# articles

feed_id: a5d02bf7ea5ad9ff30c8bcfd0ab61ae8
title: Cameras in New Orleans
uri: Cameras-in-New-Orleans
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#12_March_2018_%28Cameras_in_New_Orleans%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/06/new-orleans-surveillance-cameras-nopd-police/">Surveillance cameras</a> posted around New Orleans make the residents feel the
heavy boot of repression.


feed_id: 10afb79dd051de11c837465af819cd6a
title: Why not to admire Israel
uri: Why-not-to-admire-Israel
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#12_March_2018_%28Why_not_to_admire_Israel%29
content:
<p>
There are <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/06/nine-reasons-israel-not-progressive-paradise">many reasons</a> for progressives not to admire Israel.
<p>
Another reason not mentioned is that Israel's domestic policies even
as regards Jews are rather right-wing: supporting business more than
workers or poor people.
<p>
Israel has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/social-life-blog/2018/mar/09/social-workers-demand-release-palestinian-human-rights-defender-munther-amira">arrested Palestinian social worker</a> Munther Amira,
leading to international condemnation from social workers.


feed_id: e7b20e73f1de7c5ab5efc4caf5910935
title: Believing they are winning
uri: Believing-they-are-winning
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#12_March_2018_%28Believing_they_are_winning%29
content:
<p>
"Both Trump and Kim Jong-un <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/09/trump-kim-jong-un-believe-winning-risks-epic-analysis">believe they are winning</a> — and the risks of that
are epic."


feed_id: 884fbc9f4e7e9b79776127d44a20644c
title: German unions
uri: German-unions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#12_March_2018_%28German_unions%29
content:
<p>
German unions are pushing for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/09/28-hour-week-gains-momentum-in-german-unions-push-for-flexible-rights">reduced working hours</a>.


feed_id: 50c1fa0b11238df1d08cdc24f3c6efec
title: Xi's repression
uri: Xi-s-repression
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#12_March_2018_%28Xi%27s_repression%29
content:
<p>
The Guardian's China correspondent <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/10/chill-looks-set-linger-reporting-from-xis-china">describes watching</a> Xi's repression
build up year by year.


feed_id: c05fe27d49ee2a723fbfd45c74742fe7
title: Lack of democracy in EU
uri: Lack-of-democracy-in-EU
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#12_March_2018_%28Lack_of_democracy_in_EU%29
content:
<p>
The lack of democracy in the EU has become manifest, and people are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/09/brexit-eu-democratic-britain">generally
dissatisfied with it</a>.
<p>
The only government worth loyalty is one that will lead us to defeat the
<a href="/glossary.html#bankster">banksters</a>.


feed_id: 3252551697eec8e03a0340ad1f9b8701
title: Urgent: NRA funding
uri: Urgent-NRA-funding
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#13_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_NRA_funding%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/no_NRA_funding">call on members of Congress</a> to stop accepting funds from
the NRA.


feed_id: f4223195a0c4905af842205f81e53d81
title: Don't pity the militarists
uri: Don-t-pity-the-militarists
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#13_March_2018_%28Don%27t_pity_the_militarists%29
content:
<p>
Don't pity the militarists for <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/11/15th-anniversary-original-sin">supporting the conquest of Iraq</a> 15 years ago.
They had plenty of opportunity to open their eyes and recognize the
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/archive-2002.html#21_September_2002_Iraq">reasons not to start that war</a>
— if they had wanted to.


feed_id: 52a3ca4ecde04fef93ca6cb68b59f799
title: Election in Britain
uri: Election-in-Britain
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#13_March_2018_%28Election_in_Britain%29
content:
<p>
If Labour wins election in Britain, then decides to stay in the EU,
some think it could achieve <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/11/could-britains-labour-party-under-corbyn-hold-answer-europes-woes">progressive reform of the EU itself</a>.
<p>
I think this might be possible if progressive parties were in power in
other important European countries.  But there is no chance of that in
the next few years.  France, Germany and Italy have had elections recently
so there won't be any chance to put progressives in power there.


feed_id: 3a7cc0ca88c2a5c1d3c15ee25c8df81a
title: Building on former Rohingya sites
uri: Building-on-former-Rohingya-sites
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#13_March_2018_%28Building_on_former_Rohingya_sites%29

content:
<p>
Amnesty International: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/12/myanmar-builds-military-bases-on-the-site-of-rohingya-homes-and-mosques-report">Myanmar Builds Military Bases</a> on the Site of Rohingya Homes And Mosques.


feed_id: eaab24ffcac40dca2fbcfd5ba2f24916
title: Fake recordings
uri: Fake-recordings
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#13_March_2018_%28Fake_recordings%29
content:
<p>
AI software has made it easy to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/12/may-thatcher-deepfake-face-swap-tech-change-world">create fake recordings</a> showing the person
of your choice saying and doing whatever you choose.
<p>
How long before <a href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> start doing this
to <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2015-jan-apr.html#10_April_2015_(Unframing_the_Victim)">the people they shoot</a>?


feed_id: e3b34476387a2ac9f87fe40e2cec29f9
title: False imprisonment
uri: False-imprisonment
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#13_March_2018_%28False_imprisonment%29
content:
<p>
Farid Hilali wants <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/12/man-seeks-18m-in-compensation-for-wrongful-jailing-over-911">2 million dollars compensation</a> for five years false
imprisonment in the UK and Spain, based on no evidence.


feed_id: 710d1c7b6ee6bcae87660f4b376f3c2c
title: Saboteur spending
uri: Saboteur-spending
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#13_March_2018_%28Saboteur_spending%29
content:
<p>
The profligate spending of <a href="/glossary.html#trump">the troll</a>'s cabinet saboteurs says something
about their <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/10/poverty-poor-ben-carson-and-31000-table">attitude towards their country</a>: they think it belongs to them.


feed_id: 079b62435c34d8433b5f3d8d5cc605f9
title: Informers in Northern Ireland
uri: Informers-in-Northern-Ireland
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#13_March_2018_%28Informers_in_Northern_Ireland%29
content:
<p>
In the dirty gang war in Northern Ireland, between the IRA terrorists
and "loyalist" terrorists, UK thugs used threats and blackmail to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/08/how-many-murders-can-a-police-informer-get-away-with">force
people to become informers</a>.
<p>
I am unable to reach a moral conclusion about these informers, because of the
imponderable consequences described in the article.
<p>
Many Americans in the 70s and 80s supported the IRA's goal of
separating Ulster from the UK and incorporating it into Ireland.  I
never saw anything desirable about this.  What good is there in
satisfying a certain number of Catholics by disappointing a larger
number of Protestants?  In any case, Ireland was a repressive Catholic
theocracy, banning abortion, contraception, even divorce.  I could
hardly wish a government like that on anyone.
<p>
Ireland has almost eliminated its previous theocracy.  Soon it will
probably legalize abortion.  Perhaps soon there will be no substantive
reason for Ulster Protestants to oppose uniting Ulster with Ireland.


feed_id: 759f5e8efbbb12f9915394ceb87b3a6e
title: Palestinian family's land
uri: Palestinian-family-s-land
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#13_March_2018_%28Palestinian_family%27s_land%29
content:
<p>
Israeli land-thieves <a href="http://aicnews.org/index.php/2018/03/05/israeli-settlers-install-new-illegal-outpost-in-hebron/">build a "settlement"</a> on a Palestinian family's land,
protected by soldiers of course.


feed_id: 51b8877b3929221eb7642c04a706fbea
title: Turning to astrology
uri: Turning-to-astrology
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#13_March_2018_%28Turning_to_astrology%29
content:
<p>
Distrustful of real experts, young people are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global/2018/mar/11/star-gazing-why-millennials-are-turning-to-astrology">turning to bogus expertise</a>
such as astrology.
<p>
Serious astrology, based on a person's entire chart, has been tested
very thoroughly, and was a complete wash-out.  An experiment compared
all the variables of the astrological chart with all the variables measured by
a thorough personality test, and found no relationship whatsoever.


feed_id: 99daf930b7562b9aeb4ad6640281a700
title: Making waiters pay
uri: Making-waiters-pay
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#13_March_2018_%28Making_waiters_pay%29
content:
<p>
Restaurant managers say they don't make waiters pay for customers that leave
without paying.  But <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/mar/10/do-restaurants-really-make-staff-pay-when-customers-do-a-runner">waiters say they are forced</a> to do this.


feed_id: 4d1e48fb53d31a8f3bf66f7388581956
title: Climate tipping points
uri: Climate-tipping-points
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#13_March_2018_%28Climate_tipping_points%29
content:
<p>
<a href="http://www.fourwinds10.com/siterun_data/environment/weather_and_climate/news.php?q=1520360391">Likely climate tipping points</a> could lead to much larger global heating in
the lifetime of most people reading this.
<p>
We don't know enough to say for certain whether it will happen, but
<a href="https://www.globalresearch.ca/homo-sapiens-on-track-to-extinction-climate-and-nuclear-threats-can-humanity-survive/5631303">ignoring the danger is lunacy</a>.  Why do so many people go in for such
lunacy?


feed_id: b0c283c19b42a3b8047c4f823591354f
title: The world of precarious work
uri: The-world-of-precarious-work
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#13_March_2018_%28The_world_of_precarious_work%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/mar/11/hired-six-months-undercover-in-low-wage-britain-zero-hours-review-james-bloodworth">Six months undercover</a> in the world of precarious work. 
It's not enough for the workers to do their jobs; they are required
to spout the ideology of devotion to the company.


feed_id: 758cf45f58ffe7368736f3fbd672e417
title: Nostalgia for British Empire
uri: Nostalgia-for-British-Empire
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#13_March_2018_%28Nostalgia_for_British_Empire%29
content:
<p>
Britons are nostalgic for the British Empire <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/mar/10/empire-strikes-back-why-former-colonies-dont-need-britain-after-brexit">based on a one-sided picture</a>
which the peoples of the former colonies do not agree with.
<p>
It is ironic that colonial laws imposed to help Britain repress the
colonized people are now being used by some of them to repress others
of them.  One of these laws was imprisonment without trial.  In South
Africa it was used by the apartheid state to imprison those who
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2007-sep-dec.html#19%20November%202007%20(Imprisonment%20without%20trial)">criticized apartheid</a>.
In Israel it is used
today to <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-sep-dec.html#20_September_2017_(Palestinians_on_hunger_strike)">imprison Palestinians</a>.
<p>
I disagree with the claim that the evacuation of Dunkirk was an
"ignoble retreat".  It was a retreat, for sure, but there is nothing
ignoble about retreating in good order.  Sometimes — as in the case
of Dunkirk — retreating is exactly what an army needs to do to win
the war.  A good commander must have the moral courage to retreat when
necessary.


feed_id: 56e59c4207f622be67e5f269463caff7
title: Martin Shkreli's defense
uri: Martin-Shkreli-s-defense
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#13_March_2018_%28Martin_Shkreli%27s_defense%29
content:
<p>
Martin Shkreli <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/10/americas-martin-shkreli-problem-not-just-martin-shkreli">defended his bullying and greed</a>, saying that they are the way
people succeed in America.  Sentencing him to prison is not enough; we have
to change America so that his claim ceases to be true.


feed_id: f5712cf6cc2d4b48bad4fe88c137bd8c
title: Threat of mass extinction
uri: Threat-of-mass-extinction
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#13_March_2018_%28Threat_of_mass_extinction%29
content:
<p>
The habits of thinking of the past few thousand years have <a href="https://countercurrents.org/2018/03/08/the-end-of-our-axial-age/">brought humanity
to a crisis</a> which threatens a mass extinction.  We need to change some of them.


feed_id: 8df86c69a49663c8d381ff0f3395a642
title: Urgent: Plans to arm teachers
uri: Urgent-Plans-to-arm-teachers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#14_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Plans_to_arm_teachers%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/Keep_Our_Schools_Gun_Free/">oppose Republican plans</a> to arm teachers.
<p>
In general, more guns make people less safe.


feed_id: 1a4625b66746e9f411153c9861fc06ac
title: Urgent: Deportation machine
uri: Urgent-Deportation-machine
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#14_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Deportation_machine%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://petitions.moveon.org/sign/dont-fund-trumps-deportation-1">call on Congress</a> not to fund the bully's deportation machine.


feed_id: 76c5e7c6f78038f5e7c6761a907279e0
title: Voting rights
uri: 2018-03-15-Voting-rights
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#14_March_2018_%28Voting_rights%29
content:
<p>
Every year, there is a celebration of the 1960s voting rights movement
that passed the Voting Rights Act, subsequently weakened by
right-wingers on the Supreme Court.  Nowadays <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/12/marching-backwards-freedom">there is a campaign</a>
for voting rights for former prisoners, and a campaign to inform
many current prisoners that they are entitled to vote from prison.
<p>
The challenge of rehabilitating imprisoned criminals is to give them
a stake in their community.  Voting will surely help.
<p>
One of the advantages for a rural area in having a prison is that the prisoners
are counted as part of its population.  Right-wingers might be less eager
for private prisons if the prisoners could outvote them.


feed_id: 5a6101ed4752ea8fa2eff936e8886263
title: Vigilantes in Ulster
uri: Vigilantes-in-Ulster
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#14_March_2018_%28Vigilantes_in_Ulster%29
content:
<p>
A group of vigilantes in Ulster, that killed or wounded alleged
drug dealers, shot a man for participating in a protest against them.
The group later <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/12/he-fired-at-my-legs-irish-punishment-attack-victim-still-living-in-fear">developed into terrorists</a>.


feed_id: bab563cc23b9da423baa8c48a8f4cd74
title: Thug faces charges
uri: Thug-faces-charges
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#14_March_2018_%28Thug_faces_charges%29
content:
<p>
The thug that attacked Johnnie Jermaine Rush <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/09/us/asheville-police-taser-jaywalking/index.html">now faces charges</a>.


feed_id: 52657f52ca58d5ee431f3e06cc20f741
title: Camp X-Ray
uri: Camp-X-Ray
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#14_March_2018_%28Camp_X-Ray%29
content:
<p>
Destroying the Notorious Camp X-Ray at GuantÃ¡namo <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/12/guantanamo-bay-camp-x-ray-destroying-mistake">Is a Huge Mistake</a>.


feed_id: 07ee61ac360c4b216e8114af1e3825e9
title: TSA searching computers and phones
uri: TSA-searching-computers-and-phones
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#14_March_2018_%28TSA_searching_computers_and_phones%29

content:
<p>
The TSA is taking and searching <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/12/tsa-surveillance-laptops-cellphones-domestic-flights">domestic passengers' computers and phones</a>,
with no warrants and apparently no authorization under the constitution.


feed_id: e21831506dffec584641f3295c0ff337
title: Dying trees
uri: Dying-trees
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#14_March_2018_%28Dying_trees%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#global heating">Global heating</a>
is <a href="https://grist.org/article/the-last-ditch-effort-to-save-the-worlds-forests-from-climate-change/">killing trees by the millions</a>, and this means increased
greenhouse gas emissions.


feed_id: e747b7211f60a9c8ef70d21af3ef0473
title: Responding with speech
uri: Responding-with-speech
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#14_March_2018_%28Responding_with_speech%29
content:
<p>
ACLU: don't play into the hands of right-wing provocateurs by trying
to censor them — instead, <a href="https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech/free-speech-can-be-messy-we-need-it">use your freedom of speech</a>.


feed_id: 8a71ac37a2a6ba0696989cd5eb2be3bf
title: Money from Russians and Saudis
uri: Money-from-Russians-and-Saudis
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#14_March_2018_%28Money_from_Russians_and_Saudis%29
content:
<p>
The Tories get millions <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/12/tory-links-russia-saudi-links-corbyn-spy-extremism">from Russians and Saudis</a>.


feed_id: 812f015ba4992a898ef8d35ec59759cb
title: Ideology in video games
uri: Ideology-in-video-games
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#14_March_2018_%28Ideology_in_video_games%29
content:
<p>
Many video games <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/12/video-games-fuel-rise-far-right-violent-misogynist">incorporate right-wing ideology</a>.
This could be another reason to kick the proprietary video games out
of your life.


feed_id: 3bbc27bf66d3c69d114dbec91c0d5d9e
title: Paying women less than men
uri: Paying-women-less-than-men
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#14_March_2018_%28Paying_women_less_than_men%29
content:
<p>
Paying women less than men is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/12/history-blame-gender-pay-gap-housework">a relic of a world</a> in which all kinds
of work were gender-segregated, and the jobs women did were paid less
because the workers were women.


feed_id: e0d183ad26cc1b3fcb58667747761bb2
title: Discouraging crime
uri: Discouraging-crime
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#14_March_2018_%28Discouraging_crime%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/12/liverpool-prison-symbol-broken-system-send-inmates-home">The Netherlands has shown</a> that, for most criminal convicts, there is
no need to put them in prison.  We should forget the idea that
convicts have to "pay a debt to society" and think instead about how
to discourage crime.


feed_id: 1e77bb68733cb4128a0505dea9ff35a8
title: Destroying biodiversity
uri: Destroying-biodiversity
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#14_March_2018_%28Destroying_biodiversity%29
content:
<p>
Destroying biodiversity is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/12/what-is-biodiversity-and-why-does-it-matter-to-us">"burning the library of life"</a>, and the result
will be increasing instability of the ecosystems that make our life possible.


feed_id: 493422dc1ebe2f032796b757816562af
title: Toxic masculinity
uri: Toxic-masculinity
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#14_March_2018_%28Toxic_masculinity%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/12/masculinity-gender-men-sexual-assault-rape">About programs</a> to teach young teenagers the alternative to toxic
masculinity.


feed_id: f1b976bf5674a75cd6587aaf3dbd0f46
title: Burning coal
uri: Burning-coal
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#14_March_2018_%28Burning_coal%29
content:
<p>
Burning coal may have caused the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2018/mar/12/burning-coal-may-have-caused-earths-worst-mass-extinction">biggest mass extinction</a> in Earth's
history.


feed_id: aa4cad0356a1d3e8896d59c8cddc7761
title: Treatment of labor issues
uri: Treatment-of-labor-issues
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#14_March_2018_%28Treatment_of_labor_issues%29
content:
<p>
FAIR: coverage of the West Virginia teachers' strike illustrates how
mainstream US media <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/10/west-virginia-strike-highlights-corporate-medias-atrophied-labor-coverage">treat labor issues as unimportant</a>.


feed_id: 71275b13cdd8350d8c0aa3e26636d541
title: Urgent: Arctic seismic exploration
uri: Urgent-Arctic-seismic-exploration
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#15_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Arctic_seismic_exploration%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/Arctic-seismic-exploration">Tell the Department of the Interior</a>: No drilling or
seismic exploration in the Arctic Refuge.


feed_id: 08f56ec46c1c07c59a40f7211f3edc7f
title: Urgent: Crosscheck program
uri: Urgent-Crosscheck-program
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#15_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Crosscheck_program%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/sign-the-petition-tell-your-state-to-leave-the-unreliable-and-racist-interstate-crosscheck-program">tell your state</a> to get out of the Crosscheck
voter-suppression program.


feed_id: a5aeba7d22eee62e5c78d780032ca25f
title: Smog reduction regulations
uri: Smog-reduction-regulations
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#15_March_2018_%28Smog_reduction_regulations%29
content:
<p>
A <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/13/ruling-called-victory-everyone-who-breathes-federal-judge-says-scott-pruitt">federal court ordered</a>
<a href="/glossary.html#saboteur">Saboteur</a> Pruitt to carry out the smog reduction
regulations he had tried to forget about.


feed_id: 5fc0cf52a6579dee948d66c7dde12980
title: Puppy fed to turtle
uri: Puppy-fed-to-turtle
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#15_March_2018_%28Puppy_fed_to_turtle%29
content:
<p>
A science teacher faces an "investigation" for <a href="https://www.eastidahonews.com/2018/03/investigation-underway-after-science-teacher-feeds-dog-to-turtle-in-front-of-students/">feeding a puppy to a
large turtle</a>.
<p>
What do they expect a turtle to eat?  Salad?  Pizza?
Would they keep a barn owl and not let it eat mice?
<p>
Isn't it bizarre to emphasize that "at no time was the safety of
students or staff compromised."  Why not mention that there was no
earthquake and no meteorites fell?  This point was not logically
pertinent, but I suspect that the psychological effect of mentioning
it was, irrationally, to make people more afraid and upset.


feed_id: 630fabe81793593707295c5b09a1350a
title: Armed voting patrol
uri: Armed-voting-patrol
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#15_March_2018_%28Armed_voting_patrol%29
content:
<p>
Republicans want the troll to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/12/chilling-and-unprecedented-dhs-reauthorization-bill-would-let-trump-send-secret">send armed federal agents</a> to patrol
voting places.
To scare off some voters, we must presume.
<p>
The only significant threat to Americans' right to vote comes from
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-nov-feb.html#11_February_2018_(New_forms_of_voter_suppression)">Republican voter-suppression</a>
and these patrols will do nothing to protect voters from that.


feed_id: 8e411f8bbdfdd3a84b3daa5b7b622003
title: Execution drugs
uri: Execution-drugs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#15_March_2018_%28Execution_drugs%29
content:
<p>
Nebraska <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/12/nebraska-illegally-obtaining-and-storing-execution-drugs-defiance-federal-law">falsifies licenses and registrations</a> to get execution drugs.
<p>
For the past several years, the focus on the issue of which drugs are
used for executions has<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2015-sep-dec.html#04_October_2015_(Death_penalty)"> sucked the energy out of the campaign</a> to end
the death penalty.
It reminds me of how the biannual DMCA exception
process has sucked the energy out of the <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#2_May_2017_(Copyright)">campaign to repeal the DMCA</a>.
I wonder if these two similar cases have more in common than the
outcome.


feed_id: 087b5406deb2b874d1e7d868f1e0dfa8
title: Seeking to cross US border
uri: Seeking-to-cross-US-border
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#15_March_2018_%28Seeking_to_cross_US_border%29
content:
<p>
Mexicans staying in Tijuana and seeking to cross the US border seem to be
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/13/mexico-border-crossers-trump-wall-migrants">mostly non-criminals</a> who want to rejoin their children in the US.


feed_id: 4a6ca2727946a1298d194d365106c64b
title: Tillerson's job
uri: Tillerson-s-job
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#15_March_2018_%28Tillerson%27s_job%29
content:
<p>
Tillerson didn't do a good job as secretary of state, but it was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/13/the-guardian-view-on-trump-and-tillerson-hes-fired-what-next">still too good</a>
for <a href="/glossary.html#trump">the troll</a> to tolerate.
<p>
For instance, he had the sense to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/13/rex-tillerson-iran-nuclear-deal-us-eu">support the nuclear deal</a> with Iran.


feed_id: 2e14a0f75683675c2223540c72dfd405
title: Student walkout
uri: Student-walkout
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#15_March_2018_%28Student_walkout%29
content:
<p>
High school students across the US are planning to go out of school
today for a short protest, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/13/walkout-wednesday-students-gun-control-protest">defying right-wing school officials</a> that have
threatened to punish them.
<p>
That's the spirit!  The courage to defy repressive authority is admirable.
<p>
As for the officials' claim it is "unsafe" for students to go outside
the school, this contributes to the stultifying paranoia that already
infantilizes American teenagers.  That's a different issue, but
perhaps a more important one than guns.  After all, only a tiny
fraction of American high school students get shot, but almost all
face being overprotected from the requisites of ordinary life.


feed_id: 17fcdab394878ab24e2824c0fd04ec79
title: High and low temperatures
uri: High-and-low-temperatures
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#15_March_2018_%28High_and_low_temperatures%29
content:
<p>
"<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/13/extreme-winter-weather-becoming-more-common-as-arctic-warms-study-finds">Scientists found a strong link</a> between high temperatures near the pole
and unusually heavy snowfall and frigid weather farther south."


feed_id: 91a36de8b8285e73692a2131d0f656e9
title: Fake news in Indonesia
uri: Fake-news-in-Indonesia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#15_March_2018_%28Fake_news_in_Indonesia%29
content:
<p>
Indonesia's fanatical Muslims have launched a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/13/muslim-cyber-army-a-fake-news-operation-designed-to-bring-down-indonesias-leader">fake news bigotry
campaign</a> to take over Indonesia.


feed_id: c5f275d739d8fcf630715fc771c4318e
title: London housing bubble
uri: London-housing-bubble
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#15_March_2018_%28London_housing_bubble%29
content:
<p>
The London housing bubble <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/13/dip-housing-market-red-brexit-uk-eu">has partly burst</a>, but this alone will not undo
the effects of many factors that have priced housing out of most people's reach.


feed_id: e9e60278032862d4fcc9ced12e68a1de
title: Oromo activists
uri: Oromo-activists
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#15_March_2018_%28Oromo_activists%29
content:
<p>
An <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/mar/13/freedom-oromo-activists-qeerroo-ethiopia-standstill">underground organization</a> of young men of the Oromo people brought down the
autocratic and repressive prime minister of Ethiopia.


feed_id: b085be87db6458d15ef32867252fcb1a
title: Tillerson fired
uri: Tillerson-fired
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#15_March_2018_%28Tillerson_fired%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a>
has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/13/rex-tillerson-fired-donald-trump">fired Tillerson</a> and wants to move the CIA director to
his post.
<p>
Tillerson was a former Exxon executive and pursued some policies for
the <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#3_August_2017_(State_Department_democracy)">good of the oil companies</a>.
Notwithstanding that, he was sincere
about trying to serve the traditional establishment idea of the US
national interest, not the subservient henchmen that <a href="/glossary.html#trump">the troll</a> really
wants.


feed_id: 4f0d4b8453955162f40154bf75479318
title: Fishing for krill
uri: Fishing-for-krill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#15_March_2018_%28Fishing_for_krill%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/13/fishing-krill-eco-disaster-ocean-sanctuary-protect-antarctic">Fishing for Krill is an Eco-Disaster</a>: We Must Protect the Antarctic.
<p>
Here's <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/13/krill-fishing-poses-serious-threat-to-antarctic-ecosystem-report-warns">how the problems develop</a>.
<p>
If the krill are gone, whales won't have anything to <a href="https://stallman.org/puns.html#whale">paint with</a>!


feed_id: 6d6d88fcd1f177430c59a2ef2c5a11ab
title: Subcontracting night cleaners
uri: Subcontracting-night-cleaners
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#15_March_2018_%28Subcontracting_night_cleaners%29
content:
<p>
In <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/13/how-the-most-vulnerable-workers-are-targeted-for-sexual-abuse">subcontracting of night cleaning work</a>, "The way [a business can]
make money … is to cheat."
<p>
Subcontracting makes it easy to cheat, as well as to rape.  We can clean up
both problems substantially by putting an end to subcontracting.


feed_id: 9cd0f590ae99537f5354c8441a4f226a
title: Cheater investigation
uri: Cheater-investigation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#15_March_2018_%28Cheater_investigation%29
content:
<p>
Republicans in the House of Representatives decided to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/12/trump-russia-investigation-collusion-house-committee">shut down their
investigation</a> of the cheater's collusion with Russia and to find that
there wasn't any.


feed_id: 4fad15bafe1ed169c8cce50f8229acdf
title: Freedom of expression in Spain
uri: Freedom-of-expression-in-Spain
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#15_March_2018_%28Freedom_of_expression_in_Spain%29
content:
<p>
Amnesty International calls on Spain to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/13/spanish-anti-terror-law-has-chilling-effect-on-satire-says-amnesty-international">repeal the law</a> that prohibits
expression of certain opinions.


feed_id: b3b2f4e53e912b76b08b2fa5f069d49f
title: Lead poisoning
uri: 2018-03-16-Lead-poisoning
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#15_March_2018_%28Lead_poisoning%29
content:
<p>
A study estimates that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/12/lead-exposure-premature-deaths-us">400,000 Americans die each year</a> from the effects
of lead poisoning.


feed_id: 8853f567af6e8e0daa7fbf9945d63981
title: Guns in schools
uri: Guns-in-schools
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#15_March_2018_%28Guns_in_schools%29
content:
<p>
The Onion: Betsy DeVos Argues Issue Of Guns In Schools Should Be <a href="https://politics.theonion.com/betsy-devos-argues-issue-of-guns-in-schools-should-be-f-1823702688">Fully
Left Up To Individual Shooters</a>.


feed_id: bde4c2d7e498982d2799011df1d6f36b
title: Science in America
uri: Science-in-America
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#15_March_2018_%28Science_in_America%29
content:
<p>
To make America great again calls for making America <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/12/making-america-great-again-requires-acting-scientific-knowledge">pay attention to
science again</a>.
<p>
It also calls for making the life of non-rich people great again, and
rejecting corruption again, but those are other issues.


feed_id: 21c795c0f88af95ec84ec6fcf155c3bd
title: Playground risks
uri: Playground-risks
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#15_March_2018_%28Playground_risks%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://letgrow.org/british-playgrounds-theyre-bringing-risky-back/">Bringing risk back into playgrounds</a> gives children a chance to learn good
attitudes towards small dangers.
<p>
Carefully selecting the risks may not be a mistake, as Ms Skenazy
claims.  Selected "controlled" risks may be just as effective for
introducing children to the risky aspects of life as "uncontrolled"
risks.


feed_id: d2ec9b15a9a6b4f3d3da5e6e4c3a1591
title: Urgent: Southern Resident orcas
uri: Urgent-Southern-Resident-orcas
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#16_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Southern_Resident_orcas%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://secure.defenders.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=3302">call on the National Marine Fisheries Service</a> to protect
more of the range of the Southern Resident orcas.


feed_id: 96606c6644b8c74569dfeb970c5b8f75
title: Urgent: Teenage farmworkers
uri: Urgent-Teenage-farmworkers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#16_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Teenage_farmworkers%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/teenage_farmworkers">Tell the EPA</a>: Protect teenage farmworkers from toxic pesticides.


feed_id: 2ffe7e484efc1952d4a3ecf1c3723867
title: Gina Haspel
uri: Gina-Haspel
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#16_March_2018_%28Gina_Haspel%29
content:
<p>
Gina Haspel's confirmation hearings will provide a chance to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/14/gina-haspel-torture-trump-cia-director-pick-has-to-face-past">ask her
about her crimes</a>, including torture and destruction of evidence.
<p>
Senator Rand Paul will <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/14/rand-paul-gina-haspel-cia-director-torture-gleeful-joy">vote against Gina Haspel</a>.
<p>
This means there is a possibility of blocking her approval.


feed_id: 016c65c3c7abaa93d52f90e64b45411f
title: Criminal records for marijuana
uri: Criminal-records-for-marijuana
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#16_March_2018_%28Criminal_records_for_marijuana%29
content:
<p>
States that have legalized or decriminalized possession of marijuana
should <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/14/marijuana-legalization-expunge-convictions/">expunge the criminal records</a> of those convicted for that.


feed_id: d3e01f5cb59c397a2bafab7c9c639aa3
title: Dissident Iranian professor
uri: Dissident-Iranian-professor
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#16_March_2018_%28Dissident_Iranian_professor%29
content:
<p>
A dissident Iranian professor has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/14/iran-sentences-tehran-professor-to-jail-for-anti-state-propaganda">imprisoned for "anti-state
propaganda"</a>.
<p>
That's what one expects in a regime that tramples human rights.


feed_id: 10a25650687be9a4cbd8cd3606d6ff5c
title: Facebook's hidden pages
uri: Facebook-s-hidden-pages
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#16_March_2018_%28Facebook%27s_hidden_pages%29
content:
<p>
Facebook <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/14/facebook-election-meddling/">Quietly Hid Webpages</a> Bragging of Ability to Influence Elections.


feed_id: afb682763db527eb012d6721a6522e20
title: Student gun control protest
uri: Student-gun-control-protest
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#16_March_2018_%28Student_gun_control_protest%29
content:
<p>
Students from 3,000 US schools <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/14/walkout-students-gun-violence-parkland-florida">participated in the gun control protest</a>.


feed_id: 5ff70570ee58ab5dfd1961399b17ce76
title: Equifax executive
uri: Equifax-executive
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#16_March_2018_%28Equifax_executive%29
content:
<p>
Former Equifax Executive <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/mar/14/equifax-insider-trading-data-breach-jun-ying-charged">Charged with Insider Trading</a> After Data Breach.


feed_id: d2928a124c69442bd37bb1a0723e7e97
title: How Hawking made it
uri: How-Hawking-made-it
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#16_March_2018_%28How_Hawking_made_it%29
content:
<p>
"A young Stephen Hawking <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/14/a-young-stephen-hawking-would-never-survive-in-todays-age-of-austerity">would never have made it</a> in todayâs age of austerity."
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/mar/14/i-would-not-have-survived-nhs-enabled-stephen-hawking-to-live-long-life">"I would not have survived"</a>, he said, without the NHS (as it was).


feed_id: 65d598c7189daa89bc95a2d3b11a3236
title: Gina Haspel proving herself
uri: Gina-Haspel-proving-herself
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#16_March_2018_%28Gina_Haspel_proving_herself%29
content:
<p>
The Onion: <a href="https://politics.theonion.com/gina-haspel-recalls-having-to-torture-more-prisoners-th-1823740451">Gina Haspel Recalls</a> Having To Torture More Prisoners Than
Male Colleagues To Prove Herself.


feed_id: 05ddc6ddc125fe21c7900827d68ceace
title: Putin's motive
uri: Putin-s-motive
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#16_March_2018_%28Putin%27s_motive%29
content:
<p>
Speculation about <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/13/spy-poisoning-why-putin-may-have-engineered-gruesome-calling-card">why Putin found it useful</a> to murder a harmless person
in the UK.


feed_id: 6a80f236b7e41f6db864beca4c551120
title: Banning boycott
uri: Banning-boycott
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#16_March_2018_%28Banning_boycott%29
content:
<p>
<a href="http://mondoweiss.net/2018/03/universities-demanding-professors/">Some US universities demand</a> that students and/or visitors promise not
to support a boycott aimed at Israel.
<p>
Freedom of speech includes the freedom to support a boycott of any
institution.


feed_id: e7845a757d931b649c400794767306d3
title: Sheldon Adelson
uri: Sheldon-Adelson
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#16_March_2018_%28Sheldon_Adelson%29
content:
<p>
Right-wing billionaire Sheldon Adelson is <a href="https://972mag.com/for-new-adelson-funded-organization-anti-semitism-is-not-a-problem/133721/">happy to work with anti-semites</a>
as long as they support the Israeli state.


feed_id: c900cfd2d71adcaad62340680608fdb7
title: Motorola divestment
uri: Motorola-divestment
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#16_March_2018_%28Motorola_divestment%29
content:
<p>
A Danish pension fund will <a href="https://alethonews.wordpress.com/2018/03/07/danish-pension-giant-divests-from-motorola-over-ties-to-israeli-settlements/">divest from Motorola</a> because of its
links with the occupation of Palestine.


feed_id: b67129cc07683a1a8beda41817af15e3
title: Blankets for prisoners
uri: Blankets-for-prisoners
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#16_March_2018_%28Blankets_for_prisoners%29
content:
<p>
Israel won't allow Palestinian prisoners to <a href="http://imemc.org/article/report-palestinian-prisoners-suffering-from-extreme-cold-in-israeli-prisons/">have enough blankets</a>.
<p>
Imposing painful and dangerous cold or heat is one of the lesser forms
of torture that <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jan-apr.html#3_January_2017_(Torture_of_Palestinian_prisoners)">prison thugs often impose</a>, either from sadism or
by policy.


feed_id: 0104928933ac32ff18c2b9c1edd3d291
title: Palestinian medics attacked
uri: Palestinian-medics-attacked
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#16_March_2018_%28Palestinian_medics_attacked%29
content:
<p>
Israeli soldiers <a href="http://imemc.org/article/while-being-assaulted-by-soldiers-four-medics-rescue-wounded-palestinians-video/">attacked Palestinian medics</a> who were trying to
take wounded Palestinians to a hospital.


feed_id: 5d8e1af24a1adc330477d0883bd82b70
title: Nuclear weapon systems
uri: Nuclear-weapon-systems
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#16_March_2018_%28Nuclear_weapon_systems%29
content:
<p>
Being realistic about nuclear weapons means recognizing that complex
systems <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/13/false-alarms-and-nuclear-realism">do not always work as intended</a>.
<p>
Indeed, a complex system often has failure modes that nobody
anticipated, not even the designers, and that the people operating the
system were therefore <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jul-oct.html#31_July_2016_(Complexity_of_computer-based_systems)">never trained to deal with</a>.


feed_id: 0b5efc612d1219b5ac2740e8169e5302
title: Wall Street Giveaway
uri: Wall-Street-Giveaway
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#17_March_2018_%28Wall_Street_Giveaway%29
content:
<p><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/13/democrats-fooling-themselves-think-wall-street-giveaway-will-bolster-2018-chances">Democrats 'Fooling Themselves' to think Wall Street Giveaway Will Bolster 2018 Chances</a>. "The Democratic senators preparing to vote for this thing are either Wall Street toadies or complete political naifs."</p>
<p>Most of them are toadies. <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/13/24-million-reasons-dems-back-americas-worst-banks">They were paid 70 million dollars to do this</a>.</p>
<p>We need to make them lose a primary first rather than lose to a Republican later.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 0b0868380839d42d76228ce38712b036
title: ICE spokesperson quits agency
uri: ICE-spokesperson-quits-agency
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#17_March_2018_%28ICE_spokesperson_quits_agency%29
content:
<p> James Schwab <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/13/i-didnt-feel-fabricating-truth-ice-spokesperson-quits-over-agency-falsehoods">quit his job</a> for the US deportation thugs "because I didn't want to perpetuate misleading facts."</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: c651043597619a787642db7812e12f33
title: White house information suppression
uri: White-house-information-suppression
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#17_March_2018_%28White_house_information_suppression%29

content:
<p>"… the Trump administration isn't just sloppy with the facts. It has <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2018/03/13/report-information-suppression-part-trump-administration-effort-serve-corporate">engaged in a deliberate campaign to suppress information</a> that contradicts its corporate and ideological extremist agenda."</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 3ebb3deb73e3107846214b012e128d90
title: Urgent: Soviet Union chemical nerve agent
uri: Urgent-Soviet-Union-chemical-nerve-agent
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#16_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Soviet_Union_chemical_nerve_agent%29

content:
<p>The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/13/novichok-nerve-agents-russia-salisbury-spy">chemical attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal</a> was carried out with an unusual nerve gas developed in the Soviet Union in the 1970s.</p>
<p>Since the chemical structure is a secret, not many groups could have made it.</p>
<p>This is not yet conclusive proof that Russia carried out the attack, but does make it likely.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 17282b1c2354ae113380af00d1554cd4
title: Support Refugees, End Wars
uri: Support-Refugees-End-Wars
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#16_March_2018_%28Support_Refugees%2C_End_Wars%29
content:
<p>If We Want to Support Refugees, We Need To <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/13/if-we-want-support-refugees-we-need-end-wars-create-them">End the Wars That Create Them</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 65ba7aab425692b44eec1c31245529cf
title: Gun purchasing minimum age
uri: Gun-purchasing-minimum-age
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#16_March_2018_%28Gun_purchasing_minimum_age%29
content:
<p>Raising the minimum age for buying guns <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/reason/Articles/~3/MlIfKF8Zq7k/dont-deny-young-adults-the-right-to-arme">would not do much to prevent killings in schools</a>.</p>
<p><a href="/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#1_March_2018_(Banning_assault_weapons)">Banning high-powered rifles</a> like the AR-15 is useful because the wounds they cause are especially likely to be fatal.</p>
<p>Eliminating the loopholes in the background check system would prevent some killers from getting guns.</p>
<p>The Canadian system of gun control works pretty well; we could copy that.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 5990727c51386b475d3ed1eba979cc19
title: Biofuel Carbon Tax
uri: Biofuel-Carbon-Tax
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#16_March_2018_%28Biofuel_Carbon_Tax%29
content:
<p>To make biofuels part of the solution instead of part of the problem, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2018/mar/14/biofuels-can-help-solve-climate-change-especially-with-a-carbon-tax">we need a carbon tax</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 5ab0d9d917c12326f93c475beb734587
title: Lipinski Railsroads
uri: Lipinski-Railsroads
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#16_March_2018_%28Lipinski_Railsroads%29
content:
<p>Rep. Lipinski got hundreds of thousands of dollars <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/14/dan-lipinski-marie-newman-railroads/">for delaying an automatic train braking system</a> that would prevent some train crashes.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 35be1bcabeb0f9b6269c8308d9564954
title: Urgent: Favors for factory farms
uri: Urgent-Favors-for-factory-farms
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#17_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Favors_for_factory_farms%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://secure.foodandwateraction.org/act/tell-congress-no-more-favors-factory-farms">call on your congresscritter and senators</a> not to do more
favors for factory farms.


feed_id: 9cbaecdea3918bb171c8e4a7597fa674
title: Urgent: HUD's mission statement
uri: Urgent-HUD-s-mission-statement
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#17_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_HUD%27s_mission_statement%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="http://act.pfaw.org/sign/HUD-inclusive-language/">Call on the Housing Department</a> to preserve "inclusive" and
"free from discrimination" in its mission statement.


feed_id: 26d6b08d2bfc9c32ea43a75f333222c7
title: Reframing immigration
uri: Reframing-immigration
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#17_March_2018_%28Reframing_immigration%29
content:
<p>
The US deportation thugs "reframe immigration <a href="http://commonwonders.com/breaking-the-ice/">as a national security
issue</a>, which is to say, an exploitable source of national fear."
<a href="/glossary.html#bully">The bully</a> has turned it into a fount of hate and dehumanization.
<p>
We don't need such an agency, so let's get rid of it.


feed_id: 7a36a8919d7a15c9d5d005b85160c29b
title: American Petroleum Institute
uri: American-Petroleum-Institute
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#17_March_2018_%28American_Petroleum_Institute%29
content:
<p>
The American Petroleum Institute is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/15/50-years-climate-change-denial">proved guilty by its own
documents</a> of a conspiracy to destroy the Earth's climate.
<p>
This amounts to genocide, not of a specific race but of the human race
as a whole (as well as most other species).  It is the ultimate crime.
Thus, it is not just the American Petroleum Institute that should pay
for this.  All the individuals that knowingly participated should pay,
with a sentence of life in prison.


feed_id: 0688a12ffe3725212c3b96815e01828d
title: Recycling as a political act
uri: Recycling-as-a-political-act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#17_March_2018_%28Recycling_as_a_political_act%29
content:
<p>
"When fixing items is actively discouraged by manufacturers, recycling
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/15/can-we-fix-it-the-repair-cafes-waging-war-on-throwaway-culture">becomes a political act</a>."
<p>
Repair of digital devices demands free software.


feed_id: fb5cff995bef025337a03fa05d64cdfa
title: Chinese crackdown
uri: Chinese-crackdown
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#17_March_2018_%28Chinese_crackdown%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/15/chinese-crackdown-separates-pakistani-husbands-from-uighur-wives">Chinese Crackdown</a> Separates Pakistani Husbands from Uighur Wives.


feed_id: 36f49bd636221ab0caf9ca1a43320c62
title: Warren's proposed bill
uri: Warren-s-proposed-bill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#17_March_2018_%28Warren%27s_proposed_bill%29
content:
<p>
Senator Warren <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2018/03/14/tenth-anniversary-financial-crisis-warren-unveils-comprehensive-legislation-hold">proposed a bill</a> to cut off the ways bankster executives avoid
punishment for crimes.


feed_id: e0861aee9fbe82048fff7793fb100508
title: Doug Jones' supporters
uri: Doug-Jones-supporters
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#17_March_2018_%28Doug_Jones%27_supporters%29
content:
<p>
Doug Jones appealed to progressive Democrats for support, and tried to
appear as a progressive (he fooled me).  Now his supporters press
him <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/14/sen-doug-joness-grassroots-supporters-ask-him-to-withdraw-support-of-bank-deregulation-bill/">not to support bank deregulation</a>.


feed_id: 191259bce5031ffd9a42e3a593960e31
title: Source of nerve gas
uri: Source-of-nerve-gas
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#17_March_2018_%28Source_of_nerve_gas%29
content:
<p>
The nerve gas used to attack Sergei Skripal was produced <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/14/nerve-agent-novichok-produced-russia-site-expert">at only one
site in Russia</a>, as far as is known.


feed_id: a12715bd496bab395888fa84271fa8bb
title: Teacher fires gun
uri: Teacher-fires-gun
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#17_March_2018_%28Teacher_fires_gun%29
content:
<p>
Why not arm teachers?  A teacher just injured students by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/14/teacher-gun-safety-lesson-fires-injures-students-california">firing a gun
unintentionally</a> while teaching about "gun safety".


feed_id: e9cb00575f01586c259276987cf4ef88
title: Don Blankenship
uri: Don-Blankenship
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#17_March_2018_%28Don_Blankenship%29
content:
<p>
Don Blankenship's cost-cutting on safety killed 29 miners.  He spent a year
in prison for that crime.  Now he is <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/14/don-blankenship-dead-miners-humility-and-limits-free-speech-west-virginia">likely to become a senator</a>,
if Democrats nominate the corporatist Steve Mnuchin again.


feed_id: 6e3bd6ea1bed311a2ed5ca3c9443d857
title: White House aid fired
uri: White-House-aid-fired
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#17_March_2018_%28White_House_aid_fired%29
content:
<p>
The liar <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/13/1748668/-Trump-fires-Tillerson-aide-who-confirmed-that-Tillerson-was-only-told-of-his-firing-this-morning">fired the White House aide</a> who confirmed that the liar had
fired Tillerson on the spur of the moment, not based on an advance plan.


feed_id: a5e8cc857a8cfce09b5f0192ee282248
title: Pressure to marry
uri: Pressure-to-marry
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#17_March_2018_%28Pressure_to_marry%29
content:
<p>
In Missouri, teenagers are sometimes pressured into marriage
by a combination of <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/12/1748402/-Missouri-leads-the-U-S-in-child-marriage-as-some-15-year-old-girls-are-forced-to-marry-older-men">bad laws and bad religion</a>.
<p>
People of age 14 are adolescents, not children — let's not
infantilize teenagers.  If they want to have sex, that's normal; they
should.  But it is unreasonably young to get married.  However, just
prohibiting their marriage won't spare them the factors that pressure
them to do so.
<p>
The direct source of the problem is the lying law that redefines "rape"
arbitrarily to include voluntary sex.  This law put Heather Strawn in
the position where the only way to protect her boyfriend from prison
was to marry him.
<p>
However, religious interference with birth control and abortion are
also part of the cause.  No one of any age should ever "have to" get
married because of pregnancy: that's what abortion is for.  With
proper sex education and a good medical system, unwanted pregnancy
would hardly ever occur.
<p>
The patriarchal attitude towards women is also part of the cause,
but I don't need to explain that because the article does.


feed_id: acf49f6e2acf3d25866ab913208fb856
title: Talks by Israel parliament member
uri: Talks-by-Israel-parliament-member
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#17_March_2018_%28Talks_by_Israel_parliament_member%29

content:
<p>
Jewish Voice for Peace invited an Arab member of Israel's parliament
to give talks in the US about Israel's erosion of democracy.  Israel's
parliament has <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2018/03/14/israeli-lawmakers-ban-member-knesset-american-trip-funded-jewish-voice-peace">prohibited him from going</a>.


feed_id: 86f9e00658533af59567b1423d0bcdb8
title: Proud billionaire
uri: Proud-billionaire
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#17_March_2018_%28Proud_billionaire%29
content:
<p>
The Onion: Proud Billionaire Helps Young Son Open <a href="https://local.theonion.com/proud-billionaire-helps-young-son-open-first-offshore-b-1823747571">First Offshore Bank Account</a>.


feed_id: 0cfdf4835716060eecf0cbe0556b1c61
title: For-profit health system
uri: For-profit-health-system
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#17_March_2018_%28For-profit_health_system%29
content:
<p>
For-Profit System <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/13/profit-system-driving-health-costs-us-while-outcomes-remain-poor-study">Driving Up Health Costs</a> for US, While Outcomes Remain Poor.


feed_id: 8d54839d9648c6c7a7098e1e0ad2e46f
title: Cuts planned by Tories
uri: Cuts-planned-by-Tories
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#17_March_2018_%28Cuts_planned_by_Tories%29
content:
<p>
The Tories plan to hit poor Britons hard — single parents will <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/mar/14/austerity-will-have-cast-an-extra-15m-children-into-poverty-by-2021">face cuts
of 20%</a> in their income.
<p>
The Tories don't want to admit it, but <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/14/austerity-poor-disability-george-osborne-tories">all their cuts since 2010</a> have
focused on the poor.
<p>
With the further cuts, many will not be able to afford food, after
paying for child care so they can waste all day in the job center
making futile applications for jobs they won't be offered, and which
wouldn't pay enough to live on anyway.
<p>
The poor people of Britain might win better treatment if they <a href="media/64164a49.anuran-bevan.jpg" data-original-source="https://www.stallman.org/images/anuran-bevan.jpg">demand
it collectively</a> with audacious protests.


feed_id: bdfb5dd5634543b64e06ba2dee77fd72
title: Uber in London
uri: Uber-in-London
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Uber_in_London%29
content:
<p>
Uber seeks to convince London it is worth of operating there 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/15/uber-offers-to-share-journey-data-with-london-city-planners">
by giving the state more data.
</a>


feed_id: 703f66c604e86676aca1406a701dda0f
title: Treason or corruption?
uri: Treason-or-corruption
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Treason_or_corruption%3F%29
content:
<p>
Trump Organization
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/15/trump-organization-negotiated-with-sanctioned-russian-bank-in-2016">
"Negotiated with Sanctioned Russian Bank in 2016".
</a>
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/15/robert-mueller-trump-organization-russia-documents">
Is this treason or mere corruption?  Mueller is trying to find out the facts,
</a>
but if we knew all the facts,
we might still have trouble telling which.


feed_id: 335653d55ca1c537736dbccb90c296bb
title: Uber driver rape
uri: Uber-driver-rape
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Uber_driver_rape%29
content:
<p>
Uber imposes arbitration on customers
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/15/uber-class-action-lawsuit-sexual-assault-rape-arbitration">
for all complaints, including rape by drivers,
</a>
and this covers up the prevalence of the problem.
<p>
No company should be allowed to require its customers or its workers
(whether labeled "employee" or "independent contractors") to use
arbitration instead of going to court.


feed_id: eaf7437f113ccf6dc686b5a8e43abae8
title: Cheap renewable electricity
uri: Cheap-renewable-electricity
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Cheap_renewable_electricity%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/16/no-longer-alternative-mainstream-renewables-are-pushing-prices-down">
Renewable electricity in Australia has become so cheap and reliable
</a>
that
the planet-roaster government is having trouble convincing electric utilities
not to jump for it.


feed_id: 42213da73c1ff23cd23c0db12fceff2e
title: Urgent: Pass the Secure Elections Act
uri: Urgent-Pass-the-Secure-Elections-Act
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Pass_the_Secure_Elections_Act%29

content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://campaigns.organizefor.org/petitions/paper-ballot-back-up-to-preserve-valid-elections?rd=1&source=201839_meej_email&t=1005">
Call on Congress to pass the Secure Elections Act.
</a>


feed_id: fa996030c6106d06901c2f6a01c0d07a
title: Urgent: Reject Pompeo and Haspel.
uri: Urgent-Reject-Pompeo-and-Haspel
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Reject_Pompeo_and_Haspel.%29

content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://act.rootsaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=13310">
Call on your senators to reject Pompeo and Haspel.
</a>
<p>
To sign this without running nonfree Javascript code
you will need to use
<a href="https://stallman.org/salsalabs-method.html">
the Salsalabs workaround.
</a>


feed_id: 2a3feccb74a0899a98e5a642b73f1690
title: Shotguns for the homeless
uri: Shotguns-for-the-homeless
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Shotguns_for_the_homeless%29
content:
<p>
A US senate candidate proposes to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/15/us-senate-candidate-proposes-arming-homeless-people-with-shotguns">
give every homeless person
a shotgun for self-defense.
</a>
<p>
It's probably not a wise solution but it does respond to a real
problem, since homeless people often face violence and theft.
<p>
The candidate is running in
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#anti">
the Antisocialist party,
</a>
whose
main goal is a laissez-faire economy which would let businesses and
rich people trample the rest however they like.  As a side issue
they support human rights as well.


feed_id: 62693da3d63cbccec286b74ab5405b9e
title: Escaping from Eastern Ghouta
uri: Escaping-from-Eastern-Ghouta
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Escaping_from_Eastern_Ghouta%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/15/civilians-without-hope-a-leader-without-a-country-call-this-a-victory">
Civilians are escaping from eastern Ghouta into Assad's territory.
</a>
  For some, it means peace at last.  For some, it could mean prison,
torture, or execution.


feed_id: 92fe7ca7e8da3226c79c5b513408844d
title: Iraq war death toll estimate
uri: Iraq-war-death-toll-estimate
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Iraq_war_death_toll_estimate%29
content:
<p>
How many civilians were killed in Iraq by the fighting that Dubya started?
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/15/iraq-death-toll-15-years-after-us-invasion">
One statistical estimate is 2.4 million, plus or minus a million.
</a>
<p>
Dubya is criminally responsible for all of these deaths, since they
all result from his crime of aggressive war.
<p>
The US executed German and Japanese leaders for
<a href="http://stallman.org/archives/2004-may-aug.html#24 May 2004 (War Crimes Prosecution)">
the crime of aggressive war.
</a>
<a href="https://stallman.org/notes/2006-sep-dec.html#17 December 2006 (Executing prisoners in Florida)">
However, the death penalty is an injustice,
</a>
so Dubya should be sentenced to 2.4 million consecutive terms of life
imprisonment.


feed_id: 9afd07e6de216828fe982b5132ba3e8f
title: Russian murdered in London
uri: Russian-murdered-in-London
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Russian_murdered_in_London%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/14/russian-exiles-nikolai-glushkov-death-london-suspicious-friends-claim">
Another Russian was just apparently murdered in London, exiled
oligarch Nikolai Glushkov.
</a>
  It took place on the day he had an important court hearing, and was
set up to look like a suicide.
<p>
A Russian oligarch probably used dirty tricks to get his wealth, but
murder is not a solution to that.


feed_id: 4d28210f58f9445bee7767c9930fbe91
title: Senator Schumer
uri: 2018-03-20-Senator-Schumer
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Senator_Schumer%29
content:
<p>
Senator Schumer sets an example of weakness by
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/14/despite-torture-loving-pasts-schumer-not-pushing-democrats-oppose-pompeo-or-haspel">
not opposing Flunky
Pompeo or Torture Haspel.
</a>
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2018/03/15/chuck-schumer-blame-democratic-sell-out-big-bank-lobbyists">
He supported the bank deregulation act too.
</a>


feed_id: e31620a577789c4870d7c625fdcc5c75
title: Germany bans snooping phones
uri: Germany-bans-snooping-phones
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Germany_bans_snooping_phones%29
content:
<p>
Germany has banned the sale of phones that have
<a href="https://letgrow.org/germany-bans-sale-child-snooping-phones-dont/">
a feature to allow
someone else (typically a parent) to listen through them.
</a>
<p>
Bravo!  However, this is just the beginning of the requirements we
need.


feed_id: 7719e731b7c0b70f95ea1f3a3333fb6a
title: Putin's busy schedule
uri: Putin-s-busy-schedule
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Putin%27s_busy_schedule%29
content:
<p>
The Onion:
<a href="https://www.theonion.com/busy-schedule-forces-vladimir-putin-to-move-up-election-1823774805">
Putin had to advance his election victory a few days to fit
his busy schedule.
</a>


feed_id: b6f7a15101812e08a3e88c3fcd3fabdd
title: Protests against Hun Sen
uri: Protests-against-Hun-Sen
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Protests_against_Hun_Sen%29
content:
<p>
Hun Sen, who has suppressed human rights in Cambodia,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/mar/16/mafia-state-protesters-rally-against-cambodia-pm-hun-sens-visit-to-australia">
faced protests on
visiting Australia.
</a>


feed_id: 1349ba129af94b9020a37ac6fd292332
title: The Oxfam scandal
uri: The-Oxfam-scandal
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28The_Oxfam_scandal%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/2018/mar/16/government-donors-reward-honest-charities-oxfam">
The Oxfam Scandal Has Taught Us That There Is No Reward for Honest Charities.
</a>
<p>
I have never seen a clear explanation of why an Oxfam manager's hiring
prostitutes would have affected the work of Oxfam, and therefore why
it should be a scandal at all.


feed_id: 6f07c09a96b3a8609dbb7922905159d2
title: University education
uri: 2018-03-20-University-education
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28University_education%29
content:
<p>
As competition pressures more and more young adults to study in universities,
we have to wonder
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/16/university-degree-measure-benefits-tuition-fees">
to what extent this is worth the expense for society.
</a>
<p>
One good thing college courses can give people is the ability to think
critically about political questions and arguments.  I think that is a very important contribution -- look at all the people who believe in homeopathy, or
in demonizing the poor.
<p>
There is pressure on colleges to turn into professional schools, which
means they do less to teach critical thinking.  On the other hand, to
the extent that colleges do professional training, at least we know
what jobs they enable people to do.
<p>
It is possible that the competitive pressure results because there is
not enough work that society will pay people to do to keep everyone
busy from age 18, and this generates pressure to keep many people busy
as students until age 20 or 22.


feed_id: 53272f487df9ef9afa1cb2d7e2cb8035
title: Thug impunity guide
uri: Thug-impunity-guide
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Thug_impunity_guide%29
content:
<p>
The Onion explains, step by step,
<a href="https://www.theonion.com/how-police-officers-get-away-with-crimes-1823798171">
how thugs get away with killing people.
</a>


feed_id: 7f5057c7c4d4934c5f1abf6a6ff4ef76
title: The bank deregulation act
uri: The-bank-deregulation-act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28The_bank_deregulation_act%29
content:
<p>
The bank deregulation act will allow the biggest banks to do dangerous things
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2018/03/15/deregulating-wall-street-sets-stage-more-bailouts">
and get bailed out when that causes them to lose money.
</a>
<p>
The only way for a bank to get bailed out should be through nationalization.


feed_id: 54b360f1b60434a3e1e479a56cad75cd
title: Google and Facebook employees
uri: Google-and-Facebook-employees
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Google_and_Facebook_employees%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/16/silicon-valley-internal-work-spying-surveillance-leakers">
Google and Facebook repress employees that talk to the public about
working conditions
</a>
-- which is illegal.


feed_id: 860634ce9bdf81c01bb785e663321e08
title: Mediapart
uri: Mediapart
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Mediapart%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/16/how-pioneering-mediapart-has-set-the-french-news-agenda">
The French investigative journalism organization Mediapart dares to
investigate anyone for corruption.
</a>
With no sponsors and no advertisements,
it is funded only by readers.


feed_id: d77d61eb25c234bf054338402aa73132
title: 1840s Irish famine
uri: 1840s-Irish-famine
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%281840s_Irish_famine%29
content:
<p>
History textbooks in the US today do not explain that
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/16/real-irish-american-story-not-taught-schools">
the Irish famine of the 1840s was caused by exporting food
</a>
rather than allowing poor Irish people to eat it.


feed_id: 96b1f09c793b3c428ed08f2082bb27cf
title: Stubbornness of legal systems
uri: Stubbornness-of-legal-systems
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Stubbornness_of_legal_systems%29
content:
<p>
The stubbornness of some countries' legal systems verges on insanity.
Romania has decided that Constantin Reliu is dead,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/16/romanian-court-tells-man-he-is-not-alive">
and refuses to recognize he is alive.
</a>


feed_id: adef27fd707403dec9ad8740b8255178
title: The My Lai massacre
uri: The-My-Lai-massacre
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28The_My_Lai_massacre%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://reason.com/archives/2018/03/16/three-heroes-at-my-lai">
In 1968, three US soldiers ended the My Lai massacre.
</a>
They were ready
to shoot the murderous soldiers if necessary, to protect the Vietnamese
civilians that were still alive.
<p>
My father was disgusted when he learned of the My Lai massacre.  It
reminded him of Nazi behavior.  So he printed stickers (he owned a
printing company) with a list of the locations of a few well-known
German massacres in World War II, with My Lai added at the end.  This
was what first led me to think about the issue of war crimes.
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/16/50-years-later-what-can-we-learn-my-lai-massacre">
The US suffered a moral injury from committing the My Lai massacre
and then protecting the guilty.
</a>


feed_id: 0cf571c2457b2cc734c1b6151c707a81
title: Censorship creep
uri: Censorship-creep
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Censorship_creep%29
content:
<p>
Censorship Creep Is Setting In
<a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180313/08451839411/censorship-creep-is-setting-as-social-media-companies-try-to-stay-ahead-european-lawmakers.shtml">
As Social Media Companies Try To Stay 
Ahead Of European Lawmakers.
</a>


feed_id: de89911b115da9120abd68678d069a65
title: Berkeley spy tech law
uri: Berkeley-spy-tech-law
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Berkeley_spy_tech_law%29
content:
<p>
Berkeley, California, has passed a law requiring city departments
<a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/03/unanimous-support-berkeley-community-control-spy-tech">
to get explicit permission before installing any surveillance technology.
</a>


feed_id: 3d433afa82203a636be9b8ea136af092
title: Teachers with guns
uri: Teachers-with-guns
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Teachers_with_guns%29
content:
<p>
Students and teachers in Texas see danger, not safety,
<a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/43815-in-texas-teachers-and-students-already-pack-heat-in-classrooms-is-this-where-the-nation-is-headed">
in the idea of teachers with guns.
</a>
<p>
"School resource officers" is a bland disguise for
<a href="http://stallman.org/archives/2017-jan-apr.html#14_January_2017_(School_thug)">
thugs in the school
that will arrest students and ruin their lives.
</a>
						 If you want the
students to be safe, don't have any thiugs in the school.


feed_id: f97acc72f2bf0c03159d0f7b73525975
title: Fukishima exclusion area
uri: Fukishima-exclusion-area
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Fukishima_exclusion_area%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/16/is-fukushima-doomed-to-become-a-dumping-ground-for-toxic-waste">
Japan is likely to store lots of nuclear waste in the Fukishima
exclusion area.
</a>
<p>
It seems like a good idea to me.  Those wastes exist, and it would be
better to store them in a safer way.


feed_id: 89f4dcb8c5bc195ece3b18b5be39adef
title: The death of retirement
uri: The-death-of-retirement
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28The_death_of_retirement%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/16/death-retirement-striking-lecturers-pensions">
The Death of Retirement Is Looming -â And the Fallout Will Be Disastrous.
</a>
<p>
The article is about the UK, but the US has the same problem even
though the details are different.  The only reason for these changes
was to enrich the rich.
<p>
I don't intend ever to retire unless illness compels me to, but that's
because I have a mission rather than a job.  Most people don't have
such good fortune.


feed_id: c8e89d7c3a1bfe168de35492acf584cc
title: Neo-Nazis in Tennessee
uri: Neo-Nazis-in-Tennessee
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Neo-Nazis_in_Tennessee%29
content:
<p>
Tennessee Republicans would not allow even a discussion of
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/further/2018/03/15/gop-all-good-nazis">
a resolution to condemn the ideology of neo-Nazis.
</a>
It cuts too close to home.


feed_id: f95d30e6fd283be8fc681e94e3e2f214
title: Democrats and the Klan
uri: Democrats-and-the-Klan
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Democrats_and_the_Klan%29
content:
<p>
In the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan was influential in the Democratic and
Republican Parties.
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2018/03/15/how-social-media-spread-a-historical-lie/">
Modern manipulators exaggerate the former and cover up the latter.
</a>


feed_id: b04f7df540bfa1111fc93deb395483cb
title: Exhausted Mueller
uri: Exhausted-Mueller
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Exhausted_Mueller%29
content:
<p>
The Onion:
<a href="https://politics.theonion.com/exhausted-mueller-trying-to-find-trump-organization-rus-1823814584">
Exhausted Mueller Trying To Find Trump Organization Russia
Documents Amid Thousands Of Harassment Lawsuits.
</a>


feed_id: 061892a379f06a0ce4838fa85b1b05a8
title: Urgent: Demand DeVos' resignation
uri: Urgent-Demand-DeVos-resignation
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Demand_DeVos%27_resignation%29

content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://petitions.moveon.org/sign/betsy-devos-resign?rd=1&source=mo&t=1002">
Call on Saboteur of Education DeVos to resign.
</a>


feed_id: 7b90dc31ccf3cd268aaf29faeba7286b
title: Painting of Nusaybin
uri: Painting-of-Nusaybin
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Painting_of_Nusaybin%29
content:
<p>
Turkish artist Zehra DoÄan is in prison for
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/mar/16/banksy-mural-in-new-york-highlights-case-of-jailed-turkish-artist">
painting the way the city
of Nusaybin was damaged by ErdoÄan's civil war.
</a>


feed_id: e02c0ee9df5bbd6795688eabf5118da9
title: Disclosing CIA torture
uri: Disclosing-CIA-torture
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Disclosing_CIA_torture%29
content:
<p>
I Went to Prison for Disclosing CIA Torture.
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/16/i-went-prison-disclosing-cia-torture-gina-haspel-helped-cover-it">
Gina Haspel Helped Cover It Up.
</a>


feed_id: df535187f03b0cfb3484de5dd7361ae7
title: DeAndre Harris cleared
uri: DeAndre-Harris-cleared
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28DeAndre_Harris_cleared%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/16/charlottesville-deandre-harris-cleared-of-assault">
The absurd charges against DeAndre Harris have been dropped.
</a>
<p>
Now we need to find out why absurd charges were given so much credence that
they were allowed to hang over him for 8 months.


feed_id: 2a603480ac691798e3bb6ecb2136c273
title: Marielle Franco assassinated
uri: Marielle-Franco-assassinated
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Marielle_Franco_assassinated%29
content:
<p>
Brazilian human rights defender Marielle Franco, leader of Brazil's
Black Lives Matter movement, was apparently
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/16/marielle-franco-assassination-brazil-police-brutality/">
assassinated by Brazilian
federal thugs.
</a>
They kill thousands of people each year.


feed_id: 769d3fefc59f0dfda7dd6cfdd27981d4
title: Russian trolls
uri: Russian-trolls
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Russian_trolls%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://reason.com/reasontv/2018/03/16/5-reasons-not-to-feed-the-russian-troll">
Don't get hysterical about Russian trolls.
</a>
<p>
Russia's interference with the US election was a form of attack,
but the real problem is in our own social and technical system,
including weak education, fanaticism, and the social networks that
magnify right-wing fake news whether its authors are Americans or not.


feed_id: 6709ed5fdd55e1c1d7aa8cbd026a2e48
title: Post-Harvey reconstruction
uri: Post-Harvey-reconstruction
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Post-Harvey_reconstruction%29
content:
<p>
Amid Rampant Wage Theft in Post-Harvey Reconstruction,
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/16/hurricane-harvey-disaster-recovery-wage-theft/">
Immigrant
Workers Take on Disaster Recovery Giant -â and Win.
</a>


feed_id: a5f0cb616cf34d12956da6728539e5ff
title: Afrin besieged
uri: Afrin-besieged
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Afrin_besieged%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/16/turkey-claims-to-have-encircled-afrin-besieging-up-to-200000">
Turkey is besieging the Afrin enclave.
</a>
<p>
I don't expect ErdoÄan to be any less cruel towards "enemy" civilians
than Assad.
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jul-oct.html#31_August_2016_(Erdogan_crushing_civil_liberties)">
And for ErdoÄan, every Kurd is an enemy by definition.
</a>


feed_id: aee97cf5fe39edaabf9be067c1a4f8cc
title: Suu Kyi could be prosecuted
uri: Suu-Kyi-could-be-prosecuted
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Suu_Kyi_could_be_prosecuted%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/17/aung-san-suu-kyi-faces-prosecution-for-crimes-against-humanity">
Aung San Suu Kyi could be prosecuted in Australia
</a>
for crimes against humanity; specifically, against the Rohingya.


feed_id: deb0fe4071c2e59dc189834e4b067b5c
title: Urgent: Denying medical care
uri: Urgent-Denying-medical-care
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Denying_medical_care%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/hhs_women_lgbtq">oppose Republican plans</a> to let doctors and hospitals deny
medical care for religious reasons.
<p>
If you don't want to do abortions or prescribe birth control,
become a gerontologist or a pediatrician.


feed_id: 2bbc0995b35b5658e29585905e718c3f
title: Urgent: Pompeo and Haspel
uri: Urgent-Pompeo-and-Haspel
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Pompeo_and_Haspel%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="http://act.democracyforamerica.com/sign/trump-torture-nominees/">call on the Senate</a> to reject Pompeo and Haspel.


feed_id: 0d845de6c5e7873bfb7dacb8aa0d2db3
title: Think tanks and media on Iran
uri: Think-tanks-and-media-on-Iran
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Think_tanks_and_media_on_Iran%29
content:
<p>
US think tanks and mainstream media <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/17/new-york-times-iran-israel-washington-think-tanks/">work to discourage Americans from
understanding</a> the reasons why Iran fears a surprise attack by the US.
<p>
Regarding one side point: I am unwilling to grant Assad's tyranny more
legitimacy than the Syrian Kurdish state, in drawing any moral
conclusions.


feed_id: afb0db58133d6758bf21ea802061b2e5
title: Cambridge Analytica
uri: Cambridge-Analytica
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Cambridge_Analytica%29
content:
<p>
Cambridge Analytica <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/17/facebook-cambridge-analytica-kogan-data-algorithm">collected data about 50 million useds of Facebook</a>
and used them in violation of Facebook's rules, and perhaps in
violation of British data protection law.
<p>
Rules are frequently broken; therefore, any organization that collects
personal data which then are misused cannot excuse itself by saying
"That was against our rules".


feed_id: b993e93f4b7bedd58b6a0c999198a3d0
title: Anti-deportation protesters
uri: Anti-deportation-protesters
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Anti-deportation_protesters%29
content:
<p>
UK anti-deportation protesters blocked a flight which was going to
deport some people before their appeals had been heard.  They are now faced
with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/16/anti-deportation-activists-trial-facing-potential-life-sentences-stansted">possible life imprisonment</a> for daring to protect people's legal rights
from a lawless state.


feed_id: 88be85f132122cf7dc2567a15726f247
title: NRA and Russian funds
uri: NRA-and-Russian-funds
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28NRA_and_Russian_funds%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#scrotus">SCROTUS</a>
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/16/1749472/-NRA-attorney-who-Democrats-wanted-to-testify-had-concerns-about-NRA-s-pipeline-to-Russian-funds">blocked investigation</a> of whether the NRA transferred Russian
funds to the <a href="/glossary.html#bully">bully</a>'s campaign.


feed_id: ccb4a0c834e5afd3d66100725a1506f9
title: Rallies and violent crime
uri: Rallies-and-violent-crime
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Rallies_and_violent_crime%29
content:
<p>
Cities where the bully held campaign rallies experienced a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/16/study-details-link-between-trumps-aggressive-rhetoric-campaign-rallies-and-increased">temporary
increase in violent crime</a>.


feed_id: 67da92fd6ea163d9d23f07315c591249
title: Punished for protest
uri: Punished-for-protest
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Punished_for_protest%29
content:
<p>
3 students at a school in right-wing Arkansas joined the student protest
for gun control, and were <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/teens-face-corporal-punishment-in-rural-arkansas-for-participating-in-student-walkout">punished with a spanking</a>.
<p>
I admire their courage, but I believe that if they had thought it
through they would have refused to choose between the two punishments
they were "offered".  Also, I think they made a mistake when they
forgave the school officials on the ground that they were only
following orders, because that's no excuse.


feed_id: 94bf8a39db64ceb5498836e8c4dcf9bb
title: Study on scientific papers
uri: Study-on-scientific-papers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Study_on_scientific_papers%29
content:
<p>
A scientific study about published scientific papers found that
the edited, paywalled version of a paper had <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180308/03225939387/research-shows-that-published-versions-papers-costly-academic-titles-add-almost-nothing-to-freely-available-preprints-they-are.shtml">no significant improvement</a>
over the libre preprint version in arxiv.org.
<p>
It's too bad that this article uses the <a href="https://stallman.org/articles/free-scientific-publishing.html">philosophically weak term "open"</a>
rather "free (libre)".


feed_id: ce0fc6a5b8e15703925d643fdca63c73
title: Handouts for internet/cable companies
uri: Handouts-for-internet-cable-companies
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Handouts_for_internet%252Fcable_companies%29

content:
<p>
The internet/cable companies get handouts of <a href="https://boingboing.net/2018/03/16/5-gigabucks-a-year.html">billions of dollars a
year</a> through state laws written to favor them.


feed_id: d3b7d38f9a411d3bee756c445ae840c1
title: 'curing' homosexuality
uri: curing-homosexuality
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28%27curing%27_homosexuality%29
content:
<p>
Melvyn Iscove, psychiatrist, said he could "cure" homosexuality.
He did this by <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/03/09/psychiatrist-who-treated-patients-for-their-homosexuality-had-sex-with-male-patients-in-his-office.html">having sex with the patients</a>.


feed_id: e214a0a6ce34a47da0366940e937e34a
title: Jaywalking
uri: Jaywalking
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Jaywalking%29
content:
<p>
There is no reason for jaywalking to be illegal, and the prohibition
provides an <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/147396/case-jaywalking-laws">excuse for attacking blacks</a>.


feed_id: 77ad4ee3cb3c7e5c90cc96ca4cf595f1
title: Phosphorus fertilizer
uri: Phosphorus-fertilizer
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Phosphorus_fertilizer%29
content:
<p>
If we keep using phosphorus fertilizer wastefully, we will run out, perhaps
in a few decades.  Then we will <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-great-phosphorus-shortage-could-leave-us-all-hungry-54432">face a food shortage</a>.


feed_id: c46e4487d4cd5b25c37f427ae0f87d90
title: Reprisals against McCabe
uri: Reprisals-against-McCabe
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Reprisals_against_McCabe%29
content:
<p>
Andrew McCabe <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/17/mccabe-fired-sessions-then-fires-right-back-trump">describes the political reasons</a> for the bully's reprisals
against him.


feed_id: b447fec37988b594449d80cc1bb11e10
title: Election observers in Russia
uri: Election-observers-in-Russia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Election_observers_in_Russia%29
content:
<p>
Putin is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/17/russian-police-put-the-squeeze-on-election-observers-before-vote)">cracking down on election observers</a>.
<p>
Since he has made himself very popular through control of the media,
he would win even an honest election.  So why do this?
<p>
I think he dislikes the idea that there is anything in Russia he does
not control.


feed_id: 7b76f0616f95f7606426e6298b7b3944
title: 2nd Amendment and gun control
uri: 2nd-Amendment-and-gun-control
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%282nd_Amendment_and_gun_control%29
content:
<p>
Why the US Second Amendment <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/17/second-amendment-nra-corey-brettschneider">permits gun control</a>.


feed_id: 51f0464089d6ebd537477d3b62112ab1
title: Firing Andrew McCabe
uri: Firing-Andrew-McCabe
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Firing_Andrew_McCabe%29
content:
<p>
In a vindictive and nasty measure, the <a href="/glossary.html#bully">bully</a> had FBI official Andrew
McCabe fired <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/16/andrew-mccabe-former-fbi-director-fired-russia-inquiry">one day before he was going to retire</a>.
<p>
The nastiness is that this denies him a pension.  The vindictiveness
is that there couldn't be any valid reason to do anything to remove
him one day earlier.
<p>
I will not assume that an FBI official is a hero, or even that he
isn't a criminal.  There might be a valid reason why an honest
president might want him out.  But there can't be a valid reason to
fire him a day before his retirement.


feed_id: 2cc950ae8e0c466344ba24cccc3bd895
title: Oxfam employee
uri: Oxfam-employee
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Oxfam_employee%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/17/oxfam-kept-aid-worker-on-in-haiti-despite-sex-harassment-claims">More artificial "scandal"</a> about Oxfam.
<p>
An employee, Mutiku, was accused of sexual harassment, but was not
fired.  Assuming the allegations were true, whether they required
firing him would depend on the details, which are not stated.  In some
situations it would be enough if he promised not to repeat whatever it
was.  In other situations, that would not be enough.  We have no basis
to try to judge the question.
<p>
The article then said that he was later fired for hiring prostitutes.
Why should anyone be fired from any job for that?  The article simply
takes for granted that it is a horrible wrong.
<p>
Then the article connects the two by saying that the decision not to
fire Mutiku was taken by a manager who was later fired for
hiring prostitutes. 
<p>
If we had reason to think the decision was wrong, we might suspect
that that manager was inclined to go easy on sexual harassment.  We
might then wonder whether that was somehow related to his practice of
hiring prostitutes.
<p>
But since we don't know what the alleged harassment consisted of, we
don't know enough to begin to consider whether the decision was right
or wrong, and we don't have anything to try to link to anything else.
<p>
Ultimately, the article is just an attempt to throw random dirt
at people for hiring sex workers.


feed_id: b72a7d12fbf3864271f001c0634f62ce
title: Israel and Iran
uri: Israel-and-Iran
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Israel_and_Iran%29
content:
<p>
Uri Avnery: <a href="http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1521232845/">There is no reason</a> for Israel and Iran to be enemies,
except for the occupation of Palestine.


feed_id: 00a053efe53bb95f9d67e81c2b6bb615
title: Who owns America
uri: Who-owns-America
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Who_owns_America%29
content:
<p>
Sanders: "<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/16/because-corporate-media-ignores-rise-oligarchy-sanders-says-rest-us-must-fill-void">We need to ask the hard questions</a> that the corporate media
fails to ask: who owns America, and who has the political power? Why,
in the richest country in the history of the world are so many
Americans living in poverty?"


feed_id: 2d78cf0df956fc1e95dbe79281f662af
title: No app store for Iranians
uri: No-app-store-for-Iranians
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28No_app_store_for_Iranians%29
content:
<p>
Apple <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2018/03/16/apples-shut-down-iranians-disturbing-trend-us-government-must-reverse">cut off access to the app store</a> for Iranian users of iMonsters.
<p>
The underlying wrong here is that Apple gave itself censorship power
over everyone that uses those computers — power that we should not
allow anyone to have.
<p>
20 years ago, if you bought a computer, you could install whatever
software you chose to install.  You didn't have to tell the
manufacturer what software you installed.  You didn't have to say
what country you were in.  You didn't have to make an account
on the manufacturer's server.  Indeed, you did not need to
communicate with the manufacturer at all, ever.
<p>
That changed when Apple convinced millions of otherwise-sensible
people to accept computers that gave Apple censorship power over
installation of software in them.  Somehow they thought it was more
important for a computer to have an elegant "cool" appearance than to
respect their freedom and treat them decently.  This was a terrible
setback for freedom in use of computers.
<p>
Apple mostly uses its censorship power for its own motives, but
occasionally does it for various governments.  Apple censors
applications for users in China at the command of the repressive
Chinese government, and censors applications for users in Iran at the
command of the belligerent US government.  Both of these governments
are abusing their power, but what gives them that power?  Apple does.
So does Microsoft, which followed the path Apple had pioneered.
<p>
Censorship is just one of the malicious functionalities you are
likely to find in software that's not free.  For hundreds of
documented examples, see <a href="https://gnu.org/malware/">https://gnu.org/malware/</a>.
<p>
The way to have freedom in your computing is with freedom-respecting
<em>free software</em>.  A nonfree program puts anyone that uses it under the
power of its owner.  To have freedom, you need to escape from this.
See <a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html">https://gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html</a>.
<p>
We in the free software movement have been working since 1984 to
build the place for you to escape to.  Please help us do it!
See <a href="https://gnu.org/help">https://gnu.org/help</a>.


feed_id: 96d16c14bd234a3efa1f68ca026e2994
title: Chief of Staff calls meeting
uri: Chief-of-Staff-calls-meeting
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Chief_of_Staff_calls_meeting%29
content:
<p>
Not the Onion: Trump Chief of Staff Calls Meeting to Insist <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/16/trump-john-kelly-hr-mcmaster-white-house">No One Is
About to Be Fired</a>.


feed_id: 62f0f41b5047ea2894dbe92bcf58b6f5
title: Indonesian province researches capital punishment
uri: Indonesian-province-researches-capital-punishment
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Indonesian_province_researches_capital_punishment%29

content:
<p> Aceh, the province of Indonesia dominated by Islamists, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/14/indonesian-province-aceh-considers-beheading-as-punishment">wants to start beheading people</a>.</p>
<p>The reason for this, I think, is to stir up Islamist forces in the rest of Indonesia.</p>
<p>Indonesia would be better off if it had expelled Aceh as a separate country 20 years ago. Perhaps it is not too late.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: f0b6d2f353e5d4e996a8f5f16b638d83
title: Netherlands euthanasia legalization
uri: Netherlands-euthanasia-legalization
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Netherlands_euthanasia_legalization%29

content:
<p> Legalized euthanasia in the Netherlands <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/mar/17/assisted-dying-euthanasia-netherlands">is working out well</a>, raising moral issues only for a few edge cases.</p>
<p>I think Ms. Brouwers deserved the right to die. Safeguards are needed for people who aren't sure, who might plausibly in the foreseeable future be glad to be alive, if they were not allowed euthanasia. But that was not at all likely in her case.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 79b56fce6e75ee3e41cbab4a88a719de
title: The Onion, Clinton deploys vowels
uri: The-Onion-Clinton-deploys-vowels
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28The_Onion%2C_Clinton_deploys_vowels%29

content:
<p> The Onion, from the 1990s: <a href="http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~beatrice/humor/clinton-deploys-vowels.html">Clinton Deploys Vowels to Bosnia</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: c2643ab6159d232be32deb5cc691face
title: Britain speech censorship
uri: Britain-speech-censorship
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Britain_speech_censorship%29
content:
<p>Even odious racist views <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/18/far-right-activists-barred-britain-state-speech">must not be censored by the state</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: f2aed3198c0256ddcdad4c4582846654
title: DeAndre Harris
uri: 2018-03-21-DeAndre-Harris
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28DeAndre_Harris%29
content:
<p> The <a href="http://www.starexponent.com/news/grand-jury-indicts-fields-others-on-charges-related-to-unite/article_ac3c4336-3385-5cdf-95ae-2cd2f16927d2.html">absurd charges against DeAndre Harris explained</a>: it appears that one of the right-wingers saw Harris hit a flagpole which another right-winger was using as a weapon, and claimed Harris he was trying to attack that person.</p>
<p>Even if Harris had been trying to hit that right winger, while the latter was attacking people with a pole, it would have been justified to protect them.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 2397f34d60ac22828c9089f7604e4605
title: Trump abstinence-only sex education
uri: Trump-abstinence-only-sex-education
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Trump_abstinence-only_sex_education%29

content:
<p> The saboteur is bringing back abstinence-only "sex education", <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/14/trump-lies-abstinence-only-sex-education">which turns out to be a pile of lies</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 9cd4166a4612252e9bc25d0bb80fff1c
title: Campus free speech
uri: 2018-03-21-Campus-free-speech
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Campus_free_speech%29
content:
<p> Some US politicians defend free speech for right-wingers <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/14/campus-free-speech-bds-israel-boycott/">but not for those who criticize Israel's occupation of Palestine</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 470c2aa42e937f02835fd9dbe0b8d49a
title: Forest species loss projections
uri: Forest-species-loss-projections
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Forest_species_loss_projections%29
content:
<p> With the global heating projected if we don't act, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/14/worlds-great-forests-could-lose-half-of-all-wildlife-as-planet-warms-report">Earth's principal forests are projected to lose half their species</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: e2b93201acc29dddee29d09ab92f37c3
title: Urgent: Right to protest
uri: Urgent-Right-to-protest
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Right_to_protest%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/dont-let-state-governments-criminalize-free-speech-and-protest/">call on state governors</a> to protect the right to protest.


feed_id: ac726c776ec0deb4b4a4e18387a06ccf
title: Urgent: Starbucks recycling
uri: Urgent-Starbucks-recycling
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Starbucks_recycling%29
content:
<p>
Everyone: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/starbucks-plastic">Call on Starbucks</a> to increase its commitment to plastic recycling.


feed_id: fe4fc825d89bf9bb2fe697c7fc6702b6
title: Assassination squads
uri: Assassination-squads
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Assassination_squads%29
content:
<p>
Leaks say that the bully and Pompeo have <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/16/1749442/-Never-implemented-CIA-hit-squad-program-that-Obama-shut-down-reportedly-resurrected-by-Trump">resumed using CIA
assassination squads</a>, as in Vietnam in the 1960s.


feed_id: ec6149eaf868933ef033e68b799770c9
title: Contact with Taiwan officials
uri: Contact-with-Taiwan-officials
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Contact_with_Taiwan_officials%29
content:
<p>
The US Congress has adopted a law to openly encourage contact with
officials of ally Taiwan.  China thinks the US has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/18/china-urges-us-to-correct-mistake-on-taiwan">no right to do this</a>.
<p>
In the 1970s, China was a valuable ally against the Soviet Union.  Now
that China is powerful, it tries to <a href="/glossary.html#bully">bully</a> other countries about this,
while beginning military expansion in the South China Sea.  At the
same time, it is becoming ever more oppressive.  I think it is good to
show tyrant Xi that there are limits to how much he can get other
countries to kowtow.


feed_id: 90ca8b85f1682e313b92ec348b5a6a71
title: Whites can pay extra
uri: Whites-can-pay-extra
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Whites_can_pay_extra%29
content:
<p>
A New Orleans restaurant <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/18/new-orleans-chef-food-experiment-black-white-pay-more">invites white customers to pay extra</a>,
optionally, to illustrate the income disparity between white
inhabitants and black inhabitants.
<p>
I might give some money on the strength of this disparity, to a
campaign for equality.  However, I don't think I would donate to a
business.  So I would suggest that the restaurant offer to give the
extra $18 to a worthy anti-racist campaign.


feed_id: 100a11f12286a977405490a88968c1f9
title: Oil pipeline protest
uri: Oil-pipeline-protest
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Oil_pipeline_protest%29
content:
<p>
10,000 people protested in Canada against expanding an oil pipeline.
Now indigenous people have <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/17/we-must-protect-water-indigenous-leaders-stage-sit-protest-kinder-morgan-pipeline">held a sit-in</a>.
This campaign will not give up.


feed_id: c02fc5691f1a6bb6df986f927970c528
title: Aluminum factory
uri: Aluminum-factory
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Aluminum_factory%29
content:
<p>
Pollution, Illness, Threats And Murder — perhaps related by an
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/16/brazil-pollution-amazon-aluminium-plant-norwegian">aluminum factory in Brazil</a>.


feed_id: 3c72d157a0f9b358d0cd2c33ab5a7f35
title: Defending the Kurds
uri: Defending-the-Kurds
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Defending_the_Kurds%29
content:
<p>
Somehow, we must defend the Kurds of Afrin and Syria against the
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/16/turkey-democracy-kurdish-afrin-britain-syria-arming">Islamist tyranny of ErdoÄan</a>,
but how?


feed_id: 88ed99b2a086279aaeac711254f30793
title: Predictive policing
uri: 2018-03-21-Predictive-policing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Predictive_policing%29
content:
<p>
New Orleans Program Offers Lessons In <a href="https://www.aclu.org/blog/new-orleans-program-offers-lessons-pitfalls-predictive-policing">Pitfalls Of Predictive Policing</a>.


feed_id: f3901f77d1cb59231364126aed95e192
title: Crises of liberal democracy
uri: Crises-of-liberal-democracy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Crises_of_liberal_democracy%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/17/the-three-crises-of-liberal-democracy">The Three Crises</a> of Liberal Democracy.


feed_id: 8062b5d7135c135ccd565f0bd5cf9469
title: Fighting neo-Nazi organizers
uri: Fighting-neo-Nazi-organizers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Fighting_neo-Nazi_organizers%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/17/richard-spencer-college-tour-antifa-alt-right/">Arguing that</a> physically fighting neo-Nazi organizers is an effective
tactic in the US.
<p>
I can't say that is absolutely impossible, but I don't think Spencer's
decision proves it is effective.  The <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-nov-feb.html#22_February_2018_(Nazi_Party's_strategy)">example of German Nazis</a>
teaches a lesson that wasn't invented for political reasons.
<p>
There is also the moral question: is violence against neo-Nazi rallies
justified?  I don't think it is justified when they don't engage in
violence.


feed_id: e7afb3850b842b57d3b6372ce0af439e
title: Geotagging social media photos
uri: Geotagging-social-media-photos
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Geotagging_social_media_photos%29
content:
<p>
US Spy Lab Hopes to <a href="https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2018/03/us-spy-lab-hopes-to-geotag-every-outdoor-photo-on-social-media/">Geotag Every Outdoor Photo</a> on Social Media.
<p>
I think I had better start asking people who take photos of me
not to post them on social media.


feed_id: a73c0732117b26d1749ce4f9d90c8203
title: US political satire
uri: US-political-satire
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28US_political_satire%29
content:
<p>
US political satire <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/17/the-hilarious-terrifying-british-death-of-stalin-shows-how-american-comedys-gone-wrong/">focuses on individuals</a> and their excesses.
Thus, the system which selects those people goes uncriticized.


feed_id: ceae84deb34912ff6b8707ce0ed51d17
title: Trying to shut down Mueller
uri: Trying-to-shut-down-Mueller
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Trying_to_shut_down_Mueller%29
content:
<p>
The bully is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/17/donald-trump-lawyer-andrew-mccabe-fbi-fired-brennan">trying to shut down</a> Mueller's investigation.


feed_id: 7ecaef3821d32cd3d3e6561d3371c3ec
title: US war crimes in Vietnam
uri: US-war-crimes-in-Vietnam
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28US_war_crimes_in_Vietnam%29
content:
<p>
US war crimes in Vietnam were not limited to aberrations of soldiers
having nervous breakdowns.  Some of them were <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/17/have-we-learned-anything-my-lai">built into the
orders</a> issued by the high command.
<p>
It's not too late to put them on trial for these crimes.


feed_id: c48487305bbd209e4b6a6a43e641cced
title: Global heating projects
uri: Global-heating-projects
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Global_heating_projects%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/18/billion-dollar-polar-geoengineering-to-slow-melting-glaciers-global-flooding">Expensive geoengineering projects</a> are proposed to keep polar ice sheets cool
and save coastal lands from inundation.
<p>
If we're going to geoengineering specifically to counter heating, we
might as well use the atmospheric methods.
<p>
But even if we cancel out <a href="/glossary.html#global heating">global heating</a>, that won't protect the
oceans from mass extinction.  CO2 doesn't just heat up the ecosphere;
it also dissolves in the water making it more acidic.  In a few
decades, all coral will simply <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2009-mar-jun.html#11%20March%202009%20(Atmospheric%20CO2%20to%20make%20oceans%20acidic)">dissolve in the acid</a>, and the thousands
of species that depend on coral reefs will have nowhere to go.
<p>
Some fish have been observed to <a href="https://stallman.org/notes/2014-jan-apr.html#14_April_2014_(Emboldened_by_chemistry)">engage in dangerous behaviors</a>, likely
to get them eaten, in elevated levels of CO2.
And it appears that rising
CO2 levels are <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2015-mar-jun.html#19_May_2015_(Global_Heating)">causing grain yields to fall</a>, globally.
<p>
So even with a way to get rid of the heat, we still urgently need to
stop burning so much fossil fuel.  And as a way to reduce future
heating, it's probably also cheaper.


feed_id: ecc0d737ee92a36de33808c6fa395363
title: Withdrawal from ICC
uri: Withdrawal-from-ICC
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Withdrawal_from_ICC%29
content:
<p>
President Do-dirty of the Philippines says he will <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/14/rodrigo-duterte-to-pull-philippines-out-of-international-criminal-court-icc">withdraw that country
from the International Criminal Court</a>.
He cited various pretexts, but it is clear that they are <a href="/glossary.html#trumpery">trumpery</a>.
His real reason is that he knows he is guilty of mass murder and wants
to ensure that no court can try him.
<p>
Formally, the withdrawal will not affect criminal investigations that
start within the coming year, but we can guess what Do-dirty will do
about those.  Perhaps imprison any UN personnel that are in the
Philippines, or perhaps simply not allow them to enter.
<p>
The Philippines will join the list of criminal countries headed by
Russia <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2006-jan-apr.html#06%20January%202006%20(Pressure%20and%20bribes)">and the United States</a>.


feed_id: 85fbe32a5be6daa6e4f80d0f2f857185
title: Shotguns for the homeless
uri: 2018-03-21-Shotguns-for-the-homeless
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Shotguns_for_the_homeless%29
content:
<p>
A US senate candidate proposes to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/15/us-senate-candidate-proposes-arming-homeless-people-with-shotguns">
give every homeless person
a shotgun for self-defense.
</a>
<p>
It's probably not a wise solution but it does respond to a real
problem, since homeless people often face violence and theft.
<p>
The candidate is running in
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#anti">
the <a href="/glossary.html#anti">Antisocialist</a> party,
</a>
whose
main goal is a laissez-faire economy which would let businesses and
rich people trample the rest however they like.  As a side issue
they support human rights as well.


feed_id: 7a053fe7a4cda404833559bc6832a385
title: Iraq war death toll estimate
uri: 2018-03-21-Iraq-war-death-toll-estimate
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Iraq_war_death_toll_estimate%29
content:
<p>
How many civilians were killed in Iraq by the fighting that <a href="/glossary.html#dubya">Dubya</a> started?
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/15/iraq-death-toll-15-years-after-us-invasion">
One statistical estimate is 2.4 million, plus or minus a million.
</a>
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#dubya">Dubya</a> is criminally responsible for all of these deaths, since they
all result from his crime of aggressive war.
<p>
The US executed German and Japanese leaders for
<a href="http://stallman.org/archives/2004-may-aug.html#24 May 2004 (War Crimes Prosecution)">
the crime of aggressive war.
</a>
<a href="https://stallman.org/notes/2006-sep-dec.html#17 December 2006 (Executing prisoners in Florida)">
However, the death penalty is an injustice,
</a>
so <a href="/glossary.html#dubya">Dubya</a> should be sentenced to 2.4 million consecutive terms of life
imprisonment.


feed_id: 67de8a3e857d859c5e12bf1bbad20338
title: Thug impunity guide
uri: 2018-03-21-Thug-impunity-guide
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#19_March_2018_%28Thug_impunity_guide%29
content:
<p>
The Onion explains, step by step,
<a href="https://www.theonion.com/how-police-officers-get-away-with-crimes-1823798171">
how <a href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> get away with killing people.
</a>


feed_id: 9d4e3bd7560529086dec39331ff7373e
title: Teachers with guns
uri: 2018-03-21-Teachers-with-guns
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Teachers_with_guns%29
content:
<p>
Students and teachers in Texas see danger, not safety,
<a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/43815-in-texas-teachers-and-students-already-pack-heat-in-classrooms-is-this-where-the-nation-is-headed">
in the idea of teachers with guns.
</a>
<p>
"School resource officers" is a bland disguise for
<a href="http://stallman.org/archives/2017-jan-apr.html#14_January_2017_(School_thug)">
<a href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> in the school
that will arrest students and ruin their lives.
</a>
						 If you want the
students to be safe, don't have any thiugs in the school.


feed_id: b6728dedcff5aabc785684f89ad369a9
title: Urgent: Demand DeVos' resignation
uri: 2018-03-21-Urgent-Demand-DeVos-resignation
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Demand_DeVos%27_resignation%29

content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://petitions.moveon.org/sign/betsy-devos-resign?rd=1&source=mo&t=1002">
Call on <a href="/glossary.html#saboteur">Saboteur</a> of Education DeVos to resign.
</a>


feed_id: 3bf6a9615f3e896f24db8efef0ba9704
title: Marielle Franco assassinated
uri: 2018-03-21-Marielle-Franco-assassinated
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#20_March_2018_%28Marielle_Franco_assassinated%29
content:
<p>
Brazilian human rights defender Marielle Franco, leader of Brazil's
Black Lives Matter movement, was apparently
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/16/marielle-franco-assassination-brazil-police-brutality/">
assassinated by Brazilian
federal <a href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a>.
</a>
They kill thousands of people each year.


feed_id: 66ac3c60a23dd03e7e22bff88363c2cd
title: Very urgent: CLOUD Act
uri: Very-urgent-CLOUD-Act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#21_March_2018_%28Very_urgent%3A_CLOUD_Act%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: phone your senators and congresscritter to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/19/insidious-and-dangerous-digital-privacy-groups-issue-urgent-warning-over-cloud-act">oppose the
"CLOUD Act"</a>. The Capitol Switchboard
numbers are 202-224-3121, 888-818-6641 and 888-355-3588.</p>
<p>
Any reference to "cloud computing" is clouding something.


feed_id: ef26a4722d35b4c58d8d500bf73c2955
title: Infiltrating Greenpeace
uri: Infiltrating-Greenpeace
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#21_March_2018_%28Infiltrating_Greenpeace%29
content:
<p>
The UK keeps the <a href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> that infiltrated Greenpeace secret, supposedly
to protect them from Greenpeace.  Another undercover <a href="/glossary.html#thug">thug</a>, that
infiltrated real criminal gangs, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/19/spycops-undercover-police-greenpeace-anonymity-spycops-inquiry">says that's absurd</a>.


feed_id: cd28d5b14518a7de66f9b800e4821e1e
title: Kushner's company's false papers
uri: Kushner-s-company-s-false-papers
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#21_March_2018_%28Kushner%27s_company%27s_false_papers%29

content:
<p>
Jared Kushner's company <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/18/jared-kushners-company-routinely-filed-false-new-york-city-paperwork">filed false papers</a> in order to evict the
tenants of some buildings it bought in New York City.


feed_id: 734d9f47e0d146eacde453e79db944e9
title: Facebook whistleblower
uri: Facebook-whistleblower
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#21_March_2018_%28Facebook_whistleblower%29
content:
<p>
Whistleblower Christopher Wylie exposed how Cambridge Analytica
misused the data Facebook gave it, so Facebook <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/whistleblower-facebook-suspended-me-for-exposing-cambridge-analytica">shut down his account</a>.


feed_id: c4a141a47d6358f034e40194f614733e
title: Countries in debt
uri: Countries-in-debt
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#21_March_2018_%28Countries_in_debt%29
content:
<p>
126 countries (out of the 200-odd that exist) <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/mar/18/developing-countries-risk-from-us-rate-rise-jubilee-debt-campaign-warns">spend more than 10% of
their income</a> paying interest on debts.  
<p>
Many of these countries will never be able to pay down those debts, so
the governments have been converted, in effect, into tribute
extractors.


feed_id: d6f02ee10d36372266842e9a084cfb2f
title: Ranked choice voting
uri: 2018-03-22-Ranked-choice-voting
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#21_March_2018_%28Ranked_choice_voting%29
content:
<p>
Minnesota Republicans <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/19/ranked-choice-voting-minnesota-republicans/">plan to prohibit cities</a> such as Minneapolis from using
ranked choice voting.
<p>
If something is better for democracy, it's bad for plutocrats, so
plutocrats are against it.


feed_id: b7bafc49b9c01db69c75a3f107e01224
title: Fitbits for kids
uri: Fitbits-for-kids
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#21_March_2018_%28Fitbits_for_kids%29
content:
<p>
"<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/19/fitbits-for-kids-better-yet-encourage-them-to-hopscotch-and-tell-them-they-are-loved">Fitbits for kids?</a> Better yet, encourage them to hopscotch — and tell them
they are loved."


feed_id: d378f4ef9f8af3db22bec5dff122bd47
title: Resist, revolt, rewild
uri: Resist-revolt-rewild
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#21_March_2018_%28Resist%2C_revolt%2C_rewild%29
content:
<p>
Proposing to upgrade "reduce, reuse, recycle" to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/19/a-year-without-tech-debt-gadgets-reconnect-nature">"resist, revolt,
rewild."</a>
<p>
The free software movement is one way of resisting.
Rejecting the giant surveillance dis-services is another way.


feed_id: 697cd7f74b363ff5d9ac443bd183b0cd
title: Providing for huge cities
uri: Providing-for-huge-cities
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#21_March_2018_%28Providing_for_huge_cities%29
content:
<p>
It is not clear how we can provide food, water and sanitation
to cities with a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/mar/19/urban-explosion-kinshasa-el-alto-growth-mexico-city-bangalore-lagos">population of 100,000,000 people</a>.
<p>
We should take steps now to reduce the future size of those cities by
<a href="https://stallman.org/articles/children.html">reducing the number of babies</a> that will be born between now and then.
<p>
Some people <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/mar/19/overpopulation-cities-environment-developing-world-racist-paul-ehrlich">think it is racist</a> to focus efforts to reduce the number
of births on Africa and some parts of Asia.
<p>
But this is not a matter of race, it is simply practical.  The only
way to avoid hundreds of millions of births is to concentrate on the
places with high birth rates.
<p>
It is also important to end population growth in the US because
Americans use resources in such a wasteful, profligate way.  Since the
birth rate is already not very high, the way to do that is to accept
fewer immigrants.  This is nothing personal about particular
immigrants; I'd welcome nearly any of them — but it is better to
reduce the number of immigrants until we succeed in making the American
way of life less wasteful.
<p>
Of course, avoiding births in the US is desirable too.


feed_id: 51112d1ed8a25db4561ff96ad5935725
title: Estimating enslaved workers
uri: Estimating-enslaved-workers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#21_March_2018_%28Estimating_enslaved_workers%29
content:
<p>
Satellites are being used to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/mar/19/experts-fight-slavery-satellite-pictures-south-asia-brick-belt">estimate the number of enslaved workers</a>
in India and neighboring countries.


feed_id: e177664c27b782b2bf21ff2902ab5b49
title: Water shortages
uri: 2018-03-22-Water-shortages
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#21_March_2018_%28Water_shortages%29
content:
<p>
Water Shortages Could <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/19/water-shortages-could-affect-5bn-people-by-2050-un-report-warns">Affect 5bn People by 2050</a>, UN Report Warns.
<p>
To a large extent this will be due to <a href="/glossary.html#global heating">global heating</a>, but we're already
using fresh water from aquifers faster than it gets replenished, so many
of them will be empty.
<p>
We need to do things which short-sighted people fight against, such as
(1) stop growing water-thirsty fruit in California, (2) make a lot
fewer babies, and (3) curb <a href="/glossary.html#global heating">global heating</a>.


feed_id: 63e5d65a1cf8cad2e3c78ac683af11a5
title: Veterans against Vietnam War
uri: Veterans-against-Vietnam-War
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#21_March_2018_%28Veterans_against_Vietnam_War%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/19/waging-peace-vietnam-anti-war-exhibition-gi-viet-cong">Celebrating the US military veterans</a> who became the leaders of the movement
to end the Vietnam War.


feed_id: edcd83e6f624be995069d49fcd445eb3
title: Confidentiality agreement
uri: Confidentiality-agreement
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#21_March_2018_%28Confidentiality_agreement%29
content:
<p>
A <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/18/stormy-weather">confidentiality agreement</a> can't put the cat back into the bag.


feed_id: 272b66e0a00d84f4cd7d945f5f77baf5
title: Sanders on plutocracy and militarism
uri: Sanders-on-plutocracy-and-militarism
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#21_March_2018_%28Sanders_on_plutocracy_and_militarism%29

content:
<p>
Sanders in a speech <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/18/callforpeace-address-sanders-denounces-endless-war-and-rise-oligarchy">tied plutocracy to militarism</a> and increasing arms
spending.
He also reminded Americans of the government lies that were used to
bring about intervention in Vietnam, then later in Iraq.  Then how the
plutocracy leads to despair which leads to support for "populist"
demagogues.
<p>
He ended by talking about the tremendous danger of <a href="/glossary.html#global heating">global heating</a> and
the need to confront it firmly and soon.


feed_id: 897cd1cfc3321833bcd3a6c8378c60d9
title: Fixing Facebook
uri: Fixing-Facebook
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#21_March_2018_%28Fixing_Facebook%29
content:
<p>
Lauren Weinstein: <a href="https://lauren.vortex.com/2018/03/18/fixing-facebook-may-be-impossible">Fixing Facebook May Be Impossible</a>.
<p>
If so, we must make it go away.


feed_id: 3297a1da9afd828fdf52f3a5dc6b75dd
title: The troll's campaign meeting
uri: The-troll-s-campaign-meeting
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#21_March_2018_%28The_troll%27s_campaign_meeting%29
content:
<p>
Other participants in the meeting where Sessions considered contacting Russians
for <a href="/glossary.html#trump">the troll</a>'s campaign have testified he did not oppose the idea — meaning
that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/18/jeff-sessions-trump-campaign-meeting-witnesses-contradict">he was lying about it</a>.


feed_id: 456b2d92b14f0e1f3635d8ad7e245df2
title: CEO and worker pay ratio
uri: CEO-and-worker-pay-ratio
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#21_March_2018_%28CEO_and_worker_pay_ratio%29
content:
<p>
A new regulation requires many US corporations to publish the ratio between
their CEO's pay and the pay of their workers.  Some cities and states are
considering <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/mar/18/america-ceo-worker-pay-gap-new-data-what-can-we-do">imposing higher taxes or limitations</a> on corporations which have
too high a ratio.


feed_id: 7be56e806ae9d28660f1f169511d4da4
title: Advent of immigration thugs
uri: Advent-of-immigration-thugs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#21_March_2018_%28Advent_of_immigration_thugs%29
content:
<p>
The US didn't have immigration <a href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> until 16 years ago.  The agency was set up
to twist people's thinking to confuse deportation with national security.
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/18/abolishing-ice-radical-idea-america-needs-be-talking-about">Let's abolish the agency!</a>


feed_id: 88ce1d55194e90333bb9b823bf66cc1e
title: Georgia-Pacific
uri: Georgia-Pacific
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#21_March_2018_%28Georgia-Pacific%29
content:
<p>
Since the Koch brothers bought Georgia-Pacific, it has a record of <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/17/koch-compliance-georgia-pacific-plants-have-troubling-health-and-safety-record">skimping
on workers' safety</a>.
<p>
$340,000 is a substantial fine, but perhaps not enough to influence people
as rich as they are.  Perhaps industrial fines should be increased based
on the company's total income, the way some places increase traffic fines
based on the driver's income.


feed_id: 5fa9eaf412c73eaeee8ed41f67161317
title: Winning with a progressive agenda
uri: Winning-with-a-progressive-agenda
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#21_March_2018_%28Winning_with_a_progressive_agenda%29

content:
<p>
Democrats can <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/17/can-democrats-think-strategically-about-trump-country">win in most of America</a> with a fairly progressive agenda.
<p>
I have not seen anything about where Conor Lamb stands regarding bank
deregulation or the War on Drugs.  Since he was a prosecutor, I fear
the worst on the latter.


feed_id: 87ebf5c34187c86cad6985c42bc394fd
title: EPA plan
uri: EPA-plan
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#21_March_2018_%28EPA_plan%29
content:
<p>
The EPA <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/17/latest-alarming-attack-science-pruitt-reportedly-moving-restrict-use-research-epa">plans to prohibit</a> use of research results based on studying private
personal data.
<p>
It's a plausible-sounding excuse for future non-science-based policies,
such as "pay no mind who or what you're poisoning."


feed_id: d721992ea2df91f9f490a63703b68a8b
title: Urgent: Haspel's torture record
uri: Urgent-Haspel-s-torture-record
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#23_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Haspel%27s_torture_record%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://action.aclu.org/petition/declassify-haspel-torture-record">call on Senators</a> to insist the CIA release Haspel's
torture record.


feed_id: 98cefd9e2685d1a54af0e9840ac15fe1
title: Urgent: The bully's campaign and Russia
uri: Urgent-The-bully-s-campaign-and-Russia
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#23_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_The_bully%27s_campaign_and_Russia%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.couragecampaign.org/sign/hic_coverup">call on the House of Representatives</a> to fully investigate
the relationship between the bully's campaign and Russia.


feed_id: fa33608bfdf9aa590d99ea955104eba4
title: Urgent: Office of Congressional Ethics
uri: Urgent-Office-of-Congressional-Ethics
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#23_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Office_of_Congressional_Ethics%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.couragecampaign.org/sign/hic_coverup">call on the House of Representatives</a> to fully investigate
the relationship between the <a href="/glossary.html#bully">bully</a>'s campaign and Russia.


feed_id: d5f3bc7c500c0dba9a8238416f03c5a5
title: Cell phone triangulation
uri: Cell-phone-triangulation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#23_March_2018_%28Cell_phone_triangulation%29
content:
<p>
Although cell phone networks can triangulate the location of a phone
precisely, in the US they don't always do this, so the records they keep
<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/what-your-cell-phone-cant-tell-the-police">are often less precise</a>.
<p>
That can be good or bad.


feed_id: ae9ca8179e15e0717422b7978a91c3e5
title: Bullying McCabe
uri: Bullying-McCabe
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#23_March_2018_%28Bullying_McCabe%29
content:
<p>
Republicans in Congress and the media are <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/03/trump-mccabe/555869/">bending over backwards</a>
to avoid rebuking the <a href="/glossary.html#bully">bully</a> for bullying McCabe.


feed_id: 57dadcb760f6f8c3e18501ca7a8d9db0
title: South Korea bribery
uri: South-Korea-bribery
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#23_March_2018_%28South_Korea_bribery%29
content:
<p>
Yet another president of South Korea <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/19/prosecutors-seek-arrest-of-former-south-korean-president-lee-myung-bak">faces bribery charges</a>.
Fortunately this one is no longer in office.


feed_id: f84f2afaf5032c32385f2701a0cc4679
title: Crumbling 'alt-right'
uri: Crumbling-alt-right
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#23_March_2018_%28Crumbling_%27alt-right%27%29
content:
<p>
Antifascist activists seem to be making the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/19/the-alt-right-is-in-decline-has-antifa-activism-worked">neo-Nazi "alt-right" crumble</a>.
<p>
Antifascist activism is much broader than the violent group Antifa.
Violence is what played into the Nazi's hands in Berlin.
<p>
I can't rejoice in the success of censorship measures against
neo-Nazis because I think censorship is wrong.  Furthermore, the next
opinion group to be banned from giant internet platforms could be
progressives, free-software activists, or whatever.


feed_id: 0d81560c9f337cee26758d29fe6e6d23
title: Killing newborns
uri: Killing-newborns
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#23_March_2018_%28Killing_newborns%29
content:
<p>
Ramona Hernandez-Canete, in France, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/19/ramona-hernandez-canete-france-trial-newborn-babies">killed five of her own newborn
babies</a>.  Her husband was not aware she was pregnant.
<p>
I wonder what inhibited her from getting abortions.  That is lawful in
France, unlike what she actually did.  I have a feeling that the
answer might be a clue to something on which dissuades other women
from getting abortions.


feed_id: 094f3a16e928aebb979446d7dfdf035e
title: Air pollution activists
uri: Air-pollution-activists
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#23_March_2018_%28Air_pollution_activists%29
content:
<p>
London Air Pollution Activists <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/19/london-air-pollution-activists-prepared-to-go-to-prison-to-force-action">"Prepared to Go to Prison"</a> to Force Action.


feed_id: 96709db8297b229020c7eb6ad2c59b8c
title: Saudi Prince's whitewash tour
uri: Saudi-Prince-s-whitewash-tour
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#23_March_2018_%28Saudi_Prince%27s_whitewash_tour%29
content:
<p>
With Saudi Prince on Whitewash Tour, Critics Warn Against <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/19/saudi-prince-whitewash-tour-critics-warn-against-further-us-complicity-war-crimes">Further US
Complicity</a> With 'War Crimes' in Yemen.


feed_id: b3fdc23833ad0f22ca8402640d61e53b
title: Global heating migration
uri: Global-heating-migration
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#23_March_2018_%28Global_heating_migration%29
content:
<p>
Global heating is expected to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/19/climate-change-soon-to-cause-mass-movement-world-bank-warns">force 140 million people</a> to try to migrate
in the next 30 years.


feed_id: 7474287b049822077874ba09fa8c4d3c
title: De-facto king
uri: De-facto-king
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#23_March_2018_%28De-facto_king%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/19/the-cbs-interview-with-saudi-arabias-mohammed-bin-salman-was-a-crime-against-journalism/">Ten hard questions</a> for the de-facto king of Salafi Arabia.


feed_id: 3aa1dab873ffe7e4279a22c6f891803b
title: Automatic censorship in EU
uri: Automatic-censorship-in-EU
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#23_March_2018_%28Automatic_censorship_in_EU%29
content:
<p>
The planned EU requirement for automatic censorship of all uploads
was inserted by an MEP but <a href="https://boingboing.net/2018/03/14/metadata-strikes-again.html">written by a functionary</a> that is loyal to the
copyright industry.


feed_id: 5f883890f879fe42790f3d0c25d1e8e4
title: Nuclear power in Salafi Arabia
uri: Nuclear-power-in-Salafi-Arabia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#23_March_2018_%28Nuclear_power_in_Salafi_Arabia%29
content:
<p>
If Iran builds nuclear weapons, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/15/saudi-arabia-iran-nuclear-bomb-threat-mohammed-bin-salman">Salafi Arabia will too</a>.
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#salafi">Salafi Arabia</a> is a great place for solar power.  It has no rational
reason to take on the dangers of nuclear power, other than as a
stepping stone to nuclear weapons.  Therefore, other countries should
not sell it nuclear power.
<p>
It would be a good thing if <a href="/glossary.html#salafi">Salafi Arabia</a> an Iran signed a treaty
foreswearing nuclear weapons.


feed_id: e769ea7f5806a342bb328a7dd59e9f8b
title: Corbyn on Russia
uri: Corbyn-on-Russia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#23_March_2018_%28Corbyn_on_Russia%29
content:
<p>
Corbyn is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/mar/15/corbyn-defies-critics-calls-for-calm-over-russia-nerve-agent-attack">resisting the pressure</a> for a pseudo-war with Russia.

<blockquote>
Labour is of course no supporter of the Putin regime, its
conservative authoritarianism, abuse of human rights or political and
economic corruption.
<p>
However, that does not mean we should resign ourselves to a 'new cold
war' of escalating arms spending, proxy conflicts across the globe and
a McCarthyite intolerance of dissent.
</blockquote>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/15/salisbury-attack-conflict-britain-cold-war">Here is his statement.</a>
<p>
It seems <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/18/questions-and-theories-on-the-salisbury-nerve-agent-attack">not to be so hard</a> to make the nerve gas that was used to
poison the Skripals.
<p>
Meanwhile, Corbyn knows that Russia is a small threat to people living
in the UK, as threats go.  By contrast, the Tories have <a href="Https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/16/society-safety-nets-cuts-families-harm">oppressed
millions of Britons with poverty</a>,
which surely kills thousands every year.  I think Corbyn is wise to
focus on the bigger danger.


feed_id: 04f91741e724cfffbdd8fcbf0bc48283
title: DeVos-imposed 'agreement'
uri: DeVos-imposed-agreement
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#23_March_2018_%28DeVos-imposed_%27agreement%27%29
content:
<p>
DeVos is trying to destroy the Department of Education's workers' union 
by <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/15/betsy-devos-education-department-afge-union/">imposing a damaging "agreement"</a> that the union did not agree to.


feed_id: 9470b75139acdcf7c66e6572193bdf6e
title: Just following orders
uri: Just-following-orders
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#23_March_2018_%28Just_following_orders%29
content:
<p>
CIA torturers are using the <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/15/washington-breaks-out-the-just-following-orders-nazi-defense-for-cia-director-designate-gina-haspel/">"just following orders" defense</a> that
Nazi war criminals used.


feed_id: f2a49d99a8fd19d9836f2d35e7e94e06
title: Privatizing rivers
uri: Privatizing-rivers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#23_March_2018_%28Privatizing_rivers%29
content:
<p>
New Mexico is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/15/privatized-rivers-us-public-lands-waterways">hastily privatizing rivers</a> that people were free to use
their boats on.


feed_id: 7e707cd910f1500d91dac002e367d063
title: Second Amazon HQ
uri: Second-Amazon-HQ
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#23_March_2018_%28Second_Amazon_HQ%29
content:
<p>
Americans in some cities are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/15/not-welcome-here-amazon-faces-growing-resistance-to-its-second-home">organizing in some cities</a> against paying Amazon
to put its second HQ there.
<p>
I hope that the blatant nature of this instance teaches people to
recognize the general wrong of letting states or cities compete in
offering concessions to any business.


feed_id: c95c94979454b7258ff9064237fb38aa
title: Precarious low-wage employment
uri: Precarious-low-wage-employment
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#23_March_2018_%28Precarious_low-wage_employment%29
content:
<p>
Precarious low-wage employment results from a government that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/15/poor-people-low-wage-britain-work-exploitation">doesn't care
about poor people</a>.


feed_id: 12ec3b6b8da0daae3b9f14fe141408fe
title: Indonesian genocide
uri: Indonesian-genocide
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#23_March_2018_%28Indonesian_genocide%29
content:
<p>
Documents show that the massacre of half a million Indonesians in
1965-66 was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/mar/15/killing-season-geoffrey-robinson-army-indonesian-genocide-jess-melvinreviews">organized by the army</a>.


feed_id: d4cdfe9b9ca9d789576a4e290e335d6d
title: The bully's mounting lies
uri: The-bully-s-mounting-lies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#23_March_2018_%28The_bully%27s_mounting_lies%29
content:
<p>
The bully says that McCabe's meeting memos <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/18/trump-andrew-mccabe-memos-james-comey-fbi">are all false</a>.
<p>
his strategy is to defend every lie with another lie.  He is betting
that no one will ever be able to make him pay for any of the lies.  If
<a href="/glossary.html#scrotus">SCROTUS</a> continue to support him no matter what, and he can fire
everyone else who tries, he might get away with it — in the
process turning the US government into total corruption.


feed_id: 5891c3cfbd51fdfc7bb7f226424dd2aa
title: Postal banking
uri: Postal-banking
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#23_March_2018_%28Postal_banking%29
content:
<p>
"The U.S. Postal Service, under attack from a manufactured crisis
designed to force its privatization, needs a new source of funding to
survive. <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/18/war-post-office">Postal banking could fill that need.</a>"


feed_id: 73c3f401f1c3b3fc6577ac20e5edaaf5
title: Deported to almost certain death
uri: Deported-to-almost-certain-death
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#23_March_2018_%28Deported_to_almost_certain_death%29

content:
<p>
David Chavez-Macias is being deported to Mexico, where he is <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/16/1749519/--It-is-a-death-sentence-ICE-to-deport-dad-with-incurable-heart-condition-today">almost sure
to die</a> because the medicine he needs for his life-threatening disease
is not available.
<p>
If I were in that situation I would think about committing suicide in a
way that would shame the deportation <a href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a>.


feed_id: 450801ec3063aee1bf4efe5f90688967
title: Kim Jong-un's commitment
uri: Kim-Jong-un-s-commitment
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#23_March_2018_%28Kim_Jong-un%27s_commitment%29
content:
<p>
Kim Jong-un Has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/19/kim-jong-un-has-committed-to-denuclearisation-says-south-korea">Committed to Denuclearisation</a>, Says South Korea.


feed_id: 0e1e06ab0b7e818929afdd42fb5c9538
title: Dying near the border
uri: Dying-near-the-border
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#23_March_2018_%28Dying_near_the_border%29
content:
<p>
Around 150 people die each year in the US desert near the border with Mexico.
<a href="https://reason.com/archives/2018/03/19/the-man-who-counts-bodies-in-t">About 2/3 can be identified.</a>
<p>
This is up from around 12 a year in the 1990s.
In most cases it is not clear why an individual died, but it seems likely
that stepped-up border enforcement is the overall reason.


feed_id: 5094826c9154042ba45d52b7a9244fd5
title: Urgent: Severance pay
uri: Urgent-Severance-pay
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Severance_pay%29
content:
<p>
Everyone: <a href="https://www.coworker.org/petitions/toys-r-us-employees-deserve-severance-pay">call on Toys Ð¯ Us</a> to give severance pay to all employees, not
just the executives.


feed_id: 8551251967b9ad3d867f7b302b1f5907
title: Urgent: Errors in tax attacks
uri: Urgent-Errors-in-tax-attacks
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Errors_in_tax_attacks%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/tax_scam_fixes">call on congressional Democrats</a> not to help SCROTUS fix
minor careless errors in the tax attacks.
They should insist on fixing the big wrongs, not just the minor errors.


feed_id: 6e6727fb92ed148e0490aef389c214de
title: Alibaba joins ALEC
uri: Alibaba-joins-ALEC
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Alibaba_joins_ALEC%29
content:
<p>
ALEC has doubled down on evil by <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/20/alibaba-chinese-corporation-alibaba-joins-group-ghostwriting-american-laws/">signing up the Chinese megacorporation
Alibaba</a> as a member.
<p>
Since the main activity of ALEC is to lobby for plutocratist state laws,
this ought to be illegal.


feed_id: 2fccb1528dde619e28f8913515d87396
title: Part-time worker rights
uri: Part-time-worker-rights
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Part-time_worker_rights%29
content:
<p>
Australia's main labor union demands <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/mar/20/actu-to-demand-equal-rights-for-casuals-gig-economy-and-labour-hire-workers">employee rights for part-time workers</a>,
including those compelled to say they are "independent contractors".


feed_id: 9dbbf9655ef2a0fbeecb91f34f921964
title: Years of deals with Russia
uri: Years-of-deals-with-Russia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Years_of_deals_with_Russia%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/mar/20/russian-roulette-review-donald-trump-joe-biden-treason">Evidence of years of deals</a>, and proposed deals, between the US bully
and Russians associated with the Russian deals.
<p>
Before the US <a href="/glossary.html#bully">bully</a> ran for president, these deals did no great harm
to the US as a whole, although some of them might have been illegal in
regard to some details.  That changed when he became a candidate.


feed_id: 15415d40c5684d8c7cd06f046b8127d2
title: Future of Democratic Party
uri: Future-of-Democratic-Party
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Future_of_Democratic_Party%29
content:
<p>
The Democratic Party needs to unify as a progressive party.
But the center-right establishment <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/19/some-democrats-drawing-all-wrong-lessons-conor-lambs-victory">is trying to argue</a>, based on
Conor Lamb's possible victory, that the center-right should continue
to dominate and keep selling us out.


feed_id: 33d6e0c7c9709fb035228e5c2a997aa0
title: Illegal possession
uri: Illegal-possession
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Illegal_possession%29
content:
<p>
Outrageous laws prohibiting mere possession of a copy of certain works
could <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/20/child-abuse-imagery-bitcoin-blockchain-illegal-content">make operating on Bitcoin illegal</a>.
<p>
It would not surprise me if some governments start harsh enforcement
of these laws on the Bitcoin block chain as an excuse to get rid
of Bitcoin.
<p>
No matter what a work says, prohibiting people from possessing copies of it
is tyranny, through and through.


feed_id: 1cdbc3e8f3db5489deee5b474f15890c
title: The God Delusion downloads
uri: The-God-Delusion-downloads
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28The_God_Delusion_downloads%29
content:
<p>
Richard Dawkins has set up <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/mar/20/richard-dawkins-to-give-away-copies-of-the-god-delusion-in-islamic-countries">gratis downloads of The God Delusion</a>
translated into languages used in some countries whose governments
impose Islam to some extent.


feed_id: aa9046fb92165c44ca40e3a5bea631dc
title: Facebook data misuse
uri: Facebook-data-misuse
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Facebook_data_misuse%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/20/facebook-data-cambridge-analytica-sandy-parakilas">A whistleblower says</a> that Facebook regularly tolerated companies'
violation of its supposed rules on using data about Facebook's useds.
<p>
I urge you to <a href="https://stallman.org/facebook.html">refuse to be a used of Facebook</a>.


feed_id: 0966492b7f5085ec94b80c2b26f2db3c
title: Former FBI and CIA officials
uri: Former-FBI-and-CIA-officials
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Former_FBI_and_CIA_officials%29
content:
<p>
Let's not present <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/19/resistance-needs-better-heroes">former FBI and CIA officials as heroes</a>, merely
because they oppose the <a href="/glossary.html#bully">bully</a> now.
<p>
Their opposition to the <a href="/glossary.html#bully">bully</a> is valid and may help overcome him,
but that doesn't mean they have respected our rights in the past.


feed_id: 9d2c52e66cb51642fec26a6b65ed9a08
title: Snowden on Russian election fraud
uri: Snowden-on-Russian-election-fraud
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Snowden_on_Russian_election_fraud%29

content:
<p>
Snowden heroically <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/19/despite-possible-blowback-snowden-decries-anti-democratic-forces-russia">criticized election fraud</a> in Russia, knowing that he took
a risk of losing his asylum there.
<p>
Can anyone show me articles about the reported previous times that he
has done this?


feed_id: 66db00b0e939131ee4f5af9c8f97fbff
title: Pipeline protesters arrested
uri: Pipeline-protesters-arrested
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Pipeline_protesters_arrested%29
content:
<p>
Greenpeace supporters were <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2018/03/19/greenpeace-co-founder-and-allies-arrested-protesting-trans-mountain-pipeline">arrested for a peaceful protest</a> against
expanding an oil pipeline in Canada.


feed_id: 7dce5a515fbab0f9318a8ee23588015c
title: Killing for the War on Drugs
uri: Killing-for-the-War-on-Drugs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Killing_for_the_War_on_Drugs%29
content:
<p>
Amnesty International: reject the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2018/03/19/death-penalty-never-appropriate-response-public-health-crisis">idea of killing people</a> in the name
of the War on Drugs.


feed_id: 7f11c57bba3557f630a3802c2f7b68d0
title: Censorship of radical change
uri: Censorship-of-radical-change
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Censorship_of_radical_change%29
content:
<p>
Many organizations that advocate radical change — though not violence
— are increasingly <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/19/building-iron-wall">kept hidden by censorship</a> by big platforms.


feed_id: c5d9016ccefd06d5b3ffcfbdf1d24edb
title: DHS 'race paper'
uri: DHS-race-paper
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28DHS_%27race_paper%27%29
content:
<p>
The Department of Homeland Suppression has a secret "race paper" about
its smearing, infiltration and persecution of black protest groups.
Anti-racist organizations are <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2018/03/19/racial-justice-groups-sue-dhs-release-contents-fully-redacted-race-paper">suing to get it released</a>.


feed_id: 5903e5a107cfca67446c77540f79684a
title: Cambridge Analytica's services
uri: Cambridge-Analytica-s-services
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Cambridge_Analytica%27s_services%29

content:
<p>
Cambridge Analytica <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/19/cambridge-analytica-execs-boast-dirty-tricks-honey-traps-elections">talked of offering services</a> such as slander
and seducing people for purposes of blackmail.


feed_id: 3b614b77c6cd4674b90d5b441db7c2b0
title: Land for wildlife
uri: Land-for-wildlife
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Land_for_wildlife%29
content:
<p>
Arguing that we need to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/mar/20/save-the-planet-half-earth-kim-stanley-robinson">leave half the Earth's land area</a> for wildlife,
thus empty of humans.


feed_id: 328e31a72c9e3b4caf7f36e2046447a0
title: Water shortages
uri: 2018-03-25-Water-shortages
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Water_shortages%29
content:
<p>
Phoenix, Arizona, is heading for a long-term water shortage because the Colorado River is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/mar/20/phoenix-least-sustainable-city-survive-water">gradually drying up</a>.
<p>
The UN warns that half of humanity will <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/19/avoid-water-shortage-5-billion-2050-un-report-urges-nature-based-solutions">face water shortages by 2050</a>.
<p>
We could reduce the problem by <a href="http://ia600208.us.archive.org/14/items/NinaVision/The_Stork.ogv">reducing the population</a> of humanity in
2050.


feed_id: 1678cb5aa01fbb3ce1bf22a82ac78bc8
title: Marine heatwave
uri: Marine-heatwave
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Marine_heatwave%29
content:
<p>
Marine Heatwave <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/20/marine-heatwave-set-off-carbon-bomb-in-worlds-largest-seagrass-meadow">Set Off 'Carbon Bomb'</a> in World's Largest Seagrass Meadow.


feed_id: c5d9e878153e4431bb799a4482ef6da2
title: Reporting on CA and Facebook
uri: Reporting-on-CA-and-Facebook
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Reporting_on_CA_and_Facebook%29
content:
<p>
Both Facebook And Cambridge Analytica <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180318/00111439443/both-facebook-cambridge-analytica-threatened-to-sue-journalists-over-stories-cas-use-facebook-data.shtml">Threatened To Sue Journalists</a> Over 
Stories On CA's Use Of Facebook Data.


feed_id: 259b8b2264af2d6060c312c8c9648b7a
title: Distractions from issues
uri: Distractions-from-issues
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Distractions_from_issues%29
content:
<p>
Bernie Sanders and Michael Moore: Russia and Stormy Daniels are distractions
so we won't <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/20/bernie-sanders-russia-and-stormy-daniels-distract-us-from-real-problem-of-inequality">pay attention to real issues</a> such as inequality.
<p>
Russian election interference points to a real issue: we don't want
our elections to be vulnerable.  However, the vulnerability is not
available only to Russia — it can be used by anyone with money.  And
it is just as harmful when the manipulator is American.


feed_id: 981681014022e103d6e4198e442981b5
title: Student protesters punished
uri: Student-protesters-punished
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Student_protesters_punished%29
content:
<p>
Student protesters were punished by being ordered to waste time in school
on Saturday.  So <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/19/pizza4protesters-crowdfunds-pizzas-for-students-punished-over-gun-control-walkout">they protested again</a> and called it a sit-in.
<p>
It seems to me that the school enforcers are doing this solely to demand
obedience for the sake of obedience.
<p>
How dare schools force students to come on a non-school day as punishment.
What gives them the legal right to do this, anyway?  What happens
if the student has other plans and refuses to cancel them?


feed_id: 650912f06a289d5d73486d881a8c393d
title: Urgent: EPA nomination
uri: Urgent-EPA-nomination
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_EPA_nomination%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/dow_epa">call on the Senate</a> to reject the nomination of Dow
Chemical lawyer Peter Wright as assistant administrator for the
EPAâs Office of Land and Emergency Management.


feed_id: cec96b4b9c86cadde5ce9996c122f522
title: Urgent: The bully's drug policies
uri: Urgent-The-bully-s-drug-policies
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_The_bully%27s_drug_policies%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://engage.drugpolicy.org/secure/trump-advocating-death-penalty-name-drug-war">Reject the bully's drug policies</a>.


feed_id: e2cbc39460aef1334c7fd14287e054ab
title: White House confidentiality
uri: White-House-confidentiality
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28White_House_confidentiality%29
content:
<p>
The bully <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/21/trump-has-no-right-to-buy-the-silence-of-white-house-staffers">bullied White House staff</a> to sign long-term confidentiality
agreements.
This is an attack on freedom of the press, and the ACLU says the contracts
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/19/non-disclosure-agreements-demanded-trump-are-unconstitutional-and-unenforceable-aclu">are unconstitutional</a> too.
However, the employees may not be able to afford the
cost of proving that in court.


feed_id: 1f10fa488697985f0219ca66f85ccf1c
title: Senator Susan Collins
uri: Senator-Susan-Collins
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Senator_Susan_Collins%29
content:
<p>
Senator Susan Collins Sabotages Her Own Obamacare Stabilization Effort
with <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/19/1750294/-Susan-Collins-sabotages-her-own-Obamacare-stabilization-effort-with-abortion-poison-pill">Abortion Poison Pill</a>.


feed_id: 1e750f1c2986c3a64a3ed233e6798425
title: Law for children in Utah
uri: Law-for-children-in-Utah
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Law_for_children_in_Utah%29
content:
<p>
Utah <a href="https://letgrow.org/free-range-kids-bill-signed-law-utah-first-nation/">has passed a law</a> to permit parents to let children do things by
and for themselves, such as play outside or walk to the store.


feed_id: 681cc7ce7ee43807541d1d1e26119adb
title: Iraq's condition
uri: Iraq-s-condition
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Iraq%27s_condition%29
content:
<p>
"I never thought that Iraq could ever be worse than it was during
Saddamâs reign, but <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/20/15-years-ago-america-destroyed-my-country">that is what Americaâs war achieved</a> and bequeathed
to Iraqis."


feed_id: d544b2ace2417065e82543e5b4ed9f32
title: Quitting Faux News
uri: Quitting-Faux-News
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Quitting_Faux_News%29
content:
<p>
Faux News commentator Ralph Peters quit, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/20/business/media/fox-news-analyst-ralph-peters.html">denouncing the company</a>.
<p>
"In my view, Fox has degenerated from providing a legitimate and
much-needed outlet for conservative voices to a mere propaganda
machine for a destructive and ethically ruinous administration.â 
<p>
It is not easy to be too right-wing for him — considering <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/21/pundit-ralph-peters-is-leaving-fox-news-because-its-too-gross-even-for-him-thats-an-extremely-low-bar/">what he has
endorsed</a> in the past.


feed_id: 26ff8a3d5e9182cfe1082bc67aff238f
title: Cambridge Analytica and The Matrix
uri: Cambridge-Analytica-and-The-Matrix
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Cambridge_Analytica_and_The_Matrix%29

content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/20/cambridge-analytica-matrix-information-dominance-and-next-level-fake-news">Comparing Cambridge Analytica</a> to The Matrix.


feed_id: 965ee55317b216c9c72a1bfd96f0bc0a
title: Pipeline protester sentences
uri: Pipeline-protester-sentences
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Pipeline_protester_sentences%29
content:
<p>
Courts are giving pipeline-shutoff protesters <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/21/pipeline-protest-necessity-defense-tar-sands/">light sentences</a>.


feed_id: 17189e3b1154023dd171a1198c68d555
title: Russians voting twice
uri: Russians-voting-twice
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Russians_voting_twice%29
content:
<p>
Reporters say they <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/21/they-could-be-twins-photos-appear-to-show-russians-voting-twice-in-putin-election">found Russians voting twice</a>.
No wonder Putin got such a big margin of victory.


feed_id: e4c8111ff712ce8f9deff1beff4999ba
title: More frequent storms
uri: More-frequent-storms
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28More_frequent_storms%29
content:
<p>
Flooding and heavy rain is happening <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/21/flooding-and-heavy-rains-rise-50-worldwide-in-a-decade-figures-show">four times as often</a> as it was in 1980.
<p>
The US northeast is an example — <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/21/storm-snow-noreaster-us-east-coast">four big snowstorms</a> in just three weeks.


feed_id: 81005737adb3fc047f7ca4e512a03d59
title: Ahed Tamimi
uri: Ahed-Tamimi
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Ahed_Tamimi%29
content:
<p>
Ahed Tamimi will <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/21/palestinian-ahed-tamimi-accepts-plea-deal-to-serve-eight-months-in-jail">spend 8 months in prison</a> for slapping and kicking
an Israeli soldier after other soldiers shot her brother in the head.
<p>
There is no sign that the soldiers who shot her brother will be
punished at all.


feed_id: 02c8913bb39cf705136048b71ebf82b1
title: Hack for banned book
uri: Hack-for-banned-book
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Hack_for_banned_book%29
content:
<p>
A hack makes it possible to get in Spain the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/mar/21/don-quixote-cervantes-spain-farina">text of the banned
corruption expose</a> FariÃ±a.


feed_id: 987455d65c1b5b934e9614d08091ff1e
title: Europe's farmland
uri: Europe-s-farmland
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Europe%27s_farmland%29
content:
<p>
"<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/21/europe-faces-biodiversity-oblivion-after-collapse-in-french-bird-populations">Intensive farming and pesticides</a> could turn Europe's farmland into a
desert that ultimately imperils all humans."


feed_id: 54eb61131dd745fd4dbebf8c60fa607c
title: Protest movement in Slovakia
uri: Protest-movement-in-Slovakia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Protest_movement_in_Slovakia%29
content:
<p>
The mafia assassination of journalist JÃ¡n Kuciak in Slovakia has
spurred a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/21/mafia-killing-slovakia-protests">massive protest movement</a> against the corrupt politicians
linked to the murder.


feed_id: b10db8a6fe573948c01ff464f063895d
title: Birds in France
uri: Birds-in-France
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Birds_in_France%29
content:
<p>
Many bird species in France are crashing, and scientists suspect it is
because <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/21/catastrophe-as-frances-bird-population-collapses-due-to-pesticides">pesticides now kill the insects</a> birds would have eaten in the past.
<p>
It was noted recently in Germany that the population of flying insects had
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-sep-dec.html#19_October_2017_(Flying_insects)">decreased by 3/4</a> since a few decades ago.
That article did not specify a cause, but it could be due to pesticides.


feed_id: 55f444fd47f9acce3e5f7c3e348145a2
title: US Senate resolution on Yemen
uri: US-Senate-resolution-on-Yemen
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28US_Senate_resolution_on_Yemen%29
content:
<p>
The US Senate <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/20/yemen-war-us-saudi-senate-support">rejected the resolution</a> to deauthorize US support for
the bombardment of Yemen.
<p>
However, it came within a few votes of winning.  I think that is great
progress.  There will probably be another attempt next year.


feed_id: c5ecf1992404bbe30739c3528cf49f10
title: US college student empathy
uri: US-college-student-empathy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28US_college_student_empathy%29
content:
<p>
Since a decade ago, US college students have started to <a href="http://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/10/17/the_empathy_deficit/">lack emotional
empathy</a> for others.
<p>
The small sample size means that we shouldn't be entirely sure of this
result.  If it holds up, it could be an effect of some or all aspects
of technology, but it isn't obvious a priori which aspects would be
responsible.  It might have been due to growing up with cable TV.
<p>
It might be a response to the precariousness of employment, caused by
the financial crisis, and the consequent lack of good jobs.


feed_id: a6823616c7b414819c2f11abcb228e88
title: Killer of Justine Damond charged
uri: Killer-of-Justine-Damond-charged
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Killer_of_Justine_Damond_charged%29

content:
<p>
The Minneapolis thug that killed Justine Damond last July <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/mar/21/morning-mail-charge-over-justine-damond-shooting">has been charged</a> with
third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.


feed_id: 179d37c28b2f469c7c43129d98136ef0
title: Philadelphia's new DA
uri: Philadelphia-s-new-DA
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Philadelphia%27s_new_DA%29
content:
<p>
Larry Krasner, the new District Attorney of Philadelphia, is
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/20/larry-krasner-philadelphia-da/">redirecting prosecution</a> from oppressing people as hard as possible, on
any excuse, to leading people away from crime.  Especially sex
workers and marijuana users.
<p>
Prison and probation will be focused on serious criminals.


feed_id: a6f3394031f5df7d9f4780a37c8e555a
title: Rich people 'demonized'
uri: Rich-people-demonized
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Rich_people_%27demonized%27%29
content:
<p>
Rich people complain about being "demonized", but they're <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/20/james-dyson-dont-demonise-rich-enough-labour-any-mcpartlin">not
demonized enough</a>.
<p>
Let's vote to get laws to redistribute some of their income and
wealth, and thus reduce their antidemocratic power.


feed_id: c9bf1396426b2a6726f700c207c57319
title: Adjusting without Facebook
uri: Adjusting-without-Facebook
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#25_March_2018_%28Adjusting_without_Facebook%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global/2018/mar/20/delete-your-account-a-guide-to-life-after-facebook">Suggestions to useds of Facebook</a> for how to adjust after deleting
the Facebook account.
<p>
The article recognizes only the specific abuses of Facebook, not the
injustices which Facebook shares with lots of other web sites.  For
instance, it recommends other web services for organizing events, one
of which is Eventbrite — which is unjust.  It requires users to run
nonfree software and makes them identify themselves.  I absolutely
refuse to let Eventbrite do those things to me, just as I absolutely
refuse to be used by Facebook.
<p>
I don't know about the other site it recommends for that, Paperless
Post — can someone check whether it mistreats users?


feed_id: 7a22089bd3fd2bfda9b68c5c80864b03
title: Urgent: Oppose CLOUD Act
uri: Urgent-Oppose-CLOUD-Act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#26_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Oppose_CLOUD_Act%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: phone your congresscritter to <a href="https://act.eff.org/action/stop-the-cloud-act">oppose the CLOUD Act</a>. The Capitol Switchboard
numbers are 202-224-3121, 888-818-6641 and 888-355-3588.


feed_id: ec44623c32d1fa422c689651b0fd291b
title: Urgent: EU censorship filters
uri: Urgent-EU-censorship-filters
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#26_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_EU_censorship_filters%29
content:
<p>
The EU's latest copyright proposal would <a href="https://blog.github.com/2018-03-14-eu-proposal-upload-filters-code/">require censorship filters</a>
on all systems where users can post anything.
<p>
GitHub asks programmers to demand a special exception for posting
software, but that is too small a change.  Please tell your MEPs to
kill this entirely!


feed_id: 0c073d81df23d972def1444e76786dc8
title: Waiter tips
uri: Waiter-tips
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#26_March_2018_%28Waiter_tips%29
content:
<p>
The US Labor Department estimated the amount of tips that its plan would
take away from waiters, but the amount was so large it would arouse hostility.
So the department said it was <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2018/03/21/secretary-acosta-went-great-lengths-bury-dols-analysis-showing-his-tip-rule-bad">unable to estimate the amount</a>.
<p>
From Republicans, dishonesty is standard practice.  Plutocratist Democrats
do it too.


feed_id: 790a9740ca9df058ff219c6c3764bfcc
title: Internet sales tax
uri: Internet-sales-tax
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#26_March_2018_%28Internet_sales_tax%29
content:
<p>
The EU plans to make Internet sellers <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/mar/21/facebook-google-and-amazon-to-pay-fair-tax-under-eu-plans">pay a sales tax</a> to the country
where the client is.


feed_id: afa0926c0ed255882f4a74bf12f7c3c4
title: Great Pacific garbage patch
uri: Great-Pacific-garbage-patch
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#26_March_2018_%28Great_Pacific_garbage_patch%29
content:
<p>
The "great Pacific garbage patch" is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/22/great-pacific-garbage-patch-sprawling-with-far-more-debris-than-thought">four times as big</a> as people thought.


feed_id: c3ba496560b3e5f3cda6bd7db47f731d
title: Assisted suicide with dementia
uri: Assisted-suicide-with-dementia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#26_March_2018_%28Assisted_suicide_with_dementia%29
content:
<p>
Proposals to allow assisted suicide only for people that are likely to
be dead in 6 months are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/22/assisted-dying-dementia-alzheimers-guernsey">not adequate for dementia</a>.
<p>
Many people suffer from dementia for years, effectively zombies,
before some other illness kills the corpse.  By the time, six months
before the latter, they would be allowed to get help with suicide,
they would no longer be competent to invoke that right.


feed_id: 13a209f64f6e5cdcd1958750d46035b5
title: 'Collapse of civilisation'
uri: Collapse-of-civilisation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#26_March_2018_%28%27Collapse_of_civilisation%27%29
content:
<p>
Paul Ehrlich: "Collapse of civilisation is a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/mar/22/collapse-civilisation-near-certain-decades-population-bomb-paul-ehrlich">near certainty within decades</a>."


feed_id: c1666774a8809d4ada08b273789f26a3
title: Solitary confinement
uri: 2018-03-27-Solitary-confinement
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#26_March_2018_%28Solitary_confinement%29
content:
<p>
A US private prison company pretends that it doesn't put immigrants in
solitary confinement, but <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/22/corecivic-solitary-confinement-ice-detention/">evidence says that it does</a>.
<p>
The fact that these prisons are private makes them unaccountable.


feed_id: f7736a6f3f3913a3f2a392fa9d6f9200
title: The propagandas
uri: The-propagandas
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#26_March_2018_%28The_propagandas%29
content:
<p>
As we tear Russian propaganda to shreds, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/21/russia-propaganda-skripal-britain-churchill">let us not forget</a> the
British propaganda and the US propaganda.


feed_id: 3c7fe43c5611710dc31d046d67339342
title: Meddling in 2018 election
uri: Meddling-in-2018-election
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#26_March_2018_%28Meddling_in_2018_election%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/21/russia-us-2018-midterms-meddling-fears">Lack of US Election Auditing</a> Raises Fears of Russian Vote Meddling in 2018.
<p>
Meddling can come from many sources, and the principal threat is from
Republicans.


feed_id: 55a2118e839636bdbe6429a77890c09e
title: Thugs refusing to talk
uri: Thugs-refusing-to-talk
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#26_March_2018_%28Thugs_refusing_to_talk%29
content:
<p>
Minneapolis <a href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> refused to talk to investigators about the killing
of Justine Damond.  The investigators <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/22/justine-damond-shooting-why-did-police-refuse-to-talk-to-investigators">had to give them subpoenas</a>.
<p>
It's the standard wall of silence, which is why they deserve the name
of "<a href="/glossary.html#thug">thug</a>".  The few who stand for truth and justice, rather than for
protecting <a href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a>, are the ones that deserve the title of
"<a href="/glossary.html#police">police officer</a>".


feed_id: e96cb82082790f96803f7aee9b473c45
title: Undersea gas deposits
uri: Undersea-gas-deposits
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#26_March_2018_%28Undersea_gas_deposits%29
content:
<p>
Turkey is moving to the edge of war with Cyprus <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/22/turkey-to-send-drill-ship-to-contested-gas-field-off-cyprus">over undersea gas
deposits</a>.
<p>
For the survival of civilization, we must leave <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jan-apr.html#20_February_2016_(Fight_to_keep_fossil_fuel_in_ground)">80% of known fossil
fuel reserves</a> in the ground.
Therefore, what Cyprus and Turkey should
do is agree by treaty that neither one will extract any gas from
that area of the sea.
<p>
The very size of these deposits makes it all the more essential
to leave them untouched.


feed_id: 82dd77b743f1c5062be07ad756b5674d
title: Redirected aid money
uri: Redirected-aid-money
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#26_March_2018_%28Redirected_aid_money%29
content:
<p>
I Saw Aid for Starving People <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/mar/22/i-saw-aid-for-starving-people-spent-on-staff-salaries-through-inept-planning">Spent on Staff Salaries</a> Through Inept Planning.
<p>
It makes no difference whether the staff hire sex workers.
This, by contrast, is a great failure.


feed_id: 343407272d3e521689149071d9ac2ea6
title: Defending from deportation
uri: Defending-from-deportation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#26_March_2018_%28Defending_from_deportation%29
content:
<p>
US unions are starting to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/22/unions-undocumented-workers-immigration-deportation-painters">defend their members from deportation</a>.


feed_id: b534441eec26b1afefab25acf4c7d1fe
title: Telegram in Iran
uri: Telegram-in-Iran
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#26_March_2018_%28Telegram_in_Iran%29
content:
<p>
Iran banned the use of Telegram, but <a href="https://reason.com/archives/2018/03/22/social-media-beats-censorship">dropped the ban</a> because many businesses
were using it.


feed_id: 67da3f5bfa4d84d1fe9d5238030c0a68
title: France's public workers unions
uri: France-s-public-workers-unions
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#26_March_2018_%28France%27s_public_workers_unions%29

content:
<p>
Macron is planning another blow against France's public workers unions.
They have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/22/thousands-of-public-sector-workers-go-on-strike-across-france">responded with a strike</a>.


feed_id: 4aacfa6820d92e9185e568f7e9762b4d
title: Logging old trees
uri: Logging-old-trees
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#26_March_2018_%28Logging_old_trees%29
content:
<p>
The saboteur wants to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/22/alaska-tongass-forest-at-risk-logging-trump">push logging of trees</a> a thousand years old in the
Tongass National Forest.


feed_id: 8e8d9b8bc3ac410c96845b77e83ad86e
title: Proposal for insurance act
uri: Proposal-for-insurance-act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#26_March_2018_%28Proposal_for_insurance_act%29
content:
<p>
Sanders, Warren and other senators have proposed the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2018/03/21/warren-colleagues-unveil-legislation-hold-insurance-companies-accountable-and">Consumer Health
Insurance Protection Act</a>, which would make it harder for insurance
companies to jerk their customers around.
<p>
It's not as good as single-payer, which Sanders and Warren also support.


feed_id: 15fa5b4ae9568af5ccaa9debf266e023
title: I didn't speak up
uri: I-didn-t-speak-up
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#26_March_2018_%28I_didn%27t_speak_up%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/20/its-not-just-drug-dealers-need-worry-about-inspiration-trump-took-duterte">First they shot the drug dealers</a>, but I didn't speak up because I
wasn't a drug dealer.  Then they shot the environmental defenders, but
I didn't speak up because I wasn't an environmental defender.  Then
they shot the human rights defenders...


feed_id: 7439ecf855c28912047586bc61db00c6
title: Buying US support
uri: Buying-US-support
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#26_March_2018_%28Buying_US_support%29
content:
<p>
Wealthy countries can <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/19/1750238/-Jared-Kushner-s-Middle-East-peace-plan-turns-out-to-be-Pay-Kushner-if-you-want-peace">get US foreign policy support</a> by supporting
Kushner's sinking real estate business.


feed_id: 3d494d2d367c21a1d85f22a2db9677b8
title: Cambridge Analytica boasts
uri: Cambridge-Analytica-boasts
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#26_March_2018_%28Cambridge_Analytica_boasts%29
content:
<p>
Cambridge Analytica executives <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/20/cambridge-analytica-execs-boast-of-role-in-getting-trump-elected">boasted of shaping US public opinion</a>
while making a monkey out of US political campaign law.


feed_id: 149b0fca6adb4769c310219536647703
title: Death by deregulation
uri: Death-by-deregulation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#26_March_2018_%28Death_by_deregulation%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/21/nothing-see-here-just-freedom">Deregulation Kills More People</a> in [The US] Than [PISSI] Ever Will.


feed_id: af1a3eac2d9efd1114c8845a859dd550
title: Urgent: Volcker Rule
uri: Urgent-Volcker-Rule
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#27_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Volcker_Rule%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/volcker_rule_regulators">call on pertinent federal regulatory agencies</a> to protect
a strong interpretation for the Volcker Rule, to prevent banks from
cheating people or causing another financial crash.


feed_id: 992485c53e13783ed02c9372bbbcfa41
title: Urgent: Sessions must testify
uri: Urgent-Sessions-must-testify
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#27_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Sessions_must_testify%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://pac.petitions.moveon.org/sign/demand-jeff-sessions-1">demand that Sessions testify</a> about the firing of McCabe.


feed_id: 6293a8c6d6ba7d121918c4687669fcce
title: Destruction of nature
uri: Destruction-of-nature
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Destruction_of_nature%29
content:
<p>
Destruction of Nature As Dangerous As [global heating], <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/23/destruction-of-nature-as-dangerous-as-climate-change-scientists-warn">Scientists Warn</a>.


feed_id: 62b992a896521f919fc743dd209a75bf
title: Bolton's fake news
uri: Bolton-s-fake-news
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#27_March_2018_%28Bolton%27s_fake_news%29
content:
<p>
Bolton is the head of an <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/23/gatestone-institute-john-bolton-chairs-an-actual-fake-news-publisher-infamous-for-spreading-anti-muslim-hate/">anti-Muslim fake news provider</a>.


feed_id: e7aaaf0b46c700aa4d7d1acafbbebb53
title: Program by British mosques
uri: Program-by-British-mosques
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#27_March_2018_%28Program_by_British_mosques%29
content:
<p>
British mosques have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/22/mosques-launch-anti-radicalisation-scheme-as-alternative-to-prevent">launched a program</a> to protect young Muslims from various
social problems, one of which is radicalization.
<p>
One can't take success for granted, but this looks promising.


feed_id: 169ee4bdae887273382e5599c8ba018f
title: Eagle Eye manifesto
uri: Eagle-Eye-manifesto
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#27_March_2018_%28Eagle_Eye_manifesto%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2018/mar/23/parkland-students-manifesto-americas-gun-laws">The Eagle Eye manifesto</a> is a good start on gun control, but the
proposal to put more <a href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> in schools is misguided: it would put
students in danger of arrest.
<p>
I think there should be additional gun control measures concerning how
to store guns and how to take them out of the house.


feed_id: 5ab15048c453dfffe7e90f9dfa63debd
title: Saving white rhinos
uri: Saving-white-rhinos
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#27_March_2018_%28Saving_white_rhinos%29
content:
<p>
A scientist's samples of white rhino semen might make it possible to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/23/scientists-store-of-rhino-semen-could-save-rare-species">save that species</a>.
<p>
The artificial insemination is not guaranteed to work.
But if it does work, they can use sperm from a wide
variety of males in future generations, to bring back the
genetic diversity that a species needs to be safe.


feed_id: adf1c695844145bc671c7065eece4e9e
title: US budget for Pentagon
uri: US-budget-for-Pentagon
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#27_March_2018_%28US_budget_for_Pentagon%29
content:
<p>
Nearly half of the US budget <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/23/outrageous-700-billion-pentagon-nearly-half-13-trillion-budget-headed-more-war">is for the Pentagon</a>.
<p>
Much of the rest is going for war, through other funding channels.


feed_id: aa42fb7100037e62c8c6c40a6c1c4e6f
title: Lobbying for dirty cars
uri: Lobbying-for-dirty-cars
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#27_March_2018_%28Lobbying_for_dirty_cars%29
content:
<p>
GM, Ford, and Toyota <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/car-companies-hire-climate-denier-to-attack-clean-cars-e533fd00420c/">Lobby for Dirtier Cars</a> While Touting Cleaner Ones.


feed_id: ac159eb36e5677a666966ca91cee91b8
title: New national security adviser
uri: New-national-security-adviser
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#27_March_2018_%28New_national_security_adviser%29
content:
<p>
The bully's new national security adviser <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/22/who-is-john-bolton-trump-national-security-adviser">wants war with Iran and with
North Korea</a>.
<p>
If the bully starts wars, the mainstream media will say, "Ooh, <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jan-apr.html#10_April_2017_(The_troll)">how
presidential</a>!"


feed_id: 46dc55255d38ffa1419c268defa14808
title: Criminal gangs in Russia
uri: Criminal-gangs-in-Russia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#27_March_2018_%28Criminal_gangs_in_Russia%29
content:
<p>
Criminal gangs do not control Russia, but they have learned to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/23/how-organised-crime-took-over-russia-vory-super-mafia">get
along with Putin and prosper</a> through lines of crime that Putin
tolerates.


feed_id: 28374b3a493c727c1c9d521b68d0d43f
title: Wealth tax
uri: Wealth-tax
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#27_March_2018_%28Wealth_tax%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/23/labour-wealth-tax-economy">Labour Must Be Bolder</a> — Only a Wealth Tax Can Defeat Inequality.


feed_id: 394c08e14ab9e8e0342dce740c66bd1b
title: Leopards in Mumbai
uri: Leopards-in-Mumbai
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Leopards_in_Mumbai%29
content:
<p>
Leopards living in a park in Mumbai paradoxically protect humans <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/mar/23/mumbai-leopards-stray-dogs-protect-sanjay-gandhi-national-park">by
eating stray dogs</a>.


feed_id: 862b3743af7878e8cef2b713c99d925e
title: Pervasive digital snooping
uri: Pervasive-digital-snooping
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Pervasive_digital_snooping%29
content:
<p>
A clear example of the wrong way to think about pervasive digital snooping:
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/23/facebook-scandal-privacy-data-equality-wealth">as mere economics</a>.
<p>
This misguided approach leads to hopelessly inadequate proposals, such
as to "pay people for their data".  If this leads to substantial
redistribution of wealth, that in itself would be good — but it
couldn't come anywhere near making up for millions of lost jobs.  And
it would not even try to do anything to protect us from the
manipulation, discrimination, nor the <a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html">threat to democracy</a>.


feed_id: a0aaa9e93c48c1694948ac660885a403
title: Turkey's critical media
uri: Turkey-s-critical-media
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Turkey%27s_critical_media%29
content:
<p>
Turkey's principal critical media are being <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/22/free-speech-turkey-fresh-blow-sale-of-independent-media-outlets-erdogan">sold to ErdoÄan's henchman</a>.


feed_id: 651e400e3ef633b9dae95c792ac945e7
title: Toxic chemicals in Texas
uri: Toxic-chemicals-in-Texas
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Toxic_chemicals_in_Texas%29
content:
<p>
Hurricane Harvey spread lots of toxic chemicals around Texas, and
Republican state officials are <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/22/full-impact-still-hidden-public-report-details-environmental-assault-unleashed">shielding companies from responsibility</a> by
shutting their eyes to the details.


feed_id: 20d7df788256a634016e1150e9fe959b
title: Video of Ahed Tamimi
uri: Video-of-Ahed-Tamimi
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Video_of_Ahed_Tamimi%29
content:
<p>
Ahed Tamimi's mother has been <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/22/israel-jails-palestinian-mother-facebook-live-video-daughter-slapping-soldier/">sentenced to prison</a> for posting the video
of Ahed Tamimi slapping an Israeli soldier.  This is called "incitement".
<p>
Meanwhile, an Israeli who beat up a Palestinian was sentenced to
community service only.


feed_id: e3e6c9d17eb5609d30357af579455e9b
title: Fertilizer dead zone
uri: Fertilizer-dead-zone
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Fertilizer_dead_zone%29
content:
<p>
The dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, caused by fertilizer runoff from
farms, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/22/dead-zone-gulf-of-mexico-decades-recover-study">would take 30 years to dissipate</a> even if we were to end the runoff
completely.


feed_id: 22239598f70a3f03af60d2a0b79d8024
title: Tariffs
uri: Tariffs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Tariffs%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/21/tariffs-arent-terrible-idea-if-theyre-about-well-being-people-not-corporations">Tariffs Arenât a Terrible Idea</a> — If Theyâre About Well-Being of People Not
Corporations.
<p>
The articles that condemn tariffs and warn that a "trade war" would be
disastrous represent the neoliberal, plutocratic camp that supports
<a href="https://stallman.org/business-supremacy-treaties.html ">business-supremacy treaties</a>.
They see tariffs as an impediment to <a href="/glossary.html#doohnibor">dooH niboR</a>.  Their argument is
willfully blind, ignoring the injustice of plutocracy.
<p>
It does not follow that increasing tariffs without limit is always
wise.  What we really need is to make it difficult to shift production
from one country to another.  Once we do that, each country will be
able to resume regulating production for the sake of the health,
safety, and prosperity of its working people.


feed_id: 1b55aef9565ac7f33633a54350dbe538
title: Labeling killers
uri: Labeling-killers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Labeling_killers%29
content:
<p>
The mainstream media are quick to call any killer that is a Muslim a
"terrorist", without waiting for the facts.  Should we compensate for
this by doing something similar to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/21/suspected-austin-bomber-believed-dead-familiar-story-about-who-and-isnt-called">killers that are white</a>?
<p>
I think the media should wait for some facts before calling any killer
a "terrorist" — because you can't deduce that from the killer's
ethnic background or religion, whatever they are.


feed_id: d75ceee34deab514305bdc683b4e50d8
title: Convicted for a joke
uri: Convicted-for-a-joke
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Convicted_for_a_joke%29
content:
<p>
Comedian Ricky Gervais: A man has been convicted in a UK court of
making a joke that was <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/youtuber-count-dankula-found-guilty-of-hate-crime-for-teaching-pet-pug-nazi-salute-a3794926.html">deemed 'grossly offensive'</a>.
<p>
I disagree with them.  Nazism is grossly offensive, but was that joke
grossly offensive?  I don't think having a dog give a Nazi salute
supports Nazism.
<p>
In any case, making it a crime to say something because it is "grossly
offensive" is injustice.
<p>
Giving Offence Is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/25/being-offensive-should-not-be-illegal-in-society-that-defends-free-speech">Inevitable And Often Necessary</a> in a Plural
Society.


feed_id: 4b23c30162eeefa8534899c9e1bf4cba
title: Death row in Iraq
uri: Death-row-in-Iraq
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Death_row_in_Iraq%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2018/03/21/iraq-alarming-reports-more-3000-people-facing-death-over-terror-related-offenses">Almost 30,000 people</a> are on death row in Iraq.


feed_id: 15c615eb6f09e4763d2c85bd33846bc4
title: Big oil climate denial
uri: Big-oil-climate-denial
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Big_oil_climate_denial%29
content:
<p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2018/mar/23/in-court-big-oil-rejected-climate-denial">The oil companies</a>, in court, accepted that global heating is caused by greenhouse gases made by human activity. But they say, "We were only following orders" -- purchase orders, in this case.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 12b91a5645b1990e4b8a396c21944975
title: EU farming impact
uri: EU-farming-impact
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28EU_farming_impact%29
content:
<p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/23/eu-in-state-of-denial-over-destructive-impact-of-farming-on-wildlife">EU in 'State Of Denial' over Destructive Impact of Farming on Wildlife</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 579599807a4d7cf07cfbc6c9142b7de7
title: UK Labour Party Momentum
uri: UK-Labour-Party-Momentum
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28UK_Labour_Party_Momentum%29
content:
<p> Momentum, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/23/us-democrats-uk-momentum-grassroots-labour-jeremy-corbyn">the movement built to support Corbyn</a> within the Labour Party, gives advice to US progressives.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 5f6b7599fa91903bfd0b3feb04e32d1a
title: Fossil fuel auction secret
uri: Fossil-fuel-auction-secret
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Fossil_fuel_auction_secret%29
content:
<p> The Bureau of Land Management auctions off land for fossil fuel extraction and <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/public-lands-oil-gas-lease-internet-secret-843240d282cb/">the purchasers are disguised</a>. We can't tell who bought these extraction leases.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 2ee5e131cb4a670e820fe7038a19bf92
title: Automated taxi
uri: Automated-taxi
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Automated_taxi%29
content:
<p> In the future, when an automated taxi hits a pedestrian, will someone be liable for the death? Or will the pedestrian be liable for damaging the taxi? <a href="http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2018/03/test-case.html">You can be sure corporations will lobby for the latter</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: d4c49b06e8196d8d577ccaffb1decdac
title: Cuba sonic weapon
uri: Cuba-sonic-weapon
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Cuba_sonic_weapon%29
content:
<p> The US diplomats who were <a href="US diplomats who were mysteriously injured in Cuba">mysteriously injured in Cuba</a> actually heard a strange, unexplained sound -- high-pitched, but not ultrasound.</p>
<p>A researcher reports that the sound could have resulted from beating between two ultrasound signals, each generated by a product that was intentionally and legitimately installed.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: e1248f7208ee386e3b12e89261fcb91c
title: Republican Oklahoma taxes
uri: Republican-Oklahoma-taxes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Republican_Oklahoma_taxes%29
content:
<p> Republicans <a href="https://apnews.com/f058811fa1fb4bf68a34e3c243a14a6f">wrecked Oklahoma</a> by cutting taxes and vitally important spending. Now they want to "fix" the problem by raising taxes -- on the poor.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: fa772422e2449f481b8161a1cc294dfa
title: Goldman Sachs Washington
uri: Goldman-Sachs-Washington
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Goldman_Sachs_Washington%29
content:
<p> Goldman Sachs <a href="https://nypost.com/2018/03/18/why-goldman-sachs-alums-go-into-government/">executives get a big tax windfall</a> when they work for the US government for one year.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: eff104ae4912df056dd05217c2c3d61a
title: Kushner secret briefing report
uri: Kushner-secret-briefing-report
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Kushner_secret_briefing_report%29
content:
<p> <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/21/1751046/-Saudi-Crown-Prince-Mohammed-bin-Salman-Says-Jared-Kusher-is-in-his-pocket?detail=emaildkre">Reports that Kushner told</a> the acting king of Salafi Arabia which subjects to torture, based on what he saw in the very secret presidential daily briefing.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 305e5304ce52bcfa43d30e779e970dad
title: Europe housing crisis
uri: Europe-housing-crisis
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Europe_housing_crisis%29
content:
<p> Across Europe, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2018/mar/23/homelessness-european-problem-uk-rise">poor people are being priced out</a> of habitable housing.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 3f74b8a7cfab991009e25a162f527aed
title: Trudeau betrayal called out
uri: Trudeau-betrayal-called-out
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Trudeau_betrayal_called_out%29
content:
<p> <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/23/calling-out-trudeau-betrayal-water-defenders-mobilize-against-kinder-morgan-pipeline">Pipeline protesters in Canada attacked</a> Prime Minister Trudeau because his support for the Unkinder Morgan Pipeline contradicts his pretense to be a climate defender.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 9e911311c998c844655994950c5f159d
title: Transgender military ban
uri: 2018-03-28-Transgender-military-ban
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Transgender_military_ban%29
content:
<p> The bully has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/23/donald-trump-transgender-military-ban-white-house-memo">officially ordered the US armed forces to ban transgender people</a>.</p>
<p>Courts will surely block this, at least for a while. What if it does take effect?</p>
<p>Americans, if you are transgender, you can serve our country better by campaigning against the bully's right-wing extremist movement (the Republican Party) than by being in the military. Being in the military makes you available for him to attack other countries. As for defending our country military, that's hardly necessary at present, since no army is going to attack the US.</p>
<p>If you are not transgender, all that applies to you, too.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 4059d1efaeac004fc4612463d0eb5901
title: Austin bomber's motivation
uri: Austin-bomber-s-motivation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Austin_bomber%27s_motivation%29
content:
<p> The Austin serial bomber's crimes might have been hate crimes, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/24/austin-bombings-mark-conditt-texas">but it's not certain</a>.</p>
<p>They were not terrorism, because terrorism is an explicitly political act. A mere suspected motive is not enough to make an action count as terrorism.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: dab3d12b6cc8b4a32d8c627774000f64
title: Texas prison immigration violence
uri: Texas-prison-immigration-violence
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Texas_prison_immigration_violence%29

content:
<p> A private immigration prison in Texas <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/24/week-of-hell-dozens-of-african-detainees-allege-serial-abuse-and-hate-crimes-at-notorious-private-immigration-jail/">practices extreme violence against the prisoners</a>, and refuses to answer questions about what it did to them.</p>
<p>Privatizing a government activity generally brings unaccountability. This is one of the reasons why government activities should not be privatized.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 5a2699babb40065cad603affb4604754
title: The CLOUD Act
uri: The-CLOUD-Act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28The_CLOUD_Act%29
content:
<p> The US <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/03/responsibility-deflected-cloud-act-passes">Congress brought a shadow on privacy world-wide</a> by passing the CLOUD Act.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 8651c0174b390c200995892f05e06562
title: Congress internet censorship
uri: Congress-internet-censorship
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Congress_internet_censorship%29
content:
<p> <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/22/how-congress-censored-internet">How Congress Censored the Internet</a>.</p>
<p>Craigslist <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/03/craigslist-personals-some-subreddits-disappear-with-fosta-passage/">has eliminated its personals section</a>. FOSTA has made it too dangerous for a web site to have a personals section.</p>
<p>Let's hope that FOSTA is found unconstitutional.</p>
<p>I fully support efforts to put an end to enslavement of people to make them do sex work. But the problem is enslavement, not sex work, and enslavement is found in many fields of work. They include construction, farming, fishing, manicure, and domestic service.</p>
<p>We wouldn't propose to end enslavement in fishing by creating threats of imprisonment for anyone that operates a fishing boat. We shouldn't do it in sex work, either.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 4acfbf09a3924f167cf77360a1659bcf
title: Worldwide abortion report
uri: Worldwide-abortion-report
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Worldwide_abortion_report%29
content:
<p>"The chief lesson of a new report is that making abortion illegal or hard to get doesn't end abortion, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/24/want-to-lower-the-abortion-rate-support-pro-choice-policies">it just makes it less safe</a>."</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 67829a337557d1838d52002158068f6f
title: US home business laws
uri: US-home-business-laws
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28US_home_business_laws%29
content:
<p> Many US <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/reason/Articles/~3/L1ydvL7eG5g/it-shouldnt-be-illegal-for-rec">cities use zoning laws to prevent people from doing business</a> in their homes.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 2a527fc943764bc14a965cfb18ffd575
title: New Orleans monument removal
uri: New-Orleans-monument-removal
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28New_Orleans_monument_removal%29
content:
<p> When New Orleans decided to take down some monuments to Confederate leaders, installed to express support for racism, violent racists threatened the contractors, then attacked them. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2018/mar/24/new-orleans-mayor-louisiana-confederate-statues-removal-never-stop-confronting-racial-injustice">The city had to fight to remove these monuments</a>.</p>
<p>Mayor Landrieu learned that this is exactly the spirit in which the monuments were originally erected, to perpetuate racism years after the civil war ended.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 1269bfd745ff8efa4e0a439991f4d487
title: Poverty Tuberculosis prevention
uri: Poverty-Tuberculosis-prevention
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Poverty_Tuberculosis_prevention%29
content:
<p> Eradicating poverty <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/mar/24/eradicating-poverty-dramatically-reduce-tb-cases-study-finds">could prevent most cases of tuberculosis</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 6904520aa3eee306799690cd20ccda19
title: Urgent: Facebook's victimized useds
uri: Urgent-Facebook-s-victimized-useds
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Facebook%27s_victimized_useds%29

content:
<p>
Everyone: <a href="http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/tell-facebook-notify-50-million-users-whose-personal-info-was-secretly-taken-trump-consultants-cambridge-analytica/">Call on Facebook</a> to notify the 50 million useds victimized
by Cambridge Analytica.
<p>
This is a side issue of the wrong that Facebook did, which is just one
example of dangerous and unjust surveillance.  But this particular
injustice was so big that even its side issues are big.


feed_id: b81395c02bcdd41ffc7eed4772ef0435
title: Urgent: Thugs that killed Stephon Clark
uri: Urgent-Thugs-that-killed-Stephon-Clark
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Thugs_that_killed_Stephon_Clark%29

content:
<p>
Everyone: <a href="http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/justice_for_zoe/">demand indictment</a> of the thugs that killed Stephon Clark.


feed_id: 1051a91a9db543bcd49d9f562f380e7f
title: Fining large businesses
uri: Fining-large-businesses
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Fining_large_businesses%29
content:
<p>
Australia <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/mar/26/accc-says-corporate-fines-too-low-and-it-will-pursue-penalties-in-the-hundreds-of-millions">proposes to fine large business</a> hundreds of millions of dollars
for certain kinds of crimes.


feed_id: 65d3183b4cd03334e19ace10edc776d4
title: Gun control rally
uri: Gun-control-rally
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Gun_control_rally%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/24/marchers-across-the-us-united-in-plan-for-pro-gun-politicians-vote-them-out">Hundreds of thousands of students</a> came by bus to a rally for gun
control in Washington DC, led by students from Marjory Stoneman
Douglas High School.


feed_id: 60606c925666640cfb3b71ee8d46e66c
title: Carrying a gun
uri: Carrying-a-gun
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Carrying_a_gun%29
content:
<p>
An Oaklander taught himself that he <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/24/guns-teenager-oakland-violence-weapons">didn't need to carry
a gun</a> as "protection".


feed_id: 90f1f7fead4de3a072bfd861de016049
title: Abortion law protests
uri: Abortion-law-protests
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Abortion_law_protests%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/23/abortion-poland-mass-protests-against-tightening-of-law">Mass Protests in Poland</a> Against Tightening of Abortion Law.


feed_id: 08d478126f41afbc49d189fbae4feda2
title: Ghouta evacuation
uri: Ghouta-evacuation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Ghouta_evacuation%29
content:
<p>
One part of eastern Ghouta has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/23/ceasefire-deal-agreed-in-syrias-eastern-ghouta">accepted a truce for evacuation</a> of those who
don't want to accept Assad's rule.  Those who evacuate will move to Idlib
in the North, where they will be ruled by more-or-less jihadi rebel groups
supported by Turkey.
<p>
Whether Assad or ErdoÄan is worse, I am unable to judge, but I suppose
the people that move to the rebel zone can expect at least to be
treated as friends rather than as enemies.


feed_id: 758916b39a628e8f7919d72b2ebe2a20
title: Appointing Bolton
uri: Appointing-Bolton
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Appointing_Bolton%29
content:
<p>
Appointing Bolton as the bully's national security advisor <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/press/2018/bolton-appointment-extremely-dangerous-undercuts-national-security">undercuts
national security</a>.


feed_id: 9f4efb95b81068e4664c68731841eb7c
title: Remote phone unlocking
uri: Remote-phone-unlocking
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Remote_phone_unlocking%29
content:
<p>
The US government is demanding, once again, that portable phones be <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/24/us/politics/unlock-phones-encryption.html">built
for remote unlocking</a>.
<p>
If the government criminalizes security, <a href="https://www.justsecurity.org/53316/criminalize-security-criminals-secure/">only criminals will have
security</a>.
<p>
However, portable phones spy on their users frequently for their
manufacturers.  The only kind of data that locking keeps secure is the
data that they don't send to servers.  With proprietary operating
systems, you can't trust that.


feed_id: e393636439661368e607a30584ce735a
title: Baldwin's proposed bill
uri: Baldwin-s-proposed-bill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Baldwin%27s_proposed_bill%29
content:
<p>
Senator Baldwin <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/22/curb-corporate-abuse-stock-buyback-bamboozle-baldwin-bill-would-bolster-worker-power">proposed a bill</a> to allow workers to elect 1/3 of the board
of directors of publicly-traded corporations.


feed_id: f5e2fcf5125c0b542d54311a42c164a7
title: NAACP travel warning
uri: NAACP-travel-warning
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28NAACP_travel_warning%29
content:
<p>
The Onion: <a href="https://www.theonion.com/naacp-issues-travel-warning-for-black-americans-visitin-1823998391">NAACP Issues Travel Warning</a> For Black Americans Visiting
Own Backyards.
<p>
The sad thing is how little exaggeration there is in this article.


feed_id: af1c6b0b2d0ae7c3586484d7813c243a
title: Jewel of my collection
uri: Jewel-of-my-collection
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Jewel_of_my_collection%29
content:
<p>
The Onion: "<a href="https://politics.theonion.com/you-are-the-jewel-of-my-collection-says-saudi-prince-1823998718">You Are The Jewel Of My Collection</a>," Says Saudi Prince
While Guiding Frightened Jared Kushner Toward Harem.


feed_id: 52cd4d7fc021abb60f9100196ffc33f2
title: Guccifer
uri: Guccifer
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Guccifer%29
content:
<p>
Metadata connects Guccifer, who claimed to have hacked the Democratic
National Committee, <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/exclusive-lone-dnc-hacker-guccifer-20-slipped-up-and-revealed-he-was-a-russian-intelligence-officer">with a Russian spy agency</a>.


feed_id: 698f9efbc7326dfcc66e431f64d9f9ef
title: Dropbox terms
uri: Dropbox-terms
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Dropbox_terms%29
content:
<p>
Dropbox Has Some Genuinely Great Security Reporting Guidelines, But
Reserves the Right to <a href="https://boingboing.net/2018/03/22/manufacturers-veto.html">Jail You If You Disagree</a>.
<p>
The CFAA needs to be revised so that it is clear that violating terms
of service is not a crime.  In the mean time, any company that tries
to apply it to violating terms of service deserves special hatred.


feed_id: ae0d902c42152ca9c28c9d273187a87f
title: Unethical software systems
uri: Unethical-software-systems
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Unethical_software_systems%29
content:
<p>
For the first time, software developers are starting to recognize
(from the example of Facebook's use for election manipulation) that
there are systems which should not be developed — that <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2018/03/22/computer-science-faces-ethics-crisis-the-cambridge-analytica-scandal-proves/IzaXxl2BsYBtwM4nxezgcP/story.html">some systems
are unethical</a>.
<p>
Rules to enforce the ethics of a profession can be useful only once
the profession has a code of ethics.  The question is, what should the
code of ethics of software development forbid?
<p>
<a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html">Vicious, unjust features</a> are rife in nonfree software.
If the future code of ethics of software development fails to
call DRM, spyware and back doors unethical, it won't be much good.


feed_id: df27eb1ee54204a82496229d5d9df1fd
title: Poison in politics
uri: Poison-in-politics
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Poison_in_politics%29
content:
<p>
The Poison in Politics <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/22/us-politics-data-cambridge-analytica-russia-trump">Runs Deeper Than Dodgy Data</a>.
The center-right policies of Clinton and other Democrats
created the situation where the <a href="/glossary.html#bully">bully</a> could gain support
from people who rejected the insiders of both major parties.
<p>
Given that situation, the data analysis and stealth electioneering
made possible by Facebook may have helped bring the <a href="/glossary.html#bully">bully</a> close enough
to profit from <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#23_November_2016_(Reversing_election-rigging)">Republican voter-suppression</a>.


feed_id: 4805536e368f94c6be1095a95a89f093
title: Noor Salman
uri: Noor-Salman
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Noor_Salman%29
content:
<p>
The government's so-called evidence against Noor Salman, accused of
collaborating with her husband in a massacre, turned out to be false.
It was presented by an FBI agent; the judge <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/22/at-trial-of-omar-mateens-wife-judges-questioning-reveals-a-huge-hole-in-prosecutions-case-and-deceit-by-prosecutors/">rebuked the agent</a> for
misleading him.
<p>
It appears agents pressured her into signing a false statement which
they later used to incriminate her.  Such pressure tactics often
railroad people into false confessions; people who are not practiced
at this (which includes me, and probably you) need to be <a href="media/24dad59c.5thp1.ogg" data-original-source="https://stallman.org/video/5thp1.ogg">totally on
guard</a> when <a href="media/b75b803e.5thp2.ogg" data-original-source="https://stallman.org/video/5thp2.ogg">talking with any kind of thugs</a> about a crime.


feed_id: 63649706b3feee864b24dc79eb0d8ad1
title: Transgender military ban
uri: 2018-03-29-Transgender-military-ban
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#28_March_2018_%28Transgender_military_ban%29
content:
<p> The bully has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/23/donald-trump-transgender-military-ban-white-house-memo">officially ordered the US armed forces to ban transgender people</a>.</p>
<p>Courts will surely block this, at least for a while. What if it does take effect?</p>
<p>Americans, if you are transgender, you can serve our country better by campaigning against the <a href="/glossary.html#bully">bully</a>'s right-wing extremist movement (the Republican Party) than by being in the military. Being in the military makes you available for him to attack other countries. As for defending our country military, that's hardly necessary at present, since no army is going to attack the US.</p>
<p>If you are not transgender, all that applies to you, too.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: bf8039116e9db68d788dfa5c77792557
title: Volunteer
uri: 2018-03-30-Volunteer
url: https://stallman.org/index.html#volunteerListAnc
content:
<p>I am looking for people to American Promise (americanpromise.net) is looking for a Boston
       area
       volunteer to help suggest and implement changes to their web site to
       reduce use of DropBox and nonfree JavaScript code.  Ideally it would
       function properly even with JavaScript disabled.
       <p>
	 To volunteer, please write to Johannes
	 Epke, johannese@americanpromise.net,
	   and to me at rms at gnu dot org.</p>


feed_id: 028df7199663ea102eb11ff4ca890377
title: CFFA Facebook privacy
uri: CFFA-Facebook-privacy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28CFFA_Facebook_privacy%29
content:
<p>The <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/03/why-we-didnt-make-fix-my-facebook-privacy-settings-tool">exaggerated interpretation</a> of the CFAA makes it legally dangerous to release a tool to help Facebook used set the account parameters to make Facebook use them less rather than more.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 70414990d60a800ef7e663feed37ecc0
title: Greyhound buses deportation traps
uri: Greyhound-buses-deportation-traps
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28Greyhound_buses_deportation_traps%29

content:
<p>ACLU: Greyhound should <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/21/aclu-urges-greyhound-stop-letting-border-agents-use-buses-rolling-traps">stop letting deportation thugs board its buses</a> without a warrant.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: a4e6140610305a81618ced9bce946b9b
title: Internet surveillance
uri: 2018-03-30-Internet-surveillance
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28Internet_surveillance%29
content:
<p>Surveillance capitalism <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/uk/jennifer-cobbe/problem-isn-t-just-cambridge-analytica-or-even-facebook-it-s-surveillance-capitali">converted the internet in to a massive surveillance system</a> which is useful for businesses and for state repression.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 24d6c3e8cee2ace01fd487cb36545453
title: Radio waves cancer
uri: Radio-waves-cancer
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28Radio_waves_cancer%29
content:
<p>Cell phone radio waves <a href="http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/3706604">caused cancer in lab rats</a>.  A large fraction of the rats exposed to the waves developed cancer.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 8ed0b2f2089cd459e154d78a89ee236a
title: 3D Printer DRM
uri: 3D-Printer-DRM
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%283D_Printer_DRM%29
content:
<p><a href="https://boingboing.net/2018/03/22/yellow-dots-cubed.html">A proposal to Stop 3D Printers from Making Guns Is a Perfect Parable of Everything Wrong with Information Security.</a></p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 08a62e806c567c75eb0b8a8df6a5a239
title: ISP Spying worse than Facebook
uri: ISP-Spying-worse-than-Facebook
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28ISP_Spying_worse_than_Facebook%29
content:
<p><a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180320/10281539457/if-youre-pissed-about-facebooks-privacy-abuses-you-should-be-four-times-as-angry-broadband-industry.shtml">US ISPs spy on their customers</a> even worse than Facebook does. But most Americans are not angry about this.</p>
<p>The article is admirable in pointing this out, but foolish in responding by sneering at people for it.  The right thing to do is to help people wake up and demand an end to ISP surveillance.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: dbaebdad49d179bbe108803b5fa0a2c0
title: YouTube video deleted
uri: YouTube-video-deleted
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28YouTube_video_deleted%29
content:
<p>The Atlantic Magazine <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/03/youtube-removes-the-atlantics-hail-trump-video-from-search/555941/">published a video of a neo-Nazi</a> saying "Hail Trump" with Nazi salutes, to demonstrate he is a neo-Nazi. YouTube deleted it.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 14672e75dec1a80335c20b768ec4d47b
title: School district arms students with rocks
uri: School-district-arms-students-with-rocks
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28School_district_arms_students_with_rocks%29

content:
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/24/school-district-in-pennsylvania-to-arm-students-and-teachers-with-rocks">School District in Pennsylvania to Arm Students And Teachers With Rocks.</a></p>
<p>I have a feeling this is going to lead to more violence and more injuries in schools, not less.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 20d61c6173d156f53597a349256dcc80
title: Egypt: British journalist Trew arrested and expelled
uri: Egypt-British-journalist-Trew-arrested-and-expelled
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28Egypt%3A_British_journalist_Trew_arrested_and_expelled%29

content:
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/23/bel-trew-egypt-british-journalist-expelled-the-times">Egypt arrested British journalist Bel Trew</a>, not saying why, and then expelled her without letting her collect her property.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: ead093c07813a241c458f3f2ba8bb48b
title: Chimp at zoo piled stones
uri: Chimp-at-zoo-piled-stones
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28Chimp_at_zoo_piled_stones%29
content:
<p>A chimp in a zoo piled up stones in advance to prepare <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/mar/09/chimp-zoo-stones-science">to throw them at humans</a>.  This demonstrated a kind of intelligence chimps were not thought capable of.</p>
<p>I read about an orangutan that hid a piece of wire in his mouth to prepare for using it to unlock his cage.  Once he got out, he waited by the cage door to proudly show the zookeepers the hack he had done.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 5bf7921ce35751f1d6ff2bfc212b7f4d
title: Recognizing Facebook injustice
uri: Recognizing-Facebook-injustice
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28Recognizing_Facebook_injustice%29
content:
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/24/cambridge-analytica-week-that-shattered-facebook-privacy">People are recognizing that Facebook is a surveillance</a> monster, fundamentally unjust.</p>
<p>But they are not aware yet of <a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html">how broad the injustice of surveillance is</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 8010215cc237ba65c978aaa9346bf6c6
title: Philippines Duterte press freedom
uri: Philippines-Duterte-press-freedom
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28Philippines_Duterte_press_freedom%29

content:
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/12/maria-ressa-rappler-rodrigo-duterte-woman-press-freedom-in-the-philippines">Preserving the Philippine news site Rappler from being crushed by Do-dirty.</a></p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 2958869efc86741760b67ab092c2841a
title: Urgent: Unkinder Morgan pipeline
uri: Urgent-Unkinder-Morgan-pipeline
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Unkinder_Morgan_pipeline%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="http://act.350.org/letter/stop-kinder-morgan-pipeline-embassies/">call on Canada</a> to stop the Unkinder Morgan pipeline.
<p>
Here's the message I sent.  I hope it gives you ideas for your
message.
<blockquote>
Dear Honourable Ambassador,
<p>
I am writing to you to demand that the Canadian government stop the
construction of the Kinder Morgan pipeline in British Columbia. 
"Unkinder" would be a more fitting name for it.
<p>
To avoid global disaster, we need to keep at least 80% of known
fossil fuel reserves in the ground.  The highest priority for nonextraction
is tar sands oil, along with coal.
<p>
Itâs time for Prime Minister Trudeau to start protecting the long-term
interests of Canadians.  It is not in Canadians' interest to have a
hundred million hungry American refugees pour across the border, a few
decades from now, so stop doing things that will force us to flee
north!
</blockquote>


feed_id: 712da99e8f89f6a8c34b306e768093ec
title: Urgent: Expanded and improved Medicare
uri: Urgent-Expanded-and-improved-Medicare
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Expanded_and_improved_Medicare%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://pac.petitions.moveon.org/sign/become-a-citizen-co-sponsor">support the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act</a> (H.R. 676).


feed_id: b7a152590c7b5d57a2d76a57ab1eaa68
title: Data for deportation
uri: Data-for-deportation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28Data_for_deportation%29
content:
<p>
US deportation thugs <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/26/facebook-data-ice-immigration/">use Facebook's tracking data</a> to find immigrants
to deport.  They combine it with tracking data for the portable phones
used to run the Facebook app.


feed_id: 011b9ca75dc065d8dfc98e8b96a59971
title: Lies, hoaxes and smears
uri: Lies-hoaxes-and-smears
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28Lies%2C_hoaxes_and_smears%29
content:
<p>
How Rightwingers Have Attacked [Marjory Stoneman Douglas High]
Students with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/26/emma-gonzalez-david-hogg-attacks-rightwing-constitutions-hoaxes">Lies, Hoaxes And Smears</a>.
<p>
I prefer to refer to them by the name of their school, rather than the
name of their town, to honor <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-nov-feb.html#24_February_2018_(Marjory_Stoneman_Douglas)">Marjory Stoneman Douglas</a>.


feed_id: 92926bdda370ed3cedfed73f8ddd146c
title: The 'gig economy'
uri: 2018-03-30-The-gig-economy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28The_%27gig_economy%27%29
content:
<p>
The "gig economy" is the result of plutocracy's <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/43938-the-uber-crash-is-just-the-start-how-the-gig-economy-threatens-the-future-of-work">plan to impoverish
most people</a>.
<p>
The suicides of taxi drivers <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/26/gig-economy-new-term-serfdom">illustrate the giant injustice</a>.
<p>
Companies <a href="https://stallman.org/uber.html">such as Uber</a>
and Lyft are not morally entitled to the right
to use harmful business practices, or to exist at all.  If they hurt
people — and these companies do — we are entitled to stop them.
That is what democracy is for.
<p>
The solution is political, and advances are being made <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/27/gig-economy-unions-activists-courier-dpd-precarious-employment">even without support
from governments</a>.
<p>
When we elect nonplutocratic governments, we can go even further.
However, we must also carry out our duty as citizens to refuse to buy
from companies that mistreat their workers.
<p>
I <a href="https://stallman.org/amazon.html">refuse to buy from Amazon</a>.  Please join me.


feed_id: 3b9d47a902282da1bfeca519261f5271
title: Georgia Senate Bill 315
uri: Georgia-Senate-Bill-315
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28Georgia_Senate_Bill_315%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor/computing/it/georgias-intrusive-computer-intrusion-bill">Security Experts Say</a> Georgia Senate Bill 315 Could Criminalize 
Legitimate [Security] Research.
It could criminalize a lot of other computer use, must like
the stretched interpretation of the <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2015-may-aug.html#26_July_2015_(CFAA)">federal CFAA</a>.


feed_id: 155a3ff152b899ce639b23daf5e578e9
title: Chemical plant explosion
uri: Chemical-plant-explosion
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28Chemical_plant_explosion%29
content:
<p>
A chemical plant in Texas exploded, and it was hard for firefighters
and residents of the area to know what to do about it, because Texas
allows them to keep their operations secret and the <a href="/glossary.html#saboteur">saboteur</a>-in-chief
is <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/16/trump-fights-kill-chemical-safety-rule-workers-injured-massive-explosion-rocks-texas">cooperating with that</a>.


feed_id: 692cb63e322f83074fb395be36285151
title: ISP snooping
uri: 2018-03-30-ISP-snooping
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28ISP_snooping%29
content:
<p>
Given Facebookâs Privacy Backlash, Why Arenât We <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/wj7q4b/given-facebooks-privacy-backlash-why-arent-we-angrier-with-the-broadband-industry">Angrier With the 
Broadband Industry</a>?
<p>
I suspect the answer is that there has been no single identifiable scandal
about ISP snooping.


feed_id: 55460a1935c85db4e55a82b8f8bb0272
title: New political party in Greece
uri: New-political-party-in-Greece
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28New_political_party_in_Greece%29
content:
<p>
Varoufakis has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/26/greece-ex-minister-yanis-varoufakis-launches-political-party">started a political party</a> to campaign to release Greece
from "debt bondage".


feed_id: f2e20ebc1a8f262668c6080a571dbb25
title: Seattle Uber drivers' union
uri: Seattle-Uber-drivers-union
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28Seattle_Uber_drivers%27_union%29
content:
<p>
The US government <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/26/uber-drivers-union-seattle/">is arguing in court</a> to eliminate the Seattle Uber
drivers' union.


feed_id: 5b0d5cb19ae9d5dce9168bf11cf56722
title: Land degradation
uri: Land-degradation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28Land_degradation%29
content:
<p>
Global land degradation, caused by bad agricultural practices, now <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/26/land-degradation-is-undermining-human-wellbeing-un-report-warns">harms
almost half of humanity</a>, and we are making it worse.


feed_id: 2ea59016222954f8061d806402397e8e
title: Piecework delivery firm
uri: Piecework-delivery-firm
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28Piecework_delivery_firm%29
content:
<p>
A piecework delivery firm in the UK will <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/mar/26/dpd-to-offer-couriers-sick-pay-and-abolish-fines-don-lane-death">offer sick pay and end
fines</a> for drivers that miss a day.
<p>
That's good, but this should not be left to the company's good will.
It should be required by law — and a lot more besides.


feed_id: 98517e3fc8bab0601618e6208097b1b7
title: Security theater in schools
uri: Security-theater-in-schools
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28Security_theater_in_schools%29
content:
<p>
US schools are imposing silly security-theater rules to make up for
the lack of proper gun control.  Students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/22/demanding-real-gun-control-laws-parkland-students-reject-mandatory-clear-backpacks">are condemning these</a>.
<p>
I encourage them to join together and refuse to obey them.


feed_id: 5295cc25543492fb092e7b6ff6a17a04
title: Massachusetts cap-and-trade
uri: Massachusetts-cap-and-trade
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28Massachusetts_cap-and-trade%29
content:
<p>
Proposing that Massachusetts <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/daniel-gatti/one-policy-billions-protect-massachusetts-climate-change">adopt a cap-and-trade policy</a> for all activities
that use fossil fuels.
<p>
The EU adopted a cap-and-trade system, which became a total failure
(the price of emissions fell to nearly zero), and then was politically
blocked from modifying the system to function.  Given that example of
failure, I think a tax on carbon emissions is better.


feed_id: 327bbc28ad8879f813d08533322ee673
title: Unarmed man killed by thug
uri: Unarmed-man-killed-by-thug
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28Unarmed_man_killed_by_thug%29
content:
<p>
A Texas thug <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/25/video-shows-unarmed-black-man-before-he-is-shot-dead-by-texas-deputy">shot and killed</a> a possibly confused black man who was
walking on the street with his pants around his ankles.
<p>
It's hard to threaten someone when you're in that state.  The <a href="/glossary.html#thug">thug</a> may
have seen his black skin and assumed that he had a gun.


feed_id: 5e80002226a4f3459725f8278a7dcf95
title: Increased emissions
uri: Increased-emissions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28Increased_emissions%29
content:
<p>
Greenhouse gas emissions increased in 2017 to a record level.
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/25/renewables-good-news-heat-on-cut-fossil-fuel-use">Strong measures are needed</a> to avoid global disaster — if that is
even still possible.


feed_id: 6f94271b5ecb2fc7c3f64596ea933716
title: Facebook app
uri: Facebook-app
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#29_March_2018_%28Facebook_app%29
content:
<p>
Using the Facebook app on a portable phone tells Facebook about <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/25/facebook-logs-texts-and-calls-users-find-as-they-delete-accounts-cambridge-analytica">any phone
calls and texts</a>.


feed_id: 8595bc1844279c2b45bd9b1193041afc
title: Urgent: Federal marshals at polling places
uri: Urgent-Federal-marshals-at-polling-places
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#30_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Federal_marshals_at_polling_places%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/noarmedagents_voting">tell the Senate</a> not to allow federal marshals at polling
places.
<p>
They would intimidate the voters.


feed_id: 0feee7d58bbf351a107ca1e97407932e
title: Urgent: Discriminating against patients
uri: Urgent-Discriminating-against-patients
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#30_March_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Discriminating_against_patients%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="http://act.pfaw.org/sign/hhs-patients-not-politics/">call on the Department of Health</a> not to allow medical
personnel to discriminate against certain people as patients.


feed_id: cf4608f30fdc64c6b47e7d2073622bf1
title: Technological unemployment
uri: Technological-unemployment
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#30_March_2018_%28Technological_unemployment%29
content:
<p>
It is now clear that retraining workers is not an adequate solution
for the problem of technological unemployment.  If we don't have a
guaranteed income, we need a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/27/democrats-government-backed-jobs-guarantee">guarantee of a job</a> to whoever wants one.


feed_id: b47872f1da273f8e233a3cc7c6e8505f
title: Repealing 2nd amendment
uri: Repealing-2nd-amendment
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#30_March_2018_%28Repealing_2nd_amendment%29
content:
<p>
Retired Justice Stevens calls for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2018/mar/27/john-paul-stevens-former-supreme-court-justice-repeal-second-amendment">repealing the second amendment</a>,
which states the "right to bear arms".
<p>
I would not argue hard against that, but I don't think that is
necessary.  With the interpretation that the <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_March_2018_(The_Second_Amendment)">second amendment always
had</a>
until the decision cited in the article, it didn't block the gun
control we need.
<p>
It would be no harder, and perhaps much easier, to bring back that
interpretation than to abolish it outright.


feed_id: 3600f883729c7035150e2614aeaec547
title: Gambling in the UK
uri: Gambling-in-the-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#30_March_2018_%28Gambling_in_the_UK%29
content:
<p>
Allowing companies to run gambling operations however they wish
enables them to systematically lead people from occasional gambling
into addiction.  A gambler <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/27/britain-gambling-problem-nationalise-industry-betting-terminals">proposes to nationalize gambling</a> in the UK
as a solution.
<p>
It isn't automatic or guaranteed that government-run gambling won't
use the same tricks to increase income, but it would be less likely to
do so.  Government agencies tend to be more accountable than private
companies.
<p>
Since the opportunity to gamble without going to a special place to do
it seems to be a crucial exacerbating point, perhaps companies should
not be allowed to support gambling through apps.  Underground and
foreign operations would still exist — to prevent that would require
a system of digital tyranny, which I oppose.  But they would not be
able to advertise commercially, and people would distrust them, so I
hope they would attract people less.


feed_id: 60e671888c3f575d05410a68a2399be7
title: Who owns guns in the US
uri: Who-owns-guns-in-the-US
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#30_March_2018_%28Who_owns_guns_in_the_US%29
content:
<p>
US gun ownership is concentrated in old right-wing white men.  Their
advocacy for gun rights is typically connected with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/27/gun-debate-culture-war-young-people-will-win">racism and sexism</a>.
The NRA illustrates this when it doesn't speak up much for women
 that use guns to defend themselves from domestic violence.


feed_id: 6fc5f278819e89ee608f9a98bcfa9081
title: Website age checks
uri: Website-age-checks
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#30_March_2018_%28Website_age_checks%29
content:
<p>
UK Mandatory Website Age Checks Could <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/27/uk-website-age-checks-create-facebook-porn-critics-warn">Create Facebook of Porn</a>, Critics Warn.


feed_id: 80fc1ee9461d42ce7f825a4bfdab1243
title: Full-face veil ban
uri: Full-face-veil-ban
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#30_March_2018_%28Full-face_veil_ban%29
content:
<p>
Austria's ban on full-face veils mainly impacts people wearing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/27/austrian-full-face-veil-ban-condemned-failure-police-integration-smog-marks-animal-costumes">smog
masks and animal costumes</a>.
It also interferes with our right not to be tracked by facial recognition.
<p>
The only other purpose it serves is to demonize Muslims.  We should
campaign to eliminate all such bans.


feed_id: cf3f71bb86f63e1fdc4e4ea732751ac3
title: Puigdemont tracked
uri: Puigdemont-tracked
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#30_March_2018_%28Puigdemont_tracked%29
content:
<p>
Spanish Spies <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/27/spanish-spies-tracked-carles-puigdemont-via-friends-phone">Tracked Carles Puigdemont</a> via Friend's Phone.
<p>
If you have a portable phone, your enemies can use it to track you.


feed_id: 402f205578195f5810c1833364aa74d7
title: Allowing polio vaccination
uri: Allowing-polio-vaccination
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#30_March_2018_%28Allowing_polio_vaccination%29
content:
<p>
Afghan imams are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/mar/27/afghan-clerics-in-talks-with-isis-to-break-polio-myths">trying to convince jihadi leaders</a> in Afghanistan and
Pakistan to allow polio vaccination.
Finding and killing Osama bin Laden <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-nov-feb.html#23_January_2018_(Polio_vaccination)">did the US no good</a>,
but setting up of <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jan-apr.html#15_January_2016_(Religious_fanatics_against_vaccination)">phony vaccination activity</a> to find him 
has done great harm
to children in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
If not for that, polio would have been eradicated by now.


feed_id: 6a55472d8fc75095b7c5ad84c4f6ad5d
title: Sea-level rise
uri: 2018-03-31-Sea-level-rise
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#30_March_2018_%28Sea-level_rise%29
content:
<p>
Sea-level rise, hurried by global heating, is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/27/climate-change-louisiana-tabasco-avery-island">eating away at Louisiana</a>.
<p>
Relocating 400 people from the disappearing Isle de Jean Charles will
cost <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/15/louisiana-isle-de-jean-charles-island-sea-level-resettlement">50 million dollars</a>.
<p>
Making a rough guess, if accelerating sea-level rise forces 400,000
Americans per year to move, a couple of decades from now,
the US won't help them at all.


feed_id: 0d4b7def96d4b3947aec920aee13f7f5
title: Stateless in Australia
uri: Stateless-in-Australia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#30_March_2018_%28Stateless_in_Australia%29
content:
<p>
Stateless people in Australia are being imprisoned without charge
and could be imprisoned <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/mar/27/stateless-in-australia-new-centre-to-shine-light-on-those-incarcerated-without-hope">for the rest of their lives</a>.
<p>
It's like Guantanamo, but for prisoners not even suspected of any crime.


feed_id: 3a1b72610bd029dd09c9bfc0d2d6fdea
title: Plantations in Amazonia
uri: Plantations-in-Amazonia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#30_March_2018_%28Plantations_in_Amazonia%29
content:
<p>
Brazil's corrupt congress is hurrying to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/26/brazil-senate-considers-lifting-ban-on-sugarcane-production-in-amazon">allow sugar plantations
in Amazonia</a> — which would encourage deforestation.


feed_id: 96a7d468de50c25380ef32c18308a030
title: Thug department management
uri: Thug-department-management
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#30_March_2018_%28Thug_department_management%29
content:
<p>
Chicago's community groups have been <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/21/1750905/-New-agreement-in-Chicago-gives-Black-Lives-Matter-and-other-community-groups-input-in-police-reform">given a consultative role</a> in
management of the <a href="/glossary.html#thug">thug</a> department.


feed_id: 303f99ab3813ba557dd67577dbbac430
title: Media support for war
uri: Media-support-for-war
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#30_March_2018_%28Media_support_for_war%29
content:
<p>
Once again, CNN and MSNBC are <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/26/same-old-media-parade-why-are-liberals-cheering">supporting the efforts</a> to push the US
into starting wars.


feed_id: ac4dead61a3f776282012fef7cd4e0ea
title: Hostile environment in the UK
uri: Hostile-environment-in-the-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#30_March_2018_%28Hostile_environment_in_the_UK%29
content:
<p>
The Tories have intentionally created a "hostile environment" for
people who moved to the UK lawfully in the 1960s and never left.  This
involves forcing them into a life of penury on the street, or even
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/26/the-stress-is-making-me-ill-womans-immigration-battle-after-51-years-in-uk">making them die of cancer</a>.
<p>
This is the British equivalent of the DACA issue.


feed_id: 8e1ed6586c2b10e9ab56584e78690735
title: 'Self help' industry
uri: Self-help-industry
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#30_March_2018_%28%27Self_help%27_industry%29
content:
<p>
The "self help" industry <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/26/12-rules-spitting-poor">distracts people from collective action</a>.
It says, "Look only for a way to help yourself, not a way to help
everyone in the same lousy situation as you."
<p>
Ultimately it encourages the downtrodden to try to climb up on the
bodies of other downtrodden.


feed_id: 1d396bbff69373c7d295aaca1452a750
title: Urgent: Marshals at polling places
uri: Urgent-Marshals-at-polling-places
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#1_April_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Marshals_at_polling_places%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/noarmedagents_voting">object to stationing federal marshals</a> at polling places.


feed_id: 912ca4aea6f62fbcb3979135772bea8a
title: Assange's internet access
uri: Assange-s-internet-access
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#1_April_2018_%28Assange%27s_internet_access%29
content:
<p>
Ecuador <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/mar/28/julian-assange-internet-connection-ecuador-embassy-cut-off-wikileaks">cut off Julian Assange's internet access</a>, saying his postings
were interfering in Ecuador's international relations.


feed_id: 3af15c4057b5567649bce8f5b306a112
title: Antisemitic mural
uri: Antisemitic-mural
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#1_April_2018_%28Antisemitic_mural%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/28/antisemitism-open-your-eyes-jeremy-corbyn-labour">An explanation</a> of the antisemitic mural that shows the antisemitism
that the Labour Party needs to pull up by the roots.
<p>
Isn't there an antisemitic remnant in the Tory Party too?  Upper-class
Britishers used to be rather bigoted towards Jews, and I'd be
surprised if that were completely gone.


feed_id: 22cde9cafb34a1895e4ccd83e7257749
title: Salah Abdeslam's trial
uri: Salah-Abdeslam-s-trial
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#1_April_2018_%28Salah_Abdeslam%27s_trial%29
content:
<p>
Salah Abdeslam's trial must not only be fair &dash; <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/28/paris-attack-suspect-jail-salah-abdeslam">it must be seen to be fair</a>,
so that he cannot plead persecution as a retroactive justification for
his murder plot.


feed_id: ea46bf5f12efc1e9c98c4cbdbcfcff8a
title: Liberal democracy in Hungary
uri: Liberal-democracy-in-Hungary
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#1_April_2018_%28Liberal_democracy_in_Hungary%29
content:
<p>
Proposing to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/28/hungary-liberal-democracy-tactical-alliance-far-right">reestablish liberal democracy</a> in Hungary by making a
coalition with the not-in-power extremists.


feed_id: 1dc96b087f29ed46d767f93112cc6cc6
title: Kenyan opposition politician
uri: Kenyan-opposition-politician
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#1_April_2018_%28Kenyan_opposition_politician%29
content:
<p>
A Kenyan opposition politician has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/28/kenyan-opposition-politician-detained-in-airport-toilet">hounded into a toilet</a> at the
airport after he refused to be forcibly exiled.
<p>
The term "deported" seems inadequate when it is a matter of
forcing a citizen out of his country.


feed_id: 626c8d158c6c09749aa8c22f0b263aa9
title: Facebook housing ads
uri: 2018-04-01-Facebook-housing-ads
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#1_April_2018_%28Facebook_housing_ads%29
content:
<p>
Facebook continues to facilitate racial discrimination in housing ads,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/28/facebook-accused-discrimination-failure-housing-lawsuit">according to a 2018 lawsuit</a>.


feed_id: 292daf7eb9717ddeabca19cbad35ade2
title: Uber in Arizona
uri: Uber-in-Arizona
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#1_April_2018_%28Uber_in_Arizona%29
content:
<p>
Uber corrupted the state of Arizona by offering to move business there,
which led to a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/28/uber-arizona-secret-self-driving-program-governor-doug-ducey">secret approval</a> for testing driverless cars before they
were safe enough to use.


feed_id: 7d6ebf3340bdf0fda3fe8d11b8b70322
title: Fossil fuel investments
uri: 2018-04-01-Fossil-fuel-investments
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#1_April_2018_%28Fossil_fuel_investments%29
content:
<p>
The bully's rejection of the Paris treaty seems to have inspired a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/28/extreme-fossil-fuel-investments-have-surged-under-donald-trump-report-reveals">big
increase in investments</a> in extremely polluting fossil fuels.


feed_id: 8c76123d9acba4cd1efe3cd1b702ecd5
title: Deleting Facebook account
uri: Deleting-Facebook-account
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#1_April_2018_%28Deleting_Facebook_account%29
content:
<p>
New Zealand's Privacy Commissioner <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/28/new-zealands-privacy-commissioner-deletes-his-facebook-account">Deletes His Facebook Account</a>.
<p>
In order for the furor about Facebook's role in election manipulation
and fomenting hate to lead to the drastic decrease in surveillance
that we need, we have to extend it to cover all the <a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html ">other surveillance
systems</a> that threaten and plague us.


feed_id: 46b45130093e42d5c918dad828434185
title: Human rights at the UN
uri: Human-rights-at-the-UN
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#1_April_2018_%28Human_rights_at_the_UN%29
content:
<p>
China and Russia are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/27/china-and-russia-accused-of-waging-war-on-human-rights-at-un">shutting down parts</a> of the UN's human rights
defense structure.
<p>
In the past, the US would have denounced this, but the <a href="/glossary.html#bully">bully</a> has
contempt for the very idea of human rights.


feed_id: 4651df7c63603b507aa382ae42bbb092
title: Waiters own their tips
uri: Waiters-own-their-tips
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#1_April_2018_%28Waiters_own_their_tips%29
content:
<p>
One good point in the very bad spending bill was that it says that
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/26/tipped-workers-win-spending-bill">waiters own their tips</a>.


feed_id: bd6f4a6093fa574f164e21a086862d56
title: Census question
uri: Census-question
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#1_April_2018_%28Census_question%29
content:
<p>
Republicans plan to add a question "Are you a US citizen?" to the 2020
census, so as to cause urban areas with many immigrants to lose
congressional seats and federal funds.  California is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/03/27/california-sues-trump-administration-over-decision-to-add-citizenship-question-to-census/">suing to block
this</a>.


feed_id: 0a45c4690ce228c98ed45c34502f1601
title: Journalists murdered
uri: Journalists-murdered
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#1_April_2018_%28Journalists_murdered%29
content:
<p>
Indian journalists <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/27/three-indian-journalists-run-down-killed-sandeep-sharma-navin-nischal-vijay-singh">have been murdered</a> for covering corruptions.


feed_id: c156b20d6c18b350f491e9f0ddbcb2ae
title: Products made from krill
uri: Products-made-from-krill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#1_April_2018_%28Products_made_from_krill%29
content:
<p>
Greenpeace asks stores to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/27/campaigners-call-on-uk-retailers-to-stop-stocking-antarctic-krill-products">stop selling products</a> made from Antarctic krill.
This is to avoid <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-nov-feb.html#18_February_2018_(Krill_population)">starving whales and penguins</a>.


feed_id: 969935907052fcded4bd1292c28f77c1
title: 'Fake news' in Malaysia
uri: Fake-news-in-Malaysia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#1_April_2018_%28%27Fake_news%27_in_Malaysia%29
content:
<p>
Malaysia is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/26/malaysia-accused-of-muzzling-critics-with-jail-term-for-fake-news">considering a law</a> to punish "fake news" with a long prison
term.
<p>
The ruler of Malaysia has already demonstrated enough repressive
tendencies that we can be sure he will label anything he doesn't like
as "fake", much like the <a href="/glossary.html#bully">bully</a>.


feed_id: 72b66f2b7fa450e2ad059e7c32566284
title: Urgent: Student debt collectors
uri: Urgent-Student-debt-collectors
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Student_debt_collectors%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/devos_debt_collectors">Tell DeVos</a> to stop helping student debt collectors.


feed_id: d50fbd1c2c76fe7c141b99ccd8c0c577
title: Urgent: Internet Privacy Act
uri: Urgent-Internet-Privacy-Act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Internet_Privacy_Act%29
content:
<p>
Citizens of Massachusetts: <a href="https://action.aclu.org/send-message/support-internet-privacy-act">support the Internet Privacy Act</a>.
<p>
Here's the personal message I gave.
<blockquote>
The bill does not go far enough.  We should prohibit ISPs from even
taking note of subscribers' internet contacts, except to the extent
required by federal law (which should also be changed), or required by
a specific court order (the only legitimate justification for such
tracking.
<p>
When the ISP is required to take note of a subscriber's internet
contacts, it should not be allowed to do anything with the data except
hand it over to the government when and as required.
<p>
Although this bill does not go far enough, it is a step forward
and should be passed.
</blockquote>


feed_id: a59801bc392e995c66df60feb8377631
title: Single identity on Facebook
uri: Single-identity-on-Facebook
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28Single_identity_on_Facebook%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://boingboing.net/2018/03/28/sociopathic-social-media.html">Young People Hate Facebook</a> Because It Forces Them to Have a Single Identity.


feed_id: 13ca6716df53e51169404ebce2f1cb3b
title: Public transportation
uri: 2018-04-02-Public-transportation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28Public_transportation%29
content:
<p>
Surveillance-based ride companies <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/mar/29/public-transport-transit-private-companies-citymapper-uber-whim-smart-buses">are muscling in</a> on the traditional
public transportation that respects our freedom.


feed_id: cf83e8f6d276a551a155a50a4e93ccfe
title: Looming nuclear apocalypse
uri: Looming-nuclear-apocalypse
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28Looming_nuclear_apocalypse%29
content:
<p>
"<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/29/nuclear-weapons-jeremy-corbyn-apocalypse">Nuclear apocalypse looms over humanity</a>, yet itâs not even on the
political radar.  Letâs work to change that."
<p>
I agree.


feed_id: 35e31ffd855551d0b1dcd50f9f4200f7
title: Hotel deal in Latvia
uri: Hotel-deal-in-Latvia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28Hotel_deal_in_Latvia%29
content:
<p>
The cheater <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/29/trump-fbi-hotel-latvia-investigation-russia-links">tried to set up a hotel deal</a> in Latvia with businessmen
linked to Putin, and also to corruption.
<p>
This particular proposed deal was not necessarily wrongdoing on the
cheater's part, but the long list of situations where he has been
involved with associates of Putin adds up to a pattern of support for
a foreign tyrant.


feed_id: cac90b62611371e71b7a9245fc686b2d
title: New nuclear power plants
uri: 2018-04-02-New-nuclear-power-plants
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28New_nuclear_power_plants%29
content:
<p>
Why does the UK government insist on <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/political-science/2018/mar/29/why-is-uk-government-so-infatuated-nuclear-power">pouring billions of dollars</a> into
building obsolete nuclear power plants, and designing a new model
that will be more expensive than wind power?  Some evidence suggests
it is a way of hiding part of the cost of new nuclear missile submarines.


feed_id: b2c07efd0fc6a165fd7e3d149dbd7731
title: Opposition politician injected
uri: Opposition-politician-injected
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28Opposition_politician_injected%29
content:
<p>
Kenyan thugs <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/29/kenyan-politician-says-he-was-drugged-in-toilet-then-deported">injected opposition politician</a> Miguna Miguna with a
knockout drug to send him back into exile.


feed_id: 4f7f06efd8741e1e373f70d7b7996f10
title: Homeless shelters
uri: Homeless-shelters
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28Homeless_shelters%29
content:
<p>
Building homeless shelters <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/29/san-diego-homelessness-big-tents">using large tents</a> whose walls keep out the
weather.


feed_id: 2bab9812857fa709d73d12a9f8b53765
title: Dropped protester charges
uri: Dropped-protester-charges
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28Dropped_protester_charges%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/28/judge-drops-charges-against-13-who-argued-pipeline-civil-disobedience-action-was">A judge dropped charges</a> against Massachusetts pipeline protesters
on the grounds that their actions were necessary to prevent disaster.


feed_id: 95e5f425316c6dff16bc10533280486d
title: Zuckerberg's testimony
uri: Zuckerberg-s-testimony
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28Zuckerberg%27s_testimony%29
content:
<p>
The Onion: <a href="https://www.theonion.com/mark-zuckerberg-prepares-for-congressional-testimony-by-1824149833">How Zuckerberg will manage the response</a> to his testimony to
Congress.


feed_id: 18a0c18e0cc5556e05aa6a42eca039c7
title: Reporting abortions
uri: Reporting-abortions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28Reporting_abortions%29
content:
<p>
Indiana's fanatical Christian legislators <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/27/1752517/-New-Indiana-law-requires-doctors-make-women-confess-abortion-history-or-go-to-jail">passed a law</a> requiring doctors
to interrogate women patients about their past abortions and report them
to the state.


feed_id: 5f42755970668716e4a35ad2ea281e79
title: Calling out Cuomo
uri: Calling-out-Cuomo
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28Calling_out_Cuomo%29
content:
<p>
Cynthia Nixon, progressive Democrat, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/27/mad-hell-cynthia-nixon-calls-out-gov-cuomo-fake-progressive-and-bully-fiery-speech">tore into New York Governor Cuomo</a>
as a phony progressive that supports right-wing policies.


feed_id: 43d3b0278f7b68b31d262562ec58ccb3
title: Mexican thugs convicted
uri: Mexican-thugs-convicted
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28Mexican_thugs_convicted%29
content:
<p>
Two Mexican thugs <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/28/mexico-police-moises-sanchez-journalist-guilty">have been convicted</a> of murdering a journalist. 


feed_id: 95ccb8de82280d638ebd9b7e314c28a2
title: Sugary drink laws
uri: Sugary-drink-laws
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28Sugary_drink_laws%29
content:
<p>
Coke and Pepsi are <a href="https://www.prwatch.org/news/2018/03/13332/bills-ban-local-soda-taxes-are-moving-states-coke-and-pepsi-borrow-tobacco">buying state laws</a> prohibiting cities from taxing
sugary drinks.


feed_id: 949b19529ad39737698d50a000b0aca3
title: Plastic pollution
uri: 2018-04-02-Plastic-pollution
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28Plastic_pollution%29
content:
<p>
The crisis of plastic pollution is so vast that recycling all beverage bottles
would only <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/28/plastic-crisis-urgent-recycling-bottles-no-fix">make a small dent in it</a>.


feed_id: a7b4deb01e245aed7eee4a5cc823d475
title: Pardoning Flynn and Manafort
uri: Pardoning-Flynn-and-Manafort
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28Pardoning_Flynn_and_Manafort%29
content:
<p>
The cheater <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/28/trump-lawyer-presidential-pardon-flynn-manafort-mueller">discussed with his lawyer</a> the possibility of pardoning
Flynn and Manafort.


feed_id: 3a48a9f6b24b916adefa9f6c6ba393fa
title: Chocolate health claims
uri: Chocolate-health-claims
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28Chocolate_health_claims%29
content:
<p>Big chocolate companies have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/mar/25/chocolate-the-dark-truth-is-it-good-for-you-health-wellbeing-blood-pressure-flavanols">funded marketing to amplify possible minor benefits</a> while lobbying to hide the sugar from our attention.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 256ef41d419203ab754e4e87eb6cd06d
title: Unscientific forensics
uri: Unscientific-forensics
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28Unscientific_forensics%29
content:
<p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/bad-science-puts-innocent-people-in-jail--and-keeps-them-there/2018/03/20/f1fffd08-263e-11e8-b79d-f3d931db7f68_story.html">Courts have admitted unscientific forms</a> of forensic "evidence", and create insuperable obstacles for the wrongly convicted to get an appeal.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 49ee0bf07016b346a1a8eb008e8c18eb
title: NC election rigging
uri: NC-election-rigging
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28NC_election_rigging%29
content:
<p>North Carolina <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/23/1751514/-North-Carolina-GOP-motto-If-you-can-t-win-your-case-rig-the-courts?detail=emaildkre">Republicans are trying to take full control</a> of the courts to stop the courts from resisting their plans for rigging elections.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 4aec9b9031ad24c165eba980ffc239e8
title: Student suspended after call to congresscritter
uri: Student-suspended-after-call-to-congresscritter
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28Student_suspended_after_call_to_congresscritter%29

content:
<p>Noah Christiansen <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/21/1750914/-Student-calls-asking-his-Republican-rep-for-gun-control-is-instead-suspended-for-using-the-f-word?detail=emaildkre">student called his congresscritter</a> and said representatives should "get off their fucking asses" to enact gun control.  His high school punished him personally as a way to pretend there is something very bad about the expression "their fucking asses".</p>
<p><a href="https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech/student-speech-and-privacy/cursing-your-congressman-school-grounds-shouldnt-get-you">The ACLU says that this violated his constitutional rights</a>.</p>
<p>Christiansen's statement did not insult the congresscritter, even though the congresscritter may well have deserved to be insulted. Christiansen used the word only to express vehemence.</p>
<p>The congresscritter is a Republican jerk, but all he did here was make a complaint.  Even if we disagree with his views, we should not condemn him for stating those views.</p>
<p>The ones who acted wrongly are the school officials who punished Christiansen.  They deserve a protest campaign.  And here's to tell Christiansen, "Right on!  Please don't apologize!"</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: ddb98c83967c1a7a3cdd02a4186dcfb0
title: High-tech security at school
uri: High-tech-security-at-school
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28High-tech_security_at_school%29
content:
<p><a href="https://gizmodo.com/schools-are-spending-millions-on-high-tech-surveillance-1823811050">Schools are installing high-tech security</a> such as face recognition and license-plate recognition, in the name of "security", but what it does is oppress the students.</p>
<p>These forms of surveillance technology <a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html">should be very strictly regulated to limit what data they can collect</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 3c027d9099a2d451424acfd8c9dfedfc
title: Senate bill enables secret corruption
uri: Senate-bill-enables-secret-corruption
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28Senate_bill_enables_secret_corruption%29

content:
<p>The Senate is working on a bill that pre-emptively <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2018/03/23/enabling-corruption">bans certain regulations to limit campaign spending by the rich</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 9c57cd1a783b03d213e1654b3c6383a5
title: Soviet nerve agents
uri: Soviet-nerve-agents
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28Soviet_nerve_agents%29
content:
<p>Vladimir Uglev, Soviet chemical weapons developer who worked on novichok nerve gas, says that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/23/nerve-agent-was-used-in-1995-claims-former-soviet-scientist">Russia did have some in the 1990s</a> and it was used for a murder in 1995 -- but not necessarily by the Russian state.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 4203ec8aabb023859fe615cad1375c30
title: Onion North Korea warning
uri: Onion-North-Korea-warning
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28Onion_North_Korea_warning%29
content:
<p>The Onion: <a href="https://politics.theonion.com/john-bolton-warns-war-with-north-korea-won-t-be-cakewal-1824031861">John Bolton Warns War With North Korea Won't Be Cakewalk Like Iraq</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: e35c085838b1992e92bd6660ca122cc3
title: Canada press freedom
uri: Canada-press-freedom
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28Canada_press_freedom%29
content:
<p>Press repression in Canada: <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/23/affront-freedom-press-canadian-journalist-faces-criminal-charges-covering-protest">journalist Justin Brake is threatened with 10 years</a> in prison for covering a protest.</p>
<p>I expect the protesters face similar charges for opposing the construction of a dam.  I don't know enough to have an opinion about the dam project, but repression of protesters is as incompatible with a free country as repression of journalists.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 8678912ec8994869696f603f0580d33d
title: Stormy Daniels threatened
uri: Stormy-Daniels-threatened
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28Stormy_Daniels_threatened%29
content:
<p>Stormy Daniels says that the bully <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/26/stormy-daniels-i-was-told-to-leave-trump-alone-in-parking-lot-threat">sent someone to make violent threats</a> to silence her about her affair with him.</p>
<p>Publishing about your sexual relationship with someone else is a hostile thing to do.  Except with some special justification, you shouldn't do it.  I see no sign that Daniels had special justification, so she would have been wrong to publish, then.  But that didn't justify threatening violence against her.  It was also stupid, since the bully had already made his sex life so scandalous that her statement could not have made it much more so.</p>
<p>She also <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/26/stormy-daniels-trump-affair-claims-doesnt-look-good-president-america">says that he pressured her into sex</a>, and she acquiesced because she felt that under the circumstances it was not possible to decline.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: da1aa94dfeaa648f51df78443ed1201f
title: Trump Wall
uri: Trump-Wall
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28Trump_Wall%29
content:
<p>Should We Build the Wall? <a href="https://reason.com/reasontv/2018/03/23/trump-wall-immigration-borders-illegal?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reason%2FArticles+%28Reason+Online+-+All+Articles+%28except+Hit+%26+Run+blog%29%29">We Asked Trump Supporters</A>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 8e8e3f03983012a37e9ca57efa2f0c8d
title: Urgent: Mike Pompeo
uri: Urgent-Mike-Pompeo
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Mike_Pompeo%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/Block_Pompeo">call on the Senate</a> to block and resist Mike Pompeo's
confirmation as Secretary of State.


feed_id: 65707f25495c5144260da1c06198725e
title: Urgent: Rebekah Mercer
uri: Urgent-Rebekah-Mercer
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Rebekah_Mercer%29
content:
<p>
Everyone: <a href="https://act.climatetruth.org/sign/Mercer">call on the American Museum of Natural History</a> to remove
<a href="/glossary.html#global heating">global heating</a> denier Rebekah Mercer from its board.
<p>
As icing on the cake, she also funds the right-wing extremist site
Breitbart.


feed_id: 2b5d4925bdd5f525c14d86455ea6a760
title: Nondiscrimination requirements
uri: Nondiscrimination-requirements
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Nondiscrimination_requirements%29
content:
<p>
Many Christian colleges <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/28/1752540/-Can-Christian-colleges-survive-the-rise-of-LGBT-rights">practice gender-related discrimination</a>, that puts
them on a collision course with US nondiscrimination requirements.


feed_id: f9bec878b9be13fa9964ef294267b696
title: Cleaner cars
uri: Cleaner-cars
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Cleaner_cars%29
content:
<p>
Clean air standards for cars won't just help save the ecosphere.  As a
bonus they will <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2018/03/29/cleaner-cars-cut-costs-and-pollution">save money for car owners</a>.
<p>
No wonder the saboteurs want to cancel these standards.


feed_id: fae93a521b40f45c89c153ee5f269f81
title: Banning sex work publicity
uri: Banning-sex-work-publicity
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Banning_sex_work_publicity%29
content:
<p>
The censorship laws that effectively ban publicity for sex work, in
case it might turn out to involve enslavement, backfire by <a href="https://injusticetoday.com/anti-online-trafficking-bills-advance-in-congress-despite-opposition-from-survivors-themselves-e741ea300307">pressuring sex
workers to work for pimps</a>.


feed_id: daae6158c1938e5e86b0f774d07cf4cd
title: Denying war crimes in Iraq
uri: Denying-war-crimes-in-Iraq
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Denying_war_crimes_in_Iraq%29
content:
<p>
The US establishment denies US war crimes in Iraq by calling the
invasion a "mistake" instead of a crime.  <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/29/trump-making-atrocities-great-again">This empowers militarists</a>,
such as those in the aggressor's cabinet, to glorify all sorts of war
crimes that the US has committed, and that they may arrange to commit
soon in Iran.


feed_id: 94015c03922fb6e4c7dcce4d65ebc660
title: Dismissal of Shulkin
uri: Dismissal-of-Shulkin
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Dismissal_of_Shulkin%29
content:
<p>
Sanders warns that the dismissal of Shulkin as head of the Veterans'
Administration is likely to be a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/28/sanders-warns-against-va-privatization-after-trump-tweets-shulkins-ouster">preparation for privatizing</a> parts of
it.
<p>
Privatization of government services typically means unaccountability
for abuses, as well as expensive, lousy service.


feed_id: 9b2b1f7d9e32e73796c43732dd4beefd
title: Scotland Yard
uri: Scotland-Yard
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Scotland_Yard%29
content:
<p>
Scotland Yard admits that its thugs almost surely <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/23/officers-likely-to-have-passed-personal-files-to-blacklisters-says-met">sent union
organizers' personal records</a> to a construction industry blacklist.


feed_id: 1da2c40a444ec98088a3e55d252e9a4a
title: Foreign aid in Africa
uri: Foreign-aid-in-Africa
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Foreign_aid_in_Africa%29
content:
<p>
Many foreign aid projects in Africa spend millions on
well-intentioned projects that have a <a href="https://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/road-hell-paved-good-intentions-and-broken-toilets">disastrous fatal flaw</a>.
<p>
The same was true in <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2011-nov-feb.html#15_January_2012_(Wasted_Aid)">Afghanistan</a> and <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2008-nov-feb.html#19%20February%202009%20(Fraud)">Iraq</a>, in the past decade.


feed_id: 5f150cd296f71b9ef3ed9cb5dd6606cd
title: 'Consenting' to Facebook
uri: Consenting-to-Facebook
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28%27Consenting%27_to_Facebook%29
content:
<p>
Facebook says it's ok to take note of useds' phone calls and texts, since
it hurried them into <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/03/zuckerberg-hits-users-with-the-hard-truth-you-agreed-to-this">formally giving "consent"</a>.
<p>
Companies that do digital surveillance are expert at the manufacture
of consent.  What this proves is that formal consent is <a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html">not a valid
excuse</a> for surveillance.


feed_id: 98d5153560720fe488f6d5e55cbda5df
title: Surveillance sex toys
uri: Surveillance-sex-toys
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Surveillance_sex_toys%29
content:
<p>
The Silicon Valley business system directs investors towards sex toys
<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/27/17165390/smart-sex-toys-connected-apps-data-tech">with digital surveillance</a>; they have little interest in actual
improvements in sex toys.


feed_id: 272c2a9984423f6e5c09b9dc59310b3b
title: States' net neutrality
uri: States-net-neutrality
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28States%27_net_neutrality%29
content:
<p>
AT&T and Verizon <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/03/attverizon-lobbyists-to-aggressively-sue-states-that-enact-net-neutrality/">threaten to sue the states</a> that set up their own
network neutrality requirements.


feed_id: 5e85c01376bbb0a29d775f18df4244f9
title: Atlantic columnist
uri: Atlantic-columnist
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Atlantic_columnist%29
content:
<p>
The Atlantic magazine has <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/03/the-atlantics-bad-reasons-for-hiring-kevin-williamson.html">hired a right-wing extremist troll</a> as a
columnist — for the sake of "diversity".
<p>
In his defense on one point, I have to point out that a black child is
not merely <em>comparable</em> to a primate.  That child <em>is</em> a
primate.  "Primate" is a taxonomical category, and our species falls
within it.  Therefore, all human beings, regardless of race (or age),
are primates; exceptions are unthinkable.  If the columnist meant to
suggest that nonblacks might <em>not</em> be primates, I demand an
apology for the racist insult.
<p>
However, perhaps he really intended a more traditional racist insult,
the claim that blacks are monkeys, and tripped over his own ignorance
in choosing the words.
<p>
By the way, if any psittacines, corvids, cetacia or octopoda feel
slighted by our dubbing our own taxonomical order with a name whose
original meaning was "those that come first," I will be glad to
apologize and clasp hands/feet/flippers/arms.
<p>
That is only one point among many, and does not alter the overall
conclusion.  His views are systematically <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/147667/conservative-columnist-conundrum">callous and cruel</a> towards
anyone who is weak or oppressed.
It's the typical right-wing attitude that offers justification to
whoever is strong enough to <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-nov-feb.html#20_February_2018_(View_of_disabled_people)">push others down</a>.
<p>
I don't think a magazine should strive for "diversity" by publishing
right-wing extremist trolls.  They have a right to express their
views, but a magazine does not have an obligation to publish them.


feed_id: 69c9178503b0c694e8b0fb0597a1e021
title: Teacher strikes
uri: Teacher-strikes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Teacher_strikes%29
content:
<p>
Around the US and in other countries too, teachers are fed up and
<a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/03/28/teac-m28.html">eager to go on strike</a>.
Often they have to disregard their own unions to do so.
In many places the union officials fear being jailed if they
strike —  but if you're not prepared to strike, you shouldn't
run for union office.
<p>
We should see the decreasing pay of teachers as part of the general
plutocratic process of driving down wages for most people.


feed_id: e08d66a922864e9811191628db7c2f51
title: Stormy Daniels threatened
uri: 2018-04-03-Stormy-Daniels-threatened
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#2_April_2018_%28Stormy_Daniels_threatened%29
content:
<p>Stormy Daniels says that the bully <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/26/stormy-daniels-i-was-told-to-leave-trump-alone-in-parking-lot-threat">sent someone to make violent threats</a> to silence her about her affair with him.</p>
<p>Publishing about your sexual relationship with someone else is a hostile thing to do.  Except with some special justification, you shouldn't do it.  I see no sign that Daniels had special justification, so she would have been wrong to publish, then.  But that didn't justify threatening violence against her.  It was also stupid, since the <a href="/glossary.html#bully">bully</a> had already made his sex life so scandalous that her statement could not have made it much more so.</p>
<p>She also <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/26/stormy-daniels-trump-affair-claims-doesnt-look-good-president-america">says that he pressured her into sex</a>, and she acquiesced because she felt that under the circumstances it was not possible to decline.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 4945c3223b0db24089f1b41720af2028
title: Teachers' pensions cut
uri: Teachers-pensions-cut
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Teachers%27_pensions_cut%29
content:
<p>
Kentucky's Republican legislators
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/30/1753224/-Kentucky-Teachers-Shut-Down-Schools-after-GOP-Slips-through-Bill-that-Robs-Teacher-Pensions?detail=emaildkre">
passed a bill to cut teachers' pensions,
</a>
in a super rush.  Most of them didn't even read it.
<p>
Teachers immediately began shutting schools down.  Their union plans to sue.


feed_id: 63abb408c75baf38f61646a29846a118
title: Unjust conviction overturned
uri: Unjust-conviction-overturned
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Unjust_conviction_overturned%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/01/i-went-to-death-row-for-28-years-through-no-fault-of-my-own-">
Ray Hinton was convicted of murder in a careless, racist trial. 
</a>
  It took 28 years to overturn the result.


feed_id: 4b205896eed0f25bfb93f9162e7ea951
title: Soybeans
uri: Soybeans
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Soybeans%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/01/argentina-new-river-soya-beans">
Converting a valley in Argentina to soybeans
</a>
led to the sudden
emergence of a new river.


feed_id: 9f0b9d5caa8f99c91fc90fe990c71b91
title: Democratizing the EU
uri: Democratizing-the-EU
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Democratizing_the_EU%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/01/yanis-varoufakis-greece-is-a-debtors-prison-new-party-mera25">
Varoufakis compares Greece to a "debtor's prison" and calls for
democratizing the EU.
</a>
<p>
He points out that the right-wing authoritarians that have taken power
in Hungary and Poland, and have undermined democracy to eliminate
resistance, get their strength from despair about the EU's plutocracy.


feed_id: ad744c73eab90d95274b861dcf6b50c6
title: Grade grubbing
uri: Grade-grubbing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Grade_grubbing%29
content:
<p>
Students that pay huge sums for college
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/01/grade-grubbers-are-only-preparing-for-the-real-world">
demand good grades,
</a>
never mind the quality of their work.


feed_id: e3991cf49468e9e221186eec1d6ac80a
title: Jobs-for-All Program
uri: Jobs-for-All-Program
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Jobs-for-All_Program%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/04/01/federal-job-guaranteed-jobs-program/">
A Guaranteed Jobs-for-All Program Is Gaining Traction Among 2020
Democratic Hopefuls.
</a>
<p>
The policy, "if you don't work, you can't eat, get medical treatment,
or have a place to live," would make sense for able-bodied people in
an imaginary world where any of them could get a full-time job with
decent pay, just by asking.  This policy would give us such a world.


feed_id: 3cc3ae8c9a6f536f0425b88c468e55dd
title: US Hispanics
uri: US-Hispanics
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28US_Hispanics%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180330052647/https://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21739769-battle-bilingualism-can-spanish-avoid-americas-language-graveyard">
Special school programs help the children of US Hispanics learn Spanish.
</a>
Without this help, Hispanic children would mostly learn only English.
<p>
The "Spanglish" that some Hispanics speak together consists, in many cases,
of English plus whatever Spanish words they know.  They do this to feel
Hispanic despite the fact that they don't speak Spanish well enough to use
that with each other.


feed_id: 9821c7f7ee4e24e0ec6a4c056b5ba1f5
title: Mosul Book Forum
uri: Mosul-Book-Forum
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Mosul_Book_Forum%29
content:
<p>
Moslawis gather books to
<a href="http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/03/28/rebuilding-mosul-book-by-book/">
replace the library that PISSI burned down.
</a>


feed_id: b64b2b61344b163956cbd2799fbcea4b
title: PayPal blocks sale of WSWS pamphlet
uri: PayPal-blocks-sale-of-WSWS-pamphlet
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28PayPal_blocks_sale_of_WSWS_pamphlet%29

content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/03/29/payp-m29.html">
PayPal says that it intentionally blocks payments to buy a pamphlet
from the World Socialist Web Site.
</a>
It says that this ban results from
policies imposed by the US government, but refuses to explain more
than that.
<p>
The book discusses conditions in Iran from a socialist perspective.
PayPal has also blocked various other publications that relate in some
way to Iran, including criticism of the Islamist tyranny there.


feed_id: 61245d3e95d8ae90baf3a0870b545429
title: Urgent: Cover climate disaster on TV
uri: Urgent-Cover-climate-disaster-on-TV
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Cover_climate_disaster_on_TV%29

content:
<p>
Everyone:
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/broadcast-climate?t=1001&">
call on US TV networks to cover the developing climate disaster.
</a>


feed_id: 330fbc579f20595142fbf8c79b95d376
title: Puerto Rican charter schools
uri: Puerto-Rican-charter-schools
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Puerto_Rican_charter_schools%29
content:
<p>
Puerto Rico's bankster-imposed government plans to
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/30/seizing-upon-post-hurricane-damage-puerto-ricos-new-education-reform-law-paves-way">
privatize the
public schools
</a>
just like the electric grid.


feed_id: b0fd1f5899b76dc6c2ac3525e999fa00
title: Medical care to prisoners
uri: Medical-care-to-prisoners
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28Medical_care_to_prisoners%29
content:
<p>
A company that contracted to provide medical care to prisoners in Arizona 
makes the business profitable
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/29/1752492/-A-massive-for-profit-prison-healthcare-provider-is-finally-going-to-be-held-accountable-for-abuses?detail=emaildkre">
by fabricating excuses not to treat them.
</a>


feed_id: 19656d6e3596c4dbe1bd24840be62d93
title: Sent to a near-certain death
uri: Sent-to-a-near-certain-death
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28Sent_to_a_near-certain_death%29
content:
<p>
Libyan citizen Omar Khalifa Mohammed Abu Bakr was a prisoner in
Guantanamo, then the US released him to Senegal because he would be
killed if he returned to Libya.  The US State Department said he could
live in Senegal permanently.
<p>
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/31/guaranteed-safety-by-the-u-s-former-guantanamo-detainee-now-faces-deportation-to-war-torn-libya-and-likely-death/">
Now the US is forcing Senegal to send him to Libya, where he is still
likely to be killed.
</a>


feed_id: 6caeec6820efa9bc45bbf722601b8dc2
title: Future Iranian nuclear weapons
uri: Future-Iranian-nuclear-weapons
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28Future_Iranian_nuclear_weapons%29
content:
<p>
If the militarist in chief goes along with Israel and Salafi Arabia by
ending the nuclear deal with Iran,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/31/iran-deal-donald-trump-john-bolton-mike-pompeo">
possible future Iranian nuclear
weapons are not the only possible danger.
</a>
The bully's policies could
lead to war with Iran, which would cut off oil export from the Persian
Gulf.
<p>
We need to cut down on use of oil with all due speed, but a sudden
cut-off is not wise.


feed_id: 4398fe95787ffbc257fd88bf9012e7cc
title: Shulkin says he was fired
uri: Shulkin-says-he-was-fired
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28Shulkin_says_he_was_fired%29
content:
<p>
The bully claimed that VA administrator Shulkin resigned.
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/01/david-shulkin-veterans-affairs-secretary-says-he-was-fired">
Shulkin says that he was fired.
</a>
This may affect whether the bully gets to choose the interim
administrator.


feed_id: ef60c490f81bd9686893a22754f2d674
title: Cambridge Analytica's system
uri: Cambridge-Analytica-s-system
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28Cambridge_Analytica%27s_system%29
content:
<p>
Cambridge Analytica built an system for statistically classifying people
into groups that are useful for political activity.
<a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/04/how-cambridge-analyticas-facebook-targeting-model-really-worked/">
It used Facebook data
to develop the classification system, but now that the system is working,
it no longer needs that Facebook data to classify people.
</a>
<p>
Thus, the fact that it deleted the Facebook data is of no significance.


feed_id: 3315441ab7d6ab0346c323a78419a071
title: Facebook's data mining
uri: Facebook-s-data-mining
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28Facebook%27s_data_mining%29
content:
<p>
Facebook useds who download "all their data" are
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/26/feds-launch-probe-users-discover-horrifying-reach-facebooks-data-mining">
astounded by some of the
kinds of data they find.
</a>


feed_id: 4cb07469f59f896b47f84b395ea71ecc
title: Copyright on the Java language
uri: Copyright-on-the-Java-language
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28Copyright_on_the_Java_language%29
content:
<p>
The special US Court of Appeals that usually handles patent issues
<a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180327/10431439512/insanity-wins-as-appeals-court-overturns-googles-fair-use-victory-java-apis.shtml">
has made a twisted mess of the Oracle v Google case about copyright on
the Java language.
</a>


feed_id: cf9e25257eb5ccb7c783ad75599e3b82
title: Snowden nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
uri: Snowden-nominated-for-Nobel-Peace-Prize
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28Snowden_nominated_for_Nobel_Peace_Prize%29

content:
<p>
<a href="media/d7037527.edwardsnowdennomination2018-01-171.pdf" data-original-source="https://jensholm.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/edwardsnowdennomination2018-01-171.pdf">
Edward Snowden's nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.
</a>


feed_id: de38a83106012dd626c51ec000255716
title: UN Commission on Women's Rights
uri: UN-Commission-on-Women-s-Rights
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28UN_Commission_on_Women%27s_Rights%29

content:
<p>
The US representative to the UN Commission on Women's Rights
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/23/un-commission-women-rights-trump-appointee-pushes-reproductive-policies-worse-saudi">
advocates a position worse than Salafi Arabia's.
</a>


feed_id: 13b0c92c3a401e39210d5d042a293aed
title: Urgent: Google take down anti-abortion ads
uri: Urgent-Google-take-down-anti-abortion-ads
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Google_take_down_anti-abortion_ads%29

content:
<p>Everyone: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/google_cpc">tell Google to take down deceptive anti-abortion ads now</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: d95c6c3c1e6e3aeae9c466e437d522c1
title: Urgent: Massachusetts social media privacy act
uri: Urgent-Massachusetts-social-media-privacy-act
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Massachusetts_social_media_privacy_act%29

content:
<p>Citizens of Massachusetts: <a href="https://action.aclu.org/send-message/social-media-privacy-act">call for passage of the Massachusetts Social Media Privacy Act.</a></p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 3169b366bfb9e99319cb85c3920462d6
title: Brexit whistleblower retaliation
uri: Brexit-whistleblower-retaliation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Brexit_whistleblower_retaliation%29
content:
<p>A whistleblower revealed that the election campaign in favor of taking the UK out of the EU seems to have violated campaign finance laws. In retaliation, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/26/brexit-whistleblower-shahmir-sanni-no-10-official-outed-me-to-distract-from-claims">one of the leaders of that campaign outed him as gay</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: ff380041c39ce27990f675d5c26fa2d4
title: US wind solar power
uri: US-wind-solar-power
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28US_wind_solar_power%29
content:
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2018/mar/26/study-wind-and-solar-can-power-most-of-the-united-states">With some battery storage</a>, the US could build wind and solar power facilities with total capacity equal to the peak electric demand, and get 90% of its electricity needs from them.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: b8ad469ee0a0245d7c1620f8bed85ccf
title: Houthi missiles shot down
uri: Houthi-missiles-shot-down
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Houthi_missiles_shot_down%29
content:
<p>The Houthis are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/26/saudis-shoot-down-seven-missiles-fired-on-cities-by-yemens-houthi-rebels">firing more missiles</a> at Salafi Arabia -- a few per month.</p>
<p>That's <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/26/yemen-war-fourth-year-human-cost-disease">nothing compared to Salafi Arabia's bombardment of Yemen</a>, which has spread famine and cholera, and driven 2 million from their homes.  The bombardment has killed 10,000 civilians just by making it too hard for them to travel for medical treatment.</p>
<p>The fuss about the small instances of Houthi retaliation seem to be an instance of the frequent argument, "You are a monster for retaliating for our giant crimes!"</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 7a30e4b4d1fa7009fc2517abd0e605a9
title: Google drive censorship
uri: Google-drive-censorship
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Google_drive_censorship%29
content:
<p>Google is deleting porn artists' porn videos <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/9kgwnp/porn-on-google-drive-error">from their own private accounts, quietly and mysteriously</a>.</p>
<p>Never trust a remote storage company to keep anything but a spare backup copy.  When you store that, put your files into an archive and encrypt it so that the company can't tell what's in them -- not even their file names.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 2b112b6e27aa74b08b5f9503d309ebbf
title: Greyhound border zone
uri: Greyhound-border-zone
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Greyhound_border_zone%29
content:
<p>Even in the "constitution-free" border zone where 2/3 of all Americans live, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/25/two-thirds-americans-live-constitution-free-zone">deportation thugs are not supposed to question people without probable cause</a>, and Greyhound doesn't have to let the thugs on their buses without specific cause or a warrant.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 0c65bb68ec9bbf8b2ab4cfd246325897
title: Wisconsin republican special elections
uri: Wisconsin-republican-special-elections
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Wisconsin_republican_special_elections%29

content:
<p>Republicans in Wisconsin will go to any lengths to stop people from voting for new state representatives to fill vacant seats.  <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/23/1751499/-After-judge-orders-Scott-Walker-to-hold-special-elections-GOP-pushes-law-to-overturn-the-ruling?detail=emaildkre">They fear people will elect Democrats</a>.  A judge ordered them to hold the special elections promptly, so they plan to change the law to avoid this.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 27954da6b4aa5a57b6a0e4a17bead3d5
title: State department turnover
uri: State-department-turnover
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28State_department_turnover%29
content:
<p><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/25/state-department-drama-shows-just-how-far-trump-will-go-big-oil">Pompeo is a planet-roaster, the Koch brothers' tool</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 9350246482b34968c3ebea98ea320e47
title: General-purpose massive surveillance
uri: General-purpose-massive-surveillance
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28General-purpose_massive_surveillance%29

content:
<p>
General-purpose massive surveillance of people's preferences
can determine who is homosexual, based on innocent-seeming data.
Many governments imprison or even execute people for being homosexual.
Thus,
<a href="https://stallman.org/falkvinge/dating-preferences.html">surveillance
  of people's innocent-seeming preferences can
easily get them killed</a>.


feed_id: 3275351c9f5cc3fb4fd15cc26707e267
title: New Orleans: Anti-Trump mural lawsuit
uri: New-Orleans-Anti-Trump-mural-lawsuit
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28New_Orleans%3A_Anti-Trump_mural_lawsuit%29

content:
<p>Neal Morris <a href="https://hyperallergic.com/434157/anti-trump-mural-lawsuit-new-orleans/">put up a mural condemning the bully</a> for what he said he does to women, and the city of New Orleans demands he take it down. The ACLU is suing on his behalf.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 3a912f8a793f89acf5d19fc5ff8375e8
title: VW diesel regulations
uri: VW-diesel-regulations
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28VW_diesel_regulations%29
content:
<p>Volkswagen <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/mar/29/parking-problem-volkswagen-storing-300000-diesels-across-us">has been forced to buy back 300,000 diesel cars</a>, whose emissions levels it lied about and disguised from tests.  These cars are sitting in the parking lots of various facilities that are not in operation.  However, Volkswagen wants to sell them again someday -- not by modifying them to emit less greenhouse gas, but by modifying the regulations.</p>
<p>You can convince a government to fool itself, especially a planet-roaster government like that of the US.  You can't do that to the climate.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: f124337687594f07ad13a39ab772187d
title: Trump pro-war appointees
uri: Trump-pro-war-appointees
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Trump_pro-war_appointees%29
content:
<p><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/28/what-do-about-bolton-and-other-pro-war-appointees">Ways to push back against the warmonger cabinet</a> of the warmonger-in-chief.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 603f2c0d05b92b224bbd7cd2f5268f3b
title: US government climate data
uri: US-government-climate-data
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28US_government_climate_data%29
content:
<p>Buried, altered, silenced: <a href="https://theconversation.com/buried-altered-silenced-4-ways-government-climate-information-has-changed-since-trump-took-office-92323">4 ways government climate information has changed</a> since [the saboteur-in-chief] took office.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 8ca61f768bc2a907426f22f7b0aa30bf
title: Space weather high-tech threat
uri: Space-weather-high-tech-threat
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Space_weather_high-tech_threat%29
content:
<p>Extreme space weather, which happens randomly once in a while, <a href="https://theconversation.com/space-weather-threatens-high-tech-life-92711">could destroy the power grid in the affected region</a>.</p>
<p>Our capacity to repair large industrial systems is limited to a certain number per year.  If one blows out, it can be handled soon. If 10,000 blow out, they may have to queue for years -- after waiting for the systems needed for rebuilding to function again.</p>
<p>The good news is that distributed renewable generation capacity, which we need to avoid almost certain disaster from global heating, is most of what we need to prevent this problem.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 7d397285ada976c1f08fe09aed004117
title: Uber price gouging
uri: Uber-price-gouging
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Uber_price_gouging%29
content:
<p><a href="https://therideshareguy.com/uber-is-ripping-off-frequent-riders-and-heres-how-to-avoid-it/">It appears that Guber gouges frequent or regular passengers</a> by charging them more.</p>
<p>If we eliminate the surveillance injustice of Guber by stopping it from identifying passengers, this wrong would automatically go away too.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 719c06196b2302d6a4db917415043a27
title: US and Saudi Crown Price
uri: US-and-Saudi-Crown-Price
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28US_and_Saudi_Crown_Price%29
content:
<p>A massive PR campaign in the US is <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/29/saudi-crown-prince-socially-acceptable-war-criminal-enjoys-us-tour-hosted-americas">painting the acting king of Salafi Arabia as admirable</a> and acceptable.</p>
<p>A US foundation and "think tank" that was set up by Salafi Arabia <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/28/media-boosts-obvious-saudi-front-group-neutral-think-tank">has the mission of whitewashing him</a>.</p>
<p>In regard to women's rights, I think the changes he has made are worthy of public appreciation as long as we make it clear they are just the beginning of what is needed.  By doing so, we will encourage further respect for women's rights.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 80c1e851e786879181bf4f96421d811f
title: Trump EPA nominee
uri: Trump-EPA-nominee
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Trump_EPA_nominee%29
content:
<p>The EPA placed superfund cleanup <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/29/epa-superfund-scott-pruitt-peter-wright/">in the hands of a saboteur</a> who has fought against the whole idea.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 6852caed6b0a381063cd776f1259a3ec
title: Pruitt EPA misleading memo
uri: Pruitt-EPA-misleading-memo
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Pruitt_EPA_misleading_memo%29
content:
<p>Saboteur Pruitt sent a memo to EPA staff calling on them <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/29/epa-climate-change-memo-downplay-scientists">to mislead the public about the danger of global heating</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 6e22fce7cff9d4cbeb4ab8f4308bb22a
title: US Congress online personal ads
uri: US-Congress-online-personal-ads
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28US_Congress_online_personal_ads%29
content:
<p>SCROTUS won't stop with getting rid of online personal ads. Those fanatical Christians want to clamp down on sex, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/29/sexual-freedom-fosta-sosta">for everyone except their leaders</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: f05808e74cf6e651a42336c6fe91bef4
title: Urgent: Pebble Mine
uri: 2018-04-05-Urgent-Pebble-Mine
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Pebble_Mine%29
content:
<p>
Everyone: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/first-quantum-pebble">Tell First Quantum</a> not to invest in the Pebble Mine.


feed_id: 2ab678b03923dbdf5ca013b659a075dc
title: Melting ice sheet
uri: Melting-ice-sheet
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28Melting_ice_sheet%29
content:
<p>
The Antarctic ice sheet is melting rapidly where it is below sea
level.  The rate is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/02/underwater-melting-of-antarctic-ice-far-greater-than-thought-study-finds">doubling every 20 years</a>, which means a rate
increase of 16 times by the end of this century.


feed_id: 1744258bc15b468a87e6b47fc24b5b60
title: Marijuana and opioids
uri: 2018-04-05-Marijuana-and-opioids
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28Marijuana_and_opioids%29
content:
<p>
States with easy legal access to marijuana have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/02/opioids-prescriptions-medical-marijuana-legal-states">5% fewer prescriptions</a>
for opioids.


feed_id: 358f95aa1261d7f735edf89ef80845ee
title: Vision of free speech
uri: Vision-of-free-speech
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28Vision_of_free_speech%29
content:
<p>
"The American right have revealed a vision of free speech that is very
expansive for conservatives, but <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/02/aura-ingraham-david-hogg-fox-news-advertisers-boycott-response-latest">far less accommodating</a> for those who
disagree with them."


feed_id: 7895f35a2c484c86f2e12efc63cf0ce8
title: UK torture rules
uri: UK-torture-rules
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28UK_torture_rules%29
content:
<p>
The UK <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2018/apr/01/alarm-as-government-rewrites-uk-torture-guidance-in-secret">plans to rewrite the rules</a> that forbid its intelligence agencies from
cooperating with torture — secretly.
<p>
Is it the Tor-y party or the Tor-ture party?


feed_id: e3b98de9d62c72f3ad435e1d46928bde
title: McDonald's wages
uri: McDonald-s-wages
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28McDonald%27s_wages%29
content:
<p>
McDonald's promised to pay workers $1 above the minimum wage, but it <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2018/04/02/mcdonalds-fails-honor-promise-raise-workers-wages">isn't
doing what it promised</a>.


feed_id: fc6ff9a3b7a05e734af06c31c99f984b
title: Utility gone bankrupt
uri: Utility-gone-bankrupt
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28Utility_gone_bankrupt%29
content:
<p>
A US electric utility <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2018/04/02/firstenergy-solutions-bankruptcy-cautionary-tale-utilities-investors-and-public">has gone bankrupt</a>, perhaps as a result of focusing on
coal and nuclear power.
<p>
This won't shut down the coal and nuclear power plants that the
company owns.  They will be sold off to someone else for less than
they were thought to be worth, but the new owner (having invested so
little) might find it profitable to keep them running.


feed_id: 26d6a17bd47950cc0a9fa4122d121c6b
title: Unarmed man killed by thug
uri: 2018-04-05-Unarmed-man-killed-by-thug
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28Unarmed_man_killed_by_thug%29
content:
<p>
A thug in Houston <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/02/texas-protest-planned-for-unarmed-black-man-killed-by-police-officer">killed an unarmed, confused man</a>.
<p>
Interestingly, this time the killer was black.  Clearly he doesn't
"hate blacks", but the unconscious racism that quickly assumes that a
black man is violent is something everyone learns.


feed_id: 65488a81587fe31b55abf023c909c074
title: Prisons with no guards
uri: Prisons-with-no-guards
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28Prisons_with_no_guards%29
content:
<p>
In Brazil, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/apr/02/no-thought-of-escaping-inside-brazilian-prisons-with-no-guards">special prisons with no guards</a> rehabilitate the prisoners.


feed_id: 42461b0f3b4685c3d84465d1407d6426
title: Aid sector expats
uri: Aid-sector-expats
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28Aid_sector_expats%29
content:
<p>
How to Solve the Aid Sector Crisis?  <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/apr/02/solve-aid-sector-crisis-dont-employ-expats-dfid-amar-international">Don't Employ Expats.</a>
<p>
Governments insist on funding only very large projects, which leads to
ever-larger global NGOs, which need global management by expats.


feed_id: 8c0da87afa8d5e772fcf844be8fc12c8
title: Unofficial teacher strikes
uri: Unofficial-teacher-strikes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28Unofficial_teacher_strikes%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/02/teachers-wildcat-strikes-oklahoma-kentucky-west-virginia">Unofficial strikes by masses of teachers</a> can succeed now because the teachers
can measure public support.


feed_id: 155650518899c98ea5e9372453849d58
title: Hondurans heading to the US
uri: Hondurans-heading-to-the-US
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28Hondurans_heading_to_the_US%29
content:
<p>
Hundreds of Hondurans are moving through Mexico, illegally but without
interference, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/02/trump-caravans-migrants-immigration-daca">hoping to go to the US</a>.
<p>
Instead of condemning them, and pretending they numbered in the millions,
as the <a href="/glossary.html#bully">bully</a> does, I pose the question of why so many people need to flee
Honduras.  Could it be that the government set up by the <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-sep-dec.html#9_December_2017_(Roots_of_Honduras_crisis)">US-supported coup</a>
is <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-sep-dec.html#2_December_2017_(Honduras_election)">so repressive</a>
that it is <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-sep-dec.html#12_December_2017_(Oppression_in_Honduras)">oppressing people</a>
and driving them to flee?
<p>
Could it be that if the US ceased to support that government,
Honduras could become a democracy and Hondurans would not need to
flee to the US?


feed_id: 950da7c42d67c13be2531dee56d86c13
title: African refugees in Israel
uri: African-refugees-in-Israel
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28African_refugees_in_Israel%29
content:
<p>
Israel has agreed <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/02/israel-agrees-un-deal-scrap-plan-deport-african-asylum-seekers">not to deport African refugees</a> back to persecution.


feed_id: c4c38ae64f2cc2d43524c02bbcc1d87b
title: Labour antisemitism
uri: Labour-antisemitism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28Labour_antisemitism%29
content:
<p>
Momentum, the organization founded to help Corbyn become leader of the
Labour Party, said that antisemitism is a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/apr/02/labour-antisemitism-more-widespread-than-thought-momentum-says">real problem in the party</a> and
called for working hard to put an end to it.
<p>
The Shame of Antisemitism on the Left Has a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/01/shame-of-anitsemitism-on-left-has-long-malign-history">Long, Malign History</a>.
<p>
One of the bases of antisemitism was the practice of focusing on the
fraction of plutocrats that were Jews, and disregarding the more
numerous non-Jewish plutocrats who did the same things.


feed_id: 7bafef42ddb9cc5fcfc59b1fd4ae6686
title: Department of Veterans Affairs
uri: 2018-04-05-Department-of-Veterans-Affairs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28Department_of_Veterans_Affairs%29
content:
<p>
[The bully] <a href="https://reason.com/archives/2018/04/02/for-the-department-of-veterans-affairs-a">Nominates a Toady</a> for the Department of Veterans Affairs.


feed_id: 75893a8057182d3fa92ab270f865ee4a
title: Nauru prisoner mistreatment
uri: Nauru-prisoner-mistreatment
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28Nauru_prisoner_mistreatment%29
content:
<p>
The one remaining check on how Nauru mistreats Australia's prisoners
is obedience to Australia's supreme court.  Nauru is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/02/fears-for-asylum-seekers-as-nauru-moves-to-cut-ties-to-australias-high-court">cancelling the
agreement</a> to do that.  Soon it will only have to obey the secret
orders of Australia's government, which is its paymaster.


feed_id: 5d6d77d39f08a31344e103a719f424dd
title: Declaring one's gender
uri: Declaring-one-s-gender
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28Declaring_one%27s_gender%29
content:
<p>
Is it right to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/mar/31/man-explains-what-means-be-woman">let men declare themselves female</a> on the spur of the moment,
and be treated as female in all ways?
<p>
I see this as a conflict between two legitimate interests.
A rule that one must present oneself publicly under a different gender
for a reasonable period of time before being treated fully
as having that gender could be a wise compromise between them.
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/01/transgender-equality-women-only-carriages-caledonian-sleeper">We should not insist</a> on a uniform and simplistic response.


feed_id: 8ff4227ff7385a9e27f5b9e7840016da
title: Climate litigation
uri: Climate-litigation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28Climate_litigation%29
content:
<p>
Climate litigation is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/20/can-climate-litigation-save-the-world">spreading to many countries</a>.  Outside the US,
many lawsuits are against governments that are not doing enough to
avoid <a href="/glossary.html#global heating">global heating</a> disaster.
<p>
Tim Crosland expressed the issue very clearly.


feed_id: 6496ce8c9b070775dc0c3031ca80954f
title: What the FBI wants
uri: What-the-FBI-wants
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28What_the_FBI_wants%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180312/21010439407/future-fbi-wants-secure-phones-criminals-broken-encryption-everyone-else.shtml">The Future The FBI Wants</a>: Secure Phones For Criminals, Broken Encryption 
For Everyone Else.


feed_id: 2f1e590df8ebe5ff7d5c36a755f5d105
title: Tracking and influencing
uri: Tracking-and-influencing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28Tracking_and_influencing%29
content:
<p>
Greg Palast: A Koch-funded company <a href="http://www.gregpalast.com/cambridge-analytica-aint-nuthin-look-i360-datatrust/">tracks people's everyday actions</a>
through other companies' digital surveillance, to determine how to
influence them politically.
<p>
This company would not be able to use that data if the other companies
did not collect it.  We must legislate to prohibit collecting data
about people's daily activities.


feed_id: 0f2a02f27c9fa77cebf931de6b979300
title: Bitcoin wallet owners
uri: Bitcoin-wallet-owners
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#4_April_2018_%28Bitcoin_wallet_owners%29
content:
<p>
The NSA <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/20/the-nsa-worked-to-track-down-bitcoin-users-snowden-documents-reveal/">worked very hard</a> to identify some owners of Bitcoin wallets.


feed_id: e9652f16e94691e442fa71b71638f8a1
title: Space weather high-tech threat
uri: 2018-04-05-Space-weather-high-tech-threat
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Space_weather_high-tech_threat%29
content:
<p>Extreme space weather, which happens randomly once in a while, <a href="https://theconversation.com/space-weather-threatens-high-tech-life-92711">could destroy the power grid in the affected region</a>.</p>
<p>Our capacity to repair large industrial systems is limited to a certain number per year.  If one blows out, it can be handled soon. If 10,000 blow out, they may have to queue for years -- after waiting for the systems needed for rebuilding to function again.</p>
<p>The good news is that distributed renewable generation capacity, which we need to avoid almost certain disaster from <a href="/glossary.html#global heating">global heating</a>, is most of what we need to prevent this problem.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: b430d0da4ee38a7bc2d2dca748e51765
title: Uber price gouging
uri: 2018-04-05-Uber-price-gouging
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Uber_price_gouging%29
content:
<p><a href="https://therideshareguy.com/uber-is-ripping-off-frequent-riders-and-heres-how-to-avoid-it/">It appears that Guber gouges frequent or regular passengers</a> by charging them more.</p>
<p>If we eliminate the surveillance injustice of <a href="/glossary.html#guber">Guber</a> by stopping it from identifying passengers, this wrong would automatically go away too.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: d982c8390a55c054a3714963e684d805
title: Mosul Book Forum
uri: 2018-04-05-Mosul-Book-Forum
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Mosul_Book_Forum%29
content:
<p>
Moslawis gather books to
<a href="http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/03/28/rebuilding-mosul-book-by-book/">
replace the library that <a href="/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a> burned down.
</a>


feed_id: e399deca335a4e1606596f3628b839e4
title: Puerto Rican charter schools
uri: 2018-04-05-Puerto-Rican-charter-schools
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Puerto_Rican_charter_schools%29
content:
<p>
Puerto Rico's <a href="/glossary.html#bankster">bankster</a>-imposed government plans to
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/30/seizing-upon-post-hurricane-damage-puerto-ricos-new-education-reform-law-paves-way">
privatize the
public schools
</a>
just like the electric grid.


feed_id: d1467fe339a8bf893f5621c6e36241f3
title: Future Iranian nuclear weapons
uri: 2018-04-05-Future-Iranian-nuclear-weapons
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Future_Iranian_nuclear_weapons%29
content:
<p>
If the militarist in chief goes along with Israel and <a href="/glossary.html#salafi">Salafi Arabia</a> by
ending the nuclear deal with Iran,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/31/iran-deal-donald-trump-john-bolton-mike-pompeo">
possible future Iranian nuclear
weapons are not the only possible danger.
</a>
<a href="/glossary.html#bully">The bully</a>'s policies could
lead to war with Iran, which would cut off oil export from the Persian
Gulf.
<p>
We need to cut down on use of oil with all due speed, but a sudden
cut-off is not wise.


feed_id: bbed09c6b7b0d66fe5c1555425b6f0c7
title: Shulkin says he was fired
uri: 2018-04-05-Shulkin-says-he-was-fired
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28Shulkin_says_he_was_fired%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#bully">The bully</a> claimed that VA administrator Shulkin resigned.
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/01/david-shulkin-veterans-affairs-secretary-says-he-was-fired">
Shulkin says that he was fired.
</a>
This may affect whether the <a href="/glossary.html#bully">bully</a> gets to choose the interim
administrator.


feed_id: 6572d05e37589cb52ed344b48202e923
title: UN Commission on Women's Rights
uri: 2018-04-05-UN-Commission-on-Women-s-Rights
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#3_April_2018_%28UN_Commission_on_Women%27s_Rights%29

content:
<p>
The US representative to the UN Commission on Women's Rights
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/23/un-commission-women-rights-trump-appointee-pushes-reproductive-policies-worse-saudi">
advocates a position worse than <a href="/glossary.html#salafi">Salafi Arabia</a>'s.
</a>


feed_id: 47b56bc7d3eb87fc9c81ff049dc14e3b
title: Urgent: Books for prisoners
uri: Urgent-Books-for-prisoners
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Books_for_prisoners%29
content:
<p>
Everyone: <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/sign-now-protect-incarcerated-peoples-right-to-read">call on New York State prisons</a> not to restrict what books
prisoners can read.


feed_id: 9b2e6ea635b89432104e831196a422d1
title: Listing company owner
uri: Listing-company-owner
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Listing_company_owner%29
content:
<p>
A global requirement to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2018/apr/03/public-registries-shell-panama-papers">list the ultimate beneficial owner</a> of
every company would put a big crimp in global corruption.
<p>
Even if many small countries do not adopt this requirement, large
countries could effectively make it compulsory by denying the tax
deduction as a business expense for payments to companies whose
ultimate beneficial owner is not registered.


feed_id: f95d0fb8ab42b678699fdf606a14267e
title: Medical care for teachers
uri: Medical-care-for-teachers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Medical_care_for_teachers%29
content:
<p>
US teachers <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/03/hungry-tapeworm-growing-health-costs-teachers-strike-west-virginia">are being impoverished</a> as states push the cost of their
medical care onto them.
<p>
The real solution to the problem of the cost of medical care
is Medicare for All — which eliminates the opportunity for
companies to decide to charge more.


feed_id: 59fdff3590b01d1a9386a5afb587e2f4
title: Environmental impacts
uri: Environmental-impacts
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Environmental_impacts%29
content:
<p>
Humanity's continuing environmental impacts are leading to several
different kinds of global disaster.  We need law to require whole
countries to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/03/brexit-harm-environment-michael-gove">reduce each of these impacts</a>.
<p>
The root of all environmental impacts is population growth.
Therefore…


feed_id: 7270cb4f648cdc785eb48ecd33836798
title: Consumer financial protection
uri: Consumer-financial-protection
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Consumer_financial_protection%29
content:
<p>
Mulvaney, <a href="/glossary.html#saboteur">saboteur</a> of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, asked
Congress to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/04/02/effort-gut-agency-he-runs-mulvaney-asks-congress-roll-back-cfpb-independence">take away its powers to act</a>.


feed_id: 12f8020fe8e6c7942e2b856702fa4c29
title: Saboteur Pruitt
uri: Saboteur-Pruitt
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Saboteur_Pruitt%29
content:
<p>
The bully told Saboteur Pruitt <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/03/donald-trump-scott-pruitt-epa-condo-lobbying-keep-head-up-call">not to show any shame</a> about the corruption
that has been exposed.


feed_id: e2e7264671e89d7d17ced194b2b53f83
title: Inviting Corbyn to seder
uri: Inviting-Corbyn-to-seder
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Inviting_Corbyn_to_seder%29
content:
<p>
A Jewish socialist group, which seems to be strongly committed to both
of those identifications, invited Corbyn to their passover seder.  Now
they are being <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/03/jeremy-corbyn-passover-jewdas-good-news">labeled as antisemites</a> by right-wing British Jews.


feed_id: da582e68898670ca1fbe91d24be9725e
title: New Microsoft censorship
uri: New-Microsoft-censorship
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28New_Microsoft_censorship%29
content:
<p>
Microsoft has <a href="https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/03/28/microsoft_services_agreement_bars_offensive_language/">imposed censorship</a> on Skype and email, as well as its
office suite, which is tethered to a Microsoft server, and a number
of other disservices.
<p>
The article takes a very disappointing attitude, bending over
backwards to find excuses for the censorship.
<p>
Worse, its advice to readers, to "make sure you stay within the code
of conduct," is completely misguided.  The right response is to tell
Microsoft "Fuck off!" by closing your accounts with all these
disservices.  Most of them require users to run nonfree software,
which is in itself an <a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html">injustice to the user</a>.
<p>
Don't be like the proverbial frog that remains in the pot as the water
gradually heats up.  If the previous injustices didn't convince you to
jump out, do it now!


feed_id: 1567646c5b1f0201c3a45afc504f504f
title: Fuel economy requirements
uri: Fuel-economy-requirements
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Fuel_economy_requirements%29
content:
<p>
The EPA <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/02/environmental-protection-agency-emissions-standards-cars-trucks-rollback">cancelled the previously approved requirements</a> for better
fuel economy for cars and trucks.
<p>
The manufacturers always say that higher standards are "too hard to
achieve" as long as they believe that will save them the trouble of
achieving them.  The only rational response is, "I think you're
bullshitting us."


feed_id: c491691c4b25a5777ffabd36ed454793
title: Global heating problems
uri: Global-heating-problems
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Global_heating_problems%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/04/02/showing-paris-not-enough-studies-find-2degc-target-wont-stop-destructive-and-deadly">Research affirms</a> that even 2C of global heating will cause grave problems
globally.


feed_id: ceeb34d2babe310b196c62e286b16cf1
title: Shooting into a crowd
uri: Shooting-into-a-crowd
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Shooting_into_a_crowd%29
content:
<p>
"Randomly shooting into a crowd, killing a few people but wounding many
others, has the advantage for the regime of creating uncertainty and
fear."  That's what Israel is <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/04/02/shooting-protesters-cold-blood-how-israel-became-typical-middle-eastern">doing now in Gaza</a>, following the examples
of Syria and Yemen.


feed_id: 1ec3bb8619f8b5473548ae8f5d6a1ccf
title: Radical Proposal for Personal Data
uri: Radical-Proposal-for-Personal-Data
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#5_April_2018_%28Radical_Proposal_for_Personal_Data%29

content:
<p>
A <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/03/facebook-abusing-data-law-privacy-big-tech-surveillance">radical proposal</a> to keep your personal data safe


feed_id: 88d6ae78e3bf5c50a26d41c647d48d19
title: Urgent: Drilling near Chaco Canyon
uri: Urgent-Drilling-near-Chaco-Canyon
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Drilling_near_Chaco_Canyon%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://secure.foodandwaterwatch.org/act/ryan-zinke-permanently-protect-chaco-canyon">call on Saboteur Zinke</a> not to allow fossil fuel drilling
near Chaco Canyon.


feed_id: d11e0ebb3289fa88556175811e2ed3ab
title: Urgent: Deregulating big banks
uri: Urgent-Deregulating-big-banks
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Deregulating_big_banks%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/call/bailout_caucus_acct/">phone the Democratic senators</a> that voted to deregulate
big banks.


feed_id: c97d248d1b135ae76a415ed393efc889
title: Coping with nonviolent protest
uri: Coping-with-nonviolent-protest
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Coping_with_nonviolent_protest%29
content:
<p>
Israel's only way of coping with nonviolent Palestinian protest is
to kill people and then <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/04/04/gaza-israel-aims-massacre-hope">pretend they started the violence</a>.


feed_id: 7ab82bed58abd65c6ecd9e528ac6f654
title: Play about Tibet
uri: Play-about-Tibet
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Play_about_Tibet%29
content:
<p>
Chinese pressure induced a UK institution to censor a play about Tibet
and then <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/apr/04/unseen-letters-shed-light-on-royal-court-censorship-row-british-council">lie about the reason</a>.


feed_id: 29e20888d24cb1613d124fa585705ffe
title: Proof of UK citizenship
uri: Proof-of-UK-citizenship
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Proof_of_UK_citizenship%29
content:
<p>
The Tory hostility to "immigrants" includes UK citizens who <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/apr/04/disabled-briton-held-immigration-removal-centre-four-months">can't prove
they are UK citizens</a> because they never got a passport or left the UK.


feed_id: 01fce1fc6f5c9f69b650954937268b99
title: Thug accountability
uri: Thug-accountability
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Thug_accountability%29
content:
<p>
The Supreme Court almost always <a href="https://reason.com/archives/2018/04/04/shoot-first-and-think-later">rules to protect thugs</a> from accountability
for shooting people.


feed_id: 2ba439d736b9b8f970203de5e86ddd99
title: Arrested for republishing
uri: Arrested-for-republishing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Arrested_for_republishing%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/04/egyptian-website-editor-arrested-for-republishing-article-on-election">Egyptian Website Editor Arrested</a> for Republishing Article [from the
New York Times] on Election Fraud.


feed_id: 44e71993d08c38c0992748da35e2149e
title: Arrests in Turkey
uri: Arrests-in-Turkey
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Arrests_in_Turkey%29
content:
<p>
Turkish photojournalist ÃaÄdaÅ ErdoÄan was arrested in a park for
taking a picture of a building.  The building houses a spy agency.
Now he is on trial for publishing photos of outdoor sex parties and
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/apr/03/cagdas-erdogan-photographer-turkey-paris-circulations-control">faces 23 years in prison</a>.
<p>
The banned band Grup Yorum has been imprisoned in Turkey <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/apr/04/grup-yorum-the-jailed-band-turkey-cant-silence">for the words
of its songs</a>.
<p>
Naturally, the state says they are terrorists, but what ErdoÄan says
is proof of nothing in a state which no longer has an independent
judiciary.


feed_id: 9979782a5c741de996023a7d3005c6fe
title: Business over science and health
uri: Business-over-science-and-health
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Business_over_science_and_health%29
content:
<p>
The Saboteur of Agriculture is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/04/usda-sonny-perdue-siding-industry-over-science-report-concerned-scientists">systematically supporting business</a> over
science and public health.


feed_id: a2b9680c4bf23ab18ba7e38a5ba30203
title: Airline seat demands
uri: Airline-seat-demands
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Airline_seat_demands%29
content:
<p>
Ultra-orthodox Jewish male airline passengers demand that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/04/israeli-airport-blocks-ads-urging-women-to-refuse-to-give-up-seats">women sitting
next to them move seats</a>.  The women face pressure from other
passengers to give in.


feed_id: dd24ccb75cd43566eedc8a4ee25b695d
title: MLK Jr's legacy
uri: MLK-Jr-s-legacy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28MLK_Jr%27s_legacy%29
content:
<p>
Cornel West: "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/04/martin-luther-king-cornel-west-legacy">Martin Luther King Jr was a radical</a>. We must not sterilize his legacy."
<p>
Martin Luther King's last campaign was to shift funds from war <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/03/martin-luther-king-50th-anniversary-">to a
second New Deal</a>.
We still need that today.
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/03/william-barber-martin-luther-king-mlk-50th-anniversary-new-king">William Barber</a>, a leader of The Poor Peopleâs Campaign, is inspired by
King and carries on his struggle for various kinds of justice.


feed_id: bcab5b69e42f3d6ff0aa6b25006f6e96
title: Prisoner confessions
uri: Prisoner-confessions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Prisoner_confessions%29
content:
<p>
Orange Country prosecutors <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/04/orange-county-prison-aclu-lawsuit-illegal-scheme-confessions">recruited prisoners</a> to beat confessions out
of other prisoners.


feed_id: 6349214ca3a32ee6ec75e7ba93263205
title: Political identity and issues
uri: Political-identity-and-issues
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Political_identity_and_issues%29
content:
<p>
Identifying with a political identity <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/04/03/politics-liberal-democrat-conservative-republican/">creates more hostility</a> in the US
than supporting issues.


feed_id: 12090fdaa51e4a983ba434685c981144
title: Russian Mayoral elections
uri: Russian-Mayoral-elections
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Russian_Mayoral_elections%29
content:
<p>
Mayoral elections <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/03/russian-city-cancels-elections-in-move-to-oust-maverick-mayor">have been eliminated</a> in a Russian city in order to 
oust an elected mayor that doesn't support Putin.


feed_id: 6e763d6ebcc3613665079011a6b57f36
title: Asylum-seekers in the US
uri: Asylum-seekers-in-the-US
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Asylum-seekers_in_the_US%29
content:
<p>
The bully is planning to <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/04/03/immigration-detention-asylum-seeker-medical-exam/">send asylum-seekers back</a> without a hearing
or a forensic investigation of whether they were tortured.


feed_id: 0db0c1705cca77f5c30cc0435c4353f4
title: New life in Canada
uri: New-life-in-Canada
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28New_life_in_Canada%29
content:
<p>
Afghan Woman Shot in Face [by the man she was forced to marry] <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/03/afghan-woman-shot-in-face-canada-refugee">Builds
New Life in Canada</a> after US Rejection.


feed_id: 450ece980bbf5c406195c0377dcefa68
title: Peep toy
uri: Peep-toy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Peep_toy%29
content:
<p>
A toy appropriately called a "peep" is advertised to <a href="https://boingboing.net/2018/03/28/now-peeps-are-being-enlisted-t.html">spy on children
all day</a>.
<p>
Does it really spy, or is it only that parents are invited to pretend
that it does?


feed_id: b4b465ccacfd75266d4f2ec76a8bffdb
title: Urgent: JPMorgan Chase
uri: Urgent-JPMorgan-Chase
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#7_April_2018_%28Urgent%3A_JPMorgan_Chase%29
content:
<p>
Everyone: Demand JPMorgan Chase <a href="https://www.ran.org/jpmc_climate_e">Stop Funding the Climate Crisis</a>.


feed_id: 05078a715d152bcfd40cddbfc2b44c6f
title: Urgent: Justice for Stephon Clark
uri: Urgent-Justice-for-Stephon-Clark
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#7_April_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Justice_for_Stephon_Clark%29

content:
<p>
Everyone: <a href="http://act.colorofchange.org/call/Stephon_Clark_Day_of_Action/">phone District Attorney Anne Marie Shubert</a> to demand Justice
for Stephon Clark.


feed_id: 61572029be27283e9110e6acdbaa24b9
title: Media consolidation
uri: 2018-04-08-Media-consolidation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#7_April_2018_%28Media_consolidation%29
content:
<p>
Sinclair Scandal <a href="http://buzzflash.com/commentary/sinclair-controversy-reinforces-the-danger-of-growing-media-consolidation">Foreshadows the Danger</a> of Growing Media Consolidation.
<p>
Media consolidation has been creeping forward in the US for decades,
supported by governments that have a plutocratist tendency.


feed_id: 78c5ecdfd13b7419c56402bb90b004ee
title: Catalonia's thug department
uri: Catalonia-s-thug-department
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#7_April_2018_%28Catalonia%27s_thug_department%29
content:
<p>
The former chief of Catalonia's <a href="/glossary.html#thug">thug</a> department faces criminal charges
for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/05/former-catalan-police-chief-charged-over-role-in-independence-bid">not acting like a thug</a> — not ordering an attack on a large crowd
of nonviolent protesters.
<p>
We need to prosecute <a href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> more when they do attack unarmed people,
not when they don't.


feed_id: 7da7b62ab02dd8b38690904421f34694
title: Manafort and Ukraine
uri: Manafort-and-Ukraine
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#7_April_2018_%28Manafort_and_Ukraine%29
content:
<p>
Manafort <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/05/ex-trump-aide-paul-manafort-approved-black-ops-to-help-ukraine-president">authorized a disinformation/attack campaign</a> on behalf of
then Ukrainian president Yanukovych, to discredit the former
prime minister Tymoshenko that he had imprisoned.


feed_id: 1c9fa2c461454bc603ebae2143adbc41
title: Jewish Corbyn supporter
uri: Jewish-Corbyn-supporter
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#7_April_2018_%28Jewish_Corbyn_supporter%29
content:
<p>
"<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/04/jewish-corbyn-supporter-antisemitism-gaslighting">As a Jewish Corbyn supporter</a>, this antisemitism row feels like gaslighting."


feed_id: 80706d60bb874b44c8b575ed19ae60a4
title: Blaming victims
uri: Blaming-victims
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#7_April_2018_%28Blaming_victims%29
content:
<p>
People who are inclined to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2018/apr/04/what-does-the-belfast-trial-tell-women-make-a-complaint-and-youll-be-vilified">blame victims for being raped</a> can find an
excuse in whatever they may have done.


feed_id: 46491e418a1d8bd8659c10936b3dc4f9
title: Flint water bills
uri: Flint-water-bills
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#7_April_2018_%28Flint_water_bills%29
content:
<p>
In Flint, Michigan, some families <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/04/flint-residents-punished-poisoned-water">refuse to pay the bills</a> for the
water that poisoned them.  Their water has been shut off.
Many other families simply can't pay.
<p>
I don't understand why they buy water in lots of small bottles.
Various companies will drop off large bottles and pick them up when
empty.  It must be cheaper as well as reducing plastic waste.
<p>
And you don't need to heat water so as to wash yourself
or your dishes.


feed_id: ab04fd8764a1309c10cbc5ad8948ff4d
title: Open letter to Google CEO
uri: Open-letter-to-Google-CEO
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#7_April_2018_%28Open_letter_to_Google_CEO%29
content:
<p>
3000 Google employees signed an <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/04/google-should-not-be-in-the-business-of-war-googlers-decry-pentagon-project/">open letter to the CEO</a>, calling on
Google to cancel the project for developing AI to analyze drone
surveillance videos — which could easily include selecting targets
for drone attacks.
<p>
I think the main issue is not how to study the images, but rather the
legitimacy of <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2014-mar-jun.html#19_June_2014_(US_drone_attacks)">using drones for assassinations</a>.


feed_id: b0d4b0cce1a1c525d246122c7b7eec1f
title: Massacre vs battle
uri: Massacre-vs-battle
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#7_April_2018_%28Massacre_vs_battle%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/04/03/failures-western-reporting-gaza">Summarizing mainstream media's rulebook</a> for how to present a massacre
of unarmed Palestinians as a battle.


feed_id: bca15e48cbeb45bc408ead6d5ee52f4a
title: Campaign to foment violence
uri: Campaign-to-foment-violence
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#7_April_2018_%28Campaign_to_foment_violence%29
content:
<p>
A campaign to foment violence against Muslims in the UK met with
extreme failure: people <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/apr/03/uk-communities-take-action-against-punish-a-muslim-day-letter">organized friendship events instead</a>.


feed_id: 34a5997e295fd6ad442fa2ce82f6408f
title: Cell tower simulators
uri: Cell-tower-simulators
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#7_April_2018_%28Cell_tower_simulators%29
content:
<p>
Now foreign spies as well as US <a href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> use cell tower simulators
to <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/apnewsbreak-dhs-finds-suspected-phone-spying-washington-54208110">track Americans' by their cell phones</a>.
<p>
The danger to Americans is less from foreign spies because they can't
have people arrested in the US.


feed_id: 90d2f8e7969c0cd6d784c21f0d48102f
title: Inequality at US colleges
uri: Inequality-at-US-colleges
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#7_April_2018_%28Inequality_at_US_colleges%29
content:
<p>
Inequality has <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/04/03/rich-colleges-are-getting-richer-why-thats-problem">grown since 1970 at US colleges</a>: the ones with big endowments
tend to give a boost to students from wealthy families.
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/04/03/more-one-third-college-students-struggle-food-and-housing-insecurity-study-finds">Over 1/3 of US college students</a> have trouble paying for decent food
and decent housing.


feed_id: 94cde8b671bd60d08600c7e865f73f42
title: Science copyright
uri: Science-copyright
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#7_April_2018_%28Science_copyright%29
content:
<p>
Libre science is threatened in Europe by the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-03837-7">proposed absurd copyright
requirements</a>.


feed_id: b344d5a22458350b68f5087a8acc4c4d
title: Losing jobs to automation
uri: Losing-jobs-to-automation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#7_April_2018_%28Losing_jobs_to_automation%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/apr/03/robots-could-take-over-more-than-65m-jobs-warns-oecd-report">The OECD predicts</a> that even in the least vulnerable countries, 10% of jobs
will be eliminated by automation.
<p>
New jobs will be created, but since 2009 almost all jobs pay shit
and there is no indication that will change.


feed_id: cd2cb8109caae426b544539b914f453f
title: Bowing down to Amazon
uri: Bowing-down-to-Amazon
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#7_April_2018_%28Bowing_down_to_Amazon%29
content:
<p>
As cities offer competing levels of bowing down to Amazon, they are <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/04/04/cities-fail-disclose-tax-incentives-bids-amazons-hq2">keeping
their offers secret</a>.  Perhaps officials realize they would not be reelected
if they told the people how much they are preparing to give up.


feed_id: 454612a7098e54de2b776daa3ded5d4c
title: CA and the Nigerian election
uri: CA-and-the-Nigerian-election
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#7_April_2018_%28CA_and_the_Nigerian_election%29
content:
<p>
Cambridge Analytica intervened in the Nigerian election with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/apr/04/cambridge-analytica-used-violent-video-to-try-to-influence-nigerian-election">hate-inducing
propaganda</a>.


feed_id: 07e71cecf689be346f3ae12759809526
title: Urgent: Oklahoma teachers' strike
uri: Urgent-Oklahoma-teachers-strike
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#8_April_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Oklahoma_teachers%27_strike%29

content:
<p>
Everyone: Support the <a href="http://act.democracyforamerica.com/sign/teacher-strike-solidarity/">Oklahoma teachers' strike</a>.


feed_id: a3ae29a7e96f673f0c68334c3a090e51
title: Urgent: Sinclair's expansion
uri: Urgent-Sinclair-s-expansion
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#8_April_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Sinclair%27s_expansion%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.freepress.net/sign/journ_trump_tv_sinclair/">call on the FCC</a> to block Sinclair TV's expansion.


feed_id: b38024792da3569163e05eb02aa69ffd
title: Choked for jaywalking
uri: Choked-for-jaywalking
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#8_April_2018_%28Choked_for_jaywalking%29
content:
<p>
A North Carolina <a href="/glossary.html#thug">thug</a> was caught on video hitting and choking a man
for jaywalking.  <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/04/03/all-im-trying-do-go-home-stopped-jaywalking-bodycam-footage-shows-police-harass">The thug faces charges</a>.


feed_id: b31e6cae21aab0783af3913285fce213
title: Endangered Species Act
uri: 2018-04-09-Endangered-Species-Act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#8_April_2018_%28Endangered_Species_Act%29
content:
<p>
The Inferior Department wants to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/04/04/trump-interior-department-issues-death-sentence-nearly-300-threatened-species">weaken the Endangered Species Act</a> in
several ways.
This will benefit businesses that want to destroy habitat for those
species.  In addition, it will appeal to the many right-wing fanatics
that oppose regulation just because it regulates.


feed_id: aac8170abe6c6e35994d2b619ee5f817
title: Amazon market
uri: Amazon-market
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Amazon_market%29
content:
<p>
Amazon operates a corrupt market in which sellers pay to be featured
to the public over their competitors.  US antitrust law has <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/amazon-doesnt-just-want-to-dominate-the-market-it-wants-to-become-the-market/">proved
useless to resist this</a>.
<p>
We need laws that clearly prohibit companies from doing anything like
what Amazon is doing.  In the mean time, please join me in refusing to
buy from Amazon.  Its long history of <a href="https://stallman.org/amazon.html">mistreating every and anyone</a>,
while encouraging the most foolish of short-term thinking among
purchasers, provides plenty of reasons.


feed_id: f8579fa6bed9058c8a65900a05fe4a70
title: Paying people for data
uri: Paying-people-for-data
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Paying_people_for_data%29
content:
<p>
Jaron Lanier and others have proposed an obvious but useless response
to massive surveillance (the part that's done by companies): make them
pay people for using data about them.  <a href="https://opkode.com/blog/review-who-owns-the-future/">Here's a clear refutation</a>.


feed_id: 9a7de3d3c75f4d7468efb47cb6475291
title: Immigration hearings
uri: Immigration-hearings
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Immigration_hearings%29
content:
<p>
The bully has ordered immigration judges to <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/3/1754059/-In-a-recipe-for-disaster-Trump-admin-sets-deportation-quotas-for-immigration-judges">speed up hearings</a>, which
will surely lead to errors that cause people to be deported rather
than receive justice.


feed_id: 23240a3cadd5db22960908759db940e7
title: Denouncing the strike
uri: Denouncing-the-strike
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Denouncing_the_strike%29
content:
<p>
The Onion: "<a href="https://www.theonion.com/oklahoma-leaders-claim-teachers-strike-betrays-values-1824293140">Oklahoma state leaders denounced</a> the ongoing teachers'
strike Tuesday for betraying the values upon which Abraham Lincoln
and Orville Redenbacher founded America in 1914."


feed_id: e9ac333055f0568020c23eb73b859c57
title: Shell knew
uri: Shell-knew
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Shell_knew%29
content:
<p>
Shell, like Exxon, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2018/04/05/new-documents-reveal-what-shell-knew-about-climate-change-decades-ago">knew a long time ago</a> that its fossil fuel activities
were driving the world to disaster.


feed_id: 3da750bcd590fcc48cb93905688cadbd
title: Gun violence and militarism
uri: Gun-violence-and-militarism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Gun_violence_and_militarism%29
content:
<p>
Gun violence in the US is surely related to the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/04/05/missing-link-gun-debate">general level of
militarism in the US</a>,
which is pumped up by government efforts.


feed_id: 2e5ce40ba25ba4ed90d97129e2f58846
title: National guard to the border
uri: National-guard-to-the-border
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28National_guard_to_the_border%29
content:
<p>
Oregon <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/04/05/ill-say-no-oregon-governor-will-reject-any-request-trump-deploy-national-guard">refuses to cooperate</a> with sending its national guard contingent
to the US-Mexico border, where no military attack is expected.


feed_id: 45252b651601f39dfb96250794caad02
title: Thomas Jefferson
uri: Thomas-Jefferson
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Thomas_Jefferson%29
content:
<p>
Addressing <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/5/1754570/-Should-Thomas-Jefferson-Come-Down">the issue of Thomas Jefferson</a>, both champion of freedom and
slave-owner.


feed_id: 76434818e8c20bce25ba0fbb8fb7a1f5
title: Massacre in Gaza
uri: Massacre-in-Gaza
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Massacre_in_Gaza%29
content:
<p>
Israel admitted that its massacre of Palestinian protesters in Gaza
was planned in advance.  Palestinians call for an <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/further/2018/04/03/where-every-bullet-landed">arms embargo against
Israel</a>.
<p>
I have long wondered why we should consider the smuggling of arms
into Gaza as worse than the <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2014-sep-dec.html#07_October_2014_(UK_arms_exports_to_Israel)">importation (and construction) of arms</a>
in Israel.
<p>
This is not the first time.  The US ought to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/04/05/price-murder-stop-funding-israeli-military">stop funding Israel's
military</a>.
<p>
One point of disagreement: Ahed Tamimi, age 16, is a teenager,
not a child.  Please don't treat teenagers as children; teenagers
are not helpless and incapable of action.


feed_id: 157d2f17155bb4fde38b23b51eedac14
title: Posing as a prisoner
uri: Posing-as-a-prisoner
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Posing_as_a_prisoner%29
content:
<p>
A <a href="/glossary.html#thug">thug</a> spent 60 days in jail, undercover and posing as a prisoner.
The jail <a href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> did not know he was a thug, and thought he was just
another prisoner.  Afterwards <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/4/1754409/-Police-officer-who-went-undercover-in-prison-leaves-the-force-to-sell-cars-after-his-experience">he quit his job</a>, because he couldn't
bear the idea of sending anyone to jail.


feed_id: 44c6052c32df76e482cba2c5e910695e
title: Hungary: Viktor OrbÃ¡n autocracy
uri: Hungary-Viktor-OrbÃ-n-autocracy
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Hungary%3A_Viktor_Orb%25C3%25A1n_autocracy%29

content:
<p>"Viktor OrbÃ¡n <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/30/danger-hungary-verge-full-blown-autocracy-viktor-orban-vengeance">presumes victory and threatens vengeance</a> to anyone [in Hungary] who opposes him.  Europe must see what he is doing."</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: f168a2b2c00fd24508043a73c403f989
title: Israel: Gaza march protesters killed
uri: Israel-Gaza-march-protesters-killed
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Israel%3A_Gaza_march_protesters_killed%29

content:
<p>Israeli <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/30/israel-gaza-march-killed-protest/">troops shot peaceful Palestinian protesters</a> from a distance as the protesters approached the border fence of Gaza.</p>
<p>The Israeli position seems to be, "It is okay for us to kill you because we threatened we would kill you."</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: e90075ce638cd2eac567b2f2ff7d0fc2
title: Stephon Clark autopsy
uri: Stephon-Clark-autopsy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Stephon_Clark_autopsy%29
content:
<p>The thugs that killed Stephon Clark said he was charging toward them. The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/30/stephon-clark-shooting-death-police-autopsy-latest">autopsy says they shot him in the back</a>.</p>
<p>It took him several minutes to die.  Instead of giving him first aid, the thugs handcuffed him.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 45b0eef3eb5ec9d4173fd34e688eab4c
title: Facial recognition
uri: 2018-04-09-Facial-recognition
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Facial_recognition%29
content:
<p><a href="https://mashable.com/2018/03/22/hat-makes-face-id-think-youre-moby/">Tiny UV lights pointed at your face</a> can fool face recognition systems.</p>
<p>I am not sure this could be effective in practice.  If the UV lights have to be chosen carefully to fool any given face recognition system, another system might not be fooled.</p>
<p>China is <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/wj7n74/china-jaywalking-facial-recognition-camera">already applying face recognition</a> to recognizing people who cross the street at an unapproved time or place.</p>
<p>For the sake of privacy, and therefore for the sake of democracy, we <a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html">need to prohibit systems that systematically observe and recognize faces</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 47ef6590f38e5ba845df8e834f6eef6e
title: Super-Gonorrhoea drug resistant
uri: Super-Gonorrhoea-drug-resistant
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Super-Gonorrhoea_drug_resistant%29
content:
<p><A Href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/30/super-gonorrhoea-antibiotic-crisis-drug-resistant-bugs">Super-Gonorrhoea Is Here</A> -â That Means the Antibiotic Crisis Is, Too.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 4a9fa028a4ef053e18b5dad2736dc63c
title: Trump distractions
uri: Trump-distractions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Trump_distractions%29
content:
<p>Americans <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/30/trump-distracts-america-three-existential-threats">must resist the invitation to pay attention to the troll's antics</a> and focus on the big issues.  This article suggests three of them: global heating, China's increasing power, and the weakening of liberal democracy.</p>
<p>I'd say that women's rights (that Christian fanatics want to eliminate), massive surveillance, and plutocracy are three more.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 733d676466acc009fd689753ac70299f
title: North Korea US nuclear diplomacy
uri: North-Korea-US-nuclear-diplomacy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28North_Korea_US_nuclear_diplomacy%29
content:
<p>Clinton had a good chance to negotiate a denuclearization agreement (and diplomatic recognition) with North Korea, but <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/30/north-korea-us-nuclear-diplomacy-agreed-framework-1999-pyongyang-mission">Republican obstruction slowed it down until he was out of office</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: ad33029abd74493928631101485f4334
title: US: Laura Ingraham mocks David Hogg
uri: US-Laura-Ingraham-mocks-David-Hogg
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28US%3A_Laura_Ingraham_mocks_David_Hogg%29

content:
<p>Faux news <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/mar/30/fox-news-ads-pulled-from-laura-ingraham-show-for-mocking-parkland-survivor">pundit Laura Ingraham made a gratuitous personal smear against David Hogg</a>, one of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas student activists. He responded by calling on her sponsors to cancel their ads, and several have done so.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 9b6f2fc550e9644e6b9aab1e729cc7d2
title: Barclays DOJ court case
uri: Barclays-DOJ-court-case
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Barclays_DOJ_court_case%29
content:
<p>Even when criminal banks can't entirely beat the rap, they <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2018/mar/29/barclays-boss-jes-staleys-handling-of-us-case-was-correct">can win a reduced fine by fighting it for a long time</a>.  They are glad to pay millions to lawyers if that saves them billions in penalties.</p>
<p>We need firm anti-plutocrats in office to thwart this.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 828a7311a5dc82fa81e8ce2db8bc6266
title: Use of deadly force by uniformed thugs
uri: Use-of-deadly-force-by-uniformed-thugs
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28Use_of_deadly_force_by_uniformed_thugs%29

content:
<p>
A bill in California would 
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/4/1754405/-Spurred-by-Stephon-Clark-killing-Calif-lawmakers-introduce-bill-making-it-easier-to-prosecute-cops">set
a stricter standard for use of deadly force by uniformed thugs</a>.
This would make it easier to prosecute them when they choke or kill
people.


feed_id: 0ccd3c6f63a25bbafdbd53ae0729162a
title: Peace activists arrested
uri: Peace-activists-arrested
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28Peace_activists_arrested%29
content:
<p>
Seven peace activists, all at least 55 years old, entered a US
submarine base to 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/04/05/seven-peace-activists-arrested-after-entering-nuclear-submarine-base-georgia">protest
against nuclear weapons</a>, and were arrested.


feed_id: 1d4b9ed8511f79edc39d1e5a5bbc46eb
title: Divisiveness of Facebook
uri: Divisiveness-of-Facebook
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28Divisiveness_of_Facebook%29
content:
<p>
Facebook makes it easy to say different things to different groups of people,
which has the effect of 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/04/05/facebooks-targeting-system-can-divide-us-more-just-advertising">breaking
up the common culture</a> of any society.


feed_id: 5816fce56bc760cad343b616754755f3
title: Poor People's Campaign
uri: 2018-04-10-Poor-People-s-Campaign
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28Poor_Peoples_Campaign%29
content:
<p>
Radical New Leaders Are Reviving 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/04/05/radical-new-leaders-are-reviving-martin-luther-kings-poor-peoples-campaign">Martin
Luther King's Poor People's Campaign</a>.


feed_id: 37689a53f1abe3b62ad3afca32e6102f
title: Tennessee college staff unions
uri: Tennessee-college-staff-unions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28Tennessee_college_staff_unions%29
content:
<p>
The governor of Tennessee 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/04/04/ut-focus-act-labor-union-tennessee-billionaire-governor/">aims
to destroy staff unions</a> at the state's colleges, plans to replace
all the members of their governing boards.


feed_id: 79a3d89aa47e049cf6645294a163ee8d
title: End Spotify
uri: End-Spotify
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28End_Spotify%29
content:
<p>
Spotify is 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/apr/04/spotify-public-listing-ambition-struggling-musicians-stock-market">bad
for musicians' income</a>, and bad for listeners' freedom.  Let's put
an end to it!
<p>
To listen to music and not be a jerk, you need to be in a position to
share copies with your friends.  Normally this means listening to
<em>your own nonoppressive local copy</em>.  A nonoppressive copy is
one that has no DRM or anything else that would interfere with
sharing.
<p>
Any system of listening to music that discourages people from having
nonoppressive local copies is encouraging people to be jerks.  Let's
legislate against such systems.
<p>
Out, out, damned spotify!


feed_id: d1b63f74d7c93a580a2dccf770bcbec6
title: Poverty as a political issue
uri: Poverty-as-a-political-issue
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28Poverty_as_a_political_issue%29
content:
<p>
Various 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/04/poverty-kids-jobs-work-side-hustle-living-precariously">customary
disguise terms</a> help people avoid talking about or thinking about
poverty as a political issue.


feed_id: 5614c126ddc3fd9132f05c5715d72c08
title: Support for Syrian Kurds
uri: Support-for-Syrian-Kurds
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28Support_for_Syrian_Kurds%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#bully">The bully</a> 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/04/trumps-vow-to-pull-us-troops-from-syria-strains-alliance-with-kurds">said
he would remove all US troops from Syria</a>, which would leave the
Kurds at the mercy of Erdo&gbreve;an.
<p>
In the past, I opposed US intervention in Syria because there was no
side that deserved support.  I changed that view when the US began
supporting the Syrian Kurds, because they support secularism and human
rights.  They are the only visible hope of good government in Syria.
I hope they won't be crushed.


feed_id: 95b12cb60f21f4bf61db056e5f7c14fd
title: Blaming the victim
uri: 2018-04-10-Blaming-the-victim
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28Blaming_the_victim%29
content:
<p>
From Malala to Parkland, Why Are the Victims Demonised?
It's Because 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/05/malala-parkland-demonise-victims-nobel-prize-winner-pakistan">the
Powerful Want to Stay in Control</a>.


feed_id: 5dce24b11408d2e93b90e103119363bd
title: Retarding reduction of fossil fuels
uri: Retarding-reduction-of-fossil-fuels
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28Retarding_reduction_of_fossil_fuels%29

content:
<p>
The International Energy Agency retards reduction of fossil fuels by
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/05/iea-accused-of-undermining-global-shift-from-fossil-fuels">persistently
projecting a high rate of use</a> into the future.


feed_id: 493b44df64d63efa3a94fbe500baa686
title: Housing
uri: 2018-04-10-Housing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28Housing%29
content:
<p>
We need lots more housing in prosperous US cities, but building a lot
of privately-funded luxury housing in one neighborhood can raise rents
there even as it helps decrease rents for the whole city.
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/apr/05/why-we-need-social-housing-in-the-us">Massive
construction of public housing</a> could be a solution.


feed_id: 3146ae0bac022ff3ee1704c3d80a399e
title: Dissent
uri: Dissent
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28Dissent%29
content:
<p>
"From the safety of Paris, I can finally say what I want to the chief
of the Pakistani army: 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/05/pakistan-journalist-danger-paris-pakistani-army-dissent">dissent
is essential to progress</a>. Don’t censor it."


feed_id: 9df6b75a30deb0a49f601d7c944b40a7
title: Global heating threatens rare orchid
uri: Global-heating-threatens-rare-orchid
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28Global_heating_threatens_rare_orchid%29

content:
<p>
A rare orchid with flowers that emit the scent of a female bee, so
that male bees have sex with it, is endangered as a result of 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/05/climate-change-threatens-rare-british-orchid-that-tricks-bees-into-mating">global
heating</a>.
<p>
Interesting to know I'm not the only one that enjoys 
<a href="https://stallman.org/articles/texas.html">sex with
plants</a>.


feed_id: 7bc0d7b51b6ecab95b39ac3cde667f48
title: HSBC whistleblower
uri: HSBC-whistleblower
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28HSBC_whistleblower%29
content:
<p>
Whistleblower Hervé Falciani exposed crimes at HSBC.  It was against
Swiss law to expose the crimes.  Now in Spain, he faces possible
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/05/hsbc-whistleblower-herve-falciani-facing-extradition-to-switzerland">extradition
to Switzerland</a> and possible imprisonment.
<p>
This despite the fact that a Spanish court already ruled against
extraditing him.


feed_id: 4270dd7a1f61bcfd42ab8aaae43f7a6f
title: Pushing the disabled into debt
uri: Pushing-the-disabled-into-debt
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28Pushing_the_disabled_into_debt%29
content:
<p>
Cutting aid funds for the disabled in Britain is supposed to give them
an
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/05/year-disability-cuts-starving-sick-employment">incentive
to do the impossible</a>.  Naturally, it has only pushed them into
debt and hunger.
<p>
I cannot believe that Tories believe what they say about this.  I have
to conclude that they consciously intend to 
<a href="media/62a79bb0.anuran-bevan.jpg" data-original-source="https://stallman.org/images/anuran-bevan.jpg">reduce poor
people to serfdom</a>, like US Republicans.


feed_id: e9756b699e6800178974d0cfe1882a5a
title: Date rape drug detection
uri: Date-rape-drug-detection
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28Date_rape_drug_detection%29
content:
<p>
A new
<a href="https://reason.com/archives/2018/04/05/would-you-buy-a-cocktail-napkin-that-det">napkin</a> changes color when exposed to date-rape drugs.  This
should make it possible for people to verify attempts to drug them.


feed_id: 821ca5d0e8164f41167b11b3cdd1ffb8
title: Oil tanks, transshipment, and cancer
uri: Oil-tanks-transshipment-and-cancer
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Oil_tanks%2C_transshipment%2C_and_cancer%29

content:
<p>
Oil tanks and transshipment in St James, Louisiana, appear to be the
cause of the
<a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/44056-a-death-in-louisiana-s-cancer-alley-reinforces-a-small-town-s-fears-of-industry-impacts">high
rate of cancers</a> there.  The oil companies, rather than reach
settlements with the local people, are stalling, waiting for them to
die.


feed_id: 44d5745c2f9668bc7769798462a5e480
title: Urgent: Boycott Sinclair
uri: Urgent-Boycott-Sinclair
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Boycott_Sinclair%29
content:
<p>
In the US: <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-now-boycott-sinclair-no-viewers-no-buyers-no-advertisers">Tell Sinclair Broadcasting</a> you will boycott its news.


feed_id: eade87e0f1135a6f2319c528f220e922
title: Urgent: Ronny Jackson
uri: Urgent-Ronny-Jackson
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Ronny_Jackson%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/ronny_jackson">call on the Senate</a> to block and resist Ronny Jackson, nominated
to head (and probably privatize) the Veterans Administration.


feed_id: e402c98cd56bbd8c8d53dcff7b3a9a16
title: Erasing messages
uri: Erasing-messages
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Erasing_messages%29
content:
<p>
Facebook executives can send a message to a used and later seamlessly
delete it, so they can <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/apr/06/facebook-using-secret-tool-to-delete-messages-from-executives">pretend it never existed</a>.


feed_id: 86cb0af4e89c3783aa27edac5d0a4ef2
title: Child welfare benefits
uri: Child-welfare-benefits
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Child_welfare_benefits%29
content:
<p>
Various religious groups in the UK call for an end to the policy of
offering no welfare benefits for children after the second.  They say
it <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/apr/06/scrap-two-child-limit-benefits-uk-religious-leaders-welfare">increases poverty and abortions</a>.
<p>
A rise in poverty means suffering.  I expect that the Tories put on the limit
with suffering in mind.  It would fit everything else they do.
However, a rise in abortions is good (at least, compared with having
more babies).
<p>
Surely we can find a way to discourage birth of possible future
children, without imposing privation on real children after their
birth.


feed_id: ef4b14d7c905665064891cc5245009ab
title: Mexico's migrant caravan
uri: Mexico-s-migrant-caravan
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Mexico%27s_migrant_caravan%29
content:
<p>
'If Our Countries Were Safe, We Wouldn't Leave': <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/05/view-inside-mexico-migrant-caravan-trump-border-wall">the Harsh Reality</a> of
Mexico's Migrant Caravan.


feed_id: db004c5c787fe98cf9492a3229fe228a
title: Held incommunicado in China
uri: Held-incommunicado-in-China
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Held_incommunicado_in_China%29
content:
<p>
China has held human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang incommunicado since
he was arrested in 2015.  His wife suspects he may be dead, but the
state <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/06/its-been-1000-days-wife-of-jailed-chinese-lawyer-on-march-for-answers">won't tell her anything</a>.


feed_id: ce32a3a8a4a7094dd38714ce12b40bf8
title: Secular state for Jews and Arabs
uri: Secular-state-for-Jews-and-Arabs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Secular_state_for_Jews_and_Arabs%29
content:
<p>
The organizer of Gaza's nonviolent protests advocates a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/06/time-for-peaceful-resistance-says-gazas-new-movement">single secular
state</a> for Jews and Arabs.
<p>
Nonorthodox Jews in Israel may find, in a decade or two, that their
only safety from the oppression of the ultra-orthodox would be in
having Arabs to counterbalance them.  Today the ultra-orthodox demand
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_(Airline_seat_demands)">segregation of women</a>,
but if they win that, they will demand more.


feed_id: 4d1eb3426fc91636ff9eea245d9a4c4b
title: Oil spills and whales
uri: Oil-spills-and-whales
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Oil_spills_and_whales%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#bp">Billionaire Polluters</a>' plans to drill off Australia's south coast
risked a giant oil spill that could have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/06/bp-plan-to-drill-in-great-australian-bight-risked-750km-oil-spill-documents-show">endangered migrating whales</a>.


feed_id: 308748394f8a645487cee1116c9be828
title: Vietnamese activists
uri: Vietnamese-activists
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Vietnamese_activists%29
content:
<p>
Vietnamese democracy activists will be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/06/vietnam-jails-six-activists-for-up-to-15-years-for-trying-to-overthrow-state">imprisoned for 15 years</a> for
human rights training.


feed_id: c4d71ca8695f7f7a365a6b5b6efb33cd
title: Giving credit to ICE
uri: Giving-credit-to-ICE
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Giving_credit_to_ICE%29
content:
<p>
The Onion: <a href="https://www.theonion.com/ice-agents-feeling-a-little-hurt-that-trump-doesn-t-thi-1825016656">ICE agents complain</a> that Trump doesn't give them any credit
for being so callous.


feed_id: d864578840db5681bb31e6c1457d88d3
title: Sentences for violent plots
uri: Sentences-for-violent-plots
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Sentences_for_violent_plots%29
content:
<p>
People in the US convicted of violent plots get much longer sentences <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/04/05/muslims-violence-media-attention-prosecution/">if
they are Muslim</a>, than if they are not.


feed_id: 97588ea7961d553316142821e29a498c
title: Lula to prison
uri: Lula-to-prison
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Lula_to_prison%29
content:
<p>
Brazil's Supreme Court ruled that Lula <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/05/brazil-former-president-lula-jail-corruption-supreme-court-ruling">must go to prison</a>, which means
he won't be allowed to run for president.
<p>
That would leave the field to other politicians that are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/05/brazilians-still-hold-great-affection-for-lula-despite-corruption-conviction">much more corrupt</a>
but have not been convicted.
<p>
It is no accident they have not been convicted &mdash; they <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-nov-feb.html#14_February_2018_(Brazil's_president)">protect each other</a>.


feed_id: ae790dbcaa6ac0b8144af3e85dc63fbc
title: Malaysia's coming election
uri: Malaysia-s-coming-election
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Malaysia%27s_coming_election%29
content:
<p>
Malaysia's prime minister Razak is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/05/malaysian-prime-minister-accused-of-dirty-tricks-as-election-looms">passing laws</a> to rig the coming election.
<p>
This follows a history of <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_(Malaysian_opposition_candidate_imprisoned)">repression of the opposition</a>.


feed_id: 1297f922eea787e0c2b52ee6c2316fec
title: Killer robots project
uri: Killer-robots-project
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Killer_robots_project%29
content:
<p>
AI Experts <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/apr/05/killer-robots-south-korea-university-boycott-artifical-intelligence-hanwha">Call for Boycott</a> over 'Killer Robots' Project at South Korea
University.
<p>
KAIST is South Korea's counterpart to MIT.


feed_id: 3ea5d8046c73b7524ca70b094649ba1e
title: Decrease in plastic bags
uri: Decrease-in-plastic-bags
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Decrease_in_plastic_bags%29
content:
<p>
Charging for plastic bags in Europe resulted in a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/05/drop-in-plastic-bags-littering-british-seas-linked-to-introduction-of-5p-charge">substantial decrease
in plastic bags</a> on the seabed in the North Sea and the English Channel.


feed_id: 85c5b4dc312aacf07b1d72bebec689a0
title: Killing protesters in Gaza
uri: Killing-protesters-in-Gaza
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Killing_protesters_in_Gaza%29
content:
<p>
Israel Is <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/04/05/israel-prepared-kill-protesters-gaza/">Prepared to Kill</a> More Unarmed Protesters in Gaza.
<p>
The article also demonstrates in several ways the falsehood of Israel's claim
that it does not occupy Gaza.
<blockquote>
"Either the State of Israel used chemical weapons in a military
operation across its own borders," which would be a violation of
chemical weapons statutes, "or the State of Israel used tear gas
legally as a means of riot control -- in which case, Gaza must be
considered within the borders of Israel, with all the sovereign
responsibilities that this entails."
</blockquote>


feed_id: 015abcd3f1b625eef4282c62110cc31c
title: Religious group infiltration
uri: Religious-group-infiltration
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Religious_group_infiltration%29
content:
<p>
The New York City thug department has made an agreement <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/05/nypd-muslim-surveillance-settlement">not to
infiltrate religious groups</a> in New Jersey any more.
<p>
It had already made an agreement not to do this in New York any more.
<p>
It is noteworthy that infiltrating Muslim groups provided zero
information about any terrorist plans.  Surveillance of large groups
of people in their innocent community activities in the hope of
catching a few criminals among them is fundamentally stupid
and undermines the bonds of society.


feed_id: 363afdc26e18be7bf00be326d269e7c3
title: Hungary: Viktor Orbán autocracy
uri: Hungary-Viktor-Orbán-autocracy
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Hungary%3A_Viktor_Orb%25C3%25A1n_autocracy%29

content:
<p>"Viktor Orbán <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/30/danger-hungary-verge-full-blown-autocracy-viktor-orban-vengeance">presumes victory and threatens vengeance</a> to anyone [in Hungary] who opposes him.  Europe must see what he is doing."</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 7663f62bd126dd3a22c29cad05f9e18a
title: Stephon Clark autopsy
uri: 2018-04-10-Stephon-Clark-autopsy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Stephon_Clark_autopsy%29
content:
<p>The thugs that killed Stephon Clark said he was charging toward them. The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/30/stephon-clark-shooting-death-police-autopsy-latest">autopsy says they shot him in the back</a>.</p>
<p>It took him several minutes to die.  Instead of giving him first aid, the <a href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> handcuffed him.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 094846cc7b61f82cc9f609edf4ee42df
title: Super-Gonorrhoea drug resistant
uri: 2018-04-10-Super-Gonorrhoea-drug-resistant
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#9_April_2018_%28Super-Gonorrhoea_drug_resistant%29
content:
<p><A Href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/30/super-gonorrhoea-antibiotic-crisis-drug-resistant-bugs">Super-Gonorrhoea Is Here</A> &mdash; That Means the Antibiotic Crisis Is, Too.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 87fd5ecf6e75cd44bab8c868d4109ca3
title: Catalonia's thug department
uri: 2018-04-10-Catalonia-s-thug-department
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#7_April_2018_%28Catalonia%27s_thug_department%29
content:
<p>
The former chief of Catalonia's <a href="/glossary.html#thug">thug</a> department faces criminal charges
for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/05/former-catalan-police-chief-charged-over-role-in-independence-bid">not acting like a thug</a> &mdash; not ordering an attack on a large crowd
of nonviolent protesters.
<p>
We need to prosecute <a href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> more when they do attack unarmed people,
not when they don't.


feed_id: f7c5e25c5cf9c563325504b062531302
title: Open letter to Google CEO
uri: 2018-04-10-Open-letter-to-Google-CEO
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#7_April_2018_%28Open_letter_to_Google_CEO%29
content:
<p>
3000 Google employees signed an <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/04/google-should-not-be-in-the-business-of-war-googlers-decry-pentagon-project/">open letter to the CEO</a>, calling on
Google to cancel the project for developing AI to analyze drone
surveillance videos &mdash; which could easily include selecting targets
for drone attacks.
<p>
I think the main issue is not how to study the images, but rather the
legitimacy of <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2014-mar-jun.html#19_June_2014_(US_drone_attacks)">using drones for assassinations</a>.


feed_id: 25a28e597d9998a9e392456960b0f808
title: Arrests in Turkey
uri: 2018-04-10-Arrests-in-Turkey
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Arrests_in_Turkey%29
content:
<p>
Turkish photojournalist Çağdaş Erdoğan was arrested in a park for
taking a picture of a building.  The building houses a spy agency.
Now he is on trial for publishing photos of outdoor sex parties and
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/apr/03/cagdas-erdogan-photographer-turkey-paris-circulations-control">faces 23 years in prison</a>.
<p>
The banned band Grup Yorum has been imprisoned in Turkey <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/apr/04/grup-yorum-the-jailed-band-turkey-cant-silence">for the words
of its songs</a>.
<p>
Naturally, the state says they are terrorists, but what Erdoğan says
is proof of nothing in a state which no longer has an independent
judiciary.


feed_id: acf8d808a775ad92a643c8b8ea5ba58b
title: MLK Jr's legacy
uri: 2018-04-10-MLK-Jr-s-legacy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28MLK_Jr%27s_legacy%29
content:
<p>
Cornel West: "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/04/martin-luther-king-cornel-west-legacy">Martin Luther King Jr was a radical</a>. We must not sterilize his legacy."
<p>
Martin Luther King's last campaign was to shift funds from war <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/03/martin-luther-king-50th-anniversary-">to a
second New Deal</a>.
We still need that today.
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/03/william-barber-martin-luther-king-mlk-50th-anniversary-new-king">William Barber</a>, a leader of The Poor People’s Campaign, is inspired by
King and carries on his struggle for various kinds of justice.


feed_id: 46885f6b3c9ba7d20e2c02ef773cd2d1
title: Medical care for teachers
uri: 2018-04-10-Medical-care-for-teachers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Medical_care_for_teachers%29
content:
<p>
US teachers <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/03/hungry-tapeworm-growing-health-costs-teachers-strike-west-virginia">are being impoverished</a> as states push the cost of their
medical care onto them.
<p>
The real solution to the problem of the cost of medical care
is Medicare for All &mdash; which eliminates the opportunity for
companies to decide to charge more.


feed_id: 8d062df479394f1ed0da8b957bd317d7
title: Environmental impacts
uri: 2018-04-10-Environmental-impacts
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#6_April_2018_%28Environmental_impacts%29
content:
<p>
Humanity's continuing environmental impacts are leading to several
different kinds of global disaster.  We need law to require whole
countries to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/03/brexit-harm-environment-michael-gove">reduce each of these impacts</a>.
<p>
The root of all environmental impacts is population growth.
Therefore&hellip;


feed_id: 2c9bc1b15e53877e4e15da361bfd5460
title: US census bureau immigrants
uri: US-census-bureau-immigrants
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28US_census_bureau_immigrants%29
content:
<p>The US census bureau is conducting a dry-run in a town in Rhode Island, and it appears intended to undercount immigrants.</p>
<p>https://theintercept.com/2018/03/31/census-2020-citizenship-question-providence-immigrants/</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: ff344fe3e91978178c96929098f2d7ac
title: US: The CLASSICS Act
uri: US-The-CLASSICS-Act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28US%3A_The_CLASSICS_Act%29
content:
<p>The CLASSICS Act would <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/03/music-modernization-act-good-solution-songwriters-dont-combine-it-bad-copyright">retroactively put copyright on old phonograph records</a>, attacking our rights.</p>
<p><a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/copyright-vs-community.html">We need to reduce copyright power</a>, not increase it.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: fd18a9139c67741e1a889e1f737dac2a
title: Absurd voting sentence
uri: Absurd-voting-sentence
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28Absurd_voting_sentence%29
content:
<p><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/30/judge-hands-horrifying-five-year-prison-sentence-woman-crime-ofvoting">A black woman who voted while on probation was sentenced to five years</a> in prison.  Someone else who tried, intentionally, to vote twice for the saboteur got a suspended sentence.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: e3f96a6813b172ee693117b2bd0f621a
title: Trump's war cabinet
uri: Trump-s-war-cabinet
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28Trump%27s_war_cabinet%29
content:
<p> The history of the US has been <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/30/trumps-war-cabinet-and-coming-american-despotism-will-we-people-rise">a struggle between an ideal of liberty and a reality of plutocracy</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 16652315be68e4bd7036af6e511d5eeb
title: Civil disobedience legislation
uri: Civil-disobedience-legislation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28Civil_disobedience_legislation%29
content:
<p>Republican legislatures in several states <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/31/louisiana-minnesota-anti-protest-bills-bayou-bridge-enbridge-pipelines/">want to define civil disobedience as "conspiracy" and imprison protesters</a> for many years.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 06fb412566b4a718f2efda56395cbe34
title: Facebook ISP
uri: Facebook-ISP
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28Facebook_ISP%29
content:
<p>63 countries have allowed Facebook to become the de-facto default gratis ISP, <a href="https://freedom-to-tinker.com/2018/03/28/when-the-choice-is-to-delete-facebook-or-buy-a-loaf-of-bread/">making it very expensive for internet users to avoid Facebook surveillance</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 7ec6ada9b166a91f02a4c08b557e89d6
title: US hemp legislation
uri: US-hemp-legislation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28US_hemp_legislation%29
content:
<p>The non-drug hemp is banned in the US because it is the same species as marijuana.  <a href=" http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/reason/Articles/~3/DnOwt4M4A7o/congress-may-finally-be-ready-to-legaliz">Maybe Congress will soon recognize this</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: b264c23a3c6c2d4a44007d69e544aeee
title: Israel Palestine Gaza war
uri: Israel-Palestine-Gaza-war
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28Israel_Palestine_Gaza_war%29
content:
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/31/palestinians-hold-day-of-mourning-after-773-shot-with-live-ammunition">Israeli soldiers shot 773 Palestinian protesters</a> in Gaza.</p>
<p>Only 16 were killed, but the Israeli blockade is making medical treatment in Gaza nearly impossible, and that may cause many of the wounded to die or be maimed who could have recovered more with proper care.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 7a15e367fcc6eaaaf49325ac1f7feb8f
title: Mental health care overwhelming prison
uri: Mental-health-care-overwhelming-prison
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28Mental_health_care_overwhelming_prison%29

content:
<p>Cutting the budget for mental health care in the US <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/mar/31/mental-health-care-crisis-overwhelming-prison-jail">has dumped the responsibility on prisons</a> by default.  They do a bad job of treating patients, but they can't refuse a patient.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 439e2f2857b42194cb764ac21f1561ee
title: Naomi Wadler
uri: Naomi-Wadler
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28Naomi_Wadler%29
content:
<p>Naomi Wadler: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/31/naomi-wadler-the-11-year-old-helping-lead-a-protest-movement">the 11-year-old helping lead a protest movement</a>.</p>
<p>It takes an exceptional 11-year-old to do this, but we should expect normal 11-year-olds to do most everyday activities on their own. Indeed, they don't need to be that old to do most everyday activities on their own.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 13d001682846a188304e2a3081a0205e
title: School security
uri: School-security
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28School_security%29
content:
<p>Shooter drills and security are turning US schools mad.  <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/31/shooter-drills-high-school-shooting-new-normal">Some schools operate on full-time lockdown</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 98c75598f98c2b4632edbac6baff2082
title: US social media identities
uri: US-social-media-identities
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28US_social_media_identities%29
content:
<p>The US proposes to require would-be visitors to the US <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/30/us-immigration-social-media-visas">to list all their social media identities for the past 5 years</a>.</p>
<p>This could <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/31/us-visa-social-media-tourism">intimidate people against posting criticism of the US</a>. Maybe that's its purpose.</p>
<p>I think the fingerprint requirement is more of a violation of human rights than the social media requirement.  But this global censorship effect could make the latter do more damage to world freedom.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: eea26c3c82b581d950216e6c0f33bf66
title: Madagascar vanilla plantations destroy forests
uri: Madagascar-vanilla-plantations-destroy-forests
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#10_April_2018_%28Madagascar_vanilla_plantations_destroy_forests%29

content:
<p>Madagascar's forests are being cut down for vanilla plantations. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/31/madagascars-vanilla-wars-prized-spice-drives-death-and-deforestation">Many species can go extinct</a>.</p>
<p>It appears that today's wealthy people are more than the Earth can support.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 183f92170fd89baa496048120b3f59cd
title: Urgent: National monuments
uri: 2018-04-12-Urgent-National-monuments
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28Urgent%3A_National_monuments%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.nrdc.org/letter/bears-ears-180404">call on Zinke</a> to protect our national monuments.


feed_id: e6a99ae663985a7789de36d109614a90
title: Urgent: Wendy Vitter
uri: Urgent-Wendy-Vitter
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Wendy_Vitter%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://secure.ppaction.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=22441">call on Senators</a> to reject Wendy Vitter as federal judge.


feed_id: 53720d6d00752150512dec64ab90566f
title: Urgent: Balanced budget amendment
uri: Urgent-Balanced-budget-amendment
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28Urgent%3A_Balanced_budget_amendment%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-the-gops-reckless-balanced-budget-scheme">oppose the Republicans' balanced budget amendment</a> to the
constitution.
<p>
The way to end a recession is with deficit spending.  If this is
forbidden, recessions will get worse and worse.  The US would be doomed
to follow the path Greece has followed since 2010.


feed_id: b7d31239bec432bb588047fcd4b89d9a
title: Climate mayhem vulnerabilities
uri: Climate-mayhem-vulnerabilities
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28Climate_mayhem_vulnerabilities%29
content:
<p>
Central banks consider requiring businesses to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/apr/06/mark-carney-warns-climate-change-threat-financial-system">show how they are vulnerable</a>
to big losses due to foreseeable <a href="/glossary.html#climate">climate mayhem</a>.


feed_id: b66b5a155e6bd1988647cd1237c1c6c6
title: Drone assassination
uri: Drone-assassination
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28Drone_assassination%29
content:
<p>
The bully <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/04/06/display-actual-sociopathy-trump-reportedly-asked-cia-why-drone-didnt-also-kill">asked the CIA</a>, after a drone assassination, why the CIA
waited so as to spare the target's family.  He wants to murder
innocent people.
<p>
Using drones to attack people away from the battlefield <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-nov-feb.html#6_February_2018_(Drones_outside_battlefields)">is a crime</a> in
any case,
and that is why the bully is so avid to do it, just as he is <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-nov-feb.html#4_February_2018_(Guantanamo_prison)">avid to
torture people</a>.


feed_id: cd5038e398555b4a099129c7936f334b
title: Defending oil spills
uri: Defending-oil-spills
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28Defending_oil_spills%29
content:
<p>
Billionaire Polluters <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/04/06/callously-indifferent-bp-argued-oil-spills-would-provide-welcome-boost-coastal">told officials in Australia</a> that oil spills were
"socially acceptable" and that the attempts to clean them up would provide a
"welcome boost to local economies."
<p>
I agree with 350.org's response: "We can't allow any new fossil fuel
projects, anywhere."


feed_id: 33fd0f841539defcec1c84e378eea6c9
title: War-lover's minions
uri: War-lover-s-minions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28War-lover%27s_minions%29
content:
<p>
"[The war-lover] finally has the minions he wants: <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/04/06/dolls-militarism">devoted and fervently
militaristic</a>."


feed_id: 5c084c28b80e7722a219708e64d90776
title: B'Tselem ads
uri: B-Tselem-ads
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28B%27Tselem_ads%29
content:
<p>
The Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/04/06/btselem-calls-israeli-soldiers-defy-shooting-orders-lest-they-commit-war-crimes">published advertisements</a>
reminding Israeli soldiers that they are legally obligated to refuse
to obey "patently illegal" orders, such as to shoot civilians who are
not threatening anyone.
<p>
<a href="https://www.btselem.org/firearms/20180404_why_soldiers_must_refuse_to_fire_at_unarmed_protesters">Here's the statement</a> B'Tselem published about this.


feed_id: af44a2f785d09f1cab96b4434da9c3ae
title: Clean Water Act
uri: Clean-Water-Act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28Clean_Water_Act%29
content:
<p>
Saboteur Pruitt has <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/4/1754347/-Pruitt-has-secretly-taken-over-the-Clean-Water-Act-turned-himself-in-America-s-Water-Czar">taken personal control</a> of enforcement of the Clean
Water Act.
<p>
That puts him in a perfect chance to spread toxins where they will do
the most harm to people that don't matter to Republicans.  (The people
who do matter can afford to move away.)


feed_id: 3e0409e74be939456acb5207c27bd851
title: Getting confessions
uri: Getting-confessions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28Getting_confessions%29
content:
<p>
Orange County [thugs] And Prosecutors: If You Can't Get a Confession Legally, <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/4/1754394/-Orange-County-police-and-prosecutors-If-you-can-t-get-a-confession-legally-get-it-illegally">Get It Illegally</a>.


feed_id: 650e9ba12c77ce18b12988cb53e460d3
title: Facebook Messenger
uri: Facebook-Messenger
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28Facebook_Messenger%29
content:
<p>
Facebook looks at Facebook Messenger chats, but that's supposed to be
ok since it is <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2018/04/05/technology/facebook-messenger-messages-privacy/index.html">only for certain purposes</a>.


feed_id: ed0574d63becec9ea62b41dbebfbc91d
title: Putting al-Tamimi in prison
uri: Putting-al-Tamimi-in-prison
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28Putting_al-Tamimi_in_prison%29
content:
<p>
Uri Avnery: military occupation makes the occupier stupid.  One
manifestation of this stupidity, in Israel, was <a href="http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1523017627/">putting Ahed al-Tamimi
in prison</a>.


feed_id: eb60ee7f4ad2f36075815e885bdcad39
title: Decentralized web
uri: Decentralized-web
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28Decentralized_web%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://medium.com/@anildash/the-missing-building-blocks-of-the-web-3fa490ae5cbc">Proposing to bring back the decentralized web</a> made of thousands of web
sites which you could study and learn from.
<p>
I'm all in favor of these proposals, but I also notice one glaring omission:
they say nothing about whether the code is free or not.


feed_id: 817e08bb2a6b09f6b51758ea9d354c12
title: AI killer bots for uprisings
uri: AI-killer-bots-for-uprisings
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28AI_killer_bots_for_uprisings%29
content:
<p>
The US could use AI killer bots to pour money into <a href="https://boingboing.net/2018/04/03/treasure-vs-blood.html">killing poor
peoples' uprisings</a> around the world.


feed_id: 9ea5e85ea6fc7b26aa54f49fb3aec128
title: Republican spokesperson
uri: Republican-spokesperson
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28Republican_spokesperson%29
content:
<p>
A Republican spokesperson in Colorado got carried away with emotion
and <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/381195-colorado-gop-group-apologizes-for-post-saying-republicans-hate-poor">posted that Republicans hate poor people</a>.


feed_id: a38460710ce830454522903697fdb56e
title: Videos on Facebook
uri: Videos-on-Facebook
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28Videos_on_Facebook%29
content:
<p>
Facebook saves all videos that useds make &mdash; <a href="http://nymag.com/selectall/2018/03/facebook-secretly-saved-videos-users-deleted.html">even videos they say to delete</a>.


feed_id: 435e0aae1e01564f32e96cb06d67bc73
title: Hospital data to Facebook
uri: Hospital-data-to-Facebook
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28Hospital_data_to_Facebook%29
content:
<p>
Facebook <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/05/facebook-building-8-explored-data-sharing-agreement-with-hospitals.html">asked US hospitals</a> to give patients' data to Facebook.
<p>
The data was going to be "anonymized", but Facebook planned to
"match it up" with other data &mdash; which probably means to reidentify it.


feed_id: 7f4e50d95c6262d2c211f8b173ec39ca
title: Keep your hands empty
uri: Keep-your-hands-empty
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28Keep_your_hands_empty%29
content:
<p>
The Onion: "Listen, son, it’s time you learned how to conduct yourself
in public. It may not make sense to you now, but you need to <a href="https://www.theonion.com/black-father-gives-son-the-talk-about-holding-literally-1825024938">keep
your hands empty at all times</a>."


feed_id: b02976ff828963b8db77ca484ee38e25
title: Objects that are not guns
uri: Objects-that-are-not-guns
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28Objects_that_are_not_guns%29
content:
<p>
The Onion: Objects including but not limited to steel pipes, wallets,
and cell phones <a href="https://www.theonion.com/report-this-not-a-gun-1825021641">are not, in fact, guns</a>.


feed_id: ade467e8e88e5e4a9ddf7b9f785922bb
title: Phone spying
uri: Phone-spying
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28Phone_spying%29
content:
<p>
Are Your Phone Camera And Microphone <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/06/phone-camera-microphone-spying">Spying On You</a>?
<p>
If there's nonfree software in it &mdash; and there always is, in a phone
&mdash; you can't tell.  You <a href="https://gnu.org/malware/proprietary-surveillance.html">can never trust</a> a proprietary program.
<p>
Facebook's Surveillance Is Nothing Compared to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/06/delete-facebook-live-us-still-share-data">Comcast, AT&amp;T and Verizon</a>.


feed_id: 98037b386799344b57c0e813445cde17
title: Striking Oklahoma teachers
uri: Striking-Oklahoma-teachers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28Striking_Oklahoma_teachers%29
content:
<p>
Striking Oklahoma teachers are marching to the state capital and
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/06/oklahoma-teachers-march-capital-supporters">receiving visible public support</a>.


feed_id: b320329d65d574b86ad355b37d06aedf
title: Emissions trading
uri: 2018-04-12-Emissions-trading
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28Emissions_trading%29
content:
<p>
The northeast US regional CO2 emissions trading scheme doesn't cut
emissions much, because its cap is usually <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/30/carbon-markets-foolish-climate-policy-big-banks-can-love">above the actual emissions</a>.
<p>
It does encourage a shift to fracked gas, because the <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-nov-feb.html#27_February_2018_(Methane_leaks_from_fracking)">massive methane leaks</a>
from the wells
don't count.
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2005-sep-dec.html#22%20November%202005%20(Greenhouse%20gas%20emissions)">The European scheme</a> proved to be a failure in the 90s
and has not been fixed yet.


feed_id: a38bfa4f40c3417c3e411dc7b446a531
title: Alton Sterling shooter fired
uri: Alton-Sterling-shooter-fired
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28Alton_Sterling_shooter_fired%29
content:
<p>
The thug that shot Alton Sterling <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/30/alton-sterling-shooting-baton-rouge-police-officer-fired">has been fired</a>.
It's hardly enough to be justice but it is better than letting him work.
<p>
I hope <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jul-oct.html#15_September_2016_(Thug_offenders)">no other thug department hires him</a>.


feed_id: 10ec764ceaef079cf04dbd41b8c659bf
title: Georgia security researchers in danger
uri: Georgia-security-researchers-in-danger
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28Georgia_security_researchers_in_danger%29

content:
<p>If the governor of Georgia <a href="https://boingboing.net/2018/03/30/bruce-thompson-404-656-0065.html">signs the bill to make "unauthorized access" a crime</a>, security researchers in Georgia will be in danger.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: cea748bdc2e37da57994c462868d7eae
title: GOP tax law
uri: GOP-tax-law
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28GOP_tax_law%29
content:
<p>Under the Republican tax attacks, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/30/under-gop-tax-law-top-1-get-extra-33000-year-poor-40">the top 1% get an extra 33000 a year</a> (on the average).  Poor people get an extra 40 a year.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 833315ae591509762c14ea2a84667923
title: Pruitt lobbyist condo deal
uri: Pruitt-lobbyist-condo-deal
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28Pruitt_lobbyist_condo_deal%29
content:
<p>Saboteur Pruitt <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2018/03/30/pruitt-arranged-sweetheart-condo-deal-directly-fossil-fuel-lobbyist">made a corrupt deal with a fossil fool lobbyist</a> to get the use of a house by renting just one room in it.  The owner of the house is the lobbyist's wife.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 3f4212d2284483a265711cd328ffb79f
title: Wyoming mining jobs
uri: Wyoming-mining-jobs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28Wyoming_mining_jobs%29
content:
<p><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/29/1752950/-After-a-year-of-drastically-cutting-regulations-Wyoming-adds-a-total-of-five-coal-mining-jobs?detail=emaildkre">Due to deregulation of mining</a>, Wyoming has gained 5 full-time mining jobs.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 55168fcbcd576a12641ef5d44e940002
title: Trump ocean selling
uri: Trump-ocean-selling
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28Trump_ocean_selling%29
content:
<p>[The cheater]'s <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/29/1752991/-Trump-s-not-only-selling-off-our-oceans-he-s-doing-it-for-pennies-on-the-dollar?detail=emaildkre">Not Only Selling Off Our Oceans, He's Doing It for Pennies on the Dollar</a>.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: f7872a4ac1497b9d918be86212b4c4d9
title: GOP tax scam details
uri: GOP-tax-scam-details
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28GOP_tax_scam_details%29
content:
<p>SCROTUS said the tax attacks were meant to help middle-class Americans, but <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/27/while-workers-get-crumbs-gop-tax-scam-analysis-details-25-billion-bonanza-big-oil">the benefits are going to big companies</a>, especially oil companies.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: 5595a20faade0bb7237e6dd633667cba
title: Thugs face no charges in Alton Sterling killing
uri: Thugs-face-no-charges-in-Alton-Sterling-killing
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28Thugs_face_no_charges_in_Alton_Sterling_killing%29

content:
<p><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/27/outrage-little-surprise-after-police-officers-face-no-charges-killing-alton-sterling">Outrage, But Little Surprise, After [thugs] Face No Charges for Killing of Alton Sterling</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theonion.com/law-enforcement-questions-why-alton-sterling-was-even-b-1824125344">The Onion</a>: Louisiana thugs rebuked Sterling for the foolish act of being black on that night.  They think he should have known better.</p>
</li></p>


feed_id: d2bfe4cc00d220f8425120fbaa081bfc
title: Tennessee Republicans' medicaid plan
uri: Tennessee-Republicans-medicaid-plan
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2018-jan-apr.html#11_April_2018_%28Tennessee_Republicans_medicaid_plan%29

content:
<p>Tennessee's Republican rulers <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/28/tennessee-wants-use-funding-meant-poor-families-kick-people-medicaid">plan to take medicaid away from underemployed parents</a> that can't find full-time work.</p>
<p>Doing this will cost the state a substantial amount of money.  It may be a net loss to the treasury -- but Republicans believe that kicking poor people while they are down is so important that it's worth every penny.  Especially since they are taking this cost away from welfare benefits for poor people.</p>
<p>This is possible because of Bill Clinton's "welfare reform", which Liberals like me condemned.  The effect was to teach me how right-wing some Democrats were.  Since then, I have not voted for Democrats unless I could see they were Liberals (though the term "progressive" is now used).</p>
</li></p>


