a href="http://www.empowermentplan.org/the-coat">converts into a
sleeping bag</a>.


feed_id: 6a2be535c8726785692aba094a5c9e8b
title: Republican fanatics
uri: Republican-fanatics
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#20_June_2017_%28Republican_fanatics%29
content:
<p>
Republican fanatics, given leave by the troll and other officials,
have 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/jun/18/donald-trump-julius-caesar-shakespeare-theater-abuse">directed
death threats at many US theaters</a>.


feed_id: fe844fd87b3596d6c48c0f49fa7f8ab4
title: Deception of Republican activists
uri: Deception-of-Republican-activists
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#20_June_2017_%28Deception_of_Republican_activists%29

content:
<p>
The Republican Party is the Party of the Lie.  Republican activists
are proud of "creatively" 
<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/18/politics/kfile-obama-georgia-ad/index.html">spreading
deception</a>.


feed_id: a1de2d7fb2a42ff92fec6c9a861ec4ed
title: Mosque brings murder suspect to trial
uri: Mosque-brings-murder-suspect-to-trial
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#20_June_2017_%28Mosque_brings_murder_suspect_to_trial%29

content:
<p>
The iman of Finsbury Park mosque helped to catch and then protect the
terrorist murder suspect.  As a result, the murderer will stand trial.
<p>
The iman also 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/19/imam-praised-for-protecting-finsbury-park-suspect-from-crowd">calmed
down the crowd</a>.


feed_id: 0bfe83969bf5a05d9ff7cf4840a1e197
title: The Dupes of PISSI
uri: The-Dupes-of-PISSI
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#20_June_2017_%28The_Dupes_of_PISSI%29
content:
<p>
The Dupes of <a href="/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a>: they 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/19/london-mosque-attack-did-trumps-tweets-embolden-bigots">attack
Muslims and thus help PISSI radicalize a few of them</a>.


feed_id: f5cb2f6617e9f3bf7d53d070f880e152
title: Manipulation of Twitter and Facebook
uri: Manipulation-of-Twitter-and-Facebook
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#20_June_2017_%28Manipulation_of_Twitter_and_Facebook%29

content:
<p>
A study of nine countries found that 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/19/social-media-proganda-manipulating-public-opinion-bots-accounts-facebook-twitter">propagandists
were successfully manipulating Twitter and Facebook</a> to spread
propaganda.


feed_id: 418aa9b385e3cdfc904e3762fd2be867
title: Iran and Salafi Arabia at brink of war
uri: Iran-and-Salafi-Arabia-at-brink-of-war
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#20_June_2017_%28Iran_and_Salafi_Arabia_at_brink_of_war%29

content:
<p>
Iran and <a href="/glossary.html#salafi">Salafi Arabia</a> are 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/19/saudi-navy-captures-members-of-iranian-elite-force-on-intercepted-boat-revolutionary-guards">at
the brink of war</a>.
<p>
I distrust both of them, and I won't presume that either one has
honestly reported its claims against the other.


feed_id: b0c466e0321b8d6a93e9744332859905
title: Killer thugs
uri: 2017-06-22-Killer-thugs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Killer_thugs%29
content:
<p>

We must 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/19/philando-castile-verdict-painful-result-laws-rigged-protect-cops">change the US law that protects killer thugs</a>
 as long as they
<em>say</em> they thought the victim was a threat to them.
<p>
Even 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/20/philando-castile-shooting-marijuana-car-dashcam-footage">absurd reasons for feeling threatened are accepted</a>
 when they come from a thug.
<p>
As long as the law remains this way, uniformed thugs will be able to 
<a href="https://stallman.org/notes/2017-jan-apr.html#23_March_2017_(Thugs_that_killed_Tamir_Rice_unpunished)">murder blacks with impunity</a>.
 And 
<a href="https://stallman.org/notes/2016-nov-feb.html#23_November_2016_(Pipeline_protesters_attacked)">injure protesters</a>
 with impunity, too.


feed_id: 97ad7620ca53cfd72719c459af1d812c
title: Undermining civil government
uri: Undermining-civil-government
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Undermining_civil_government%29
content:
<p>

Republicans make it standard practice to undermine civil government
and honesty in order to get their way.  They have been doing this for
decades, and it 
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/6/18/1669921/-33-things-Republicans-and-only-Republicans-have-done-to-blaze-new-trails-of-corruption?detail=emaildkre">gets worse over time</a>.
<p>
A few notes are required:
<p>
• I won't take US intelligence's word that the email leaks of the
Democratic National Committee were arranged by Russia -- though that
may have happened.
<p>
Whoever was behind those leaks, what matters most
is that they served the public by demonstrating how the DNC had
sabotaged Sanders' campaign in favor of Clinton.
<p>
• It should be noticed that most Montana voters had already voted
when 
<a href="#29_May_2017_(Greg_Gianforte)">Gianforte attacked reporter Ben Jacobs</a>.
  Also, 
<a href="#9_June_2017_(Gianforte_apologized_for_attack)">Gianforte apologized</a>
 and pled guilty.
<p>
However, other Republicans alluded to the attack by 
<a href="#1_June_2017_(Gianforte_attack)">inciting more violence</a>.
<p>
• ALEC does not "bypass" state legislatures.  Rather, it helps
corporations organize legislators and sometimes to buy their votes.
<p>
• Republicans recently banned using the term "climate change",
but 15 years ago they told government employees to say "climate change"
instead of the clearer and more concrete 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2003/mar/04/usnews.climatechange">"global warming"</a>.


feed_id: 31c0bf8d56932dc603f5720ab812e2b0
title: Murdering the poor
uri: Murdering-the-poor
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Murdering_the_poor%29
content:
<p>

Guardian: Over 170 Years After Engels, Britain is Still a Country That 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/20/engels-britain-murders-poor-grenfell-tower">Murders Its Poor</a>.


feed_id: e0ffe68f929006ca7b402de5d8e6e14f
title: Troll silent on London attack
uri: Troll-silent-on-London-attack
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Troll_silent_on_London_attack%29
content:
<p>

<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> has said nothing about the terrorist attack on Muslim in
London, 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/20/donald-trump-silence-london-mosque-attack-speaks-volumes">tacitly expressing his acceptance</a>
 of random violence against them.


feed_id: 29668b5e2d94ae7174aaafe9ae8baf4d
title: Otto Warmbier death
uri: Otto-Warmbier-death
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Otto_Warmbier_death%29
content:
<p>

Don't think of war as 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/20/north-korea-conflict-otto-warmbier-death">a remedy for the death</a>
 of Otto Warmbier. War would be much worse.
<p>
It is clear that the North Koreans did not kill him intentionally.  If
they had done that, it would not have looked like this.
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/21/how-did-otto-warmbier-die">We don't know why he died</a>,
 and — most strangely — his family has
forbidden an autopsy.


feed_id: 795fa1c1b0502e1adc7d28f942a7a838
title: Big Oil and carbon emissions tax
uri: Big-Oil-and-carbon-emissions-tax
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Big_Oil_and_carbon_emissions_tax%29
content:
<p>

Exxon and several other large companies endorsed a carbon emissions tax, but
in exchange they 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/20/exxon-bp-shell-oil-climate-change">demand abolition of other policies</a>
 designed to reduce
CO2 emissions.
<p>
Whether the tax would do a better job depends on whether the tax is
big enough.  I have no way of judging that question.


feed_id: a2c79aa11edfe69861f545a57a18bde6
title: Temer vetoes forest bill
uri: Temer-vetoes-forest-bill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Temer_vetos_forest_bill%29
content:
<p>

Brazil's corrupt president Temer decided to veto a bill to unprotect a
2300 square miles of the Amazon rain forest, after 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/20/gisele-brazil-environment-president-michel-temer">an appeal from a supermodel</a>.
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/21/brazil-police-claim-to-have-evidence-president-michel-temer-received-bribes">New corruption evidence</a>
 against Brazil's President Temer offers once again a possibility he
 could be removed from his ill-gotten office.


feed_id: dbab14c69777843addb43741675895a7
title: Fire survivors feared welfare cuts
uri: Fire-survivors-feared-welfare-cuts
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Fire_survivors_feared_welfare_cuts%29

content:
<p>

The survivors of the London fire feared having their 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/20/grenfell-tower-fire-residents-benefit-sanctions-dwp">welfare benefits cut</a>
 for missing their jobcenter appointments.
<p>
That's not an unreasonable fear after the absurd excuses Tories have used
to punish people.  Indeed, it occurs to me that perhaps the Tories
would have punished them for missing their appointments, if not for the
publicity that the fire has drawn.


feed_id: f21b7d96b884c818dd0a4ce25dacc87d
title: Shooting down drones
uri: Shooting-down-drones
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Shooting_down_drones%29
content:
<p>

The US is shooting down drones that are 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/20/us-iran-drone-shot-down-syria">flying over Syria</a>,
presumably by Assad's forces or their allies.
<p>
The drone's approach did not mean it was about to attack, so the US
attack was preemptive — begging for a war which could still be
avoided.


feed_id: f845c7be88d42a4b4bf14a8d5c41ca80
title: Degrading the Amazon rain forest
uri: Degrading-the-Amazon-rain-forest
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Degrading_the_Amazon_rain_forest%29
content:
<p>

Where the Amazon rain forest still exists, loggers are degrading it
by cutting down trees that are 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/20/brazil-amazon-forest-degradation-map">hidden by the upper canopy</a>.


feed_id: e062da6ceee7f65cc65431aedbec0978
title: Banks that finance fossil fuel projects
uri: Banks-that-finance-fossil-fuel-projects
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Banks_that_finance_fossil_fuel_projects%29

content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/21/top-global-banks-still-lend-billions-extract-fossil-fuels">Rating
the world's big banks</a> about how much they finance fossil fuel
projects.


feed_id: 5e329d8ec0430460ae272dc87af71766
title: Glacier in Bolivia to disappear
uri: Glacier-in-Bolivia-to-disappear
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Glacier_in_Bolivia_to_disappear%29
content:
<p>
Scientists have taken a core sample from a glacier in Bolivia that is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/21/bolivian-glacier-illimani-andes">expected
to disappear entirely</a> due to global heating.


feed_id: a1e92870e6c69878a1d8e03ae1b94566
title: Technology combined with neoliberalism
uri: Technology-combined-with-neoliberalism
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Technology_combined_with_neoliberalism%29

content:
<p>
Technology combined with neoliberalism adds up to replacing all public
services with
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/21/privatizing-public-services-trump-democracy">massive
surveillance systems that work for dooH niboR</a>.
<p>
We must defend the public services, to reduce inequality and in some
cases to defend our privacy.


feed_id: 7d6aa1934f5735835b47403395bcbd08
title: Refrigerator and TV energy ratings
uri: Refrigerator-and-TV-energy-ratings
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Refrigerator_and_TV_energy_ratings%29

content:
<p>
Some refrigerators and some TVs
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/21/domestic-appliances-guzzle-far-more-energy-than-advertised-eu-survey">use
a lot more energy in real life</a> than their energy ratings claim
they use.
<p>
Be suspicious of Samsung and LG.


feed_id: 788bad3b8dd190fbf717f73a4269b407
title: Kellers declared innocent
uri: Kellers-declared-innocent
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Kellers_declared_innocent%29
content:
<p>
The Kellers, convicted in 1992 of supposed satanic murders and child
abuse, have been
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/06/20/texas-couple-exonerated-25-years-after-being-convicted-of-lurid-crimes-that-never-happened/">declared
innocent</a> — these crimes never happened at all.


feed_id: 27f8d5b887e02ad8b443564612d279f4
title: Blockade of Qatar
uri: 2017-06-22-Blockade-of-Qatar
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Blockade_of_Qatar%29
content:
<p>
The US State Department, run by Tillerson,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/20/us-saudi-arabia-qatar-embargo-trump">condemned
Salafi Arabia</a> for its blockade of Qatar.
<p>
This comes after the Pentagon, run by the troll's appointee Mattis,
agreed to sell fighter planes to Qatar.
<p>
Either some executive branch agencies are simply disregarding what the
troll wants, or the troll's statements in favor of <a href="/glossary.html#salafi">Salafi Arabia</a> were
lies.
<p>
That the troll would lie to <em>us</em> is in no way surprising.
Lying to the <a href="/glossary.html#salafi">Salafi Arabia</a>n monarchy is another matter.  They are
disgusting by our standards, but they are not fools that beg to be
lied to.


feed_id: 5710f60c5ffeaee81c63e1d95090ea91
title: Chinese billionaires secretly arrested
uri: Chinese-billionaires-secretly-arrested
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Chinese_billionaires_secretly_arrested%29

content:
<p>
A
<a href="http://www.latimes.com/la-fg-china-billionaires-vanish-20170614-story.html">series
of Chinese billionaires</a> have been secretly arrested.  One of them
either jumped or was pushed out a 12th floor window.
<p>
I don't have a basis to judge whether these arrests were justice or
injustice.  Anyone that rich is likely to have done something very
nasty, whether or not it is illegal, and in China I would guess that
corruption played a part.  There may be good reasons to investigate or
prosecute those billionaires.
<p>
By the same token, I would expect China to be so corrupt that the
state would never bother billionaires unless they start becoming
dissidents.


feed_id: 3476059cc64f3a7096652cb9e6ed97d9
title: White House "press briefing"
uri: White-House-press-briefing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28White_House_press_briefing%29
content:
<p>
The latest White House "press briefing"
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/19/i-dont-know-why-everybody-going-along-white-house-press-speaks-out">banned
reporters from recording anything</a>.
<p>
Since what they say is pure bullshit, let's not be distracted by them.


feed_id: d18b0b91bfae09c1e0ecaa2a12daf430
title: States force ex-prisoners back to crime
uri: States-force-ex-prisoners-back-to-crime
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28States_force_ex-prisoners_back_to_crime%29

content:
<p>
Many US states exclude ex-prisoners from many kinds of jobs.  This has
the measurable result of
<a href="http://reason.com/archives/2017/06/18/out-of-prison-out-of-work">forcing
them to go back to crime</a>.


feed_id: 3f1efb9ecac2bd7c8cf2ffe8f7161d99
title: Contaminated air inside airplanes
uri: Contaminated-air-inside-airplanes
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Contaminated_air_inside_airplanes%29

content:
<p>
The air inside airplanes is contaminated with toxins, and a
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/19/contaminated-air-on-planes-linked-to-crew-ill-health-study-finds">substantial
fraction of flight crew</a> have illnesses that might relate to this
pollution.


feed_id: ec587d03c0cfef6673c2b197cf02dbf7
title: Killer thugs
uri: 2017-06-22-Killer-thugs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Killer_thugs%29
content:
<p>

We must 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/19/philando-castile-verdict-painful-result-laws-rigged-protect-cops">change the US law that protects killer thugs</a>
 as long as they
<em>say</em> they thought the victim was a threat to them.
<p>
Even 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/20/philando-castile-shooting-marijuana-car-dashcam-footage">absurd reasons for feeling threatened are accepted</a>
 when they come from a thug.
<p>
As long as the law remains this way, uniformed thugs will be able to 
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-jan-apr.html#23_March_2017_(Thugs_that_killed_Tamir_Rice_unpunished)">murder blacks with impunity</a>.
 And 
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#23_November_2016_(Pipeline_protesters_attacked)">injure protesters</a>
 with impunity, too.


feed_id: e2b7febacc33673c3f33b2c2cf881ec3
title: Undermining civil government
uri: 2017-06-22-Undermining-civil-government
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Undermining_civil_government%29
content:
<p>

Republicans make it standard practice to undermine civil government
and honesty in order to get their way.  They have been doing this for
decades, and it 
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/6/18/1669921/-33-things-Republicans-and-only-Republicans-have-done-to-blaze-new-trails-of-corruption?detail=emaildkre">gets worse over time</a>.
<p>
A few notes are required:
<p>
• I won't take US intelligence's word that the email leaks of the
Democratic National Committee were arranged by Russia — though that
may have happened.
<p>
Whoever was behind those leaks, what matters most
is that they served the public by demonstrating how the DNC had
sabotaged Sanders' campaign in favor of Clinton.
<p>
• It should be noticed that most Montana voters had already voted
when 
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#29_May_2017_(Greg_Gianforte)">Gianforte attacked reporter Ben Jacobs</a>.
  Also, 
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#9_June_2017_(Gianforte_apologized_for_attack)">Gianforte apologized</a>
 and pled guilty.
<p>
However, other Republicans alluded to the attack by 
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#1_June_2017_(Gianforte_attack)">inciting more violence</a>.
<p>
• ALEC does not "bypass" state legislatures.  Rather, it helps
corporations organize legislators and sometimes to buy their votes.
<p>
• Republicans recently banned using the term "climate change",
but 15 years ago they told government employees to say "climate change"
instead of the clearer and more concrete 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2003/mar/04/usnews.climatechange">"global warming"</a>.


feed_id: 184263ef868be033c0a335cc4dedc150
title: Prison torture
uri: 2017-06-22-Prison-torture
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#20_June_2017_%28Prison_torture%29
content:
<p>
Otto Warmbier has 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/19/otto-warmbier-dies-coma-student-north-korea-prison">died
from the injuries he sustained in prison</a> in North Korea.
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> is against torture when it's done by North Koreans, but 
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-jan-apr.html#30_January_2017_(Trolls_plan_to_resume_torture)">in
favor of torture by US government agents</a>.


feed_id: 3d1e5924bc33fbce57f193d692c23500
title: Protection of civil rights for students
uri: 2017-06-22-Protection-of-civil-rights-for-students
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Protection_of_civil_rights_for_students%29

content:
<p>
DeVos wants to make civil rights protections for students inoperative
by 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/17/stunning-and-dangerous-devos-memo-reveals-plan-roll-back-civil-rights">cutting
the funds for enforcing them</a>.
<p>
One part of this change, that concerning "sexual assault" accusations,
might be an advance — it seems that school procedures 
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-jan-apr.html#16_April_2017_(Title_IX)">deny
the accused the legal rights that anyone accused of a crime is
entitled to</a>.
<p>
The rest is entirely bad.


feed_id: 6998b82f8ee79468febb3c39c46a7215
title: Resistance against the troll
uri: 2017-06-22-Resistance-against-the-troll
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#19_June_2017_%28Resistance_against_the_troll%29
content:
<p>

Resistance against the troll is mounting and has 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/18/resistance-victories-trump-mounting-final-blow
">thwarted most of what he wants do</a>.

This is not complete success, however.  Resistance has not thwarted
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_April_2017_(Killer_Gorsuch)">putting Gorsuch on the Supreme Court</a>,
 nor the 
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#16_February_2017_(Deregulatory_executive_orders)">deregulatory sabotage</a>
of
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#28_May_2017_(Cuts_for_the_EPA_and_endangered_species)">many agencies</a>.
<p>
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#3_June_2017_(Paris_climate_agreement)">Pulling out from the Paris climate agreement</a>
 is purely symbolic, but the troll has already canceled
the measures that the US was using to
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#3_June_2017_%28US_and_Paris_climate_agreement%29">carry out its inadequate pledges</a>.
<p>
I am not confident we can stop the 
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_(Republican_election-rigging)">Republican election-rigging</a>
 that
enabled the troll to "win" the election.


feed_id: 3138a842822b5f0a25231c6832c6944c
title: Spying on students in RI
uri: 2017-06-22-Spying-on-students-in-RI
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Spying_on_students_in_RI%29
content:
<p>

In Rhode Island, some schools think they have 
<a href="https://www.aclu.org/blog/speak-freely/rhode-island-some-schools-think-they-have-right-spy-students-school-laptops">the right to spy on 
students</a>
 with school laptops.
<p>
Let's not forget to mention that other companies, 
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#3_June_2017_(Chromebooks)">including Google,</a>
also think they have the right to spy on students.


feed_id: a03c6c688f027c240dc0ceae25323c56
title: DUIs and proprietary software
uri: 2017-06-22-DUIs-and-proprietary-software
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28DUIs_and_proprietary_software%29
content:
<p>

People convicted of drunk driving are being ordered to install additional
proprietary software in their computers (mobile phones): specifically, 
<a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/06/a-judge-is-ordering-drunken-drivers-to-install-uber-lyft/">the nonfree apps for Uber and Lyft.</a>
<p>
The one for Uber 
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/uber.html#privacy">spies on the user.</a>
<p>
I wonder what the judge would do when the defendant has no mobile
phone.  I fear this judge might order the person to carry a mobile
phone.  Mobile phones' movements and usage 
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2015-sep-dec.html#21_December_2015_(How_government_tracks_cell_phones)">can be tracked and monitored</a>
 by absolutely anyone, so being required to carry one is a big
 injustice.
<p>
There are occasions when it is legitimate for a court to require
someone to wear a tracker, but such an order should always be explicit,
not camouflaged behind "always have a mobile phone."


feed_id: 682ab3182d99e6492b554e15e029e96e
title: Petroleum interests in schools
uri: 2017-06-22-Petroleum-interests-in-schools
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#18_June_2017_%28Petroleum_interests_in_schools%29
content:
<p>
Republican officials work with petroleum interests to fill
schoolchildren's minds with petroleum.  They have been doing this for
decades, with the help of ignorant teachers that love to get any
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/15/big-oil-classrooms-pipeline-oklahoma-education">"educational"
videos</a>.
<p>
The children being mistaught today are very likely to die prematurely
from the consequences of global heating, which seem headed to include
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2015-mar-jun.html#03_May_2015_(Apes_wiped_out_by_global_heating)">disease,
famine, and war</a>.  If that happens, the disinformation campaign
described here will be partly responsible for killing them.


feed_id: b0940c1c1dd1dc3e45bbf0bb52fbfd07
title: Norway condemns deforestation in Brazil
uri: Norway-condemns-deforestation-in-Brazil
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#23_June_2017_%28Norway_condemns_deforestation_in_Brazil%29

content:
<p>
Norway will 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/22/norway-issues-1bn-threat-brazil-rising-amazon-destruction">eliminate
its foreign aid to Brazil</a> if Brazil does not stop deforestation.
<p>
That was on Friday.  Perhaps that's why President Temer 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_(Temer_vetos_forest_bill)">decided
to let a model convince him not to sign</a> the bill that would allow
a lot more deforestation.


feed_id: ddf29ab379334f36cf41f96dd6905013
title: Copyright oppression
uri: Copyright-oppression
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#23_June_2017_%28Copyright_oppression%29
content:
<p>
The copyright industry 
<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-riaa-demand-tough-copyright-standards-in-nafta-negotiations-170621/">want
to use the renegotiation of NAFTA to increase copyright oppression</a>
in Canada, Mexico and the US.
<p>
You can tell they are up to no good by their use of the
confusion-spreading term 
<a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.html">"intellectual
property"</a>.


feed_id: 7b06cffa8885689eba6557080efc57c8
title: Civilian casualties from US bombings
uri: 2017-06-23-Civilian-casualties-from-US-bombings
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#23_June_2017_%28Civilian_casualties_from_US_bombings%29

content:
<p>
The Pentagon 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/06/22/the-pentagon-says-one-civilian-died-in-drone-strike-on-syrian-mosque-witnesses-say-it-killed-dozens/">keeps
its eyes firmly shut</a> in regard to civilian casualties from its
bombings, then reports that it has seen no evidence of any.


feed_id: 06b3bba14557dfb55e64e2ab573d4c78
title: US election security
uri: 2017-06-23-US-election-security
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#23_June_2017_%28US_election_security%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://freedom-to-tinker.com/2017/06/19/lessons-of-2016-for-u-s-election-security/">Lessons
of 2016 for U.S. Election Security</a>.
<p>
Given the resistance that Jill Stein encountered when trying to get
recounts in the 2016 election, we can't trust computerized optical
ballot counters in the US.


feed_id: dd85e1bee3d5ffcde4830b264a7cab80
title: Troll admits lying for intimidation's sake
uri: Troll-admits-lying-for-intimidation-s-sake
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#23_June_2017_%28Troll_admits_lying_for_intimidations_sake%29

content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> admits that his talk of taping conversations with Comey was
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/22/trump-conversations-comey-fbi-tapes">a
lie for intimidation's sake</a>.
<p>
Too bad.  Those tapes could have inculpated him.


feed_id: b7666a27844660557d991876bd501beb
title: Beginning of end for PISSI's territory
uri: Beginning-of-end-for-PISSI-s-territory
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#23_June_2017_%28Beginning_of_end_for_PISSIs_territory%29

content:
<p>
The beginning of the end for <a href="/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a>'s territory in Syria and Iraq has
unleashed a 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/22/rival-groups-vie-for-supremacy-as-fight-against-isis-reaches-tipping-point">conflict
between the US, Russia, Iran, and their various local clients over the
spoils</a>.
<p>
I would guess that the US participation in <a href="/glossary.html#salafi">Salafi Arabia</a>'s
bombardment of Yemen, and the provocations between <a href="/glossary.html#salafi">Salafi Arabia</a> +
supports and Iran + supporters, are part of this.
<p>
I feel no sympathy for any of the groups of plutocrats that want to
fight about this.  It is not worth a war.


feed_id: 3ae64fb5d8ca416f65df9f7ff06d487c
title: Raising minimum wage
uri: 2017-06-23-Raising-minimum-wage
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#23_June_2017_%28Raising_minimum_wage%29
content:
<p>
Seattle's law that raises the minimum wage has 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/21/sky-didnt-fall-study-seattle-15-minimum-wage-proves-critics-wrong">not
led to reduced employment</a>.


feed_id: 94e5ee550ea54f382e8076d719e2760c
title: Carbon tax measure supported by polluters
uri: Carbon-tax-measure-supported-by-polluters
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#22_June_2017_%28Carbon_tax_measure_supported_by_polluters%29

content:
<p>
The carbon tax measure supported by polluters 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/06/20/exxon-supports-republican-carbon-tax-greenpeace-response">disguises
a plan to eliminate their liability</a> for all the damage they have
done.


feed_id: 0e1fb9e4c676050adc47eee5ccea72cf
title: US and Russia's military provocations
uri: US-and-Russia-s-military-provocations
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#22_June_2017_%28US_and_Russias_military_provocations%29

content:
<p>
The US and Russia 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/21/russia-cancels-us-talks-ukraine-sanctions">continue
military provocations</a>.


feed_id: dee8262acb648469f16f8e0031240577
title: Thug acquitted
uri: Thug-acquitted
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#22_June_2017_%28Thug_acquitted%29
content:
<p>
The thug that 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/21/sylville-smith-shooting-dominique-heaggan-brown-acquitted">killed
helpless Sylville Smith</a> was acquitted.
<p>
There was no need to shoot Smith again, since he had thrown away his
gun.  But since he had been a real threat less than 2 seconds before,
perhaps the verdict was justified.


feed_id: 0206e19639816e333bc01dbc58d3c211
title: World's human population
uri: World-s-human-population
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#22_June_2017_%28Worlds_human_population%29
content:
<p>
The world's human population is 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jun/21/world-population-to-hit-8bn-in-2023-says-new-un-survey">predicted
to reach 8 billion, just 6 years from now.
<p>
It is a good thing that one billion of those people will be over 60
years old, thus too old to reproduce further, but that by itself won't
end the population increase.  With population increase squeezing from
one side, and global heating effects from the other, humanity and the
natural world are both likely to be crushed.
<p>
How foolish of the article to refer to decline of population as if it
were a problem.


feed_id: c4b170990dbfdcfb24f03e68b4241692
title: Attacking occupation forces
uri: Attacking-occupation-forces
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#22_June_2017_%28Attacking_occupation_forces%29
content:
<p>
When Palestinians attack Israeli occupation forces, 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/06/21/jared-kushners-pursuit-middle-east-peace-looks-lot-like-total-surrender-israel/">that
is not "terrorism"</a>.  Terrorism means making war on civilians.


feed_id: c1300f8a5f344d573b90271449e68e54
title: World's human population
uri: 2017-06-24-World-s-human-population
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#22_June_2017_%28Worlds_human_population%29
content:
<p>
The world's human population is 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jun/21/world-population-to-hit-8bn-in-2023-says-new-un-survey">predicted
to reach 8 billion, just 6 years from now.
</a>
<p>
It is a good thing that one billion of those people will be over 60
years old, thus too old to reproduce further, but that by itself won't
end the population increase.  With population increase squeezing from
one side, and global heating effects from the other, humanity and the
natural world are both likely to be crushed.
<p>
How foolish of the article to refer to decline of population as if it
were a problem.


feed_id: a6859be0ce9241f52a1d581298721d62
title: Potential terrorists
uri: Potential-terrorists
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#24_June_2017_%28Potential_terrorists%29
content:
<p>
Italy has a fairly efficient system of
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/23/why-has-italy-been-spared-mass-terror-attacks-in-recent-years">
monitoring and discouraging
potential ideological terrorists.
</a>


feed_id: 171d13b18f2695680d421692e85851b8
title: Disabled protesters arrested
uri: Disabled-protesters-arrested
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#24_June_2017_%28Disabled_protesters_arrested%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/further/2017/06/22/killing-people-tax-cuts-what-fck-world-are-we-living">
Killing People For Tax Cuts
</a>
  (for the rich only).


feed_id: eb7359d97c81affd463e73c22c2a9e26
title: Iran nuclear deal
uri: 2017-06-25-Iran-nuclear-deal
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#24_June_2017_%28Iran_nuclear_deal%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/23/iran-nuclear-deal-survive-west-change-course-engagement">
The West must respect the nuclear deal with Iran,
</a>
or that deal may
fall apart.
In particular, this means no more military provocations.


feed_id: bce68955c832621627de2d7d92da3b8e
title: Neo-Ottoman ideals
uri: Neo-Ottoman-ideals
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#24_June_2017_%28Neo-Ottoman_ideals%29
content:
<p>
Turkey has surrendered to ignorance as well as tyranny:
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/23/turkish-schools-to-stop-teaching-evolution-official-says">
schools will no longer teach evolution.
</a>


feed_id: d58ca4f63dcc9d1add8874963f86e282
title: Daily anti-terror drills
uri: Daily-anti-terror-drills
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#24_June_2017_%28Daily_anti-terror_drills%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/23/in-chinas-far-west-experts-fear-a-ticking-timebomb-religious">
China is turning Xinjiang into a totalitarian system of repression.
</a>
  This is presented as a scheme to crush Islamist terrorism (and Uygur
separatism, which is not the same thing).  But this sort of repression
is much worse than terrorism.
<p>
Americans, take this as a lesson of what the US will be like
if we don't stop it.


feed_id: cd1b05cae1ca7f45193a429aae3c268e
title: Homeless in heatwave
uri: Homeless-in-heatwave
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#24_June_2017_%28Homeless_in_heatwave%29
content:
<p>
The heat wave is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/23/arizona-heatwave-homeless-phoenix">
causing physical injury to homeless people
</a>
in Arizona.
<p>
A century from now, with higher temperatures everywhere, such injury
could cover large parts of the US.  In some places, heat waves
could be
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-may-aug.html#20_August_2016_(Global_heating)">
fatal to all humans not protected by air conditioning or
underground shelters.
</a>
<p>
Ralph Nader:
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/21/closing-democracys-doors-until-people-open-them">
[plutocrats are] Closing Democracy's Doors Until the
People Open Them.
</a>


feed_id: 6e124cb246f7d8f10f0fbfee4a07d7b8
title: Logging Free-for-All
uri: Logging-Free-for-All
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#24_June_2017_%28Logging_Free-for-All%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/06/21/house-logging-bill-hr-2936-guts-federal-environmental-laws-literally-privatizes">
House Logging Bill (HR 2936) Guts Federal Environmental Laws,
</a>
Literally
Privatizes Public Lands, Creates Logging Free-for-All.


feed_id: 20d177bdf88bfed0f5a2670582086750
title: Secret Health Care Bill
uri: Secret-Health-Care-Bill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#24_June_2017_%28Secret_Health_Care_Bill%29
content:
<p>
Senators
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/06/21/senators-drafting-secret-health-care-bill-backed-insurance-and-pharma-campaign">
Drafting Secret Health Care Bill
</a>
Backed by Insurance and Pharma
Campaign Money.


feed_id: 1a8496d46e3078542cd59c901ea89f25
title: Reactor autopsy
uri: Reactor-autopsy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#24_June_2017_%28Reactor_autopsy%29
content:
<p>
The US should
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/06/21/permanently-closed-us-nuclear-reactor-should-be-autopsied">
do an "autopsy" on a specific retired nuclear power
plant,
</a>
to see what flaws the other similar plants may have.


feed_id: 9f5dad154a7841d3470fe4e5e86f7a04
title: Urgent: Justice for Charleena Lyles
uri: Urgent-Justice-for-Charleena-Lyles
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#24_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Justice_for_Charleena_Lyles%29

content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/charleena-lyles-should-be-here/?t=1003&">
call for justice for Charleena Lyles,
</a>
killed by thugs after
she called for help.


feed_id: 2ce0a34732237dbbffe6439d2c63fe55
title: Pro-Putin bots
uri: Pro-Putin-bots
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#24_June_2017_%28Pro-Putin_bots%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/pro-putin-politics-bots-are-flooding-russian-twitter-oxford-based-studysays/2017/06/20/19c35d6e-5474-11e7-840b-512026319da7_story.html">
Almost half the accounts
</a>
tweeting in Russian about politics are
pro-Putin bots.


feed_id: 8abee34dced1546f6a9998d81aead8ed
title: Drifting towards war
uri: Drifting-towards-war
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#24_June_2017_%28Drifting_towards_war%29
content:
<p>
The US is drifting towards
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/22/all-signs-trump-point-coming-conflict-iran">
war with Iran,
</a>
encouraged by the troll.


feed_id: 577c4acfe74554a571dd4540e6d84e35
title: Immigration checks on survivors
uri: Immigration-checks-on-survivors
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#24_June_2017_%28Immigration_checks_on_survivors%29
content:
<p>
Some survivors from the apartment building fire in London are afraid to go
to the hosptal
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/22/grenfell-tower-survivors-too-scared-to-seek-help-because-of-immigration-status">
because they fear they will be deported.
</a>


feed_id: e04b4acd6f7b0ad3331577e7c63dd547
title: Purge of EPA scientists
uri: Purge-of-EPA-scientists
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#24_June_2017_%28Purge_of_EPA_scientists%29
content:
<p>
Saboteur Pruitt of the EPA has
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/6/21/1673807/-EPA-completes-purge-of-scientists-from-it-s-scientific-advisory-board?detail=emaildkre">
fired most of the real scientists
</a>
from its
scientific advisory committees, and made them inactive.


feed_id: 86b60010d6febdfaa88b7b930472b180
title: Illegal face recognition
uri: Illegal-face-recognition
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#24_June_2017_%28Illegal_face_recognition%29
content:
<p>
The Department of Homeland Subjugation has
<a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2017/06/21/dhs_s_biometric_exit_program_is_starting_to_scan_americans_faces_before.html">
illegally started submitting US citizens to face recognition
</a>
as they board some international flights.


feed_id: 2f03e8e85de90642b3f2974523f11c47
title: Very Urgent: Oppose the Dontcare bill
uri: Very-Urgent-Oppose-the-Dontcare-bill
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#24_June_2017_%28Very_Urgent%3A_Oppose_the_Dontcare_bill%29

content:
<p>

US citizens:
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/call/Trumpcare_2D_calls/">phone your senators</a>
 to oppose the <a href="/glossary.html#care">Dontcare</a> bill.
<p>
It is useful to urge them to delay the vote until after the July 4
recess.  More time, more public scrutiny of the bill, will improve
our chances of blocking it.
<p>
The Senate's <a href="/glossary.html#care">Dontcare</a> bill is basically
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/23/trumpcare-vampire-sinking-teeth-poor">just like the one passed by the House of Representatives</a>.
<p>
Its cuts to Medicaid start slower but eventually go deeper.
<p>
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/senate-health-care-draft-repeals-obamacare-taxes-provides-bigger-subsidies-for-low-income-americans-than-house-bill/2017/06/21/3f2226ee-56bd-11e7-ba90-f5875b7d1876_story.html">More information.</a>


feed_id: 30ffa682cf8e6f5ed53a4bbf3cde5c60
title: Arresting publishers in Hong Kong
uri: Arresting-publishers-in-Hong-Kong
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#24_June_2017_%28Arresting_publishers_in_Hong_Kong%29

content:
<p>

Hong Kong's non-democratically elected chief says that China can arrest
or kidnap publishers whenever it likes.
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/23/hong-kong-new-leader-carrie-lam-challenge-china-detention-booksellers">It's fine with her.</a>


feed_id: 71ff55515412d0ea2c9e54c879793e36
title: Clinton's fund raising leaders
uri: Clinton-s-fund-raising-leaders
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#24_June_2017_%28Clintons_fund_raising_leaders%29
content:
<p>

Some of Clinton's fund raising leaders are
<a href="
https://theintercept.com/2017/06/23/democratic-lobbyists-donald-trump-mottur-podesta-comcast-prudential/">now lobbying for oppressive Republican policy proposals</a>,
 such as abolishing network neutrality.
<p>
Given Clinton's pro-business (plutocratist) leanings, this doesn't
surprise me.  When I was young, we had a name for politicians like
Clinton: "Republicans".


feed_id: 972906e31b02655c409a7d89a458173a
title: Reducing use of natural gas
uri: Reducing-use-of-natural-gas
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#24_June_2017_%28Reducing_use_of_natural_gas%29
content:
<p>

Natural gas is not a safe replacement for coal — to avoid global
disaster, we will have to
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/06/22/increased-reliance-natural-gas-risks-emissions-lock">cut its use fast</a>.
<p>
Instead of investing in use of natural gas, we should invest in
renewable energy.


feed_id: 13b8141b43cbf0b90fc195c2c80305e1
title: "Get rid of red tape"
uri: Get-rid-of-red-tape
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#24_June_2017_%28Get_rid_of_red_tape%29
content:
<p>

Just as the apartment house fire occurred, the UK was studying a plan
to "get rid of red tape" by
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/22/government-backed-red-tape-group-eu-fire-safety-rules-grenfell-fire">eliminating the fire-safety regulations</a>
about materials to use in construction.
<p>
In the UK, fire is potentially a far bigger danger than terrorists.
It is not a bigger danger in practice today, simply because
regulations have done a pretty good job of preventing fires.


feed_id: bcecd7fe47f53b742740efe849aabfc1
title: Quashing convictions made under Nazi-Era law
uri: Quashing-convictions-made-under-Nazi-Era-law
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#24_June_2017_%28Quashing_convictions_made_under_Nazi-Era_law%29

content:
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/22/germany-to-quash-convictions-of-50000-gay-men-under-nazi-era-law">Guardian: Germany to Quash Convictions of 50,000 Gay Men under Nazi-Era Law.</a>


feed_id: b4b91bc3f1167b17e330c948a269db8c
title: Squeezing to keep nuclear plants operating
uri: Squeezing-to-keep-nuclear-plants-operating
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#24_June_2017_%28Squeezing_to_keep_nuclear_plants_operating%29

content:
<p>

A nuclear power plant operator is squeezing various states for
billions of dollars to
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/20/cuomos-nuke-bailout-right-out-trump-playbook">keep some nuclear plants operating</a>.
<p>
If we spent the money on batteries to store solar power, we would be investing
it in a better future.


feed_id: e46e820d138dab2418f7f72883fe843e
title: The business of Amway
uri: The-business-of-Amway
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#24_June_2017_%28The_business_of_Amway%29
content:
<p>

The main business of Amway is not getting people to resell real
products to their friends.  It is
<a href="http://www.cracked.com/personal-experiences-1620-amway-5-realities-multi-billion-dollar-scam.html">getting people to pay high prices for seminars</a>,
 that will supposedly teach them to be a success in
reselling products to their friends, but really just say how to push
their friends to pay for seminars.
<p>
It sounds like EST and its descendants.


feed_id: 131160deb201606b542a2b7e7cc283c2
title: Valedictorian speech terminated
uri: Valedictorian-speech-terminated
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#24_June_2017_%28Valedictorian_speech_terminated%29
content:
<p>

A high school valedictorian's speech was terminated by cutting off the
microphone when
<a href="http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2017/06/20/microphone-cut-graduation-speech/">he criticized in a general way</a>
 some of the school's personnel.
<p>
He said the opposite of what he meant to say, by using the wrong word
"authoritative" when he should have said "authoritarian".  However,
everyone understood the intended meaning.
<p>
What shocks me most is the comments that rebuke him
for his mild criticism of the school authorities.
Is this a sample of the authoritarian follower personality?


feed_id: f3a043c7970214d9cf307896435aef0a
title: Troll's plan for drug prices
uri: Troll-s-plan-for-drug-prices
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#24_June_2017_%28Trolls_plan_for_drug_prices%29
content:
<p>

<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a>'s plan to deal with the unpayable high prices drug companies
charge for medicines is to
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/20/health/draft-order-on-drug-prices-proposes-easing-regulations.html?partner=rss&emc=rss">let them do whatever they like</a>.


feed_id: 8c68ee91a985057f1865b6b882eb87ba
title: Norway condemns deforestation in Brazil
uri: 2017-06-25-Norway-condemns-deforestation-in-Brazil
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#23_June_2017_%28Norway_condemns_deforestation_in_Brazil%29

content:
<p>
Norway will
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/22/norway-issues-1bn-threat-brazil-rising-amazon-destruction">eliminate
its foreign aid to Brazil</a> if Brazil does not stop deforestation.
<p>
That was on Friday.  Perhaps that's why President Temer
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_(Temer_vetos_forest_bill)">decided
to let a model convince him not to sign</a> the bill that would allow
a lot more deforestation.


feed_id: b15dff4d7fcadd31cca55694c5a545c4
title: Copyright oppression
uri: 2017-06-25-Copyright-oppression
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#23_June_2017_%28Copyright_oppression%29
content:
<p>
The copyright industry
<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-riaa-demand-tough-copyright-standards-in-nafta-negotiations-170621/">want
to use the renegotiation of NAFTA to increase copyright oppression</a>
in Canada, Mexico and the US.
<p>
You can tell they are up to no good by their use of the
confusion-spreading term
<a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.html">"intellectual
property"</a>.


feed_id: 2b002ab2f8914ccf749a099c74c703af
title: Civilian casualties from US bombings
uri: 2017-06-25-Civilian-casualties-from-US-bombings
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#23_June_2017_%28Civilian_casualties_from_US_bombings%29

content:
<p>
The Pentagon
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/06/22/the-pentagon-says-one-civilian-died-in-drone-strike-on-syrian-mosque-witnesses-say-it-killed-dozens/">keeps
its eyes firmly shut</a> in regard to civilian casualties from its
bombings, then reports that it has seen no evidence of any.


feed_id: 23799e674bfd99d1ed3c9b6296b8cc3f
title: Beginning of end for PISSI's territory
uri: 2017-06-25-Beginning-of-end-for-PISSI-s-territory
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#23_June_2017_%28Beginning_of_end_for_PISSIs_territory%29

content:
<p>
The beginning of the end for <a href="/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a>'s territory in Syria and Iraq has
unleashed a
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/22/rival-groups-vie-for-supremacy-as-fight-against-isis-reaches-tipping-point">conflict
between the US, Russia, Iran, and their various local clients over the
spoils</a>.
<p>
I would guess that the US participation in <a href="/glossary.html#salafi">Salafi Arabia</a>'s
bombardment of Yemen, and the provocations between <a href="/glossary.html#salafi">Salafi Arabia</a> +
supports and Iran + supporters, are part of this.
<p>
I feel no sympathy for any of the groups of plutocrats that want to
fight about this.  It is not worth a war.


feed_id: a01b6f299f0bd8e12eb830446ecf1592
title: Raising minimum wage
uri: 2017-06-25-Raising-minimum-wage
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#23_June_2017_%28Raising_minimum_wage%29
content:
<p>
Seattle's law that raises the minimum wage has
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/21/sky-didnt-fall-study-seattle-15-minimum-wage-proves-critics-wrong">not
led to reduced employment</a>.


feed_id: 960455b7b8aa697e420b8270ab61bfb9
title: Carbon tax measure supported by polluters
uri: 2017-06-25-Carbon-tax-measure-supported-by-polluters
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#22_June_2017_%28Carbon_tax_measure_supported_by_polluters%29

content:
<p>
The carbon tax measure supported by polluters
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/06/20/exxon-supports-republican-carbon-tax-greenpeace-response">disguises
a plan to eliminate their liability</a> for all the damage they have
done.


feed_id: 44bfd1edca6483136fa9ca9b61513c61
title: US and Russia's military provocations
uri: 2017-06-25-US-and-Russia-s-military-provocations
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#22_June_2017_%28US_and_Russias_military_provocations%29

content:
<p>
The US and Russia
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/21/russia-cancels-us-talks-ukraine-sanctions">continue
military provocations</a>.


feed_id: b5f15174ec30546c6df7c9ac52584498
title: Thug acquitted
uri: 2017-06-25-Thug-acquitted
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#22_June_2017_%28Thug_acquitted%29
content:
<p>
The thug that
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/21/sylville-smith-shooting-dominique-heaggan-brown-acquitted">killed
helpless Sylville Smith</a> was acquitted.
<p>
There was no need to shoot Smith again, since he had thrown away his
gun.  But since he had been a real threat less than 2 seconds before,
perhaps the verdict was justified.


feed_id: adc5d70b8824aa8c7d924d5bec925c1a
title: World's human population
uri: 2017-06-25-World-s-human-population
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#22_June_2017_%28Worlds_human_population%29
content:
<p>
The world's human population is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jun/21/world-population-to-hit-8bn-in-2023-says-new-un-survey">predicted
to reach 8 billion, just 6 years from now.
</a>
<p>
It is a good thing that one billion of those people will be over 60
years old, thus too old to reproduce further, but that by itself won't
end the population increase.  With population increase squeezing from
one side, and global heating effects from the other, humanity and the
natural world are both likely to be crushed.
<p>
How foolish of the article to refer to decline of population as if it
were a problem.


feed_id: 93deb1b5e545ecddedf4b4240ca9eaee
title: Attacking occupation forces
uri: 2017-06-25-Attacking-occupation-forces
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#22_June_2017_%28Attacking_occupation_forces%29
content:
<p>
When Palestinians attack Israeli occupation forces,
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/06/21/jared-kushners-pursuit-middle-east-peace-looks-lot-like-total-surrender-israel/">that
is not "terrorism"</a>.  Terrorism means making war on civilians.


feed_id: 140e383e2db34507d8b8f17a3c606d06
title: Killer thugs
uri: 2017-06-25-Killer-thugs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Killer_thugs%29
content:
<p>

We must
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/19/philando-castile-verdict-painful-result-laws-rigged-protect-cops">change the US law that protects killer thugs</a>
 as long as they
<em>say</em> they thought the victim was a threat to them.
<p>
Even
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/20/philando-castile-shooting-marijuana-car-dashcam-footage">absurd reasons for feeling threatened are accepted</a>
 when they come from a thug.
<p>
As long as the law remains this way, uniformed thugs will be able to
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-jan-apr.html#23_March_2017_(Thugs_that_killed_Tamir_Rice_unpunished)">murder blacks with impunity</a>.
 And
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#23_November_2016_(Pipeline_protesters_attacked)">injure protesters</a>
 with impunity, too.


feed_id: f168194a4c36798e56ec491bbf8be862
title: Undermining civil government
uri: 2017-06-25-Undermining-civil-government
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Undermining_civil_government%29
content:
<p>

Republicans make it standard practice to undermine civil government
and honesty in order to get their way.  They have been doing this for
decades, and it
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/6/18/1669921/-33-things-Republicans-and-only-Republicans-have-done-to-blaze-new-trails-of-corruption?detail=emaildkre">gets worse over time</a>.
<p>
A few notes are required:
<p>
• I won't take US intelligence's word that the email leaks of the
Democratic National Committee were arranged by Russia — though that
may have happened.
<p>
Whoever was behind those leaks, what matters most
is that they served the public by demonstrating how the DNC had
sabotaged Sanders' campaign in favor of Clinton.
<p>
• It should be noticed that most Montana voters had already voted
when
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#29_May_2017_(Greg_Gianforte)">Gianforte attacked reporter Ben Jacobs</a>.
  Also,
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#9_June_2017_(Gianforte_apologized_for_attack)">Gianforte apologized</a>
 and pled guilty.
<p>
However, other Republicans alluded to the attack by
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#1_June_2017_(Gianforte_attack)">inciting more violence</a>.
<p>
• ALEC does not "bypass" state legislatures.  Rather, it helps
corporations organize legislators and sometimes to buy their votes.
<p>
• Republicans recently banned using the term "climate change",
but 15 years ago they told government employees to say "climate change"
instead of the clearer and more concrete
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2003/mar/04/usnews.climatechange">"global warming"</a>.


feed_id: 8437af4fa15bb36b79425235809a280b
title: Murdering the poor
uri: 2017-06-25-Murdering-the-poor
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Murdering_the_poor%29
content:
<p>

Guardian: Over 170 Years After Engels, Britain is Still a Country That
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/20/engels-britain-murders-poor-grenfell-tower">Murders Its Poor</a>.


feed_id: db562678fe04c26cefadedebece70b3b
title: Troll silent on London attack
uri: 2017-06-25-Troll-silent-on-London-attack
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Troll_silent_on_London_attack%29
content:
<p>

<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> has said nothing about the terrorist attack on Muslim in
London,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/20/donald-trump-silence-london-mosque-attack-speaks-volumes">tacitly expressing his acceptance</a>
 of random violence against them.


feed_id: 068233e0a069e42986262481405aedda
title: Otto Warmbier death
uri: 2017-06-25-Otto-Warmbier-death
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Otto_Warmbier_death%29
content:
<p>

Don't think of war as
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/20/north-korea-conflict-otto-warmbier-death">a remedy for the death</a>
 of Otto Warmbier. War would be much worse.
<p>
It is clear that the North Koreans did not kill him intentionally.  If
they had done that, it would not have looked like this.
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/21/how-did-otto-warmbier-die">We don't know why he died</a>,
 and — most strangely — his family has
forbidden an autopsy.


feed_id: b23ffe24bc8804c7faa63add60acdd49
title: Big Oil and carbon emissions tax
uri: 2017-06-25-Big-Oil-and-carbon-emissions-tax
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Big_Oil_and_carbon_emissions_tax%29
content:
<p>

Exxon and several other large companies endorsed a carbon emissions tax, but
in exchange they
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/20/exxon-bp-shell-oil-climate-change">demand abolition of other policies</a>
 designed to reduce
CO2 emissions.
<p>
Whether the tax would do a better job depends on whether the tax is
big enough.  I have no way of judging that question.


feed_id: 894d8524dc60b5c388a987cd8f55c0dc
title: Temer vetoes forest bill
uri: 2017-06-25-Temer-vetoes-forest-bill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Temer_vetos_forest_bill%29
content:
<p>

Brazil's corrupt president Temer decided to veto a bill to unprotect a
2300 square miles of the Amazon rain forest, after
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/20/gisele-brazil-environment-president-michel-temer">an appeal from a supermodel</a>.
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/21/brazil-police-claim-to-have-evidence-president-michel-temer-received-bribes">New corruption evidence</a>
 against Brazil's President Temer offers once again a possibility he
 could be removed from his ill-gotten office.


feed_id: 20b880819d5940bfdfc08146599d1caf
title: Fire survivors feared welfare cuts
uri: 2017-06-25-Fire-survivors-feared-welfare-cuts
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Fire_survivors_feared_welfare_cuts%29

content:
<p>

The survivors of the London fire feared having their
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/20/grenfell-tower-fire-residents-benefit-sanctions-dwp">welfare benefits cut</a>
 for missing their jobcenter appointments.
<p>
That's not an unreasonable fear after the absurd excuses Tories have used
to punish people.  Indeed, it occurs to me that perhaps the Tories
would have punished them for missing their appointments, if not for the
publicity that the fire has drawn.


feed_id: 46a2891b6281f015d60354621c96c5b6
title: Shooting down drones
uri: 2017-06-25-Shooting-down-drones
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Shooting_down_drones%29
content:
<p>

The US is shooting down drones that are
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/20/us-iran-drone-shot-down-syria">flying over Syria</a>,
presumably by Assad's forces or their allies.
<p>
The drone's approach did not mean it was about to attack, so the US
attack was preemptive — begging for a war which could still be
avoided.


feed_id: fcd4fc9512d02a436eededff815b3778
title: Degrading the Amazon rain forest
uri: 2017-06-25-Degrading-the-Amazon-rain-forest
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#21_June_2017_%28Degrading_the_Amazon_rain_forest%29
content:
<p>

Where the Amazon rain forest still exists, loggers are degrading it
by cutting down trees that are
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/20/brazil-amazon-forest-degradation-map">hidden by the upper canopy</a>.


feed_id: 2bd854a0df7901225cf71dd9460e4aa7
title: Very urgent: Resistance Summer Community Cookout
uri: 2017-06-25-Very-urgent-Resistance-Summer-Community-Cookout
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#20_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Resistance_Summer_Community_Cookout%29

content:
<p>
In the US:
<a href="https://www.resistancesummer.com/">participate</a> in a
Resistance Summer Community Cookout.


feed_id: 6b6f03bcfc9d228b6141e4f8519f5d3b
title: Urgent: Phone your senators
uri: 2017-06-25-Urgent-Phone-your-senators
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#20_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Phone_your_senators%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: phone your senators at 1-844-334-5514 and say they should
not have
<a href="http://act.moveon.org/go/10693">imperiled the nuclear deal
with Iran by voting for more sanctions</a>.
<p>
This applies to all senators except the two, Bernie Sanders and
Rand Paul, that voted against the sanctions.
<p>
For more info:
<p>
<a href="http://act.moveon.org/go/10694">http://act.moveon.org/go/10694</a>
<p>


feed_id: 64f8f79e56a7befc6d5b5491b21bad53
title: Prison torture
uri: 2017-06-25-Prison-torture
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#20_June_2017_%28Prison_torture%29
content:
<p>
Otto Warmbier has
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/19/otto-warmbier-dies-coma-student-north-korea-prison">died
from the injuries he sustained in prison</a> in North Korea.
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> is against torture when it's done by North Koreans, but
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-jan-apr.html#30_January_2017_(Trolls_plan_to_resume_torture)">in
favor of torture by US government agents</a>.


feed_id: 476703c4c9d4a0f9d9ab8617c96055dd
title: Special coat for homeless people
uri: 2017-06-25-Special-coat-for-homeless-people
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#20_June_2017_%28Special_coat_for_homeless_people%29
content:
<p>
A special coat for homeless people
<a href="http://www.empowermentplan.org/the-coat">converts into a
sleeping bag</a>.


feed_id: 029435e1128d1f7a3c2b6a07492a2f13
title: Republican fanatics
uri: 2017-06-25-Republican-fanatics
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#20_June_2017_%28Republican_fanatics%29
content:
<p>
Republican fanatics, given leave by the troll and other officials,
have
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/jun/18/donald-trump-julius-caesar-shakespeare-theater-abuse">directed
death threats at many US theaters</a>.


feed_id: ddfa743eb9ee0b9e27b6fc40b69a806f
title: Deception of Republican activists
uri: 2017-06-25-Deception-of-Republican-activists
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#20_June_2017_%28Deception_of_Republican_activists%29

content:
<p>
The Republican Party is the Party of the Lie.  Republican activists
are proud of "creatively"
<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/18/politics/kfile-obama-georgia-ad/index.html">spreading
deception</a>.


feed_id: 2853a8196a2cc81ab993e3fca455b7f8
title: Mosque brings murder suspect to trial
uri: 2017-06-25-Mosque-brings-murder-suspect-to-trial
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#20_June_2017_%28Mosque_brings_murder_suspect_to_trial%29

content:
<p>
The iman of Finsbury Park mosque helped to catch and then protect the
terrorist murder suspect.  As a result, the murderer will stand trial.
<p>
The iman also
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/19/imam-praised-for-protecting-finsbury-park-suspect-from-crowd">calmed
down the crowd</a>.


feed_id: 5fc7d0ce1557adffd564386a7e7b6bbe
title: The Dupes of PISSI
uri: 2017-06-25-The-Dupes-of-PISSI
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#20_June_2017_%28The_Dupes_of_PISSI%29
content:
<p>
The Dupes of <a href="/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a>: they
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/19/london-mosque-attack-did-trumps-tweets-embolden-bigots">attack
Muslims and thus help PISSI radicalize a few of them</a>.


feed_id: 057a8d62bbdfd204bb924f7c8d558aa0
title: Manipulation of Twitter and Facebook
uri: 2017-06-25-Manipulation-of-Twitter-and-Facebook
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#20_June_2017_%28Manipulation_of_Twitter_and_Facebook%29

content:
<p>
A study of nine countries found that
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/19/social-media-proganda-manipulating-public-opinion-bots-accounts-facebook-twitter">propagandists
were successfully manipulating Twitter and Facebook</a> to spread
propaganda.


feed_id: 99a525d9cd77d51be3f7ce92d801f8e2
title: Iran and Salafi Arabia at brink of war
uri: 2017-06-25-Iran-and-Salafi-Arabia-at-brink-of-war
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#20_June_2017_%28Iran_and_Salafi_Arabia_at_brink_of_war%29

content:
<p>
Iran and <a href="/glossary.html#salafi">Salafi Arabia</a> are
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/19/saudi-navy-captures-members-of-iranian-elite-force-on-intercepted-boat-revolutionary-guards">at
the brink of war</a>.
<p>
I distrust both of them, and I won't presume that either one has
honestly reported its claims against the other.


feed_id: 2cd62b1d78b9afadeb0112302dc2d3d0
title: Urgent: Protect world heritage sites
uri: Urgent-Protect-world-heritage-sites
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#25_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Protect_world_heritage_sites%29

content:
<p>

Everyone: 
<a href="https://350.org/unesco-protect-culture-not-coal/?akid=23038.1151744.mYp8G4&rd=1&t=1007">call on UNESCO to protect world heritage sites</a>
 by pressure against locating  coal mines near them.


feed_id: 708106391bf0a92d63a6ff503b06d075
title: Denying activists jobs and bank services
uri: Denying-activists-jobs-and-bank-services
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#25_June_2017_%28Denying_activists_jobs_and_bank_services%29

content:
<p>

<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/06/23/flimsy-evidence-and-fringe-sources-land-people-on-secretive-banking-watch-list/">A private blacklist database</a>,
 accumulated from complaints that are hardly
verified at all, causes activists to be denied jobs and bank services.


feed_id: 9ee954cd2da76086ef881c29b48075a9
title: US military spending
uri: 2017-06-26-US-military-spending
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#25_June_2017_%28US_military_spending%29
content:
<p>

<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> wants to increase US military spending by 10%, by 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/23/why-does-donald-trump-insist-more-military-spending
">gutting activities that Americans depend on</a>.
<p>
Since the US spends as much on the military as the eight other most powerful
armies together, it could do with transferring a lot of this spending
to activities that are really useful.


feed_id: 22d2fff829a9f11c2c9887c4714e2ba2
title: Tuskegee syphilis study
uri: Tuskegee-syphilis-study
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#25_June_2017_%28Tuskegee_syphilis_study%29
content:
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/24/tuskegee-syphilis-study-victims-trump-opposes-memorial
">Sessions wants America to forget</a>
 about the Tuskegee syphilis study,
in which blacks were left to suffer untreated syphilis even after we
had a cure.


feed_id: 8252639f339504f5000bc5c96abc31fa
title: Oil pipeline protester sentenced
uri: Oil-pipeline-protester-sentenced
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#25_June_2017_%28Oil_pipeline_protester_sentenced%29
content:
<p>

Protester 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/06/24/sentence-valve-turner-climate-activist-ken-ward-no-more-jail-time">Ken Ward was sentenced to two days in jail</a>
 for turning a value to shut down a tar oil pipeline.


feed_id: 5f53fd3da02eb61d3ba91f71ce5e82c7
title: Firing women for using birth control
uri: Firing-women-for-using-birth-control
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#25_June_2017_%28Firing_women_for_using_birth_control%29

content:
<p>

Missouri is moving a bill to allow employers to 
<a href="http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/missouri_passes_bill_allowing_employers_20170622
">fire women for using birth control</a>.
<p>
Women could also be evicted for using birth control or for not using
birth control (i.e., getting pregnant).
<p>
The bill also hampers abortion with pointless harassment requirements.
<p>
Women will have to lie to employers and landlords about their birth control
and abortion practices.


feed_id: a040b8e70415c1c3e68f4105d8bf828f
title: Injustice of today's copyright law
uri: Injustice-of-today-s-copyright-law
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#25_June_2017_%28Injustice_of_todays_copyright_law%29

content:
<p>

Elsevier reaffirmed the injustice of today's copyright law 
<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/sci-hub-ordered-to-pay-15-million-in-piracy-damages-170623/">by winning a lawsuit against the article-sharing site Sci-Hub</a>.
  But it can't collect the 15 million dollars, since the site's operator
isn't operating for a profit, and it can't shut the site down.
<p>
Please be careful not to use the term "pirate" to describe sharing.
It requires special attention to avoid following someone else's example,
such as after reading an article like that one.


feed_id: 4ea7bf9eea1eabd98a3de9b8a4f6a8d1
title: Banning VPNs
uri: Banning-VPNs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#25_June_2017_%28Banning_VPNs%29
content:
<p>

Banning VPNs is dangerous, 
<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/banning-vpns-and-proxies-is-dangerous-it-experts-warn-170623/
">in Russia or anywhere else</a>.


feed_id: 5fec8feee4325d60eaa7faf3dfc88dbb
title: Dontcare bill and insurance companies
uri: Dontcare-bill-and-insurance-companies
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#25_June_2017_%28Dontcare_bill_and_insurance_companies%29

content:
<p>

The Senate's <a href="/glossary.html#care">Dontcare</a> bill opens a sneaky method for insurance companies
to 
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/06/ahca-senate-bill-preexisting-conditions/531375/
">gouge Americans with preexisting medical conditions</a>.


feed_id: 3a39d072ec47be0d7a4e95aadbac9691
title: Troll pushing to increase surveillance
uri: Troll-pushing-to-increase-surveillance
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#25_June_2017_%28Troll_pushing_to_increase_surveillance%29

content:
<p>

<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> is pushing to increase surveillance of the US and everyone
in it, 
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/06/data-driven-deportation/531090/">for the sake of deportation</a>.


feed_id: f966fa03b33e7ec5fba0e6df83962031
title: Chinese censorship in Hong Kong
uri: 2017-06-26-Chinese-censorship-in-Hong-Kong
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#25_June_2017_%28Chinese_censorship_in_Hong_Kong%29
content:
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/24/xi-no-evil-hong-kong-bans-protest-slogans-as-chinese-president-visits">Chinese censorship descends openly on Hong Kong</a>:
 signs criticizing
China's repression or its repressive ruler have been banned from his
parade route.


feed_id: 7215ba9081247906c94e4d8b4bbb363d
title: Dark money and elections
uri: Dark-money-and-elections
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#25_June_2017_%28Dark_money_and_elections%29
content:
<p>
<a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/41048-dark-money-turns-elections-into-trench-warfare">Dark Money Turns Elections Into Trench Warfare.</a>


feed_id: 9fc66f448482d8a80862e22f1c4338d5
title: TSA and reading material
uri: TSA-and-reading-material
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#25_June_2017_%28TSA_and_reading_material%29
content:
<p>

When the Theater of Security Agency makes travelers remove papers from their
bags, that will lead naturally to 
<a href="https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-future/new-tsa-policy-may-lead-increased-scrutiny-reading-material">unofficial censorship of reading material</a>.


feed_id: 81a083573dde9ddb0a47387351ecc052
title: Purge of EPA scientists
uri: 2017-06-26-Purge-of-EPA-scientists
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#24_June_2017_%28Purge_of_EPA_scientists%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#saboteur">Saboteur</a> Pruitt of the EPA has
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/6/21/1673807/-EPA-completes-purge-of-scientists-from-it-s-scientific-advisory-board?detail=emaildkre">
fired most of the real scientists
</a>
from its
scientific advisory committees, and made them inactive.


feed_id: 5b90a5b3df681d273e00f062270c969d
title: Urgent: Oppose pro-coal ads
uri: Urgent-Oppose-pro-coal-ads
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Oppose_pro-coal_ads%29
content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="http://act.climatehawksvote.com/manchin-trump-coal-ad">tell
Senator Schumer</a> to stop supporting pro-coal Senator Manchin with
pro-coal ads.


feed_id: c7a4e22abb0de967eb20d49e1d48edd3
title: Urgent: Infrastructure development
uri: Urgent-Infrastructure-development
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Infrastructure_development%29

content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/millionsofjobs_infrastructure">call
on Congress</a> to handle infrastructure development the progressive
and useful way, rather than through privatization giveaways.


feed_id: c5ccaf9637370c0e76bcc4fe9e02cd88
title: Saving coral reefs
uri: Saving-coral-reefs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Saving_coral_reefs%29
content:
<p>
UNESCO says that local efforts can't save coral reefs;
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/24/paris-agreements-15c-target-only-way-to-save-coral-reefs-unesco-says">curbing
global heating is the only way</a>.


feed_id: 3bba365b98e888fa6887e59cbd2b96c5
title: Requiring a pause before voting
uri: Requiring-a-pause-before-voting
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Requiring_a_pause_before_voting%29
content:
<p>
Senator Paul proposed a Senate rules change to require a pause before
voting on a bill, of
<a href="http://reason.com/blog/2017/06/22/frustrated-with-senates-secretive-health">one
day for each 20 pages of the bill's length</a>.
<p>
I think it is a good idea.


feed_id: 51a8f4681efedc602fb651b10aaea497
title: Thug gets "qualified immunity"
uri: Thug-gets-qualified-immunity
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Thug_gets_qualified_immunity%29
content:
<p>
A thug was given "qualified immunity" by a US court even though it was
proved he
<a href="http://reason.com/archives/2017/06/22/when-cops-lie">lied
about facts to try to convict an innocent man</a>.
<p>
That decision was perverse.  Tentatively disregarding some discrepant
facts is sometimes justified, but lying about them can never be
excused.


feed_id: bafcfd5821d59de19c22a8ceedc3f1d8
title: Retaliation for criticizing a thug
uri: Retaliation-for-criticizing-a-thug
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Retaliation_for_criticizing_a_thug%29

content:
<p>
After a thug killed Philando Castile, prosecutors
<a href="http://gizmodo.com/after-philando-castiles-death-investigators-tried-to-s-1796335848">got
his girlfriend's phone records to try to throw dirt on her</a> for
criticizing the thug.


feed_id: 64d59a15346649d69a5a0adbf1799246
title: The Brazilian Amazon
uri: The-Brazilian-Amazon
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28The_Brazilian_Amazon%29
content:
<p>
Despite President Temer's surprise veto, the Brazilian Amazon is
<a href="http://amazonwatch.org/news/2017/0622-amazons-forests-still-endangered-despite-brazilian-presidents-vetoes">not
safe yet from loggers and miners</a>.


feed_id: 272f5d77b09dc9033a3b4309b4c6dfe4
title: The Dontcare bill
uri: 2017-06-26-The-Dontcare-bill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28The_Dontcare_bill%29
content:
<p>
Parents of badly disabled children have brought them to Congress to
show the staff what medical care those children need.  The <a href="/glossary.html#care">Dontcare</a>
bill
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/parents-of-sick-kids-try-to-remind-congress-what-the-health-care-debate-should-be-about/2017/06/22/784231b2-574e-11e7-ba90-f5875b7d1876_story.html">would
cut it off</a>.


feed_id: 804d2e6db04ece391218b4d86fc9feeb
title: Medical care, Republican style
uri: Medical-care-Republican-style
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Medical_care%2C_Republican_style%29
content:
<p>
Medical care,
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/23/gop-health-bill-death-disaster-and-gilded-age-greed">Republican
style</a>: give them less and make them think it's more.


feed_id: a2706f3fdb473fd6d014707e9db6a830
title: Ireland sneaking in national ID law
uri: Ireland-sneaking-in-national-ID-law
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Ireland_sneaking_in_national_ID_law%29

content:
<p>
Ireland is effectively
<a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/passport-applicants-will-have-to-have-state-s-public-services-card-1.3091037">sneaking
in a national ID card</a>.


feed_id: b21fdfc26b288fbd29b3cd920c7b7b3e
title: Troll and staff deleting communications
uri: Troll-and-staff-deleting-communications
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Troll_and_staff_deleting_communications%29

content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> and his staff are
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/23/new-lawsuit-accuses-trump-destroying-essential-historical-records">illegally
deleting their communications</a>, which by law must be preserved.
<p>
If CREW wins its lawsuit, is there anything it can do to make the
troll and his staff follow the law?


feed_id: 59c039b64146d2702425cf67ee7902df
title: Asking Republicans to cooperate
uri: Asking-Republicans-to-cooperate
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Asking_Republicans_to_cooperate%29
content:
<p>
Reportedly the CIA told Obama about a range of Russian attempts to
interfere with the 2016 election, and Obama
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/6/23/1674509/-Republicans-blocked-President-Obama-from-telling-the-public-about-Russian-actions-to-help-Trump">waited
for Republican cooperation in responding</a>.
<p>
These reports come from intelligence organizations that have their own
antidemocratic agendas.  The facts may not be 100% accurate.  Recall
that Assange said that some DNC email leaks came from insiders, not
from Russian crackers.  But let's assume they are broadly correct.
What then?
<p>
Obama, as usual, asked Republicans to cooperate.  When they showed
their usual attitude, aiming to take control of the US by hook or by
crook, he didn't understand the idea of fighting back.  He waited for
their cooperation until it was too late.  What a sap!
<p>
Russian interference with the election was hostile to the US, but the
damage it did is far less than what the Republicans did on their own:
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jul-oct.html#23_August_2016_(Republican_gerrymandering)">the
big gerrymander</a> and
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_November_2016_(The_election_was_stolen)">voter
suppression</a>.  That was also hostile to the US, and it still is.
<p>
That was also hostile to the US, and it still is.


feed_id: df1fecc3e9ad19b4471c56e4cd5a27ec
title: Mythical "clean coal"
uri: Mythical-clean-coal
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Mythical_clean_coal%29
content:
<p>
"Clean coal" is now even more mythical, as an experimental
CO<sub>2</sub>-extracting power plant turns out to
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/6/22/1674136/-The-nation-s-first-clean-coal-power-plant-won-t-burn-coal">have
to burn only natural gas</a>.
<p>
A substantial part of the greenhouse gas emissions of using natural gas
come from
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jul-oct.html#9_October_2016_(Methane_leaks)">methane
leaks</a> before the gas gets to a power plant.


feed_id: 4a8a8c195dbd77394c51618f0eb74c16
title: Spying on Mexican journalists
uri: Spying-on-Mexican-journalists
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Spying_on_Mexican_journalists%29
content:
<p>
Mexican journalists were
<a href="https://cpj.org/2017/06/spyware-targeted-mexican-journalists-and-activists.php">spied
on through their portable phones</a>, which were turned into listening
devices (as commonly occurs).
<p>
There is no proof of who did this, but the obvious suspect is the
Mexican state.


feed_id: fec54fe7142112e003705d9892ead8b4
title: Spread of deserts
uri: Spread-of-deserts
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Spread_of_deserts%29
content:
<p>
2C of global heating will spread deserts around the Mediterranean.
The beginning of this is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/23/from-heatwaves-to-hurricanes-floods-to-famine-seven-climate-change-hotspots">already
visible</a>.  Other parts of the world face other broad disasters that
are already starting.


feed_id: 6140f894740a829d1407f379c9995b9e
title: Plutocracy makes public housing dangerous
uri: Plutocracy-makes-public-housing-dangerous
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#25_June_2017_%28Plutocracy_makes_public_housing_dangerous%29

content:
<p>
Tall buildings for public housing don't have to be dangerous.  It is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2017/jun/23/grenfell-fire-tower-blocks-capitalism-cost-cutting">plutocracy</a>
and its child, <a href="/glossary.html#doohnibor">dooH niboR</a>, that make them dangerous.


feed_id: b497d3ca356e1e906a19ba267a94fe41
title: Urgent: Preserve the Johnson Amendment
uri: Urgent-Preserve-the-Johnson-Amendment
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Preserve_the_Johnson_Amendment%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://secure.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=3024">call
on Congress</a> to preserve the Johnson Amendment: don't allow
churches to spend money on election campaigning.


feed_id: 4ba16b30c6f17b6663158d024deda3e0
title: Proposed US car surveillance system
uri: Proposed-US-car-surveillance-system
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Proposed_US_car_surveillance_system%29

content:
<p>
A proposed US mandate for all cars to transmit information about
their movements would make it easy to 
<a href="https://freedom-to-tinker.com/2017/06/21/killing-car-privacy-by-federal-mandate/">track
all cars' movements, all the time</a>.
<p>
The article explains why we must fight each new proposed surveillance
system no matter how many others already exist.


feed_id: c3da1df817eb7eb4f958b97e5147a722
title: Support for the disabled
uri: Support-for-the-disabled
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Support_for_the_disabled%29
content:
<p>
A universal basic income, in today's economic conditions, 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/23/universal-basic-income-ubi-welfare-state">would
not replace state-funded medical care or support</a> for the disabled.
<p>
In a hundred years, if we avoid global disaster and we end human
population growth, and if medicine advances so far that no treatment
is very expensive, that may change.


feed_id: 892480e02e69ded6d485655820623bba
title: The Dontcare bill
uri: 2017-06-27-The-Dontcare-bill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28The_Dontcare_bill%29
content:
<p>
Meet 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/25/medicaid-republican-healthcare-plan-affordable-care-act">some
of the Americans</a> SCROTUS are trying to kill.


feed_id: 055d3dd66d9719c4b8dae3cc2e457f02
title: Mosque aims to reform Islam
uri: Mosque-aims-to-reform-Islam
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Mosque_aims_to_reform_Islam%29
content:
<p>
A mosque in Berlin that aims to reform Islam will not close even
though its founder receives 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/25/ibn-rushd-goethe-mosque-berlin-seyran-ates-egypt-fatwa-burqa-niqab">thousands
of death threats</a>.
<p>
Her relatives in Turkey fear they will be used as hostages, but she
courageously refuses to let that defeat her.


feed_id: b78c8cb56f0820f60f3431e65bd56a91
title: Corbyn inspires activists
uri: Corbyn-inspires-activists
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Corbyn_inspires_activists%29
content:
<p>
Corbyn inspires activists 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/25/jeremy-corbyn-wife-laura-alvarez-mexico-uk-relations">in
Mexico</a>.


feed_id: f9aaccd66722bb85f75caf47f42a0eeb
title: Fearful overprotection of children
uri: Fearful-overprotection-of-children
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Fearful_overprotection_of_children%29

content:
<p>
Should You Be More Afraid of Carjackers -- or the 
<a href="http://www.freerangekids.com/pants-zipper-vs-car-jacker/">Zippers
on Your Pants</a>?


feed_id: 076c204a87faf970e3edd2022a35abaf
title: English "fishing villages"
uri: English-fishing-villages
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28English_fishing_villages%29
content:
<p>
English "fishing villages" are 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/24/criris-in-britains-coastal-villages-as-fishing-communities-fight-for-survival">turning
into theme parks</a>; there are few real fishermen, and the
tourist-oriented restaurants don't buy fish from them, so fishermen
cannot afford to live there anymore.
<p>
This is a world-wide pattern that every place that is interesting or
special becomes more and more like a theme park.


feed_id: 876d356f87b6aa31f6fd5d8e1e37ae03
title: Macron's labor "reforms"
uri: Macron-s-labor-reforms
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Macrons_labor_reforms%29
content:
<p>
Mélenchon's party's small bloc in the French Assembly is 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/24/jean-luc-melenchon-france-new-resistance-macron">going
all out to oppose Macron's labor "reforms"</a>.
<p>
These "reforms" are intended, in France as elsewhere, to enable
business to pay workers less and send plutocrats more.


feed_id: f8c37246898dca3254675dbb534bde86
title: Insufficient welfare benefits
uri: Insufficient-welfare-benefits
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Insufficient_welfare_benefits%29
content:
<p>
High rents and insufficient welfare benefits are projected to push 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jun/24/social-housing-poverty-homeless-shelter-rent">a
million British families</a> out of their homes by 2020.


feed_id: 106c14803bbef7ad30a7cab0e1e4bae3
title: Prisoners put in permanent coma
uri: Prisoners-put-in-permanent-coma
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Prisoners_put_in_permanent_coma%29
content:
<p>
North Korea is not the only place where prisoners wind up in a
permanent coma.  It happened this year 
<a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2017/06/23/533947525/peter-toshs-son-beaten-into-coma-in-new-jersey-jail">in
New Jersey</a>.
<p>
North Korea says little about how Warmbier got
into a coma.  New Jersey likewise says little.
<p>
North Korea should come clean, and New Jersey too.


feed_id: 23a75467f4a3668c4f83c7438245adc6
title: California single-payer medical system bill
uri: California-single-payer-medical-system-bill
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28California_single-payer_medical_system_bill%29

content:
<p>
The California single-payer medical system bill passed the California
Senate, but was
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/24/outrage-aimed-democrat-who-pulled-plug-californias-single-payer-bill">quashed
in the lower house by the speaker</a>.
<p>
Previously I thought it had been passed by both houses and that it was
on the verge of becoming law.  Sorry for the mistake.


feed_id: 8d3ac9e79836e4bb4bbc29e8fd754217
title: Prisoners tortured by UAE for US agents
uri: Prisoners-tortured-by-UAE-for-US-agents
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Prisoners_tortured_by_UAE_for_US_agents%29

content:
<p>
In Yemen and Eritrea, forces of the United Arab Emirates torture
prisoners to
<a href="https://www.apnews.com/4925f7f0fa654853bd6f2f57174179fe/In-Yemen%27s-secret-prisons,-UAE-tortures-and-US-interrogates">get
them ready for US agents to interrogate</a>.
<p>
Then the US agents say, "We didn't see any torture."


feed_id: ef3b496fc562200b2b6e0b7a7da66477
title: Use of "smart" meters for surveillance
uri: Use-of-smart-meters-for-surveillance
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Use_of_smart_meters_for_surveillance%29

content:
<p>
People are becoming concerned about "smart" meters as a 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/jun/24/smart-meters-spying-collecting-private-data-french-british">surveillance
system</a>.
<p>
I understood the idea of a "smart" meter to include allowing the
utility to query total energy usage at any time.  That would allow
moment-to-moment monitoring.
<p>
If French "smart" meters report electric usage only once per day, they
are not much of a privacy threat with that limitation.  The utility
could determine whether someone was home, perhaps estimate how many
people were home, but nothing more.
<p>
Are "smart" meters in other countries designed with that limitation?


feed_id: d0386f162679eba12016861b44f84e2d
title: The Republican Party
uri: 2017-06-27-The-Republican-Party
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28The_Republican_Party%29
content:
<p>
The Republican Party is the 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/24/party-disaster-explaining-republican-train-wreck">party
of ungovernment</a>.


feed_id: c19a95b917cf71fc3182ae2d502ec536
title: Special investigator Mueller
uri: Special-investigator-Mueller
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Special_investigator_Mueller%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/24/mueller-v-trump-ultimate-lawsuit">reportedly
wants to get rid of special investigator Robert Mueller</a>, but that
would require a complicated procedure.


feed_id: 978d64762c21681d9b256a42a4ca4b8f
title: Jobs "saved" by troll now being offshored
uri: Jobs-saved-by-troll-now-being-offshored
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Jobs_saved_by_troll_now_being_offshored%29

content:
<p>
Remember when the troll "saved" jobs at Carrier by giving it a tax cut?
The were not saved for long: they are 
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/6/22/1674263/-Months-after-Trump-s-hype-Carrier-announces-600-layoffs">being
offshored now</a>.


feed_id: 9a8f9302ccca3945d68a293129eebe95
title: Being an off duty thug while black
uri: Being-an-off-duty-thug-while-black
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Being_an_off_duty_thug_while_black%29

content:
<p>
A black thug, off duty, came to assist a white thug.  The white thug
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/24/black-st-louis-police-officer-shot-white-colleague">shot
him</a>.
<p>
Apparently no black is safe around white thugs.


feed_id: cf9885d1c38f1220d7d17039df553920
title: The Siberian tiger
uri: The-Siberian-tiger
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28The_Siberian_tiger%29
content:
<p>
Protection of the Siberian tiger since the 1930s has enabled its
numbers to increase by 20 times.  But the total is still 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/24/siberia-tigers-conservation-poachers-extinction">only
500</a>.


feed_id: 6efa22a2143a094bbed6ef3cdeba48f9
title: Thug shoots at dog, kills teenager
uri: Thug-shoots-at-dog-kills-teenager
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Thug_shoots_at_dog%2C_kills_teenager%29

content:
<p>
A thug 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/23/armando-garcia-muro-police-shooting-stray-bullet-dog-la">killed
a teenager</a> by shooting at a violent dog.
<p>
A biting dog is dangerous, but wouldn't a taser have done the job?
Why did they pull out guns first?


feed_id: 6f8d556f543d56b46f7e60547952143a
title: Google's blacklist
uri: Google-s-blacklist
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Googles_blacklist%29
content:
<p>
Google's blacklists give it tremendous power.  It 
<a href="https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2016-06-22/google-is-the-worlds-biggest-censor-and-its-power-must-be-regulated">can
cut off any website from being visited</a> by nearly all internet
users.


feed_id: b00d71f2adebeb1ca7a2fcf2b2aa0747
title: List of troll's lies
uri: List-of-troll-s-lies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28List_of_trolls_lies%29
content:
<p>
A list of all the troll's lies 
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/23/opinion/trumps-lies.html">since
his inauguration</a>.


feed_id: cf4f6b8e3bdbcd4a4fce1e6a1b0bb574
title: Mistreatment of women in Afghanistan
uri: Mistreatment-of-women-in-Afghanistan
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#27_June_2017_%28Mistreatment_of_women_in_Afghanistan%29

content:
<p>
Women in Afghanistan are treated so badly after a divorce (if they can
get one) that they 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/jun/26/oh-god-please-let-me-die-treating-women-who-have-set-themselves-on-fire-in-afghanistan">turn
to suicide to escape from violent husbands</a>.  Some try to burn
themselves to death.
<p>
Aisha is quoted as praying for death.  Did she want treatment, or did
doctors pressure her to accept it?  If she really still wanted to die,
compassion requires us to cooperate with that.
<p>
Smoke inhalation probably hurts a lot less than burns.  A woman might
be wiser to set the violent husband on fire, then inhale the smoke.


feed_id: 4080fd34330437b6c1066c53c2940e40
title: Divestment and sanctions against Israel
uri: Divestment-and-sanctions-against-Israel
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#27_June_2017_%28Divestment_and_sanctions_against_Israel%29

content:
<p>
A UK court 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/26/israel-palestine-bds-campaign-judicial-review">overturned
a government order banning local governments from participating</a> in
divestment and sanctions against Israel.


feed_id: 4c0594f3fba0f0e22694cf5ae88af2f9
title: Koch brothers cut off Republican Party pay
uri: Koch-brothers-cut-off-Republican-Party-pay
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#27_June_2017_%28Koch_brothers_cut_off_Republican_Party_pay%29

content:
<p>
The Koch brothers have 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/26/koch-network-piggy-banks-closed-republicans-healthcare-tax-reform">cut
off the pay of the Republican Party</a> until they pass some sort of
medical care sabotage.
<p>
Republicans would sell their own children to get their pay — and
Americans' children too.  They know voters will hate them for this,
but they will think they've already given up public approval.  They
are now owned by their corrupt masters, and will have to bet that
their masters' money (plus 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jul-oct.html#30_October_2016_(Voter_suppression)">voter
suppression</a>) overcomes public memory.


feed_id: 035812ab70a7ee7c7786d357921c0306
title: Liu Xiaobo's nominal release from prison
uri: Liu-Xiaobo-s-nominal-release-from-prison
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#27_June_2017_%28Liu_Xiaobos_nominal_release_from_prison%29

content:
<p>
Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo has been 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/26/nobel-laureate-liu-xiaobo-released-from-chinese-prison-after-cancer-diagnosis">nominally
released from prison</a>.  This occurred a few years early because he
is dying of cancer.
<p>
Prisons are known for denying prisoners needed medical care.  Often by
refusing to believe the problem is serious.  
<a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/41059-we-are-humans-not-animals-women-in-california-s-largest-immigrant-prison-hold-hunger-strike">US
prisons do this</a>, 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jan-apr.html#15_February_2017_(Manus_Island)">Australian
prisons do this</a>, and Chinese political prisons are probably even
worse.
<p>
Activists say that China 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/26/outpouring-of-anger-as-chinese-nobel-laureate-released-from-prison">systematically
(though deniably) limits political prisoners' medical care</a>, hoping
that prisoners will get sick and die.
<p>
They may not have knowingly refused to recognize Liu's cancer until it
was too advanced to cure, but they shut their eyes just in case.
Shall we call this Chinese Prison Roulette?  It is a form of murder
(though without actually breaking a law).
<p>
His supposed release from prison may be a sham.  
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/26/liu-xiaobos-unbearable-fate-is-stark-symbol-of-where-china-is-heading">His
hospital room may be a form of prison</a>.  Things the Chinese
government says often have as little relationship to reality
as things the troll says.
<p>
The US government ought to be a shining beacon of contrast to China's
repression, but that is ever less the case.


feed_id: e234d16de820785ebb7a26681cab1e79
title: Oceans getting hotter
uri: Oceans-getting-hotter
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#27_June_2017_%28Oceans_getting_hotter%29
content:
<p>
Correlating the different systems that have been used to measure
temperature in various parts of the oceans, and overcoming various
biases, a study 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/jun/26/new-study-confirms-the-oceans-are-warming-rapidly">confirms
that oceans have been getting hotter</a>.


feed_id: a8e2d83c40b57788c5039bb4eff8094f
title: London housing residents kept helpless
uri: London-housing-residents-kept-helpless
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#27_June_2017_%28London_housing_residents_kept_helpless%29

content:
<p>
The residents of London housing project that burned down were
concerned about the danger of fire, but the Tories had limited legal
aid funds so that there was
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2017/jun/26/legal-aid-cuts-sub-standard-housing">no
way they could demand action</a>.


feed_id: 0c2ac0efd235823af2739ed9d3235263
title: Great Barrier Reef's economic value
uri: Great-Barrier-Reef-s-economic-value
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#27_June_2017_%28Great_Barrier_Reefs_economic_value%29

content:
<p>
A report assigning the Great Barrier Reef an economic value of 56
billion dollars 
<href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/26/great-barrier-reef-valued-at-56bn-as-report-warns-its-too-big-to-fail">might
perhaps convince some Australians</a> to take measures to curb global
heating.


feed_id: 4fe83dcb2cadf5d868a2d86c90b68caf
title: The murderous Dontcare bill
uri: The-murderous-Dontcare-bill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#27_June_2017_%28The_murderous_Dontcare_bill%29
content:
<p>
If the <a href="/glossary.html#care">Dontcare</a> bill kills people, will that be 
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/6/24/1674954/-Well-Senator-Hatch-If-Not-Murder-Then-What-Would-You-Call-It">murder</a>?
<p>
When discussing whether something is or isn't murder, outside the
context of a legal accusation, to cite laws is to miss the point.
<p>
The word "murder" has multiple related meanings.  In law, it is the
name of a crime, with a definition that varies between jurisdictions.
Courts, trying someone for murder, should follow these definitions.
<p>
The word also has an everyday meaning that is more basic than laws,
and is independent of the details of the laws of one place or another.
It means knowingly killing people in the absence of certain morally
valid justifications.
<p>
Unless "crushing the poor to give to the rich" is a morally valid
justification, the <a href="/glossary.html#care">Dontcare</a> bill's killings will be murder by the
ordinary meaning.


feed_id: c922e3c83125530316bf32f03f5925fc
title: UK demonizing those who import sex dolls
uri: UK-demonizing-those-who-import-sex-dolls
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#27_June_2017_%28UK_demonizing_those_who_import_sex_dolls%29

content:
<p>
The UK is 
<a href="
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/23/man-import-childlike-sex-doll-uk-jailed">demonizing
anyone that imports a sex doll with a childlike body shape</a>.
<p>
It would be ludicrous to claim that some child was harmed by making
the doll, so they don't bother offering any justification for the
prohibition.  The mere idea that these dolls are "sickening" is
supposed to justify making it a crime.


feed_id: eb6bf1ccfe9683439eeba0f74f4b9ec3
title: Education for every child
uri: Education-for-every-child
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#27_June_2017_%28Education_for_every_child%29
content:
<p>
Hereâs an Idea: 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/18/heres-idea-guarantee-every-child-excellent-education">Guarantee
Every Child an Excellent Education</a>.


feed_id: c8ede3af4605f0b38f56d7973845b742
title: Coffee to be lost to global heating
uri: Coffee-to-be-lost-to-global-heating
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#27_June_2017_%28Coffee_to_be_lost_to_global_heating%29

content:
<p>
Half the coffee-producing land in Ethiopia 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/19/global-warming-brews-big-trouble-coffee-birthplace-ethiopia">will
become unsuitable</a> as a result of global heating.
<p>
Worst of all, the wild strains will die out.  Their genetic resources
will be forever lost.


feed_id: 7e687fc6efc8743a846f44db2537d0f8
title: Failure to stand for progressive change
uri: Failure-to-stand-for-progressive-change
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#27_June_2017_%28Failure_to_stand_for_progressive_change%29

content:
<p>
Progressives say that candidate Ossoff lost to a Republican, despite
millions in support from the Democratic Party, for the same reason
Clinton did: 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/21/jon-ossoff-georgia-democrats-party-establishment">failure
to stand for progressive change</a>.
<p>
The progressive candidates for Congress lost too, but they got little
support from the Democratic Party — because they were
progressive.


feed_id: f9c2e5a276d8619dff0f7b4db4456f70
title: Acquittal of murderous thug
uri: Acquittal-of-murderous-thug
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#27_June_2017_%28Acquittal_of_murderous_thug%29
content:
<p>
Philando Castille made every effort to comply with the thug's orders
and assure safety.  The thug's response — first incompetent,
then violent, then dishonest — turned it into 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/21/remain-shocked-philando-castille-justice-moral-outrage">murder</a>.
<p>
Video that was kept secret until after the trial shows this
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/further/2017/06/20/murder-plain-and-simple">clearly</a>.
<p>
The thug's acquittal shows the bias of our legal system on behalf of
thugs.  It bows down to them with more respect than we give ordinary
citizens.  That respect enables them to get away with murder.
<p>
How can we change that?  One way is by setting a visible example of
denying them the excessive respect they claim.  That's why I call them
"thugs".  It is not just a way to vent emotions.  It is a way to teach
not to give them so much respect.


feed_id: f44c82b7939d31a06bc116e90dc5534d
title: UK demonizing those who import sex dolls
uri: 2017-06-28-UK-demonizing-those-who-import-sex-dolls
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#27_June_2017_%28UK_demonizing_those_who_import_sex_dolls%29

content:
<p>
The UK is 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/23/man-import-childlike-sex-doll-uk-jailed">demonizing
anyone that imports a sex doll with a childlike body shape</a>.
<p>
It would be ludicrous to claim that some child was harmed by making
the doll, so they don't bother offering any justification for the
prohibition.  The mere idea that these dolls are "sickening" is
supposed to justify making it a crime.


feed_id: af94dab62c6bb4d7606f6629ce1cc0a2
title: Education for every child
uri: 2017-06-28-Education-for-every-child
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#27_June_2017_%28Education_for_every_child%29
content:
<p>
Here's an Idea: 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/18/heres-idea-guarantee-every-child-excellent-education">Guarantee
Every Child an Excellent Education</a>.


feed_id: e03070158eb70ce6c4811d91b0f72836
title: Special investigator Mueller
uri: 2017-06-28-Special-investigator-Mueller
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#26_June_2017_%28Special_investigator_Mueller%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> 
reportedly wants to
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/24/mueller-v-trump-ultimate-lawsuit">
get rid of special investigator Robert Mueller</a>, but that
would require a complicated procedure.


feed_id: 58f68ab22f3e4084d2ed72876a9a94aa
title: US military spending
uri: 2017-06-28-US-military-spending
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#25_June_2017_%28US_military_spending%29
content:
<p>

<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> wants to increase US military spending by 10%, by 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/23/why-does-donald-trump-insist-more-military-spending">gutting activities that Americans depend on</a>.
<p>
Since the US spends as much on the military as the eight other most powerful
armies together, it could do with transferring a lot of this spending
to activities that are really useful.


feed_id: 4e05c8f5ecfe5f40c038e797c45d783f
title: Tuskegee syphilis study
uri: 2017-06-28-Tuskegee-syphilis-study
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#25_June_2017_%28Tuskegee_syphilis_study%29
content:
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/24/tuskegee-syphilis-study-victims-trump-opposes-memorial">Sessions wants America to forget</a>
 about the Tuskegee syphilis study,
in which blacks were left to suffer untreated syphilis even after we
had a cure.


feed_id: 16741aedb7342b08f00aa3675e646a10
title: Banning VPNs
uri: 2017-06-28-Banning-VPNs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#25_June_2017_%28Banning_VPNs%29
content:
<p>

Banning VPNs is dangerous, 
<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/banning-vpns-and-proxies-is-dangerous-it-experts-warn-170623/">in Russia or anywhere else</a>.


feed_id: ee247f7e9d9f319a08c62e3e87e676b1
title: Very urgent: Opposition to Dontcare
uri: Very-urgent-Opposition-to-Dontcare
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#28_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Opposition_to_Dontcare%29
content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/call/stop_trumpcare_rcalls2">phone</a>
Republican senators that might oppose the <a href="/glossary.html#care">Dontcare</a> bill.


feed_id: e4eaa9d687eb9d8c4764a2f7dd2f3a1a
title: Urgent: Defend press freedom
uri: 2017-06-28-Urgent-Defend-press-freedom
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#28_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Defend_press_freedom%29
content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://petitions.signforgood.com/defendpressfreedom/">call
on Congress</a> to defend press freedom.


feed_id: 29898a72fbd0bb18b580caf4a6eb33bc
title: Urgent: Reject torture designer
uri: Urgent-Reject-torture-designer
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#28_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Reject_torture_designer%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: Senate,
<a href="http://act.winwithoutwar.org/sign/tell-senate-block-trumps-torture-nominee/">reject
torture designer Steve Bradbury</a>.


feed_id: 39f742907457600208ddf380ba130bd8
title: Formal charge against Brazil's president
uri: Formal-charge-against-Brazil-s-president
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#28_June_2017_%28Formal_charge_against_Brazils_president%29

content:
<p>
Brazil's corrupt president has been
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/27/brazils-president-michel-temer-charged-over-alleged-corruption">formally
charged with taking bribes</a>.


feed_id: e2085089e9c2225cb22550a26980146f
title: NHS mail undelivered due to outsourcing
uri: NHS-mail-undelivered-due-to-outsourcing
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#28_June_2017_%28NHS_mail_undelivered_due_to_outsourcing%29

content:
<p>
The UK's National Health Service outsourced its mail handling, and
guess what?
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jun/27/hundreds-of-patients-potentially-harmed-by-undelivered-nhs-mail-says-nao">Over
700,000 letters with medical information for patients</a> went
undelivered.


feed_id: a68595082846371dcc1df494e258795a
title: Senate's version of Dontcare bill
uri: Senate-s-version-of-Dontcare-bill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#28_June_2017_%28Senates_version_of_Dontcare_bill%29
content:
<p>
The Senate's version of the <a href="/glossary.html#care">Dontcare</a> bill would cut off medical
coverage for a mere
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/26/senate-republican-healthcare-bill-cbo-score-trump">22
million Americans</a> instead of 23 million.


feed_id: 45097402a70d97f274c46e1ea02e3bd2
title: "Smart" meters
uri: 2017-06-28-Smart-meters
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#28_June_2017_%28Smart_meters%29
content:
<p>
Some "smart" meters
<a href="http://spectrum.ieee.org/view-from-the-valley/energy/the-smarter-grid/what-does-your-smart-meter-know-about-you">send
information as often as once every minute</a>.  That's plenty for
monitoring people in the home and what they do.


feed_id: 1f26cabc686136106fc757a3706696c1
title: Privacy and civil liberties oversight
uri: Privacy-and-civil-liberties-oversight
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#28_June_2017_%28Privacy_and_civil_liberties_oversight%29

content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> as rendered the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board
inactive by
<a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2017/06/trump_hasn_t_appointed_anyone_to_a_privacy_oversight_board.html">not
appointing a quorum of members</a>.


feed_id: 4600854855dfac7814a46318d931e327
title: Theresa May
uri: 2017-06-28-Theresa-May
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#28_June_2017_%28Theresa_May%29
content:
<p>
Theresa May's contempt for human rights laws gives
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/jun/26/theresa-may-attacks-human-rights-laws-despots-united-nations-commissioner">aid
and support to tyrants</a>.


feed_id: 53e8013cc410bc3a2b17712d014d7310
title: Troll's partial ban on Muslims
uri: Troll-s-partial-ban-on-Muslims
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#28_June_2017_%28Trolls_partial_ban_on_Muslims%29
content:
<p>
The Supreme Court
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/26/trump-travel-ban-explainer-what-next">permitted
a part of the troll's partial ban on Muslims to take effect
temporarily</a>, but it will not make any final decision until
October.
<p>
In the mean time,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/26/us-travel-ban-impact-legal-experts-advocates">many
court cases will be required</a> to work out the precise boundaries of
the temporary rule.


feed_id: 3cdbca5aa3658f246cf6ad87b1110618
title: Corruption and shoddy buildings
uri: Corruption-and-shoddy-buildings
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#28_June_2017_%28Corruption_and_shoddy_buildings%29
content:
<p>
Around 400 buildings per year collapse in Egypt because they were
built in a shoddy way,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jun/26/alexandrias-leaning-tower-became-emblem-corruption">due
to widespread corruption</a>.


feed_id: 9d5a67250284cb7a437c0c7497dbaf27
title: FERC approval of pipeline
uri: FERC-approval-of-pipeline
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#28_June_2017_%28FERC_approval_of_pipeline%29
content:
<p>
The FERC, as usual,
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/06/26/sierra-club-condemns-fercs-final-review-proposed-mountain-valley-pipeline">made
a biased decision</a> to approve a pipeline.


feed_id: 21049eb7b29d2e85fbbd8e616e8538c9
title: Urgent: Accountability of thugs
uri: Urgent-Accountability-of-thugs
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#30_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Accountability_of_thugs%29

content:
<p>
Everyone: 
<a href="https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/hold-chicago-police-accountable-fop/">urge
the Chicago City Council</a> to eliminate from the contract with the
thug union the provisions that protect them from prosecution when they
kill or brutalize people.


feed_id: e4fb4abfc54ec3f3f8611240d848c738
title: Urgent: Fight revised Dontcare bill
uri: Urgent-Fight-revised-Dontcare-bill
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#30_June_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Fight_revised_Dontcare_bill%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: phone your Democratic senators at 1-866-665-4470
and urge them to fight hard against the revised <a href="/glossary.html#care">Dontcare</a> bill
that <a href="/glossary.html#scrotus">SCROTUS</a> will propose in July.


feed_id: ca26d43a55a3ca42eef6624c3ae25215
title: Troll's lawyer
uri: Troll-s-lawyer
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#30_June_2017_%28Trolls_lawyer%29
content:
<p>
Sekulow, the troll's lawyer, 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/27/trump-lawyer-jay-sekulow-donations">raised
millions of dollars for his own relatives under the guise of
"donations"</a> to a Christian organization.


feed_id: 0dd8a974bca655cda5cfd329857b3f37
title: Troll's use of special forces
uri: Troll-s-use-of-special-forces
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#30_June_2017_%28Trolls_use_of_special_forces%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#dubya">Dubya</a> sent US special forces to 60 countries.  Obama to 120 countries.
Now the troll has extended that to 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/26/wide-world-winless-war">137
countries</a> — about 2/3 of the countries in the world.  They
win battles, but they never win a war.
<p>
It seems the troll is 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/27/donald-trumps-bloodlust-war-middle-east-iran-chaos">looking
for an excuse for war</a> against Assad in Syria, and then against
Iran.
<p>
I wouldn't put it past Assad to launch a chemical attack.  But I have
no reason to believe he will do so.  <a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a>'s assertion means
nothing.


feed_id: 02149072dc473eaf7b51bae1194cf838
title: Liu Xiaobo
uri: Liu-Xiaobo
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#30_June_2017_%28Liu_Xiaobo%29
content:
<p>
Calling on China to allow Liu Xiaobo to 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/27/us-joins-growing-calls-for-china-to-allow-liu-xiaobo-cancer-treatment-abroad">go
home for treatment or to go get treatment outside China</a>.


feed_id: 0caef21fcb1da161f2d8f0eac0c690d2
title: Pakistan and the Taliban
uri: Pakistan-and-the-Taliban
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#30_June_2017_%28Pakistan_and_the_Taliban%29
content:
<p>
The US has never figured out how to get Pakistan to stop supporting
the Taliban in Afghanistan.  <a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/27/trump-pakistan-terror-afghanistan-china-russia">plans
to try an unsubtle approach</a>.


feed_id: 11453d2a52ce7bd1724d65ce22ee0f60
title: Plastic debris in the ocean
uri: Plastic-debris-in-the-ocean
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#30_June_2017_%28Plastic_debris_in_the_ocean%29
content:
<p>
Plastic debris in the ocean doesn't all stay in the ocean.
It also 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/27/plastic-debris-inundates-remote-uk-coasts-endangering-wildlife">washes
up on the shore</a> and endangers wildlife there.


feed_id: 915803f93929dfd8fac98b5673fec7ff
title: Food shipping
uri: Food-shipping
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#30_June_2017_%28Food_shipping%29
content:
<p>
A large fraction of the world's food shipping passes through a few
"chokepoints" which are 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/27/vulnerable-chokepoints-threaten-global-food-supply-warns-report">vulnerable
to global heating</a>.


feed_id: 0f9f5ca50718162c2f20151c201dab03
title: China disappears Catholic bishop
uri: China-disappears-Catholic-bishop
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#30_June_2017_%28China_disappears_Catholic_bishop%29
content:
<p>
A Catholic bishop in China has been 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/27/china-vatican-gravely-concerned-for-bishop-forcibly-removed-from-diocese">disappeared</a>.


feed_id: 07633e80f047d07d6a50aaef5aea0c8f
title: Collapse of World Trade Center 7
uri: Collapse-of-World-Trade-Center-7
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#29_June_2017_%28Collapse_of_World_Trade_Center_7%29
content:
<p>
Engineers present 
<a href="media/d30de486.epn2016474p21.pdf" data-original-source="https://www.europhysicsnews.org/articles/epn/pdf/2016/04/epn2016474p21.pdf">further
arguments</a> that World Trade Center 7 could not have collapsed as it
did without inside help, and that the official investigation skipped
over that part of the issue.
<p>
I don't have the expertise needed to reach any conclusion about this.
I can't judge the arguments of the various sides.  The only conclusion
that I can reach is that we should have a full, complete and honest
investigation of what caused the World Trade Center towers to
collapse.
<p>
One thing we can be sure of is that 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2004-jan-apr.html#29%20March%202004%20(9/11%20Translation)">the
actual investigation was corrupt</a>.  One of the members quit and
said so.


feed_id: dc44ef9742ef845ea1a552de4ae0d84a
title: Republicans delay Dontcare bill
uri: Republicans-delay-Dontcare-bill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#1_July_2017_%28Republicans_delay_Dontcare_bill%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/27/healthcare-bill-vote-delay-senate-republicans-support">Public
resistance</a> has compelled Senate Republicans to delay the Dontcare
bill.
<p>
McConnell announced the intention to make changes in the bill.  I
expect they will shuffle the damage around, so that the new bill is
equally harmful but in different ways.
<p>
Then they will announce the evils they have removed, downplay the
replacement evils, and try again to ram it through before people can
figure out how they shuffled it around.


feed_id: e20ced85e538c21b9c1ebe9d4b0af785
title: Cigarette companies
uri: Cigarette-companies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#1_July_2017_%28Cigarette_companies%29
content:
<p>
Cigarette companies kill people for around 
<a href="http://nautil.us/blog/to-a-cigarette-maker-your-life-is-worth-about-10000">$10,000
in profit per death</a>.


feed_id: b857d28e2ae3f750e576a9a6454dcfae
title: Google fined for search bias
uri: Google-fined-for-search-bias
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#1_July_2017_%28Google_fined_for_search_bias%29
content:
<p>
Europe fined Google over 2 billion dollars for 
<a href="https://arstechnica.co.uk/business/2017/06/google-europe-fine/">search
bias against its competitors</a>.


feed_id: 272dcc9d97cb8751368a24552acba2d5
title: How Democrats have weakened themselves
uri: How-Democrats-have-weakened-themselves
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#1_July_2017_%28How_Democrats_have_weakened_themselves%29

content:
<p>
Ralph Nader explains how the Democrats have weakened themselves by 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/06/25/ralph-nader-the-democrats-are-unable-to-defend-the-u-s-from-the-most-vicious-republican-party-in-history/">not
fighting for important ideas</a>.
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#dubya">Dubya</a>'s campaign leader in Florida, Katherine Harris, 
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2003-jan-apr.html#dubya">arranged
to rig the election in Florida</a>.


feed_id: 9b2e8505dda5c15d7d36a2667269ecaf
title: Attempt to hold Gay Pride march repressed
uri: Attempt-to-hold-Gay-Pride-march-repressed
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#1_July_2017_%28Attempt_to_hold_Gay_Pride_march_repressed%29

content:
<p>
Activists try to hold a Gay Pride march in Istanbul and were 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/25/turkish-police-break-up-gay-pride-protest-in-istanbul">repressed
heavily by thugs</a>.


feed_id: 70a2eab08bea6464cba2f5f4be5cfe70
title: Addictive digital disservices
uri: Addictive-digital-disservices
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#1_July_2017_%28Addictive_digital_disservices%29
content:
<p>
Urging companies to make their digital disservices a little less
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/26/technology-healing-addiction-wellbeing-apps">addictive</a>.
<p>
I basically reject all the addictive ones anyway.


feed_id: cda9cf9f94823af5828a32393fcc3626
title: France to stop oil and gas licenses
uri: France-to-stop-oil-and-gas-licenses
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#1_July_2017_%28France_to_stop_oil_and_gas_licenses%29

content:
<p>
Macron 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/26/macron-meets-schwarzenegger-vows-stop-oil-gas-licences">committed
France to stop</a> issuing oil and gas exploration licenses.


feed_id: 23ceb84159cea67a15f73b4a7226efd9
title: Forcing women to have babies
uri: Forcing-women-to-have-babies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#1_July_2017_%28Forcing_women_to_have_babies%29
content:
<p>
Poland has made another effort to force women to have babies by
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/26/polish-president-signs-off-widely-condemned-morning-after-pill-law">requiring
a prescription to obtain a morning-after pill</a>.
<p>
I hope Polish women will organize smuggling so as to defeat this law.


feed_id: 0a22d6112f6d25428ff3f873450d3b3c
title: Amazon's power over US retail economy
uri: Amazon-s-power-over-US-retail-economy
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#1_July_2017_%28Amazons_power_over_US_retail_economy%29

content:
<p>
Amazon has so much power over the US retail economy that it 
<a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/7xpgvx/amazons-is-trying-to-control-the-underlying-infrastructure-of-our-economy">imposes
its power over all participants</a>.
<p>
If it is going to be a monopoly, it should be regulated like other
monopolies.  Or perhaps more.


feed_id: a2d2414c753a7c0c3e0a84253efda5ec
title: Fundamentalist rural America
uri: Fundamentalist-rural-America
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#1_July_2017_%28Fundamentalist_rural_America%29
content:
<p>
An Insider's View: The Dark Rigidity of Fundamentalist Rural America.
<p>
The author asserts that a substantial fraction of (mostly rural) white
Americans are white supremacists and believe in a perverse
Christianity that has replaced charity with cruelty.  They answer all
rational arguments with "God told us this".  They ignore the
contradictions of their position by 
<a href="http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/rural-america-understanding-isnt-problem">denying
all the facts that get in their way</a>.
<p>
If the <a href="/glossary.html#care">Dontcare</a> bill starts killing their relatives, perhaps they
will learn something.


feed_id: bc40c44610743255db7495591b71b512
title: UK "special branch" thugs
uri: UK-special-branch-thugs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#1_July_2017_%28UK_special_branch_thugs%29
content:
<p>
The UK "special branch", a division of thugs, had undercover thugs
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/undercover-with-paul-lewis-and-rob-evans/2017/jun/27/why-exactly-were-the-police-spying-on-jeremy-corbyn">snoop
on several Labour MPs, including Jeremy Corbyn</a>.
<p>
Reportedly, spying on him was no rogue operation — it was
approved by the chiefs of the special branch.


feed_id: d5b399bd63da6742b8a009b0c6c11bf1
title: Urgent: Phone about Paris climate agreement
uri: Urgent-Phone-about-Paris-climate-agreement
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#2_July_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Phone_about_Paris_climate_agreement%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: see how your congresscritters and senators responded when
the troll pulled the US out of the 
<a href="http://climatehawksvote.com/leaving-paris-congressional-responses/">Paris
climate agreement</a>, then 
<a href="https://callyourrep.co/callscript">phone them</a> and insist
that the US must do its share to prevent global disaster.
<p>
The Capitol Switchboard numbers are 202-224-3121, 888-818-6641
and 888-355-3588.


feed_id: 9bca55cbd82dc8c872219c3fe66c2fd2
title: Urgent: Protect medical marijuana
uri: Urgent-Protect-medical-marijuana
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#2_July_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Protect_medical_marijuana%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/protect_medical_marijuana">Call
on Congress</a> to Protect medical marijuana from Sessions's war on
drugs.


feed_id: c07d656de87143c7f367505615a3ba8b
title: Urgent: Stop sale of ivory
uri: Urgent-Stop-sale-of-ivory
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#2_July_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Stop_sale_of_ivory%29
content:
<p>
Everyone: 
<a href="https://secure.awf.org/stop-Rakuten-ivory-sales">call on
Rakuten</a> to stop selling ivory.


feed_id: 2bb43ff8fd7337ccc05673190e5512e0
title: Pruitt's meeting with Dow CEO
uri: Pruitt-s-meeting-with-Dow-CEO
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#2_July_2017_%28Pruitts_meeting_with_Dow_CEO%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#saboteur">Saboteur</a> Pruitt met with the CEO of Dow shortly before
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/28/epa-chief-scott-pruitt-met-dow-ceo-just-killing-effort-ban-toxic-pesticide">cancelling
the plan to ban the toxic pesticide chlorpyrifos</a>.


feed_id: b431281911ae9f906eda086e93f1cea2
title: Troll's fake Time covers
uri: Troll-s-fake-Time-covers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#2_July_2017_%28Trolls_fake_Time_covers%29
content:
<p>
Time Magazine 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/28/time-magazinetrump-fake-covers-golf-clubs">demands
that the troll stop displaying fake Time covers (with his own
photo)</a> in his clubs.
<p>
I find it plausible that what the troll is doing violates trademark
law because he is doing it commercially.


feed_id: 9228ef10d9ec013bf36c7592e391a3fc
title: Burmese journalists to be prosecuted
uri: Burmese-journalists-to-be-prosecuted
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#2_July_2017_%28Burmese_journalists_to_be_prosecuted%29

content:
<p>
Burmese journalists will be prosecuted for displeasing the state under
a 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/28/myanmar-detained-journalists-charged-colonial-era-law">tyrannical
all-purpose law first imposed by the British empire</a>.


feed_id: c611f4648eaccb72ce1e5b56a8a59cdd
title: Name ransom
uri: Name-ransom
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#2_July_2017_%28Name_ransom%29
content:
<p>
The new owners of a building in Toronto 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/27/trump-name-scrubbed-toronto-canada-hotel">paid
the troll millions of dollars ransom</a> to take his name off the
building.
<p>
That's an interesting line of business: name ransom.


feed_id: bf32b4f7bf5e5720fa4cd22bf9204e55
title: CNN apologizes for false accusation
uri: CNN-apologizes-for-false-accusation
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#2_July_2017_%28CNN_apologizes_for_false_accusation%29

content:
<p>
CNN 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/jun/27/three-cnn-journalists-resign-over-retracted-trump-russia-story">apologized
for publishing a false accusation</a> against one of the troll's
associates, and three employees including the author have resigned for
this.
<p>
Compare this with the real outlets of fake news, which never apologize
because they have rejected the idea of truth as a standard to follow.


feed_id: e3fddc6822cccc44dd8995d07401cfef
title: Trans pupils in UK
uri: Trans-pupils-in-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#2_July_2017_%28Trans_pupils_in_UK%29
content:
<p>
Almost Half of Trans Pupils in UK Have 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/jun/27/half-of-trans-pupils-in-the-uk-tried-to-take-their-own-lives-survey-finds">Attempted
Suicide</a>.


feed_id: e0b09fcedf1fcd1b6bfe24c9b92db7f2
title: Private school vouchers
uri: Private-school-vouchers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#2_July_2017_%28Private_school_vouchers%29
content:
<p>
In two US states that pay for private school vouchers, the students who used
them had worse grades for two years, then returned to the usual public school
level.  Overall, the vouchers 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/26/will-these-studies-finally-make-betsy-devos-admit-school-vouchers-are-total-scam">provided
no benefits to the students</a>.


feed_id: ddb41f689e0c9edcbd216af9335b2d0a
title: Thug indicted
uri: Thug-indicted
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#2_July_2017_%28Thug_indicted%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#thug">Thugs</a> have been indicted for 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/27/laquan-mcdonald-police-shooting-three-officers-indicted">covering
up facts in the killing of Laquan McDonald</a>.
<p>
Hooray!  Let's make blue lies matter!


feed_id: 05430416ac8d83bf41359b19b45b3ac0
title: What concerns Americans most
uri: What-concerns-Americans-most
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#2_July_2017_%28What_concerns_Americans_most%29
content:
<p>
Americans report to the Democratic Party: what concerns them most is
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/27/russiagate-collapsing-political-strategy">support
for progressive economic policies</a>, not Russia.


feed_id: 462274fd34480139265d2acc66ac9dcf
title: Planes grounded by heat wave in Arizona
uri: Planes-grounded-by-heat-wave-in-Arizona
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#2_July_2017_%28Planes_grounded_by_heat_wave_in_Arizona%29

content:
<p>
Some planes have been grounded by the 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/jun/27/hot-weather-proves-a-problem-for-pilots">heat
wave in Arizona</a>.
<p>
This was the result of a temperature of 52C.  By the end of the
century, we will see temperatures of 56C, maybe even 60C.


feed_id: 25e1782eb841b4489efec5499877c49f
title: EPA Saboteur Pruitt
uri: EPA-Saboteur-Pruitt
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#2_July_2017_%28EPA_Saboteur_Pruitt%29
content:
<p>
EPA <a href="/glossary.html#saboteur">Saboteur</a> Pruitt has 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/27/epa-clean-water-rule-drinking">launched
"reevaluation" of the rule that protects bodies of fresh water</a>
that supply drinking water for 1/3 of the US.
<p>
More about the 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/27/trumps-attack-clean-water-what-you-need-know">Clean
Water Rule</a> that the troll wants to eliminate.


feed_id: fd94c9cac1fbc72705c37a4d6cd8a23b
title: Curbing funding of terrorism
uri: Curbing-funding-of-terrorism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#3_July_2017_%28Curbing_funding_of_terrorism%29
content:
<p>
The Emirates ambassador to Russia 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/28/uae-ambassador-threatens-further-sanctions-against-qatar">suggests
applying some measures against funding terrorism</a> to his own
country as well as to Qatar.
<p>
That might be a good deal for all the countries in this dispute to
make.
<p>
Note, however, that it is useful in the service of peace that Qatar
allows organizations such as the Taliban to maintain offices there,
because that offers a way to negotiate with those organizations.


feed_id: b091590931227cd0c9ee0e8ebdcc7f64
title: Democracy in Hong Kong
uri: Democracy-in-Hong-Kong
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#3_July_2017_%28Democracy_in_Hong_Kong%29
content:
<p>
Chris Patten, last British governor of Hong Kong, says he 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/28/i-should-have-done-more-chris-patten-leaving-hong-kong-without-democracy-china">should
have done more to establish democracy there</a>.
<p>
He also objects to abjectly closing eyes to China's crimes in pursuit
of Chinese business.
<p>
Maybe the UK should leave China's hegemonic sphere rather than the EU.


feed_id: 8b68bfb7b9588ecfae5bec69b658bab2
title: UK's referendum on leaving the EU
uri: UK-s-referendum-on-leaving-the-EU
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#3_July_2017_%28UKs_referendum_on_leaving_the_EU%29
content:
<p>
George Monbiot: investigate 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/28/paid-leave-vote-funding-brexit-public-inquiry">possible
campaign funding illegalities</a> in the UK's referendum on leaving
the EU, and annul the result if there were substantial illegalities.


feed_id: c45228f10843f6c136876093bcf63e79
title: Skepticism vs denialism
uri: Skepticism-vs-denialism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#3_July_2017_%28Skepticism_vs_denialism%29
content:
<p>
An investigation into discrepancies of climate models illustrates
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/jun/28/climate-scientists-just-debunked-deniers-favorite-argument">the
difference between skepticism and denialism</a>.
<p>
Skepticism helps science progress.  Denialism tries to get rid of
science.


feed_id: 094e7e30afecb456a48b338fb984d937
title: Bad statistics in published papers
uri: Bad-statistics-in-published-papers
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#3_July_2017_%28Bad_statistics_in_published_papers%29

content:
<p>
Scientists 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/jun/28/exaggerations-threaten-public-trust-in-science-leading-statistician-david-spiegelhalter">need
to do a better job</a> of checking papers for bad statistics before
they are published.
<p>
Paywalled journals often mean that the only version we the public can
see is a preprint, which will never receive whatever corrections
reviewers may suggest.


feed_id: 9c0bbdaed1aa50a3419e4b297ce6a235
title: Plastic in the seas
uri: Plastic-in-the-seas
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#3_July_2017_%28Plastic_in_the_seas%29
content:
<p>
As we fill up the seas with plastic bottles, we 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/28/a-million-a-minute-worlds-plastic-bottle-binge-as-dangerous-as-climate-change">need
to measures to impose recycling</a>.


feed_id: 4f74af6112e3dc54c6315f25e059c6ec
title: Paranoia about kidnapping in the US
uri: Paranoia-about-kidnapping-in-the-US
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#3_July_2017_%28Paranoia_about_kidnapping_in_the_US%29

content:
<p>
So much paranoia has been built up in the US about the fictional
danger of stealing children in public, that people who try to help a
child are in real danger.  A man found a lost child and asked people
nearby if they could help find her parents; when her father showed up,
he
<a href="http://www.freerangekids.com/man-trying-to-help-lost-girl-is-mistaken-for-predator-and-beaten-by-her-dad/">insisted
the man was a kidnaper and beat him up</a>.
<p>
The father may be sued for this, but shouldn't he be prosecuted for
this?


feed_id: 43f85487dafe6af38ecfbbded18c867c
title: Ex-offenders
uri: Ex-offenders
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#3_July_2017_%28Ex-offenders%29
content:
<p>
After the Crime: 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/careers/2017/jun/28/after-the-why-employers-should-give-ex-offenders-a-working-chance">Why
Employers Should Give Ex-Offenders a Working Chance</a>.
<p>
In the US, laws make it almost impossible for anyone who was in
prison.  They are legally excluded from education and housing aid as
well as from many fields of work.


feed_id: 3c7194e3d739ac3eb9943dc946a00729
title: Liver parasites in fish
uri: Liver-parasites-in-fish
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#3_July_2017_%28Liver_parasites_in_fish%29
content:
<p>
Traditional raw fish in Thailand spreads 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/28/thai-doctor-fights-against-carcinogenic-raw-fish-dish-that-killed-his-parents">liver
parasites that make people ill</a>, and cause cancer in a fraction of
them.
<p>
In the US, restaurants freeze raw fish before serving it.  The
parasites are multicellular organisms, and freezing kills them just as
it would kill a human.  I trust US public health enforcers to make
sure restaurants do this, so in the US I do not worry about eating
sushi.
<p>
In Brazil I don't eat sushi; I don't feel confident that Brazil's
restaurant inspection system will ensure it is safe.


feed_id: 5a21abfac5f38ebf39e3a63fdc941442
title: Social mobility in Britain
uri: Social-mobility-in-Britain
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#3_July_2017_%28Social_mobility_in_Britain%29
content:
<p>
New Labour aimed to increase social mobility in Britain.  The Tories
have 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/28/meritocracy-hasnt-worked-radical-rethink-social-mobility">cut
social mobility way down</a>.  But the amount of social mobility is a
side issue — it is no substitute for giving everyone a good
life.


feed_id: 440536d0f01f09314d00bfb7f665c113
title: Why Africa Is So Poor
uri: Why-Africa-Is-So-Poor
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#3_July_2017_%28Why_Africa_Is_So_Poor%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/28/why-africa-so-poor-google">Why
Africa Is So Poor</a>.  It starts with the slave trade and western
investment in it.
<p>
The article mentions "unfair intellectual property laws", but 
<a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.html">that generalization
is a mistake</a>.  I think the laws that are pertinent are copyright
law and patent law, but they have almost nothing in common aside from
unfairness.
<p>
The article cites "structural adjustment", but many readers may not
know what that term means because it has been replaced by other terms.
It means cutting the state's spending on the public good (for
instance, education and medicine) so as to increase profits for the
rich.  The argument for this policy was "trickle down", which didn't
work in Africa any more than it did 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2013-jul-oct.html#19_October_2013_(Reagans_bogus_idea_of_trickle_down)">in
the US</a>.


feed_id: dd790d390c9ce9636be20197e3864574
title: Facebook closing accounts
uri: Facebook-closing-accounts
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Facebook_closing_accounts%29
content:
<p>
In 2017, Facebook is once again
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/29/facebook-real-name-trans-drag-queen-dottie-lux">closing
accounts of people who go by unofficial names</a>.


feed_id: 0f6c82f54fc568820628052db6d992d8
title: Troll's partial ban on Muslims
uri: 2017-07-04-Troll-s-partial-ban-on-Muslims
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Trolls_partial_ban_on_Muslims%29
content:
<p>
The US has
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/29/syrian-doctor-hit-by-trump-travel-ban-takes-up-studies-in-canada-instead">lost
Dr Khaled Almilaji</a> due to the troll's partial ban on Muslims.


feed_id: 6bb8f9c310f54ae8c684104d7783525d
title: Plastic drink bottles
uri: Plastic-drink-bottles
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Plastic_drink_bottles%29
content:
<p>
Some countries and states have achieved
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/29/could-a-money-back-scheme-clean-up-the-uks-plastic-bottle-plague">75%
recycling of plastic drink bottles</a> based on a small deposit that
is returned in exchange for the bottle.
<p>
25% of the plastic drink bottles discarded in the environment is still
far too much.  It bespeaks an insufficient will to solve the problem.
How about increasing the deposit to a dollar per bottle?  Maybe then
90% of the bottles will be recycled.


feed_id: 0f243414c641e6fcfb4dd978c2c293ee
title: Bank lending and carbon-related risks
uri: Bank-lending-and-carbon-related-risks
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Bank_lending_and_carbon-related_risks%29

content:
<p>
Banks
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/29/banks-should-disclose-lending-to-companies-with-carbon-related-risks-says-report">Should
Disclose Lending to Companies with Carbon-Related Risks</a>.


feed_id: f8e290d3ea4833d2fe5fb4de3e34085c
title: Intervening against mutual aid
uri: Intervening-against-mutual-aid
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Intervening_against_mutual_aid%29
content:
<p>
A Japanese airline
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/29/disabled-passenger-forced-japanese-airline-vanilla-crawl-up-stairs-board-plane">stopped
disabled Hideto Kijima's friends from carrying him up the boarding
stairway</a>, and tried to stop him from crawling up it, but he
ignored them.
<p>
I think that stopping his friends from aiding him was a sharper wrong
than not having an elevator.  To lack facilities is a sin of omission,
but intervening against mutual aid is a sin of commission.
<p>
It is good that the airline will install an elevator, but it
absolutely must promise never again to stop passengers from helping
other passengers to board.


feed_id: ca06f6dafb4cfb8f848a3bac9e5955b1
title: Putting monetary value on nature
uri: Putting-monetary-value-on-nature
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Putting_monetary_value_on_nature%29
content:
<p>
Putting a monetary value on nature is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/28/the-guardian-view-on-pricing-the-great-barrier-reef-a-dangerous-absurdity">absurd</a>,
because we can't compare the values of unique and irreplaceable things
on a linear scale.


feed_id: a2be4762da0fecbf3c226808f3cdb562
title: Bangladeshi state disappears 200 people
uri: Bangladeshi-state-disappears-200-people
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Bangladeshi_state_disappears_200_people%29

content:
<p>
The Bangladeshi state has
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/28/bangladesh-must-act-on-its-disappeared">disappeared
over 200 people</a>.  The state ignores demands from their families
and lawyers, and from members of parliament.


feed_id: 11ae3b426f9e3e297a0027cbb5c7b40c
title: The helicopter attack in Venezuela
uri: The-helicopter-attack-in-Venezuela
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28The_helicopter_attack_in_Venezuela%29

content:
<p>
Some in Venezuela speculate that the
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/28/venezuela-helicopter-attack-oscar-perez-rumors">helicopter
attack</a> was a government distraction operation.


feed_id: 4369bc146d2230fc0bbd4f6d5db0de59
title: Troll appoints saboteur to EPA
uri: Troll-appoints-saboteur-to-EPA
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Troll_appoints_saboteur_to_EPA%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> has appointed a
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/06/28/epas-new-water-safety-official-is-a-lobbyist-with-deep-ties-to-the-dakota-access-pipeline/">pipeline
and drilling lobbyist</a> as saboteur of water safety at the
Environmental Poisoning Agency.


feed_id: 8ed30b69a7feb1fa3c59330d5e0f330f
title: Complex percussion solos by cockatoos
uri: Complex-percussion-solos-by-cockatoos
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Complex_percussion_solos_by_cockatoos%29

content:
<p>
Male cockatoos of the Major Mitchell's species
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/jun/28/cockatoos-impress-opposite-sex-phil-collins-style-drum-solos">make
drumsticks to improvise complex percussion solos</a> to impress
females.


feed_id: eb495485bc0a1e701508f0daaa28b05b
title: Anonymous shell companies
uri: Anonymous-shell-companies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Anonymous_shell_companies%29
content:
<p>
A bipartisan bill would
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/06/28/us-pirg-applauds-introduction-bill-end-anonymous-shell-companies">prohibit
anonymous shell companies in the US</a>.
<p>
This bill would shut one of the avenues by which (mainly) rich people
dodge taxes.  There are many others that need to be closed as well.


feed_id: 184b8e2d9df4926ff665f101edb3752b
title: Bottled water
uri: 2017-07-04-Bottled-water
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Bottled_water%29
content:
<p>
How San Francisco Is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/28/how-san-francisco-is-leading-the-way-out-of-bottled-water-culture">Leading
the Way out of Bottled Water Culture</a>.
<p>
Bravo!
<p>
Here's the wrong way to do it: with a cr…app that tracks who
refills bottles, where, and when.  If public places to get water are
plentiful enough, no one will need this.
<p>
The UK
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/29/how-to-live-without-plastic-bottles">requires
all restaurants and cafes to refill bottles with water</a>.  All
places should adopt such laws.
<p>
I make a point of filling my water bottle in an airport after
security.  If there are no water fountains or sinks with potable
water, I ask a cafe.


feed_id: 28c2e37cd4a67c4af42965c9d12155bf
title: Canada orders world-wide censorship
uri: Canada-orders-world-wide-censorship
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Canada_orders_world-wide_censorship%29

content:
<p>
Canada has
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/28/canada-google-results-supreme-court">ordered
Google to censor searches world-wide</a>.
<p>
The accusation against Datalink makes no sense to me.  What is wrong
with buying products and reselling them under another name?  And
"acquiring trade secrets" is not in general wrong — and whether
it is illegal depends on how it is done.  If it's done by taking them
apart and examining them, that reverse engineering, which in general
is lawful.
<p>
Be that as it may, to allow any country to impose global censorship
for any reason is unacceptable.
<p>
Google pulled out of China to reject its censorship requirements, but
that was long ago when it still had the motto, "Don't be evil."  What
will it do with Canada?
<p>
For internet search to be run by a company (Google, in this case) that
does business globally makes it vulnerable to global censorship at the
orders of any country.  The overall lesson is: search engines must be
run by organizations that do business only in one country so that they
are safe from being sued in other countries.


feed_id: 443b8aba5b59a0a6d3017ff664dd79c7
title: Assad's air force
uri: Assad-s-air-force
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Assads_air_force%29
content:
<p>
The Pentagon claims that Assad's air force is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/27/us-syria-warning-assad-regime-chemical-attack">preparing
another poison gas attack</a>.
<p>
I wish the Pentagon were honest enough that I could presume this to be
the truth.


feed_id: bb2b8e67424e2df3b050f0cba9d865ed
title: Venezuela
uri: 2017-07-04-Venezuela
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Venezuela%29
content:
<p>
Venezuela's President Maduro
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/27/venezuela-nicolas-maduro-protests-violence">threatens
to hold power by force</a> if defeated in elections.
<p>
Venezuela may be on the verge of fighting now.  A Venezuelan ex-thug,
operating a helicopter belonging to the thug department,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/28/what-do-we-know-about-the-venezuela-helicopter-attack">used
guns and grenades to attack government buildings</a>.
<p>
He stated that his motive was opposition to Maduro's regime.  It's not
clear what kind of government he wants, but I would guess he is
right-wing.
<p>
What a sad end for Chavez's movement.  Chavez never had to worry about
losing an election — most of Venezuela supported him, for good
reason.
<p>
People criticize Chavez for making Venezuela depend on using oil
revenue to subsidize people's needs.  What they don't mention is that
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2007-mar-jun.html#23%20May%202007%20(Planned%20corruption%20and%20dishonesty)">previously
the oil revenue was diverted to wealthy foreigners</a> and did no good
a all for Venezuela.


feed_id: e7022581c0717868eebb0264d6be5afb
title: Republican endorsement of violence
uri: Republican-endorsement-of-violence
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Republican_endorsement_of_violence%29

content:
<p>
Donations to Gianforte's campaign 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/27/greg-gianforte-donations-guardian-reporter-assault">increased
after he physically attacked reporter Ben Jacobs</a>.
<p>
I suspected that something like this was the case.  The other
Republicans who, shortly after, hinted at endorsing such violence
did it because they understood what sort of fanatics support them.
<p>
Many Republicans are itching to commit violence for the cause of
abolishing democracy in the US.  The are unwilling to live in a free,
democratic and peaceful society; 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jan-apr.html#8_March_2016_(Authoritarian_followers)">they
want a violent tyrant to follow</a>.


feed_id: e30ec91e6b5c34e7688b8644d7caebb1
title: Urgent: Oppose dirty energy bill
uri: Urgent-Oppose-dirty-energy-bill
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Oppose_dirty_energy_bill%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://secure.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=3047">oppose</a>
the Republicans' dirty energy bill.
<p>
It would
<ul>
<li>
speed up approval of exports of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)
abroad, increasing fracking here at home;</li>
<li>
give FERC (an agency with absolutely no accountability to the people)
even more authority over decisions about pipelines for natural
gas;</li>
<li>
authorize hundreds of millions of dollars for research into
recovering methane hydrates, a dangerous new source of methane trapped
under the ocean floor;</li>
<li>
have no mention of solar or wind in the "renewables" section!</li>
</ul>


feed_id: a344fc5cd81122f1469fe950dae06b78
title: Urgent: End NSA's Section 702 power
uri: Urgent-End-NSA-s-Section-702-power
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Urgent%3A_End_NSAs_Section_702_power%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/petition-stop-nsa-spying-americans-under-section-702/">call
on Congress</a> to end the NSA's Section 702 power to spy on
Americans.


feed_id: f7b7a8afedc52080f3c04abb19133721
title: Urgent: Single-payer medical care
uri: Urgent-Single-payer-medical-care
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Single-payer_medical_care%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/dems_medicare">call on
Democrats in Congress</a> to support single-payer medical care, also
known as "Medicare for all".


feed_id: 9789699e28cad090ade5e21eb8a0ec93
title: Assertion that Assad didn't launch sarin attack
uri: Assertion-that-Assad-didn-t-launch-sarin-attack
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Assertion_that_Assad_didnt_launch_sarin_attack%29

content:
<p>
A leaked conversation between two people in the US security apparatus
flat-out 
<a href="https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article165905618/We-got-a-fuckin-problem.html">asserts,
as a certainty beyond question, that Assad didn't launch a sarin
attack this year</a>, and that the US security apparatus knows that for
certain.
<p>
I am not sure what to make of this dialogue.
<p>
On the one hand, I have some respect for Seymour Hersh, who published
this.  The idea that the troll lied about the sarin attack, having
lied about so many other things, is not a priori implausible.
<p>
On the other hand, this is supposedly a leaked conversation between
two people, but it doesn't read like a conversation.  It reads like a
two-speaker joint presentation to an audience.
<p>
As a result, I feel unable to judge what part of this is true.
<p>
The OPCW announced some 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/30/sarin-was-used-in-syria-khan-sheikhun-attack-says-chemical-weapons-watchdog">more
evidence that the poison was Sarin and that it spread from a Syrian
munition</a>.


feed_id: 3424b79d9a9ab2a3ca1aa340344eee90
title: El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras
uri: El-Salvador-Guatemala-and-Honduras
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28El_Salvador%2C_Guatemala_and_Honduras%29

content:
<p>
Millions of people in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras have been
driven from their homes by the
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/jun/29/organised-violence-is-ravaging-central-america-and-displacing-thousands">massive
violence of organized crime</a>.
<p>
It appears that Obama helped trigger this by deporting 300,000 people
with criminal records back to those countries.  I don't think it was
wrong on principle to deport them, but those countries' governments
needed help to handle them.
<p>
Speaking of those governments, those countries suffered from
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#20_July_2014_(Children_fleeing_from_Central_America)">US-supported
right wing repression</a> some decades ago.


feed_id: 6f5de4719230893101c0371ee3469830
title: Walgreens snooping
uri: Walgreens-snooping
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Walgreens_snooping%29
content:
<p>
Walgreens drug stores works together with a company that runs tricky
snooping web sites, which 
<a href="https://gizmodo.com/how-a-company-you-ve-never-heard-of-sends-you-letters-a-1795643539">figures
out who has what medical condition</a> in order to target them for
marketing.
<p>
The marketing letters <em>as such</em> don't bother me.  What bothers
me is that these data get into data bases and circulate around.


feed_id: 1e74435a66e7bb73ff3bfbbae505836f
title: Apple's tracking devices
uri: Apple-s-tracking-devices
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Apples_tracking_devices%29
content:
<p>
The iPhone Is the Crack Cocaine of Technology.  
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/29/apple-iphone-ten-years-old-crippling-addiction">Don't
Celebrate Its Birthday</a>.
<p>
Readers of my political notes probably know that "smart" phones are
unjust because of nonfree software (even Android phones), and unjust
because they track and spy on their users in many ways.  Their apps
are similarly unjust.  Have you got the strength to refuse to carry
one?


feed_id: d7556fe691256125fd5612ebb8b9c605
title: Crops grown with neonicotinoids harm bees
uri: Crops-grown-with-neonicotinoids-harm-bees
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Crops_grown_with_neonicotinoids_harm_bees%29

content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/29/pesticides-damage-survival-of-bee-colonies-landmark-study-shows">Field
experiments</a> show that crops grown with neonicotinoids harm honeybee
colonies and wild bees.
<p>
There is no rational doubt any more, so will governments opt for
survival and stop this threat to bees?


feed_id: 17863c65e1ca0f16d5d2ce9cc12ad15a
title: Global heating and poverty
uri: Global-heating-and-poverty
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Global_heating_and_poverty%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#global heating">Global heating</a> 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/29/climate-change-income-inequality-environment">will
make the US substantially poorer</a>, especially in the south.


feed_id: 15071227c23eb624d74efaf235d79390
title: Trump Wants to Kick Out Grandmothers
uri: Trump-Wants-to-Kick-Out-Grandmothers
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Trump_Wants_to_Kick_Out_Grandmothers%29

content:
<p>
Trump 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/29/trump-kick-out-grandmothers-travel-ban-not-surprised">Wants
to Kick Out Grandmothers</a>. Why Am I Not Surprised?


feed_id: f86bfb04c7c973ca800e72f6db0d3f8b
title: Harassment by NYC thugs
uri: Harassment-by-NYC-thugs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Harassment_by_NYC_thugs%29
content:
<p>
New York City's investigation found that thugs 
<a href="https://rightsanddissent.org/news/report-nypd-unlawfully-interfered-cop-watchers-civilians-recording-police/">frequently
harass people that make videos of their activities</a>.
<p>
Now the question is what the city will do to put a stop to this
flagrant and repeated illegality.


feed_id: 12d59c9635d4e0076da741e559348096
title: India's biometric identification system
uri: India-s-biometric-identification-system
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Indias_biometric_identification_system%29

content:
<p>
India's biometric identification system does not achieve the useful
goals it was sold on, but it is great for massive surveillance, and
<a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/dissent-and-aadhaar-4645231/">will
be used to crush dissent</a>.
<p>
India is now 
<a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/aadhaar-pan-linking-must-from-july-1-govt-notifies-rules/articleshow/59348278.cms">requiring
a biometric ID for tax ID numbers</a>.
<p>
What will they do to people that are willing to pay taxes
but don't get a biometric ID?


feed_id: 28a5b9827e80d13c8959367a999bfdd7
title: Thugs charges for Hillsborough disaster
uri: Thugs-charges-for-Hillsborough-disaster
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Thugs_charges_for_Hillsborough_disaster%29

content:
<p>
UK thugs face 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/28/hillsborough-six-people-including-two-senior-police-officers-charged">criminal
charges</a> for the Hillsborough disaster.
<p>
Their bad policies caused the death of almost a hundred people, and
then they 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jan-apr.html#30_April_2016_(Coverup_of_Hillsborough_killings)">lied
to cover it up</a>.


feed_id: f68792ebe0f5a9bd16b7d334613734a9
title: Australia pushing to ban secure encryption
uri: Australia-pushing-to-ban-secure-encryption
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Australia_pushing_to_ban_secure_encryption%29

content:
<p>
Cory Doctorow: Australia is 
<a href="http://boingboing.net/2017/06/26/crypto-denialism.html">pushing
for a ban on secure encryption</a> in the US, Canada, UK and New
Zealand, as well as Australia.
<p>
The article argues that insecure systems would be vulnerable to "bad
guys" as well as the governments of these countries.  I am not willing
to presume that these governments are "good guys".  The UK thugs
(Special Branch) spied on Jeremy Corbyn and other admirable
politicians.  The US government has spied on admirable political
figures including Martin Luther King, Jr., and others more recently.
I think our privacy deserves protection <em>especially</em> against
these five governments.
<p>
If the troll gets his way, the US will treat all opponents of
Republican repression as enemies.


feed_id: a986f6278e585285586477b5cbd5f1d2
title: Zillows make bizarre copyright claims
uri: Zillows-make-bizarre-copyright-claims
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Zillows_make_bizarre_copyright_claims%29

content:
<p>
Real estate web site Zillow 
<a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/jimdalrympleii/zillow-went-after-this-23-year-olds-popular-real-estate">shut
down a blog</a> by making bizarre copyright claims about photos it
doesn't hold the copyright on.


feed_id: c0c815058fad8514d5e2601e6b6ad0f1
title: China shuts down VPNs
uri: China-shuts-down-VPNs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28China_shuts_down_VPNs%29
content:
<p>
China has 
<a href="https://globalvoices.org/2017/06/27/chinas-great-firewall-grows-ever-stronger-as-virtual-private-networks-disappear/">shut
down any VPNs and has ordered app stores (such as Apple, Microsoft and
Google) to remove VPN apps</a>.
<p>
We refer to computers that impose manufacturer-controlled censorship
as
"<a href='https://gnu.org/proprietary/proprietary-censorship.html'>jails</a>".
It is vicious and inexcusable.
<p>
These events show that the same censorship system can be exercised by
states as well as the manufacturers.


feed_id: 9237d257844cab211f98221839a92f4b
title: Thai military tyranny
uri: Thai-military-tyranny
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Thai_military_tyranny%29
content:
<p>
The Thai military tyranny 
<a href="https://globalvoices.org/2017/06/27/at-thailands-request-youtube-blocks-video-clip-of-charlie-chaplins-the-great-dictator/">told
YouTube to block a clip from Chaplin's The Great Dictator</a>.


feed_id: a6b57791d18a832cf788a3282a40f38f
title: Daniel Stenberg blocked from flying to US
uri: Daniel-Stenberg-blocked-from-flying-to-US
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Daniel_Stenberg_blocked_from_flying_to_US%29

content:
<p>
The US 
<a href="http://gizmodo.com/mozilla-employee-denied-entry-to-the-united-states-1796465566">blocked
Daniel Stenberg</a>, free software developer and author of curl, from
flying to the US.  He was given no explanation, of course.
<p>
Occasionally there is a valid reason to deny someone entry to a
country.  But there is no excuse for being mysterious about why.
<p>
That the US so often approves a visit in advance, then turns the
visitor away at the time of the flight, suggests that the US is doing
the initial checks carelessly.  Whatever checks they want to make, if
they were competent they would make those checks when the visitor
first applies, not later.
<p>
The last-minute denial inflicts a big loss, often a thousand
dollars or more, for the price of nonrefundable airline tickets.
It teaches them that the US government cares as much about them
as about an ant.


feed_id: 197dbfe17e5f91f8593615970d57d126
title: Warrantless searches of phones
uri: Warrantless-searches-of-phones
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Warrantless_searches_of_phones%29
content:
<p>
New York State 
<a href="http://reason.com/blog/2017/06/27/new-york-mulls-suspending-drivers-licens">wants
to allow thugs to carry out warrantless searches</a> of data on
drivers' phones.
<p>
The article doesn't make it clear what "resisting" consists of.
Refusing to tell the thugs your password?
<p>
It won't affect me.  I don't have a portable phone.


feed_id: 59b574746ba0c9fd4213cae23c05ac83
title: Yahoo's anticompetitive behavior
uri: Yahoo-s-anticompetitive-behavior
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Yahoos_anticompetitive_behavior%29
content:
<p>
Yahoo's anticompetitive behavior: users of Tumblr and Flickr (and many
other services owned by Yahoo) 
<a href="http://boingboing.net/2017/06/27/end-times.html">will not be
allowed to use email addresses hosted by AT&T</a>.  Those whose
accounts use such addresses will be cut off from them.
<p>
If the US had proper enforcement against anticompetitive behavior, as
it did in the 1960s, Yahoo would be paying fines of millions of
dollars a day.


feed_id: ab1052583a7dc6e1963e051797eca9d3
title: Floating wind turbine generators
uri: Floating-wind-turbine-generators
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_%28Floating_wind_turbine_generators%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jun/27/hywind-project-scotland-worlds-first-floating-windfarm-norway">Floating
wind turbine generators</a>, now first being deployed, could make
possible a great increase in wind power generation.


feed_id: f24badb0e65f4338bb53b3595ec46cf2
title: Urgent: call on the FTC to block the merger of Amazon and Whole Foods
uri: Urgent-call-on-the-FTC-to-block-the-merger-of-Amazon-and-Whole-Foods
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#5_July_2017_%28Urgent%3A_call_on_the_FTC_to_block_the_merger_of_Amazon_and_Whole_Foods%29

content:
<p>
Urgent: US citizens: <a href=" https://secure.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/Advocacy;jsessionid=00000000.app329a?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=3045">call on the FTC to block the merger of Amazon and Whole Foods.</a>


feed_id: ff7dcc9d3d9c08492fc1e796b4e456b9
title: shrimp
uri: shrimp
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#5_July_2017_%28shrimp%29
content:
<p>
Urgent: Everyone: call on Trader Joe's and Northgate to stop selling Mexican
shrimp, <a href=" https://secure.nrdconline.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=4288">if either of them has a store near you.</a>


feed_id: 431de6e7d97e2ef251811307a180a4af
title: Urgent: submit a public comment against the Dontcare bill
uri: Urgent-submit-a-public-comment-against-the-Dontcare-bill
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#5_July_2017_%28Urgent%3A_submit_a_public_comment_against_the_Dontcare_bill%29

content:
<p>
Urgent: US citizens: <a href=" https://act.credoaction.com/sign/trumpcare_public_comments?t=1001&akid=23872.1183552.FDyKbu">submit a public comment against the Dontcare bill.</a>


feed_id: 90db0940522b99e5663c17bbdca30e35
title: Counries with more inequality make more pollution
uri: Counries-with-more-inequality-make-more-pollution
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#5_July_2017_%28Counries_with_more_inequality_make_more_pollution%29

content:
<p>
<a href=" https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/jul/04/is-inequality-bad-for-the-environment">Counries with more social and economic inequality make more pollution.<a/>


feed_id: 94be195f8c7edd1952a76f07da2a3dd2
title: Are cows in India safer than women in India?
uri: Are-cows-in-India-safer-than-women-in-India
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#5_July_2017_%28Are_cows_in_India_safer_than_women_in_India__%29

content:
<p>
Indian women ask: <a href=" https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/04/women-india-cow-masks-sexual-violence-sacred-cattle">are cows in India safer than women in India? </a>


feed_id: b934c234fd87e77c7badfba586544fbd
title: Urgent: Congress refuse to reauthorize section 702
uri: Urgent-Congress-refuse-to-reauthorize-section-702
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#5_July_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Congress_refuse_to_reauthorize_section_702%29

content:
<p>
Urgent: <a href=" http://act.freepress.net/sign/internet_surveillance_702_2017?t=1002&akid=6537.9489429.KAYZBl">US citizens: call on Congress to refuse to reauthorize section 702 spying.</a>


feed_id: 7ea8741fbe0d8e3d5757ed2f8621141f
title: Urgent: Block Amazon Whole Foods merger
uri: Urgent-Block-Amazon-Whole-Foods-merger
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#5_July_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Block_Amazon_Whole_Foods_merger%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://secure.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=3045">call
on the FTC</a> to block the merger of Amazon and Whole Foods.


feed_id: 9626372f4d6832933cf0509a888a8496
title: Urgent: Stop sale of Mexican shrimp
uri: Urgent-Stop-sale-of-Mexican-shrimp
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#5_July_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Stop_sale_of_Mexican_shrimp%29

content:
<p>
Everyone: 
<a href=" https://secure.nrdconline.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=4288">call on Trader Joe's and Northgate</a> to stop selling
Mexican shrimp, if either of them has a store near you.


feed_id: dabb1b8d57a44db5fe540ff4772b0f76
title: Urgent: Comment against Dontcare bill
uri: Urgent-Comment-against-Dontcare-bill
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#5_July_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Comment_against_Dontcare_bill%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/trumpcare_public_comments">submit 
a public comment</a> against the Dontcare bill.


feed_id: 03a37ead3af1498f33e98b3da4c0bec7
title: Inequality and pollution
uri: Inequality-and-pollution
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#5_July_2017_%28Inequality_and_pollution%29
content:
<p>
Countries with more social and economic inequality make 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/jul/04/is-inequality-bad-for-the-environment">more
pollution</a>.


feed_id: a0800640ffb4d66b188cf7cafe972b6e
title: Women in India
uri: Women-in-India
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#5_July_2017_%28Women_in_India%29
content:
<p>
Indian women ask: 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/04/women-india-cow-masks-sexual-violence-sacred-cattle">are
cows in India safer than women in India</a>?


feed_id: eedf99e62ef323743b60bf689e6248f1
title: Urgent: No reauthorization of section 702
uri: Urgent-No-reauthorization-of-section-702
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#5_July_2017_%28Urgent%3A_No_reauthorization_of_section_702%29

content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="http://act.freepress.net/sign/internet_surveillance_702_2017">call
on Congress</a> to refuse to reauthorize section 702 spying.


feed_id: a858efad5fb3b6526b3035f2e259fd1e
title: New "surge" in Afghanistan
uri: New-surge-in-Afghanistan
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28New_surge_in_Afghanistan%29
content:
<p>
The troll's
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/29/why-next-afghan-surge-wont-work-either">
new "surge" in Afghanistan can't win
</a>
, for the same reason the
previous one couldn't win 10 years ago.


feed_id: 9b4b114627d2f5625f00a8585cfb87fb
title: Pretending to be a man
uri: Pretending-to-be-a-man
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Pretending_to_be_a_man%29
content:
<p>
Gayle Newland has been convicted of "sexual assault"
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/29/gayle-newland-found-guilty-at-retrial-of-tricking-female-friend-into-sex">
because the woman
who willingly had sex with her had been led to think Newland was male.
</a>
<p>
Is using a dildo instead of a real penis "assult"???  How absurd.
<p>
I can imagine a progression of absurd cases in the future:
<p>
2021: "I had not really consented to sex because he pretended to be
unmarried and that wasn't true.  I found out the truth by looking him
up on the internet.</br>
Put him in prison!"
<p>
2025: "I had not really consented to sex because she pretended to be
blond and that wasn't true.  I found out the truth when I saw her
pubic hair roots.</br>
Put her in prison!"
<p>
2017: "I grabbed her pussy, but it turns out she was a man.
How dare he mislead the President of the United States?</br>
Put him in prison!"


feed_id: 38bf1901e361fb5da1d7949a963b6308
title: Destroying Medicaid
uri: Destroying-Medicaid
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Destroying_Medicaid%29
content:
<p>
Republican senators may think they can
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/29/why-obamacare-repeal-effort-will-not-die-no-matter-what">
get away with destroying Medicaid
</a>
because bigots will support them anyway.
<p>
The bigots may not be a big enough bloc, though.


feed_id: 04d0c0fb45ce3061bb73f8fa2cb3f7b4
title: Arms sale to Taiwan
uri: Arms-sale-to-Taiwan
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Arms_sale_to_Taiwan%29
content:
<p>
The troll proposed
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/29/donald-trump-arms-deal-taiwan-china">
a large arms sale to Taiwan,
</a>
despite expected resentment
from China.
<p>
To reduce the effect of China's intimidating global financial power is
a good thing.  Now who will defy the even more intimidating global
financial power of the Koch brothers?


feed_id: bf47e248d559e62de9a3099d8ef39e1f
title: Eliminating cash in the UK
uri: Eliminating-cash-in-the-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Eliminating_cash_in_the_UK%29
content:
<p>
The Tories considered a plan to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/29/change-we-need-david-cameron-vetoed-plan-to-scrap-1p-piece">
eliminate cash in the UK,
</a>
and track
all payments by everyone.
<p>
Labour supporters, now is time start organizing to defned cash and
privacy when Labour wins an election.  This is not one of Labour's
basic principles, so we can't take it for granted.


feed_id: 171153edc410e70c5ebe1f3b0b4e068f
title: Muslim ban in effect
uri: Muslim-ban-in-effect
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Muslim_ban_in_effect%29
content:
<p>
A reduced version of the troll's
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/29/trump-travel-ban-us-airports-security-concerns-unfounded">
partial ban on Muslims
</a>
is now in
effect.
<p>
Since people actually coming from one of the six singled-out countries
would have applied for a visa anyway, it mainly blocks European
citizens that originated in those countries.


feed_id: e804877e16ae37a533c0a8c6218db3ff
title: Mosul's Great Mosque
uri: Mosul-s-Great-Mosque
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Mosul%27s_Great_Mosque%29
content:
<p>
With a new treaty,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/30/destruction-of-mosuls-great-mosque-holds-a-heritage-lesson-for-australia">
states pledge in war to protect objects and
structures of cultural heritage.
</a>


feed_id: bc2b60e8ded84506a127124445e9fccd
title: Random arrest TV show
uri: Random-arrest-TV-show
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Random_arrest_TV_show%29
content:
<p>
In Russia, thugs arrest people apparently at random, then they are
bullied into signing confessions.
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/30/russia-putin-protests-police-arrests-tv-show">
A TV show presents an audience
engaging in hate orchestrated by a leader,
</a>
like a Trump rally.


feed_id: 49de9c4e6d4ec937c76f4136a19cb024
title: Burma denies entry to UN
uri: Burma-denies-entry-to-UN
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Burma_denies_entry_to_UN%29
content:
<p>
Burma has denied entry to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/30/myanmar-refuses-visas-un-abuse-rohingya-muslims">
a UN mission investigating attacks against
Rohingyas.
</a>
<p>
This reminds me of how Israel has
<a href="https://stallman.org/notes/2008-sep-dec.html#29 December 2008 (Excluding Gaza from witnesses)">
denied entry to UN investigators concerned
with the bombardment of Gaza.
</a>


feed_id: e1511c1704a29ab2ff5aea7e57690ca9
title: Global tipping point in 3 years
uri: Global-tipping-point-in-3-years
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Global_tipping_point_in_3_years%29
content:
<p>
Several climate experts say that
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/29/deadline-2020-just-three-years-say-experts-global-tipping-point">
we must reduce CO2 emissions by 2020
</a>
or it will be too late to keep ultimate global heating down to 1.5C.


feed_id: 5eb466a8950dd496c0e72099c0092f3f
title: Troll's support for torture
uri: Troll-s-support-for-torture
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Troll%27s_support_for_torture%29
content:
<p>
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights warns that
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/28/top-un-human-rights-official-denounces-trumps-pro-torture-rhetoric">
the troll's support
for torture in the US is likely to encourage other countries to do it.
</a>


feed_id: 61c282c958c68abc22cbf4b02e5d35b6
title: War on workers
uri: War-on-workers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28War_on_workers%29
content:
<p>
With Nation's Attention Elsewhere,
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/28/nations-attention-elsewhere-trump-quietly-intensifies-war-workers">
Trump Quietly Intensifies War on Workers.
</a>


feed_id: 1447ea2e57e1b2082724766d3f62f7ff
title: Repression of protests
uri: Repression-of-protests
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Repression_of_protests%29
content:
<p>
Venezuela's top prosecutor charged the former guard chief with human
rights violations, saying that
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/29/venezuela-national-guard-human-rights-violations">
the suppression forces are to blame
for those killed during the protests.
</a>


feed_id: 277ae3da92a862fa2b7d3680d1ec8d5c
title: Protests against Dontcare bill
uri: Protests-against-Dontcare-bill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Protests_against_Dontcare_bill%29
content:
<p>
US citizens
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/07/03/resist-fourth-july-republicans-face-trumpcare-protests-nationwide">protested</a> 
against the <a href="/glossary.html#care">Dontcare</a> bill.
<p>
Republican strategists are even now trying to make minor changes to
get the few additional votes they need.  It won't be any less deadly,
just a little different.


feed_id: 1a96aabae0552980766ebff6812d8503
title: Congress disclosure requirements
uri: Congress-disclosure-requirements
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Congress_disclosure_requirements%29
content:
<p>
Congress 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/06/28/federal-government-fails-meet-key-transparency-requirements">fails
to comply</a> with disclosure requirements about foreign lobbying
agents and congresscritters' government-paid travel.


feed_id: ecfc1e5d22cb8677aa48599b0ae7801a
title: Bribes for Dontcare bill votes
uri: Bribes-for-Dontcare-bill-votes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Bribes_for_Dontcare_bill_votes%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#scrotus">SCROTUS</a> are offering various Republican senators a little 
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/6/27/1675651/-Republicans-have-a-solution-to-finding-the-votes-they-need-for-their-healthcare-bill-massive-bribery">pork-barrel
spending in exchange</a> for voting for the Dontcare bill.


feed_id: a97f732cade495d67fb0c79993b88c00
title: Biometric ID card in Ireland
uri: Biometric-ID-card-in-Ireland
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Biometric_ID_card_in_Ireland%29
content:
<p>
Anyone in Ireland that wants a driver's license will be required to
get the new
<a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/passport-applicants-will-have-to-have-state-s-public-services-card-1.3091037">biometric
ID card</a>.
<p>
In effect, Ireland is 
<a href="http://www.newstalk.com/podcasts/Newstalk_Breakfast/Highlights_from_Newstalk_Breakfast/192886/Is_the_national_ID_card_being_introduced_by_stealth">introducing
a national ID card "by stealth"</a>.
<p>
If Irish people don't organize to defeat this, I predict that in a few
years they will require everyone else to get one.


feed_id: 031bb8a5fda00880336d3367ddfc1350
title: Progressive Democrat may unseat Paul Ryan
uri: Progressive-Democrat-may-unseat-Paul-Ryan
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Progressive_Democrat_may_unseat_Paul_Ryan%29

content:
<p>
A progressive Democrat is running to unseat Paul Ryan, and now that
Republicans have shown their true tentacled face, he 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/28/kenosha-kickoff-ironworker-randy-bryce-hammers-paul-ryans-weakness">might
succeed</a>.


feed_id: f48ccfbdecca10f5fb8dd34a545ab7e6
title: US student loans
uri: 2017-07-06-US-student-loans
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28US_student_loans%29
content:
<p>
US student loans, actually from private banks rather than from the
government, have put many former US students into a 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/28/how-student-loan-industry-trump-and-neoliberals-are-creating-nation-serfs">debt
trap they can never escape on their own</a>.  The nominal size of the
debt keeps growing due to penalties.
<p>
Plutocratist politicians attached the last wall to this trap around 15
years ago when they made it impossible to get out of student loan debt
through bankruptcy.


feed_id: 4225d7ccff5769e679524021d76feb2c
title: "Meritocracy"
uri: Meritocracy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Meritocracy%29
content:
<p>
The idea of "meritocracy" has served as an 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/20/meritocracy-inequality-theresa-may-donald-trump">excuse
for making life harsher for most poor people</a>.  The fact that a few
— those who are exceptionally hardworking, gifted, and lucky
— win a better life provides an excuse for the elite to claim
that the harsh life for the rest is their own fault.
<p>
In most cases, those few are competing for a limited set of slots.
Even if everyone were as hardworking, gifted, and lucky, they couldn't
all get the rewards.
<p>
But even the slots were plenty, we can't demand that everyone to be
gifted and lucky.  We don't live in Lake Wobegon, where all the
children are above average.  We ought to make a decent live available
to everyone, even those who are less capable, or unlucky.


feed_id: 5be899de616ad4ed69afaf91b4aa53b0
title: California harasses people in RVs
uri: California-harasses-people-in-RVs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28California_harasses_people_in_RVs%29
content:
<p>
Palo Alto has made an artificial law to 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/29/low-income-workers-rvs-palo-alto-california-homeless">harass
people who live in recreational vehicles</a>.
<p>
San Francisco completely banned parking RVs on the street, several
years ago.  The wealthy are showing their heartlessness.
<p>
Californians, how about campaigning for a California law establishing
the positive right to park an RV you live in on any public street, and
to leave it there as long as you like, except for daytime no-parking
zones?


feed_id: b8516fb22ce30668554698ef49f03ee3
title: Russian Internet Censorship Agency
uri: Russian-Internet-Censorship-Agency
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_July_2017_%28Russian_Internet_Censorship_Agency%29

content:
<p>
Russian <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/protesters-physically-block-hq-of-russian-web-blocking-watchdog-170701/">protesters blocked the headquarters</a> of the Russian internet
censorship agency Rozcomnadzor with cardboard blocks.


feed_id: e52da3415a3c204b162d8cba7d350ac4
title: Plastic Waste
uri: Plastic-Waste
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_July_2017_%28Plastic_Waste%29
content:
<p>
How to begin <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/30/tackling-the-plastic-bottle-crisis-and-our-wider-disregard-for-nature">reducing the generation of plastic waste</a>?


feed_id: ce7bd5bd13609067d1af8188f19fab8b
title: American Chemical Society
uri: American-Chemical-Society
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_July_2017_%28American_Chemical_Society%29
content:
<p>
The American Chemical Society is <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/new-lawsuit-demands-isp-blockades-against-pirate-site-sci-hub-170629/">suing to demand ISPs block access
to Sci-Hub</a>, which redistributes paywalled papers from organizations
that sabotage science including the ACS.


feed_id: f8d707d8e5d3dcb53fb8ba2e246a73db
title: PISSI
uri: 2017-07-07-PISSI
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_July_2017_%28PISSI%29
content:
<p>
The Egyptian state <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jun/30/funding-isis-he-still-gets-pocket-money-from-me-doubts-over-egypt-crackdown-islamic-state">tries to equate</a> the Muslim Brotherhood with PISSI,
and carelessly and casually accuses people of supporting PISSI.


feed_id: c26091dcd99335809d2a23da5b981ca0
title: Troll warns of attack
uri: Troll-warns-of-attack
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_July_2017_%28Troll_warns_of_attack%29
content:
<p>
The <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/27/wag-dog-offering-no-proof-trump-threatens-new-attacks-against-syria">troll warned</a> that Assad would launch another poison gas attack, but US intelligence sources said they didn't know any reason to think so.
<p>
The troll replied to that saying his outburst convinced Assad to
cancel the attack.  It could be true, or he could be "keeping the
elephants away".


feed_id: c48a700d86c219f4abe10798c8f5d339
title: Three Men Marry
uri: Three-Men-Marry
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_July_2017_%28Three_Men_Marry%29
content:
<p>
Colombia has allowed <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/03/colombia-three-men-union-alejandro-rodriguez-manuel-bermudez-victor-hugo-prada">three men to marry</a>.
<p>
This should not be limited to same-sex marriages.  Any group of adults
should be allowed to marry.
<p>
I hope that one-person marriage will be legalized some day.


feed_id: 50a765d079d105c1eae71db66b1a08e5
title: Marriage
uri: Marriage
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_July_2017_%28Marriage%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jun/28/child-marriage-cost-4tn-by-2030-researchers-warn-world-bank-icrw">Raising the minimum age for marriage</a> would avoid a lot of money
and slow population growth.
<p>
However, calling people of age 17 "children" is a very bad idea.
It leads to treating them as generally incapable of responsibility,
and encourages repressive sexual policies towards adolescents.


feed_id: 8822c588ec03f201eeffc50a61a1819b
title: Unemployment
uri: 2017-07-07-Unemployment
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_July_2017_%28Unemployment%29
content:
<p>
One solution to the problem of unemployment is for the state to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/03/stop-exploiting-people-cut-unemployment-job-guarantee-underwritten">hire
everyone at minimum wage</a>.  Everyone else that wants a job done will
have to pay more than that, and will not dare to steal workers' wages.
<p>
I am not sure how to deal with unauthorized immigrants, though.  If
the program hires them, people from around the world will try to pour
into the country, overloading it.  But if the program doesn't hire
them, they will be easy for employers to exploit, which will undermine
the intended effect.


feed_id: c1915ad0c56b6f451b9b9fc2532c5204
title: Climate
uri: 2017-07-07-Climate
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_July_2017_%28Climate%29
content:
<p>
Correcting for some biases in satellite temperature measurements made
them fit <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/jul/03/bad-news-for-climate-contrarians-the-best-data-we-have-just-got-hotter">climate models</a> consistently with other kinds of temperature
measurements.


feed_id: bc6bbfb3794fa5eda337ec53833bcb5f
title: Lancashire Fracking
uri: Lancashire-Fracking
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_July_2017_%28Lancashire_Fracking%29
content:
<p>
Britons have not given up on <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/03/local-councillors-and-protesters-blockade-lancashire-fracking-site">resisting the experimental fracking site</a>.
13 protesters have locked themselves up to block access.


feed_id: 10c92bea7dafbada80a66a7dbf12f12f
title: Troll Administration
uri: Troll-Administration
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_July_2017_%28Troll_Administration%29
content:
<p>
The troll doesn't really have an administration.  <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/03/donald-trump-administration-regime">He doesn't care enough
to set one up</a>.
<p>
I think the article is mistaken about why we call some governments a
"regime".  It's not because they don't bother to govern.  (Most of
them do govern, though perhaps in a cruel way.)  It's because they are
autocratic and trample people's rights.
<p>
I gather that part of the reason so many positions remain unfilled is
that lots of people don't want to work for the troll.  Only people
eager to achieve some private goal (typically, sabotage on behalf of
business) would work for him.


feed_id: 5a8611a24b3f96f1b4c07fcfb97c625a
title: Millions in UK destitute
uri: Millions-in-UK-destitute
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_July_2017_%28Millions_in_UK_destitute%29
content:
<p>
Tory policies have made <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jul/03/desititution-ignore-welfare-cuts">millions of people in the UK destitute</a> for at
least part of 2015.  That means they lacked the basic necessities of
life.
<p>
When statistics for 2016 arrive, I expect they will show an even
larger number.
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/07/01/not-one-day-more-massive-london-rally-says-no-austerity-privatization">Tens of thousands protested in London</a> against Tory policies that drive people
into poverty.
<p>
Bravo, but people being pushed into destitution have no obligation to
limit themselves to peaceful protests.  Such conditions justify
rebellion.  Why let your rich masters crush you without fighting back?
<p>
People who can't legally get food, in a land with enough food for all,
are entitled to take food


feed_id: 9c1bc92e7addda93320f763b9a975177
title: Facebook lawsuit dismissed
uri: Facebook-lawsuit-dismissed
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_July_2017_%28Facebook_lawsuit_dismissed%29
content:
<p>
A lawsuit demanding Facebook stop tracking people's browsing through
Like buttons <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jul/03/facebook-track-browsing-history-california-lawsuit">was dismissed</a>.
<p>
Perhaps current law doesn't prohibit Facebook (and others) from
tracking people's browsing.  If so, we should change that law.
<p>
To base privacy law on whether there is an "expectation of privacy"
means it is totally ineffective for resisting the transformation of
society into a panopticon.


feed_id: ef254ba94d00f6826509a85b0ae6933b
title: Methane Leaks
uri: 2017-07-07-Methane-Leaks
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_July_2017_%28Methane_Leaks%29
content:
<p>
A court blocked the EPA's plan to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/03/epa-methane-rule-trump-scott-pruitt">delay the regulation of methane leaks</a>.


feed_id: 0d33213e969b3b289a37c66c1eb93934
title: Nuclear Weapons Readiness
uri: Nuclear-Weapons-Readiness
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_July_2017_%28Nuclear_Weapons_Readiness%29
content:
<p>
The Pentagon has been unable to fix the readiness problems of the soldiers
that operate nuclear missiles, so it is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/03/us-nuclear-weapons-base-inspections-off-limits">covering up the reports of their
state of readiness</a>.


feed_id: 10c865b439be8865e3a6342f2d5b912b
title: London Fire
uri: London-Fire
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_July_2017_%28London_Fire%29
content:
<p>
Survivors of the London fire in their housing project <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jul/03/grenfell-survivors-issue-12-demands-to-pm-to-overhaul-response-to-tragedy">demand an
honest, rapid and full inquiry</a>, going beyond the direct physical
causes.


feed_id: e9a8be3c524686bc7113d040150db8f4
title: Justice Department Ethics
uri: Justice-Department-Ethics
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_July_2017_%28Justice_Department_Ethics%29
content:
<p>
An official in the Justice Department, whose job was to make companies
follow ethics rules, has resigned saying that the spirit of <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/07/03/top-ethics-official-resigns-says-working-trump-requires-abandonment-conscience">dishonesty
and corruption</a> emanating from the troll has made her job impossible.


feed_id: fc8ac3247f21d6967b719c92079a79d5
title: Shkreli on trial
uri: Shkreli-on-trial
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_July_2017_%28Shkreli_on_trial%29
content:
<p>
Shkreli wooed investors saying he would hold sick people hostage by
raising the price of their unusual medicines.  He did that, but he
didn't give the investors much of the profits.  <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/7/1/1676784/-Cheating-people-who-desperately-needed-drugs-is-exactly-what-investors-liked-about-Shkreli?detail=emaildkre">Now he is on trial for
cheating them</a>.
<p>
Too bad that ruining non-rich people by gouging for medicines they need
is not a crime.


feed_id: 23c64e5c759324ad58323702c3956dbe
title: Military Equipment
uri: 2017-07-07-Military-Equipment
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_July_2017_%28Military_Equipment%29
content:
<p>
The more military equipment a town's thugs have received, the more
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/06/30/does-military-equipment-lead-police-officers-to-be-more-violent-we-did-the-research/">they kill civilians and pets</a>.


feed_id: 40d732a17e6b01675d03c04b56226623
title: Uncivil Speech
uri: Uncivil-Speech
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_July_2017_%28Uncivil_Speech%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/04/biggest-threat-american-democracy-trump-uncivil-speech"><cite>"A democracy can tolerate some uncivil speech.  But it cannot withstand
the contempt directed against institutions that keep government honest."</cite></a>


feed_id: f4ff726277455ed04c902b08cb608bf6
title: Global heating denialism
uri: 2017-07-07-Global-heating-denialism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Global_heating_denialism%29
content:
<p>
EPA <a href="/glossary.html#saboteur">Saboteur</a> Pruitt 
<a href="https://thinkprogress.org/scott-pruitt-climate-science-performance-54c018bb09b5">wants
to hold a debate within the EPA</a> about whether global heating
danger really exists.
<p>
The unstated purpose of such debates is to 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2014-mar-jun.html#31_May_2014_(Urgent:_Stop_presenting_debates_on_global_heating)">present
an image that denialism is just as legitimate as the scientific
consensus</a>.


feed_id: d0c266e47c9d5ce20a5a94c1427d25f0
title: Racism in campaigns against racism
uri: Racism-in-campaigns-against-racism
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Racism_in_campaigns_against_racism%29

content:
<p>
Campaigns against racism have adopted the racist philosophy that
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/01/kenan-malik-sikh-adoption-mander-race-culture-society-ethnicity">identifies
specific cultural practices with biological descent groups</a>.


feed_id: d3ed0a04ae5dbb8e7a257fc8107d63fe
title: Afghan girls' robotics team barred from US
uri: Afghan-girls-robotics-team-barred-from-US
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Afghan_girls_robotics_team_barred_from_US%29

content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a>'s partial ban on Muslims has 
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/6/30/1676753/-Saving-America-from-smart-schoolgirls-Afghan-teenagers-denied-visa-for-robotics-competition">kept
the Afghan girls' robotics team from visiting the US</a>.
<p>
The US is a bad choice of country for international meetings if it is
feasible to hold them in places that are less exclusionist.


feed_id: d52f976755e7b1bb620d852a2f96179b
title: Anonymous sources that lie
uri: Anonymous-sources-that-lie
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Anonymous_sources_that_lie%29
content:
<p>
Arguing that reporters 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/07/01/should-media-expose-sources-who-lied-them">ought
to publicly identify anonymous sources that lie</a>.


feed_id: 95791d65dc8f9e03e4f4c99bdbe98dac
title: Judge rules democracy in the US "broken"
uri: Judge-rules-democracy-in-the-US-broken
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Judge_rules_democracy_in_the_US_broken%29

content:
<p>
A US appeals judge ruled that democracy in the US is "broken" since
they are
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/06/30/american-judge-says-democracy-broken-court-declines-oversee-drone-killing">not
allowed to adjudicate alleged war crimes</a>.


feed_id: 9bd00874dcab5dcecc78e62006e32388
title: Privatization of utilities in the UK
uri: Privatization-of-utilities-in-the-UK
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Privatization_of_utilities_in_the_UK%29

content:
<p>
Privatization of utilities in the UK allowed businesses to invest very
little, raise the prices, and 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/blog/2017/jul/01/forget-austerity-government-cuts-profiteering-private-companies">extract
lots of money from people who can't afford to pay it</a>.
<p>
If you think some utilities could use investment, arrange a vote on a
bond issue to pay for it.  That will invite the public to make the
investment, or not, as the public prefers.  But never privatize
a natural monopoly!


feed_id: 88aa53e1b3eef38a9b9b30564c0fb877
title: Ten commandments destroyed
uri: Ten-commandments-destroyed
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Ten_commandments_destroyed%29
content:
<p>
Arkansas put up an unconstitutional religious monument next to the state
capitol.  A man
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/29/man-destroys-arkansas-ten-commandments-monument-hours-after-installation">
drove a vehicle into the monument,
</a>
destroying it.
<p>
The ACLU condemned the attack and said there is only one right way to
remove the monument -- by going to court, which it has already done.


feed_id: 94bcfbf6eb4f075b944426506eb69f4b
title: Big pharma fundraising
uri: Big-pharma-fundraising
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Big_pharma_fundraising%29
content:
<p>
Plutocratic Democrat Cory Booker is being paid by the pharma business
for his vote
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/06/30/cory-booker-will-pause-fundraising-from-big-pharma-because-it-arouses-so-much-criticism/">
not to allow Americans to import drugs from Canada.
</a>


feed_id: 9ab5d3429faf38f44870d3d920876139
title: Circumventing digital restrictions
uri: Circumventing-digital-restrictions
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Circumventing_digital_restrictions%29

content:
<p>
Copyright Office Proposes
<a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/06/copyright-office-proposes-modest-fixes-dmca-1201-leaves-fundamental-flaws">
Modest Fixes to DMCA 1201,
</a>
Leaves Fundamental 
Flaws Untouched.


feed_id: a8a5fc10b521fb810e673756eedae580
title: Gangs in Central America
uri: Gangs-in-Central-America
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Gangs_in_Central_America%29
content:
<p>
More about the development of
<a href="http://www.themarknews.com/2016/10/13/the-deadly-northern-triangle/">
the gangs that have forced hundreds of thousands
to flee some Central American countries
</a>
, ordering them to run away or die.


feed_id: 54eeffbfed3d6b2e7f43332ff672fe43
title: Monitoring sex offenders
uri: Monitoring-sex-offenders
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Monitoring_sex_offenders%29
content:
<p>
The UK thugs will
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/29/police-relax-monitoring-of-sex-offenders-to-focus-on-high-risk-criminals">
stop monitoring some registered sex offenders
</a>
who are very unlikely to commit a sexual crime in the future.
<p>
If only 0.13% of the people in the list ever commit a sexual crime, you
could conclude that the list is very effective.  Or you could conclude
that most of the people on the list were put on it through hypercaution
and it is mostly useless.
<p>
We know that in the US people have been
<a href="https://stallman.org/notes/2016-jul-oct.html#16_October_2016_(Sex_offender)">
put on the sex offenders list
for bad reasons.
</a>


feed_id: 3965507ea08a11c115d20d78b90619fc
title: Grenfell Tower cladding
uri: Grenfell-Tower-cladding
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Grenfell_Tower_cladding%29
content:
<p>
Residents of the Grenfell Tower housing project approved a more
fire-resistant metal cladding, then the local government
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/30/grenfell-cladding-was-changed-to-cheaper-version-reports-say">
quietly
substituted another that was more flammable
</a>
in order to cut costs.
<p>
The local government behavior was culpable, and so was the pressure to
cut costs, which came from the Tories in Parliament.


feed_id: 67dbbc2b6bb6738e0167a03ae3961caf
title: China scraps Hong Kong deal
uri: China-scraps-Hong-Kong-deal
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28China_scraps_Hong_Kong_deal%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/01/china-humiliating-uk-hong-kong-handover-deal">
China has unilaterally cancelled its agreement with Britain about
the status of Hong Kong.
</a>
  Like a somewhat more urbane version of the troll, China calculates
that Britain will eat humble pie because it is desperate for Chinese
business.
<p>
If You Think the EU Should Stand Up to Trump,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/01/g20-eu-trump-liu-xiabao-china-president-xi-donald-trump">
Then It Must Stand Up to China.
</a>


feed_id: a7cfe58bc0e18c44f45ccad1fb238026
title: Voters' personal data
uri: Voters-personal-data
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Voters%27_personal_data%29
content:
<p>
24 states resist the troll's
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/30/donald-trump-commission-election-integrity-kris-kobach">
demand for everyone's voting histories.
</a>
<p>
However, in any states that yield to this demand, Republicans will
use the data for their benefit, as well as to formulate methods
of voter suppression.


feed_id: 9374aa59f0dbc88e9f0c65e530e3ec81
title: Yazidi patriarchy
uri: Yazidi-patriarchy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Yazidi_patriarchy%29
content:
<p>
The Yazidi religion has reduced its patriarchical attitude towards women
enough to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jul/01/i-was-sold-seven-times-yazidi-women-welcomed-back-into-the-faith">
stop exiling women who have been raped.
</a>


feed_id: 6c24dde2d1e2822368ffe457f640543d
title: Venezuelans' human rights
uri: Venezuelans-human-rights
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Venezuelans%27_human_rights%29
content:
<p>
Venezuela's chief prosecutor
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/30/venezuela-chief-prosecutor-luisa-ortega-diaz-protection-maduro">
now faces personal reprisals
</a>
for accusing
the state's suppression forces of human rights violations.
<p>
Rather more harsh than what the troll did to Comey.


feed_id: ccd9f9b48949f856555b54ef1d4f6dd1
title: Public education
uri: Public-education
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Public_education%29
content:
<p>
If Democrats want to win, they must join the American public in
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/29/trump-vulnerable-education-do-democrats-care">
supporting
public education.
</a>
  Democrats that Worship the cult of the invisible hand won't have much advantage over Republicans that do likewise.


feed_id: a953068d100bee078dd1b0f845fb9f2c
title: Dog killer thugs
uri: Dog-killer-thugs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Dog_killer_thugs_%29
content:
<p>
Detroit thugs make a habit of
<a href="http://reason.com/blog/2017/06/29/detroit-police-sued-again-for-shooting-d">
gratuitously killing people's dogs.
</a>
<p>
A lawsuit says they do this intentionally to punish people for insisting
on their fourth amendment rights.


feed_id: 9cbfb743a972bf2c70f116898f281dca
title: Asked by EPA to change testimony
uri: Asked-by-EPA-to-change-testimony
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Asked_by_EPA_to_change_testimony%29
content:
<p>
The EPA asked its scientist, Dr Swackhamer, to
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/6/28/1676304/-Scientist-asked-by-EPA-to-change-her-testimony-to-Congress?detail=emaildkre">
change the testimony she
was going to give to Congress.
</a>
She refused.


feed_id: 4aa17508a92961fc77dd72ca7f6b11cf
title: AT&T pay-for-privacy scheme
uri: AT-T-pay-for-privacy-scheme
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28AT%26T_pay-for-privacy_scheme%29
content:
<p>
AT&T will
resume charging its customers extra not to
<a href="https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/2017/06/att-gigapower-plans-charge-extra-per-month-want-privacy-no-ads/">
track their browsing
and insert its own ads into what they get.
</a>
<p>
A simple VPN will defeat this malicious feature.


feed_id: b89f81fc4a9eaf6433cd7699d5f61ee1
title: Smartphones reduce cognitive capacity
uri: Smartphones-reduce-cognitive-capacity
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Smartphones_reduce_cognitive_capacity%29

content:
<p>
Having a "smart" phone nearby, even if it is (supposedly) switched
off,
<a href="http://www.futurity.org/phones-cognitive-capacity-1470932/">
reduces people's cognitive capacity.
</a>
  The phone's deleterious effect is least when the phone is in another
room.


feed_id: a617263d779ba2e563d0c98fba48e7d1
title: Disappearing jobs
uri: Disappearing-jobs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Disappearing_jobs%29
content:
<p>
When many jobs in an area are lost,
<a href="http://www.futurity.org/job-loss-college-attendance-1461382/">
students there find it harder
to go to college,
</a>
for both economic and emotional reasons.


feed_id: 0afb191e5b9e373a0c13ce2722e1cabc
title: No new tar sands
uri: No-new-tar-sands
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28No_new_tar_sands%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/30/reality-check-end-growth-tar-sands-so-now-what">
New projects to mine Alberta's tar sands have ceased
</a>
and there will
probably be no more.  The question is whether to let the existing
projects pump every last drop of CO2 into our atmosphere.


feed_id: 5467dd7508cb8bd921a8aef7d93fb397
title: Blank check for endless war
uri: Blank-check-for-endless-war
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Blank_check_for_endless_war%29
content:
<p>
There is bipartisan support in Congress for
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/30/after-16-years-house-panel-takes-step-cancel-blank-check-endless-war">
repealing the vague 2001
authorization for use of military force.
</a>


feed_id: d6ed5605d8cb217a5919116ef06e4bb0
title: Centrist media drifting right
uri: Centrist-media-drifting-right
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Centrist_media_drifting_right%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/30/democratic-voters-shift-left-liberal-media-keep-shifting-right">
The New York Times and MSNBC are bringing in right-wing commentators
to join their center-right supporters of Clinton and co.
</a>
They have a
few progressive commentators, but no one that explicitly supports
Sanders.
<p>
The idea of the "Liberal media" is a right-wing fabrication.  They
call centrist politicians and media "Liberal" to make some
not-so-extreme right-wing views appear to be "the center".
Politicians like Sanders, that most Americans agree with, they call
"extreme".


feed_id: 1a603c049081fe7393e7ff5775cdb755
title: Urgent: Protect voters' personal data
uri: Urgent-Protect-voters-personal-data
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Protect_voters_personal_data%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/Kobach_Data">call on your
state</a> to refuse to give voters' personal data to the troll's voter
suppression commission.


feed_id: 9c68d566db641593db190aa3af2fd613
title: Urgent: Disarm Hate Act
uri: Urgent-Disarm-Hate-Act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Disarm_Hate_Act%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/Disarm_Hate">call on
Congress</a> to pass the Disarm Hate Act.


feed_id: caca258731e6b04043d67c9654251756
title: Troll escalating wars
uri: Troll-escalating-wars
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Troll_escalating_wars%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> is 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/27/trumps-chaos-covering-stealth-escalation-overseas">escalating
several wars at once</a>, apparently with no strategy (except to
increase the income of arms companies).


feed_id: e880675d18520458a6e0901df8d3be00
title: America's survival
uri: America-s-survival
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Americas_survival%29
content:
<p>
Onward Toward Socialism: America's Demise, and 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/27/signs-americas-demise-and-one-way-survive">One
Way to Survive</a>.


feed_id: 7e123e4e9ea5f8b7d715c78e3f943485
title: "Human rights dialogue" in China
uri: Human-rights-dialogue-in-China
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Human_rights_dialogue_in_China%29
content:
<p>
A UK representative went to China for a "human rights dialogue" at
which apparently he
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/29/british-minister-accused-of-appeasing-china-during-human-rights-talks">talked
only about the weather</a>.


feed_id: 9e03b054506938e4a517ec6fe5dde402
title: Pollution-promoting bills pass
uri: Pollution-promoting-bills-pass
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Pollution-promoting_bills_pass%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#scrotus">SCROTUS</a> passed two pollution-promoting bills 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/06/28/house-energy-commerce-committee-approves-shameful-polluter-protection-bills">through
a House committee</a>.


feed_id: 33ace97ecc9f437204157ffc26f3f82c
title: New "surge" in Afghanistan
uri: 2017-07-07-New-surge-in-Afghanistan
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28New_surge_in_Afghanistan%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a>'s
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/29/why-next-afghan-surge-wont-work-either">new
"surge" in Afghanistan can't win</a>, for the same reason the previous
one couldn't win 10 years ago.


feed_id: 842e72c85ae496dfa55e20d556645793
title: Convicted of "sexual assault"
uri: Convicted-of-sexual-assault
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Convicted_of_sexual_assault%29
content:
<p>
Gayle Newland has been convicted of "sexual assault"
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/29/gayle-newland-found-guilty-at-retrial-of-tricking-female-friend-into-sex">because
the woman who willingly had sex with her had been led to think Newland
was male.
</a>
<p>
Is using a dildo instead of a real penis "assult"???  How absurd.
<p>
I can imagine a progression of absurd cases in the future:
<p>
2021: "I had not really consented to sex because he pretended to be
unmarried and that wasn't true.  I found out the truth by looking him
up on the internet.</br>
Put him in prison!"
<p>
2025: "I had not really consented to sex because she pretended to be
blond and that wasn't true.  I found out the truth when I saw her
pubic hair roots.</br>
Put her in prison!"
<p>
2017: "I grabbed her pussy, but it turns out she was a man.
How dare he mislead the President of the United States?</br>
Put him in prison!"


feed_id: 736d73406903bce9461bd3b323458472
title: Destroying Medicaid
uri: 2017-07-07-Destroying-Medicaid
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Destroying_Medicaid%29
content:
<p>
Republican senators may think they can
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/29/why-obamacare-repeal-effort-will-not-die-no-matter-what">get
away with destroying Medicaid</a> because bigots will support them
anyway.
<p>
The bigots may not be a big enough bloc, though.


feed_id: 448c24b34ad28e9ef6250235ec2a885c
title: Arms sale to Taiwan
uri: 2017-07-07-Arms-sale-to-Taiwan
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Arms_sale_to_Taiwan%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> proposed
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/29/donald-trump-arms-deal-taiwan-china">a
large arms sale to Taiwan</a>, despite expected resentment from China.
<p>
To reduce the effect of China's intimidating global financial power is
a good thing.  Now who will defy the even more intimidating global
financial power of the Koch brothers?


feed_id: 8863737d432eff04723204c372fff024
title: Eliminating cash in the UK
uri: 2017-07-07-Eliminating-cash-in-the-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Eliminating_cash_in_the_UK%29
content:
<p>
The Tories considered a 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/29/change-we-need-david-cameron-vetoed-plan-to-scrap-1p-piece">plan
to eliminate cash in the UK</a>, and track all payments by everyone.
<p>
Labour supporters, now is time start organizing to defned cash and
privacy when Labour wins an election.  This is not one of Labour's
basic principles, so we can't take it for granted.


feed_id: c6467135a0af5b8d147dd503ea1cf920
title: Very urgent: Oppose new copyright restriction
uri: Very-urgent-Oppose-new-copyright-restriction
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_July_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Oppose_new_copyright_restriction%29

content:
<p>
EU citizens:
<a href="https://edri.org/no-you-cant-enjoy-the-music-you-paid-for-says-eu-parliament/">call
your MEPs</a> to oppose a ridiculous new copyright restriction.
<p>
Copyright law is too restrictive already.  People must be free to
share <em>any</em> published work.  ("Sharing" means noncommercial
redistribution of exact copies.)
<p>
To
<a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/copyright-vs-community.html">ensure
that this right is not denied</a>, commercially publishing or
importing works with DRM should be a crime, and EULAs that ban sharing
should be declared void.


feed_id: 19db31119df93d12592dc3843dbb2dda
title: Urgent: Oppose Senate Bill 1460
uri: Urgent-Oppose-Senate-Bill-1460
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_July_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Oppose_Senate_Bill_1460%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: phone your senators at 866-583-2908
to oppose Senate Bill 1460.  That bill would reduce the
regulations on fracking and new fossil fuel pipelines.
<p>
If I understand the announcement right, when you call once you will be
connected to one senator's office; when you call again, you will be
connected to your other senator's office.


feed_id: 0cbec9e7afcab91dfd17d91589a2c29a
title: Urgent: Resist no-recordings "press briefings"
uri: Urgent-Resist-no-recordings-press-briefings
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_July_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Resist_no-recordings_press_briefings%29

content:
<p>
Everyone:
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/trump_media_bullying">urge
White House reporters</a> to resist no-recordings "press briefings."


feed_id: cb36bc1597cd7698d3cc324f3af65ca0
title: PISSI
uri: 2017-07-07-PISSI
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_July_2017_%28PISSI%29
content:
<p>
The Egyptian state <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jun/30/funding-isis-he-still-gets-pocket-money-from-me-doubts-over-egypt-crackdown-islamic-state">tries to equate</a> the Muslim Brotherhood with PISSI,
and carelessly and casually accuses people of supporting <a href="/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a>.


feed_id: e9ae45fde6c525ed4d2508ea4e38eb0a
title: Troll warns of attack
uri: 2017-07-07-Troll-warns-of-attack
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_July_2017_%28Troll_warns_of_attack%29
content:
<p>
The <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/27/wag-dog-offering-no-proof-trump-threatens-new-attacks-against-syria">troll warned</a> that Assad would launch another poison gas attack, but US intelligence sources said they didn't know any reason to think so.
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> replied to that saying his outburst convinced Assad to
cancel the attack.  It could be true, or he could be "keeping the
elephants away".


feed_id: 189b085a81797b58611cf0530364013b
title: Convicted of "sexual assault"
uri: 2017-07-07-Convicted-of-sexual-assault
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_%28Convicted_of_sexual_assault%29
content:
<p>
Gayle Newland has been convicted of "sexual assault"
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/29/gayle-newland-found-guilty-at-retrial-of-tricking-female-friend-into-sex">because
the woman who willingly had sex with her had been led to think Newland
was male.
</a>
<p>
Is using a dildo instead of a real penis "assault"???  How absurd.
<p>
I can imagine a progression of absurd cases in the future:
<p>
2021: "I had not really consented to sex because he pretended to be
unmarried and that wasn't true.  I found out the truth by looking him
up on the internet.</br>
Put him in prison!"
<p>
2025: "I had not really consented to sex because she pretended to be
blond and that wasn't true.  I found out the truth when I saw her
pubic hair roots.</br>
Put her in prison!"
<p>
2017: "I grabbed her pussy, but it turns out she was a man.
How dare he mislead the President of the United States?</br>
Put him in prison!"


feed_id: 7c0f90855b274adaa3f661b501768642
title: Overprotective Parents
uri: Overprotective-Parents
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_July_2017_%28Overprotective_Parents%29
content:
<p>
Overprotective parents don't stop with children, or even adolescents.
Now they are demanding their offspring as <a href="http://www.freerangekids.com/3-rules-i-made-my-daughter-swear-to-obey-at-college-do-any-of-them-make-sense/">college students</a> shrink from
the world of college.
<p>
"Don't spend time with people that drink to excess" is the main rule I
would ask my children to follow.


feed_id: 5c83e97ecfaa1192cf1f4a9dfc4b33a0
title: Turkish Teachers
uri: Turkish-Teachers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_July_2017_%28Turkish_Teachers%29
content:
<p>
Turkish teachers, imprisoned for planning to talk to the press, are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/05/hunger-strikers-time-running-out-lawyers-tell-turkish-government-nuriye-gulmen-semih-ozakca">on
the verge of irreversible harm</a> from 118 days of hunger strike.


feed_id: 08e4345df213691869b7c597b656800c
title: Global Heating Denial
uri: Global-Heating-Denial
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_July_2017_%28Global_Heating_Denial%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/jul/05/why-the-republican-partys-climate-policy-obstruction-is-indefensible">Global heating denial</a> is unscientific, bad risk management, bad for
the economy, and immoral.


feed_id: 2e3a8172cf28650a6d808065eeef110c
title: Polish Trump Supporters
uri: Polish-Trump-Supporters
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_July_2017_%28Polish_Trump_Supporters%29
content:
<p>
The Polish government is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/05/poland-trump-supporters-picnic-us-president">bussing its supporters</a> to Warsaw from all
around Poland to give the troll a phony welcome.


feed_id: 66a1e7b093434a46344797ce093ea05f
title: Polluted Cruise Ship Air
uri: Polluted-Cruise-Ship-Air
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_July_2017_%28Polluted_Cruise_Ship_Air%29
content:
<p>
The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2017/jul/03/air-on-board-cruise-ships-is-twice-as-bad-as-at-piccadilly-circus">air on the deck of a cruise ship can be much more polluted</a>
than on a heavily trafficked urban street.
<p>
The passengers only get this for a few days, but crew may be exposed
for months.


feed_id: 57e89ff0f7fd52063af64a10294e0be0
title: Facebook in Germany
uri: Facebook-in-Germany
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_July_2017_%28Facebook_in_Germany%29
content:
<p>
Germany is <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-03/facebook-s-small-print-might-be-antitrust-s-next-big-target">investigating whether Facebook is pressuring people</a> into
making privacy concessions they do not understand,
<p>
That's what lots of web sites do, and it would be good to stop them
all.
<p>
Increased restrictions on how Facebook uses the data it collects about
people would perhaps reduce Facebook's power to manipulate people, but
a real solution requires that neither Facebook nor any other entity
get <a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html">so much data about people</a>.


feed_id: 25979505848a1a77d8b2bdc1deb322b9
title: ALEC's Covert War on Democracy
uri: ALEC-s-Covert-War-on-Democracy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_July_2017_%28ALEC%27s_Covert_War_on_Democracy%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/07/03/alec-s-covert-war-democracy"><cite>ALEC's Covert War on Democracy</cite></a>.  It includes stopping poor
people from voting.


feed_id: 52487cb42556b5cb7f91fa4699e928eb
title: Quitting smoking
uri: Quitting-smoking
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_July_2017_%28Quitting_smoking%29
content:
<p>
Quitting smoking may become more difficult in the US <a href="http://reason.com/blog/2017/07/03/fdas-vaping-regulations-will-hurt-smoker">if the FDA
bans most or all e-cigarettes</a>.
<p>
I don't think this proves they should not be regulated at all.  They
should be regulated rationally.


feed_id: 9d192fcf97e48497e62fc280da5b7ddb
title: Republican cruelty
uri: Republican-cruelty
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_July_2017_%28Republican_cruelty%29
content:
<p>
The core philosophy of Republicans is to <a href="https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/06/30/opinion/understanding-republican-cruelty.html">blame the poor for their poverty,
and the ill for their illness</a>.
<p>
They believe that the god they worship wants those people to suffer,
so they do their best to impose more suffering.


feed_id: bd0b147fb3ad40a775fe3fba1fbde12c
title: US Independence Day
uri: US-Independence-Day
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_July_2017_%28US_Independence_Day%29
content:
<p>
Howard Zinn on US independence day: <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/07/04/howard-zinns-july-4-wisdom-stands-test-time">US wars to conquer and colonize other
peoples</a> are no more legitimate than any other country's conquests.


feed_id: ce9d426e544257b21304f481d36161fb
title: Work in the UK
uri: Work-in-the-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_July_2017_%28Work_in_the_UK%29
content:
<p>
Precarious work on unpredictable schedules is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jul/05/zero-hours-contracts-affect-young-peoples-health-study-finds">associated in the UK
with worse health</a>.


feed_id: dd9577f871ed4621b44e9dd141e256e8
title: Doctors begging for funds
uri: Doctors-begging-for-funds
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_July_2017_%28Doctors_begging_for_funds%29
content:
<p>
The Tories have been starving the National Health Service for years.
Doctors are reduced for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jul/05/doctors-forced-to-plead-with-nhs-for-treatments-for-patients-bmj-finds">begging for funds</a> to treat particular
patients.


feed_id: 51f57692f9337a81fdfe7fa22b5372d4
title: Fossil Fuels
uri: Fossil-Fuels
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_July_2017_%28Fossil_Fuels%29
content:
<p>
The richest 20 countries gave <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/05/g20-public-finance-for-fossil-fuels-is-four-times-more-than-renewables">4 times as much money to fossil
fuels</a> as to renewable energy, in 2013-2015.
<p>
One hopes they are shifting this ratio, but we can't take their word for it.


feed_id: 5097add625c88a2029ad1f5263ae73f7
title: Liu Xiaobo
uri: 2017-07-08-Liu-Xiaobo
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_July_2017_%28Liu_Xiaobo%29
content:
<p>
China, bowing partly to pressure, has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/05/liu-xiaobo-china-invites-foreign-doctors-to-treat-critically-ill-dissident">invited foreign doctors</a> to visit to treat Liu Xiaobo's cancer.
<p>
This is literally "too little, too late".


feed_id: 2f2acd91548f102f060b5af15abefd93
title: Prejudice against Dalits
uri: Prejudice-against-Dalits
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_July_2017_%28Prejudice_against_Dalits%29
content:
<p>
Prejudice against Dalits pervades life in Indian villages, and the few
who overcome the barriers to get a place in a university find that it
has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/jul/02/a-violence-no-autopsy-can-reveal-the-deadly-cost-of-indias-campus-prejudice">followed them there</a>.


feed_id: bd96f8b6fe10c45eea99da3a83ac9982
title: Housing Project Fire
uri: Housing-Project-Fire
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_July_2017_%28Housing_Project_Fire%29
content:
<p>
Since the Tories continue working to eliminate (or ignore) the
regulations that protect people from businesses, they have designed
the inquiry into the housing project fire so it <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/05/grenfell-fire-public-inquiry-stitch-up-red-tape-regulation-policy-exchange">won't pay attention
to this fundamental cause</a> of the fire.


feed_id: 7df6dd631f55752c5424e05ea9ece9c2
title: North Korean forced laborers
uri: North-Korean-forced-laborers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_July_2017_%28North_Korean_forced_laborers%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/05/north-koreas-global-money-makers-us-scolds-countries-hosting-guest-workers">Tillerson called on countries</a> that employ North Korean forced laborers
to stop doing so.
<p>
I agree.  Forced labor is slavery.  In addition, when people are compelled
to work very cheap, whether they are North Koreans sent abroad or <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_June_2017_(Unpaid_labor_by_prisoners)">Americans
in prison</a>, that drives down wages for everyone else.


feed_id: 7a025778b7ee1721657123ce88095c37
title: Omar Khadr
uri: Omar-Khadr
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_July_2017_%28Omar_Khadr%29
content:
<p>
The US imprisoned Canadian Omar Khadr in Guantanamo at age 15 and
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/04/canada-to-apologise-and-pay-10m-to-man-convicted-of-killing-us-soldier-in-afghanistan">pressured him into confessing</a> to killing a US soldier.
<p>
Such methods reliably produce false confessions.  There is no reason to think
Khadr really did anything like that.
<p>
But even if he did kill a US soldier, killing enemy soldiers in a war
is not a murder, not even a war crime.
<p>
Canada will pay him compensation for having been imprisoned in Guantanamo
and then in other prisons, after having been made a soldier as an adolescent.
<p>
The grounds for giving Omar Khadr that money is as compensation for
the 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/05/omar-khadr-canada-guantanamo-bay-settlement">US
torture that Canadian officials participated in</a>.
<p>
The idea that dead soldiers' families can sue the enemy soldiers that
killed them seems rather absurd to me.


feed_id: c57aa5e73a779e2b59e0e007ade817d2
title: Troll's Sabotage of Environmental Rules
uri: Troll-s-Sabotage-of-Environmental-Rules
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_July_2017_%28Troll%27s_Sabotage_of_Environmental_Rules%29

content:
<p>
The troll's sabotage of environmental rules is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/04/trump-emvironmental-rollback-epa-scrap-regulations">certain to kill thousands
of Americans</a>.
<p>
Its consequences some decades in the future <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_July_2017_(Global_tipping_point_in_3_years)">could easily kill billions</a>.


feed_id: c1a0d3f745a93c6a4f2e14ba0a2e6392
title: Waking from coma
uri: Waking-from-coma
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_July_2017_%28Waking_from_coma%29
content:
<p>
Some people, after months in a coma, wake up from a long dream that
was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jul/04/i-was-in-ecuador-i-had-no-memory-of-going-there-what-it-is-like-to-be-in-a-coma">more realistic than ordinary dreams</a>.


feed_id: 0a54f8764d84739d6c6920dc1a89a0c3
title: Syria's 'Disappeared'
uri: Syria-s-Disappeared
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_July_2017_%28Syria%27s_%27Disappeared%27%29
content:
<p>
Syria's 'Disappeared': <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/jul/04/families-syria-disappeared-demand-answers-un">Families Demand to Know Fate</a> of Their Loved Ones.


feed_id: ed3442febc8a37058d5f1a8379bd1adb
title: Veli SaÃ§ilik
uri: Veli-SaÃ-ilik
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_July_2017_%28Veli_Sa%C3%83%C2%A7ilik%29
content:
<p>
Veli SaÃ§ilik has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/02/turkish-campaigner-denounces-government-probe-against-him">arrested 17 times for peaceful protests</a> in Turkey.
On one occasion the prison thugs cut off his arm but that didn't stop him.
Now Erdogan has accused him of being a member of a terrorist group.
<p>
When governments arbitrarily designate groups as "terrorist" with no
need to prove it, any group could be unjustly labeled that way.
Perhaps Professor SaÃ§ilik is guilty of being a member of a "terrorist
organization" which isn't terrorist.  People can be convicted unjustly
in that way even in the US.
<p>
To <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jul-oct.html#6_August_2016_(Abitrary_labelling_of_terrorist_organisations_in_Turkey)">designate an organization as "terrorist" is fundamentally unjust
without a trial</a> to determine whether it really is one.


feed_id: 482a564fcc0910530f4085fc2825efcd
title: Mass Voter Suppression
uri: Mass-Voter-Suppression
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_July_2017_%28Mass_Voter_Suppression%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/30/trumps-attack-democracy-mass-voter-suppression"><cite>Trump's Next Attack on Democracy: Mass Voter Suppression</cite></a>.
<p>
The <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jul-oct.html#30_October_2016_(Voter_suppression)">Republicans have been doing this for years</a>, of course, <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#23_November_2016_(Reversing_election-rigging)">and expanded it for 2016</a>.
<p>
The numbers affected in <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#24_November_2016_(Gerrymandering_in_Wisconsin)">Wisconsin</a> were enough to alter the outcome there.


feed_id: ac0086b6b5065fb808296edc94333bf9
title: Urgent: Oppose H.1266
uri: Urgent-Oppose-H-1266
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_July_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Oppose_H.1266%29
content:
<p>
Citizens of Massachusetts: call your state representative to object to
<a href="http://reason.com/blog/2017/07/06/this-mass-lawmaker-wants-to-throw-folks">H.1266</a>,
which would make it a crime to use or make a car with any hidden
compartment.
<p>
This is part of the "war on drugs" that we need to end.
<p>
The Capitol Switchboard numbers are 202-224-3121, 888-818-6641
and 888-355-3588.


feed_id: b46b6c64197f3fd13a8db6d42a90ea35
title: March for human rights in Turkey
uri: March-for-human-rights-in-Turkey
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#10_July_2017_%28March_for_human_rights_in_Turkey%29
content:
<p>
The last-ditch protest march in Turkey: marching for three weeks, from
Ankara to Istanbul, 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/06/turkey-crisis-justice-defence-democratic-values">for
human rights in Turkey</a>.


feed_id: 57847989080f5bf9a90be79691bd09cc
title: Religious oppression
uri: Religious-oppression
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#10_July_2017_%28Religious_oppression%29
content:
<p>
A woman in El Salvador has been 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jul/06/el-salvador-teen-rape-victim-sentenced-30-years-prison-stillbirth">convicted
of murder for not getting prenatal care when she was pregnant</a>.
The fetus was stillborn.
<p>
This shows the reign of religious oppression that Republicans aim to
impose on the USA, if we don't stop them.


feed_id: f70216ea1d27ca007da809374fe864b4
title: Teenagers need contraceptives
uri: Teenagers-need-contraceptives
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#10_July_2017_%28Teenagers_need_contraceptives%29
content:
<p>
Why We 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jul/06/why-we-need-to-get-contraceptives-to-teenagers-podcast-transcript">Need
to Get Contraceptives to Teenagers</a>.


feed_id: e73f15ea98fac01a26a6f92117dac44c
title: Nuclear weapons
uri: 2017-07-11-Nuclear-weapons
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#10_July_2017_%28Nuclear_weapons%29
content:
<p>
The world's nuclear weapons arrangements assume that the US won't use
nuclear weapons irresponsibly.  But we 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/06/trump-nuclear-weapons-north-korea">can't
count on the troll</a> to be more responsible than Kim Jong Un.


feed_id: 8bd9181efcdd3ec80d7648f0d3a32834
title: Britain First supporter may face deportation
uri: Britain-First-supporter-may-face-deportation
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_July_2017_%28Britain_First_supporter_may_face_deportation%29

content:
<p>
A foreigner living in the UK, who supports Britain First, 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/06/britain-first-supporter-calls-for-merkel-to-be-shot-for-refugee-policy">called
for murdering Angela Merkel</a> for letting other foreigners into
Europe.
<p>
He apparently believes people like him should be deported from the
UK, and he may get his wish for making this threat.


feed_id: 8b73fac2100031de330c8c31d7b87e8f
title: Tax on business to fund education
uri: Tax-on-business-to-fund-education
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_July_2017_%28Tax_on_business_to_fund_education%29
content:
<p>
Corbyn: 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jul/06/jeremy-corbyn-uk-firms-must-pay-more-tax-to-fund-better-education">businesses
must pay more tax to fund education</a>.
<p>
Hear, hear!  But not <em>only</em> for education.


feed_id: cc7a5785053743d65bfefd6d7a8b375d
title: Men's habitual use of the Qur'an
uri: Men-s-habitual-use-of-the-Qur-an
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_July_2017_%28Mens_habitual_use_of_the_Quran%29
content:
<p>
Female Islamic judges in India say that much of the inequality they
suffer comes not from the Qur'an but from 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jul/06/men-deny-us-equality-not-the-quran-a-female-islamic-judge-in-india-speaks-out">the
way men habitually use it</a>.
<p>
I am sure they know their subject, but I've read that some of the
gender inequality in Islam does come from there.  For instance, the
rule that women's testimony is worth half a man's testimony.


feed_id: b5bb0aab90b7dd52bfd8c65445254988
title: Protests at G20 meeting
uri: Protests-at-G20-meeting
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_July_2017_%28Protests_at_G20_meeting%29
content:
<p>
Protesters at the G20 meeting in Hamburg encounter a "dystopian
nightmare" of 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/06/hamburg-protest-g20-dystopian-nightmare-security-disunity-politics">crushing
security</a>.
<p>
G20 meetings are now a useless exercise.  In some areas (global
heating) that may be a change for the worse; in others
(business-supremacy treaties) it has to be an improvement.


feed_id: 0a2281e77fe37e35a0e32e0130c70c82
title: Bank to cease lending to tobacco companies
uri: Bank-to-cease-lending-to-tobacco-companies
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_July_2017_%28Bank_to_cease_lending_to_tobacco_companies%29

content:
<p>
The Dutch bank ABM Amro announced it 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/06/dutch-bank-refuses-loans-to-tobacco-industry-on-health-grounds">will
no longer lend money to tobacco companies</a>.


feed_id: 43ceda2469bbf6f6d5fb976a4c7fa756
title: London's gay pride march
uri: London-s-gay-pride-march
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_July_2017_%28Londons_gay_pride_march%29
content:
<p>
London's gay pride march has been 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/06/marched-pride-london-since-1972-liberating">dumbed
down into a commercially sponsored parade</a> in which the message of
equal rights has been overshadowed by vague commercial feelgoodism.


feed_id: e3f29bbcc79793e3cc7ef81002eb7945
title: Turkey arrests Amnesty International director
uri: Turkey-arrests-Amnesty-International-director
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_July_2017_%28Turkey_arrests_Amnesty_International_director%29

content:
<p>
Turkey has 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/06/amnesty-says-turkey-director-and-activists-detained-in-istanbul">arrested
the local director of Amnesty International</a> as well as other
participants in a workshop.
<p>
The workshop was about "digital security and information management",
and those arrested included foreigners who had come to teach those
subjects.
<p>
I used to visit Turkey to speak, and even mentioned the freedom of
speech issue of prosecuting people for describing the genocide of the
Armenians, as well as the 
<a href="/articles/hrant-dink.html">mirror-image injustice</a> in
France of prosecuting people for denying that genocide.
<p>
However, because of the mass arrests that followed the coup attempt, I
consider Turkey too dangerous.  I urge everyone to stay away from
Turkey unless there is an urgent humanitarian reason to go there.
And spread the word!
<p>
For instance, if you are talking with a travel agent about a vacation,
and the agent suggests Turkey, inform the agent that you consider the
state repression too dangerous.


feed_id: 478a06f4131f41b87d7d5933eb0c26ff
title: Gentrification
uri: 2017-07-11-Gentrification
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_July_2017_%28Gentrification%29
content:
<p>
Gentrification eventually hurts even the gentry, when it 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jul/06/gentrification-america-music-cities-austin-nashville-new-orleans">crushes
the interesting spirit</a> that attracted the gentry to the city.  It
is happening now to some cities famous for their music.
<p>
San Francisco used to be a great city for artists of all kinds, but I
don't think many artists can afford to live there now.
<p>
The preference of gentry to live in cities, rather than in the suburbs
they preferred 60 years ago, has made city housing scarce.  The
shortage makes thousands homeless and drives millions into poverty.
So US cities need lots more housing space.  It needs to be dense and
accessible to mass transit.


feed_id: 448dcadff8ac6f1b578cf73b357dd874
title: Methane leaking out of the ground
uri: Methane-leaking-out-of-the-ground
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_July_2017_%28Methane_leaking_out_of_the_ground%29
content:
<p>
Large 
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/7/4/1677706/-Two-gaping-holes-recently-emerged-in-Siberia-accompanied-by-explosions-with-billowing-smoke-and-fire">methane
explosions in Siberia</a> show that a lot of methane is leaking out of
the ground.


feed_id: a5dbe9e22731c4a17186864314a1a69c
title: Bob Chassell
uri: Bob-Chassell
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_July_2017_%28Bob_Chassell%29
content:
<p>
I've posted some
<a href="https://stallman.org/Bob-Chassell">writings (mostly science fiction) by my friend Bob
Chassell</a> who recently died.
<a href="https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/goodbye-to-bob-chassell">Bob helped launch the Free Software
Foundation</a> and wrote the Introduction to Programming in Emacs Lisp.


feed_id: 4abb514f5efff0483b2199afa7b67698
title: W3C approves DRM in WWW
uri: W3C-approves-DRM-in-WWW
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_July_2017_%28W3C_approves_DRM_in_WWW%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/07/amid-unprecedented-controversy-w3c-greenlights-drm-web">
The W3C has given final approval to standardization of DRM
as part of the WWW standards,
</a>
  barring an appeals procedure that has never been successfully invoked.
<p>
<a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20170707/15544137737/tim-berners-lee-sells-out-his-creation-officially-supports-drm-html.shtml">
Berners-Lee and the W3C should be ashamed.
</a>
<p>
The Free Software Foundation started its
<a href="https://DefectiveByDesign.org">
campaign against DRM
</a>
around
2002 and has lead the campaign to pressure the W3C.
<p>
The EFF's also campaigns against DRM, though mostly refusing to
mention our campaign.  On this issue it weakened its stance by
proposing compromises that included standardizing DRM, and would only
have made an exception for security researchers.
<p>
The rejection of those proposed compromises shows how hostile to
society are the companies that the W3C obeys when they demand
obedience.  Their acceptance, however, would not have made things
much better.
<p>
In a long-term campaign, if you envision the current issue is the only
issue, then a compromise which is only 90% defeat might seem better
than losing.
<p>
The reason that is false is that the compromise has a long-term cost:
it takes impetus out of the campaign.  The FSF's position is that DRM
is an injustice and it is never excusable.


feed_id: 8a7a1f897c89634806f8b1e7412593be
title: Parents censoring school books
uri: Parents-censoring-school-books
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_July_2017_%28Parents_censoring_school_books%29
content:
<p>
Florida passed a law to make it
<a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/ct-florida-science-school-law-20170702-story.html">
easier for parents censor books in
schools,
</a>
for instance if they have too much sex or too much science.


feed_id: a0efbd701438070ea1946177b428581b
title: Turkey's jailed judges
uri: Turkey-s-jailed-judges
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_July_2017_%28Turkey%27s_jailed_judges%29
content:
<p>
Erdoğan took total practical control over Turkey's judiciary
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/07/march-for-turkeys-jailed-judges-highlights-purge-on-dissidents">
by purging a quarter of all judges.
</a>
Now judges decide cases however
Erdoğan tells them to.
<p>
Some judges have been imprisoned for most of a year without formal
charges, awaiting review by another puppet board.  Often the supposed
evidence against them is secret --
<a href="http://stallman.org/archives/2013-jan-apr.html#25_January_2013_(What_would_George_Orwell_say)">
something that the UK has also
begun dabbling in.
</a>
<p>
I have no idea whether any Gülenists were involved in the coup
attempt.  Maybe some were, or maybe Erdoğan fabricated that entirely.
What we can be sure of is that the Gülenists are far less dangerous to
Turkey than the Erdoğanists.


feed_id: c9404f812a3282ac725c89684dbba775
title: Pollution in Texas
uri: Pollution-in-Texas
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_July_2017_%28Pollution_in_Texas%29
content:
<p>
When companies are
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/06/illegal-air-pollution-texas-environmental-protection">
caught releasing illegal pollution in Texas,
</a>
they hardly ever face any consequences.


feed_id: cba4d5a8ab5c5a58f3ec57be5ee65bd6
title: Drug-resistant gonorrhoea
uri: Drug-resistant-gonorrhoea
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_July_2017_%28Drug-resistant_gonorrhoea%29
content:
<p>
There is a
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jul/07/untreatable-gonorrhoea-superbug-spreading-around-world-who-warns">
drug-resistant strain of gonorrhoea
</a>
which has no known
treatment.


feed_id: 1ddb95ee160465c9aa0f4f8690d618f8
title: Muslim ID cards
uri: Muslim-ID-cards
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_July_2017_%28Muslim_ID_cards%29
content:
<p>
Philippine thugs want to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/07/philippines-police-muslim-id-cards-counter-terrorism-marawi">
require Muslims to carry ID cards.
</a>
<p>
The only way this would make it easy to identify Muslims
is if everyone else also has to carry an ID card.


feed_id: 7aa3bb4c2dfb3c8029049a3a3cfc8414
title: Medical insurance stocks
uri: Medical-insurance-stocks
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_July_2017_%28Medical_insurance_stocks%29
content:
<p>
Republican congresscritters bought medical insurance stocks
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/07/06/republican-lawmakers-buy-health-insurance-stocks-as-repeal-effort-moves-forward/">
just before they voted for the Dontcare bill.
</a>
<p>
Thus they arrange to fill their own pockets a little
as well as filling their billionaire masters' pockets a lot.


feed_id: 4894bacc337d3c5366fc25056c01dfeb
title: Protesters at G20
uri: Protesters-at-G20
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_July_2017_%28Protesters_at_G20%29
content:
<p>
Protesters at the G20 meeting in Hamburg want to stand up for
Democracy, but they find
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/06/sign-trump-erdogan-putin-hamburg-residents-g20-protests">
their rights have already been crushed.
</a>


feed_id: 138c19b239fd7827dd14ec06ae33dc0b
title: Mujahedeen-e Khalq
uri: Mujahedeen-e-Khalq
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_July_2017_%28Mujahedeen-e_Khalq%29
content:
<p>
Some countries that hate Iran are
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/07/07/mek-iran-rajavi-cult-saudi-gingrich-terrorists-trump/">
supporting the Mujahedeen-e Khalq,
</a>
hoping it will destabilize the semidemocratic, semitheocratic regime
in Iran.
<p>
The Mujahedeen-e Khalq started out running a guerrilla war against the
Shah.  Depending on details, maybe that was admirable,
<a href="https://stallman.org/notes/2011-jan-apr.html#20 March 2011 (VOA Support For Khamenei)">
since the Shah
was a US-imposed tyrant.
</a>
   Eventually the Mujahedeen-e Khalq entered a guerrilla war against
Khomeini's murderous theocratic regime, which at the outset was as
bloody as PISSI.  Depending on details, maybe that was admirable.
<p>
Nowadays, though, the organization is an authoritarian cult that is
even religiously more strict than the Iranian regime.  It is funded by
enemies of Iran as an instrument of destabilization.


feed_id: d10c0b3cd37f496f857e987f53c4c93d
title: Responding to populism
uri: Responding-to-populism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_July_2017_%28Responding_to_populism%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/07/populism-dead-european-victories-centrists">
An analysis of populism and how to respond to it.
</a>
This includes
how it responds to social liberalism and business neoliberalism.
<p>
One confusing aspect: the article doesn't always distinguish those two.


feed_id: 847df6a9d39679c8726b9b86d6651c55
title: Pressure on Poland's media
uri: Pressure-on-Poland-s-media
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_July_2017_%28Pressure_on_Poland%27s_media%29
content:
<p>
Poland's right-wing lliberal government has advanced to
<a href="https://freedomhouse.org/article/new-report-pluralism-under-attack-assault-press-freedom-poland">
hampering
freedom of the press.
</a>
Like the Republican Party in the US, they want to stay in power by undermining
the democracy that would give people the option to remove them.


feed_id: 19b159d303edf94fe791943182c1cf8e
title: US halting emission limit
uri: US-halting-emission-limit
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_July_2017_%28US_halting_emission_limit%29
content:
<p>
The US, at the G20 meeting, is once again trying to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/07/us-trying-to-water-down-g20-text-on-lowering-emissions-warn-charities">
undermine world
action to curb global heating.
</a>
<p>
Weakening the G20 statement to get the US "on board" is a pointless
exercise since the US does not take such commitments seriously anyway.


feed_id: cad54d11a746bdb70b75b60cfcdec719
title: Hebron declared world heritage
uri: Hebron-declared-world-heritage
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_July_2017_%28Hebron_declared_world_heritage%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/07/unesco-recognises-hebron-as-palestinian-world-heritage-site">
Unesco has designated the old Palestinian city of Hebron a world
heritage site.
</a>
<p>
This means Israel will be reprimanded for its specially repressive
occupation of Hebron, which includes
<a href="http://stallman.org/archives/2015-nov-feb.html#07_November_2015_(Restrictions_on_Palestinians_in_Hebron)">
inserting Israely colonists and
kicking Palestinians out of a substantial part of the city
</a>
to keep them
away from the colonists.


feed_id: 3421b1c67309a157895dbea767313e69
title: Resisting professionalisation
uri: Resisting-professionalisation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_July_2017_%28Resisting_professionalisation%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/jul/07/why-grassroots-activists-should-resist-being-professionalised-into-an-ngo">
Why Grassroots Activists Should Resist Being "Professionalised" into an NGO.
</a>
<p>
Be an NGO,<br>
Be an NGO,<br>
Be an NGO,<br>
And get into the game, oh!


feed_id: 76ac2bbe70eb324eb7e017607c20d840
title: Democracy vouchers
uri: Democracy-vouchers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_July_2017_%28Democracy_vouchers%29
content:
<p>
"Democracy vouchers" give citizens some funds to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/07/democracy-vouchers-seattle-politics-low-income-homeless">
direct to the
candidates of their choice.
</a>


feed_id: 6616b05c6c7e14b7736790f0a5070650
title: Bolivian abortion law
uri: Bolivian-abortion-law
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_July_2017_%28Bolivian_abortion_law%29
content:
<p>
Bolivia is considering a
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jul/07/bolivia-abortion-law-womens-rights-penal-code">
substantial liberalization of its abortion law.
</a>


feed_id: d6e4ac4c95471a67644c8f44c3d50cac
title: Climate scepticism
uri: Climate-scepticism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_July_2017_%28Climate_scepticism%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/07/climate-change-denial-scepticism-cynicism-politics">
How Climate Scepticism Turned into Something More Dangerous.
</a>
<p>
It is unfortunate that the author has used the popular but weak term
"climate change".


feed_id: 0d0ef966123fea05ebc18242e1db6dca
title: Bill Clinton fairy tale
uri: Bill-Clinton-fairy-tale
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_July_2017_%28Bill_Clinton_fairy_tale%29
content:
<p>
Right-wing "centrist" Democrat Bill Clinton drove down the Democratic
Party
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/07/07/nyt-fantasy-bill-clintons-centrism-saving-dems-never-gets-old">
by not being as progressive as the American people.
</a>


feed_id: e14f7545128dd67fae836f1c0df9778e
title: The anti-Qatar axis
uri: The-anti-Qatar-axis
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_July_2017_%28The_anti-Qatar_axis%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/07/06/enemy-my-enemy-my">
The Saudi-American-Iranian-Russian-Qatari-Syrian Conundrum.
</a>


feed_id: 34ddea5ca8c1c819c09d3ad8a05332cd
title: Urgent: Fair and Equal Housing Act
uri: Urgent-Fair-and-Equal-Housing-Act
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_July_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Fair_and_Equal_Housing_Act%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/fair_and_equal_housing">call
on Congress</a> to pass H.R. 1447, the Fair and Equal Housing Act, to
protect LGBTQ people across the country from housing discrimination.


feed_id: 780664e6b320e8ad2d39ffa952319b3c
title: Urgent: Ban chlorpyrifos
uri: Urgent-Ban-chlorpyrifos
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_July_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Ban_chlorpyrifos%29
content:
<p>
Everyone: 
<a href="http://act.couragecampaign.org/sign/banpesticide">Call on
California</a> to ban chlorpyrifos.


feed_id: eeb6680f4c8ba8f236c65c10a7dff4d3
title: What troll says to rich supporters
uri: What-troll-says-to-rich-supporters
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_July_2017_%28What_troll_says_to_rich_supporters%29

content:
<p>
A 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/06/30/leaked-trump-tape-could-raise-diplomatic-political-problems/">leaked
recording</a> shows what the troll says to rich supporters.
<p>
It includes insulting other Republicans, and siding very strongly
with <a href="/glossary.html#salafi">Salafi Arabia</a>.
<p>
Why it is 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/07/05/why-we-need-know-what-trump-says-behind-closed-doors">important
to publish such recordings</a>.


feed_id: 7b1a616324ac90c3bc7ac922e5012246
title: Troll's falsehoods
uri: 2017-07-12-Troll-s-falsehoods
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_July_2017_%28Trolls_falsehoods%29
content:
<p>
Some of the troll's falsehoods 
<a href="http://reason.com/archives/2017/07/05/its-not-a-lie-if-the-president-believes">might
be delusions</a> rather than lies.


feed_id: b69b9ae728cdfab24372b76884d94cd2
title: Declaration of Independence
uri: Declaration-of-Independence
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_July_2017_%28Declaration_of_Independence%29
content:
<p>
NPR posted the whole Declaration of Independence as a series of
tweets.  The Trumpettes responded with condemnation, 
<a href="http://gizmodo.com/trump-supporters-cry-bias-after-npr-tweets-the-declarat-1796633566">calling
it an attack on their great leader</a>.
<p>
Here's 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/further/2017/07/05/our-sacred-honor-prince-whose-character-thus-marked-every-act-which-may-define">the
text</a>. that was tweeted out.
<p>
Superficially, they made an embarrassing mistake.  At a deeper level,
they were not mistaken.  <a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> is the enemy of the United States
of America, and the liberty and democracy it stands for, at the
deepest level.  Any restatement of these principles really is an
attack on he troll.


