# articles

feed_id: a34853fd4ed5d3944293ece05dc2a760
title: Urgent: Stop the sale of Ancestry to Blackstone
uri: Urgent-Stop-the-sale-of-Ancestry-to-Blackstone
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#3_September_2020_%28Urgent%3A_Stop_the_sale_of_Ancestry_to_Blackstone%29

content:
<p>

US citizens: call on Congress and the Federal Trade Commission to <a href="https://act.demandprogress.org/sign/sign-petition-tell-congress-stop-sale-ancestry-blackstone/">Stop
the sale of Ancestry to Blackstone</a>

<p>The Capitol Switchboard numbers are 202-224-3121, 888-818-6641 and 888-355-3588.</p>
  <p>
    If you call, please spread the word!
  </p>


feed_id: 8ab56dcb4f1283431474eb0d8082c21b
title: Raise taxes on the rich ASAP
uri: Raise-taxes-on-the-rich-ASAP
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#7_September_2020_%28Raise_taxes_on_the_rich_ASAP%29
content:
<p>
Stiglitz urges states to raises taxes on the rich ASAP <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/03/either-raise-taxes-wealthy-fund-recovery-or-expect-years-grinding-recession-argues">so as to avoid
terrible budget cuts</a>.


feed_id: fa5083a336fe224bc951d991af0b7f14
title: Felony of incitement
uri: Felony-of-incitement
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#7_September_2020_%28Felony_of_incitement%29
content:
<p>
When the wrecker called on his supporters to try to vote twice, which
is a felony, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/09/03/trump-call-supporters-vote-twice-felony-inciting-felony">he committed the felony of incitement</a>.


feed_id: a404072f45e6f47d4cee9e152824bcc6
title: Guilty of the same crimes
uri: Guilty-of-the-same-crimes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#7_September_2020_%28Guilty_of_the_same_crimes%29
content:
<p>
Michael Cohen's book says that the conman <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/06/michael-cohen-book-disloyal-alleges-trump-racist-outbursts-stormy-daniels-russia">is guilty of the same crimes
as he</a>.


feed_id: 39662b0bc577251df36317af0cabfba0
title: Spiritual consultant
uri: Spiritual-consultant
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#7_September_2020_%28Spiritual_consultant%29
content:
<p>
Your employer's "spiritual consultant" will try to teach you <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/06/office-spiritual-consultants-capitalism">to find
deep meaning in your meaningless job</a>.


feed_id: 922751d603e0e986d4c3bf430cc9d99a
title: Digital biometric ID
uri: Digital-biometric-ID
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#7_September_2020_%28Digital_biometric_ID%29
content:
<p>
The Tories want to impose a digital biometric ID system on everyone in
the UK.  <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/06/uk-online-id-pandemic-digital-identity-system">This would be a gratuitous increment in tyranny</a>.


feed_id: 33d45907c4ba7b44d56b7563f1fb752c
title: Demilitarize disaster relief
uri: Demilitarize-disaster-relief
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#7_September_2020_%28Demilitarize_disaster_relief%29
content:
<p>
*15 Years After Hurricane Katrina, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/03/15-years-after-hurricane-katrina-its-time-demilitarize-disaster-relief">It’s Time to Demilitarize Disaster Relief</a>.*


feed_id: 81462288f3556f079e280a695c493d23
title: Not the Republicans
uri: Not-the-Republicans
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#7_September_2020_%28Not_the_Republicans%29
content:
<p>
Ralph Nader challenges the Democratic Party to take steps <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/05/can-democratic-party-landslide-criminal-tyrant-trump">to go beyond
being "not the Republicans"</a>.


feed_id: 46dc54c1bd9ce619b65785ce8b71f4f5
title: Saving lives by wearing mask
uri: Saving-lives-by-wearing-mask
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#7_September_2020_%28Saving_lives_by_wearing_mask%29
content:
<p>
A study predicts that strict wearing of masks <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/04/trump-mocks-biden-mask-wearing-just-new-research-shows-stricter-compliance-could">could save 120,000 lives
in the US in the rest of this year</a>.

<p>
I'm doing my part.  I hope you are too.


feed_id: 664343606fdbe627582ed78469ec09e2
title: More protection of nature
uri: More-protection-of-nature
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#7_September_2020_%28More_protection_of_nature%29
content:
<p>
The Democratic Party calls for more protection of nature, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/04/earth-defenders-say-time-now-democrats-embrace-rights-nature-central-partys-future">but does not
talk about giving nature "rights"</a>.

<p>
I am in favor of more legal protections of nature &mdash; more, I expect,
than the Democratic Party advocates,
However, it does not make sense to attribute "rights" to anything
that doesn't have a <em>will</em> with which to decide how to exercise them.

<p>
Rather than describe legal protections of nature using a blatant
absurdity, we should describe them as what they are: protections for
something we consider important.


feed_id: 6fe4849ee1dedc97c943a5111beb40ae
title: Republican democrats
uri: Republican-democrats
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#7_September_2020_%28Republican_democrats%29
content:
<p>
"Centrist" Democrats <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/04/democrats-much-too-excited-about-rick-snyder-endorsing-joe-biden">made a big fuss when the Republican former governor of
Michigan endorsed Biden</a>.

<p>
For me, it shows how close Biden is to being a pre-conman Republican.

<p>
One way to convince the wrecker to accept defeat could be to convince Putin
to offer him asylum in Russia.  But once he is gone, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/04/can-us-democracy-be-fixed">we will still need to
restore democratic elections</a>.

<p>
The article describes three changes: eliminating the electoral
college, ending voter suppression and gerrymandering, and breaking
through the two-party system that gives us the choice of moderate right
wing vs extreme right wing.

<p>
The author proposes that the peoples of other countries dominated by
the US should have some say in the US government.  I agree there is a
problem to be fixed, but I don't think the US government can play,
simultaneously, the two roles of most-of-the-world government and
government of one country.


feed_id: e858be84ccb6a36fb9858850c15fda5a
title: Election results
uri: Election-results
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#7_September_2020_%28Election_results%29
content:
<p>
Sanders states what the US needs to do to prepare in advance to
confront the wrecker <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/05/nightmare-scenario-sanders-warns-nation-trump-laying-groundwork-election-result">if he tries to deny or disregard the election
result</a>.

<p>
The problem is, these preparation steps are a wish, not a plan.  In
states controlled by Republicans, they have a history of voter
suppression.  They won't do what needs to be done.  The mainstream
media may not want to help.  Facebook may have made a deal with the
wrecker.  That leaves only step 4 which can be carried out by
people (Congressional Democrats) that probably want to do it.


feed_id: 79861efd8adc60341bba5713a4a9fc16
title: False equivalence
uri: False-equivalence
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#7_September_2020_%28False_equivalence%29
content:
<p>
FAIR: The Washington Post paired frequent right-wing violence against
BLM with barely any violence by BLM supporters <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/05/democracy-dies-obfuscation-and-false-equivalences">to construct a false
equivalence</a>.


feed_id: e9ab5a04fa2deb63e2ec5e1270437d22
title: Attack on the free press
uri: Attack-on-the-free-press
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#7_September_2020_%28Attack_on_the_free_press%29
content:
<p>
Extinction Rebellion rejects the charge that its one-day blockade of
several right-wing British newspapers, all owned by one company, was
"an attack on the free press."  Basically, a press dominated by one
company which covers up the most important information <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/05/we-need-free-press-do-not-have-it-uk-climate-campaigners-defend-blockade-murdochs">is effectively
not a free press to begin with</a>.


feed_id: e56e6f34d82ac21cdaca9814622b8228
title: Political ads
uri: 2020-09-07-Political-ads
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#7_September_2020_%28Political_ads%29
content:
<p>
Facebook has banned political ads for the week before election day.
That has a good side, but it includes the ads by state election officials
<a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/facebooks-political-ad-ban-also-threatens-ability-to-spread-accurate-information-on-how-to-vote">which tell people where and how to vote</a>.

<p>
Facebook could run those announcements gratis; then they would not be ads.


feed_id: 29623066252a93c196103c224ab26f6f
title: Once again
uri: Once-again
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#7_September_2020_%28Once_again%29
content:
<p>
Once again, a ship that picked up migrants in the Mediterranean <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/04/ship-rescued-migrants-eu-sea-tanker-malta-european">is
being barred from all ports and is getting low on food and water</a>.


feed_id: b77e1e086ff6262f1739ad0768e0b507
title: Support Assange
uri: Support-Assange
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#8_September_2020_%28Support_Assange%29
content:
<p>
Everyone: <a href="https://defend.wikileaks.org/2020/08/31/decentralised-month-of-solidarity-with-assange-whistleblowers-and-press-freedom-worldwide/">support the decentralized month of solidarity with Assange</a>,
Whistleblowers and Press Freedom.


feed_id: b0bd2d09b96f1b7e48c94157528e72de
title: Anti right to repair FUD
uri: Anti-right-to-repair-FUD
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#8_September_2020_%28Anti_right_to_repair_FUD%29
content:
<p>
Car companies are spreading FUD <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qj4ayw/auto-industry-tv-ads-claim-right-to-repair-benefits-sexual-predators">to try to defeat the Massachusetts
right to repair initiative</a>.

<p>
The truly dangerous data predators are the car companies themselves.
But you can block them, and anyone else that wants to track your car,
by converting it into a disconnected car.  Disconnect (or cover with
metal foil) its cellular antenna and its GPS antenna.  If warranty
considerations would preclude turning off the antennas, get a car
that's out of warranty.

<p>
And do vote for the right-to-repair initiative if you live in
Massachusetts.  Next step: require cars to let the owner control what
data to collect and/or make available to anyone.

<p>
Ultimately, the computers in the car that can communicate sensitive
data, or allow installation of different versions of software, should
run exclusively free software and the owner should be able to install
modified versions.


feed_id: 8f114eb84f404b1145a3bbe078ed3737
title: Bad organization of medical system
uri: Bad-organization-of-medical-system
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#8_September_2020_%28Bad_organization_of_medical_system%29

content:
<p>
The reason the US can't set up enough Covid-19 testing is bad
organization of its medical system.  Other countries have done an
excellent job of this, <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/science/medical-dispatch/we-can-solve-the-coronavirus-test-mess-now-if-we-want-to">using techniques that the US could employ if
were willing to make the necessary organizational changes</a>,


feed_id: 629cac10151f4013319b51019a6b02f0
title: Hedge fund
uri: 2020-09-08-Hedge-fund
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#8_September_2020_%28Hedge_fund%29
content:
<p>
Hedge fund and private equity "investments" <a href="https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2020/09/22-year-study-finds-hedge-fund-managers-collect-64-of-investors-gross-returns.html">turn out to be rip-offs
for the investors</a>.

<p>
What private equity "invests" in is trashing companies and jobs.  If
our government were not under the thumb of the billionaires that run these
"investments", we would prohibit them.


feed_id: b55db878d95e949e23eff4b93646fb5f
title: Bringing back imperialism
uri: Bringing-back-imperialism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#8_September_2020_%28Bringing_back_imperialism%29
content:
<p>
Erdo&gbreve;an <a href="https://time.com/5885650/erdogans-ottoman-worry-world/">is trying to bring back Turkish imperialism as well as
Islamism</a>.

<p>
It is a danger, but mainly in the long term.  One exception: the
discovery of large natural gas reserves is always terrifying, because
someone might extract them and burn them.  We can hope that
international tensions will keep the gas in the ground, but it would
more reliable to sign an agreement to that effect.


feed_id: 2cebc6fe3553c052bac4fc37fdb8854c
title: 45 kills a year
uri: 45-kills-a-year
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#8_September_2020_%2845_kills_a_year%29
content:
<p>
Thugs in Los Angeles county kill around 45 people a year, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/06/los-angeles-police-killings-dijon-kizzee-andres-guardado">and they're on track
to do it again this year</a>.

<p>
Often they shoot people for running away, which means implies that the
victims were not threatening them and there was no need to shoot them.

<p>
I'm in favor of defunding the sheriff's department.  There is little
chance of reforming the brutal culture of such an organization while
keeping the same personnel.  LA county needs some sort of law
enforcement, but it should be restructured.  Perhaps one department to
enforce traffic codes and that's all, and another to respond when
people need practical or medical help.  A smaller police department
could be called only to deal with dangerous crime.

<p>
It seems more efficient to have the same personnel do all sorts of jobs,
but it is asking for trouble.


feed_id: ae1db6a8e418349fdedde5eecc675a71
title: About Michael Reinoehl
uri: About-Michael-Reinoehl
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#8_September_2020_%28About_Michael_Reinoehl%29
content:
<p>
About Michael Reinoehl, armed Black Lives Matter protester <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/04/portland-shooting-suspect-michael-reinoehl">who killed
one of a violent right-wing group that attacked a protest</a>.

<p>
We can't take for granted that the statements by cops are accurate.
Did he really pull a gun when cops tried to arrest him?  It is the
sort of thing <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> frequently fabricate, but it might be true.  He
may have committed "suicide by cop".

<p>
I believe Reinoehl's statement that his intention on various
circumstances was to protect people, but I won't take for granted that
the specifics he states are accurate.  Was Danielson trying to stab a
BLM protester?  IANAL, but I suppose that would have made killing him
justifiable.
 
<p>
I hope that we find out the truth.


feed_id: d42f3a67eb642adeda84fb5f3e4bf7bd
title: Freedom of expression and databases
uri: Freedom-of-expression-and-databases
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#8_September_2020_%28Freedom_of_expression_and_databases%29

content:
<p>
Clearview AI argues, stretching the idea of freedom of expression,
that it includes the right to make a database of photos of millions of people
and systematically recognize people against it.  <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/09/04/opinion/getting-first-amendment-wrong/">This article argues the
contrary</a>.


feed_id: 210ff00702128010f9bc928e53975371
title: Prioritizing creditors
uri: Prioritizing-creditors
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#8_September_2020_%28Prioritizing_creditors%29
content:
<p>
The US is being crushed by the decision to prioritize creditors
(particularly large, powerful creditors) over the rest of society.
<a href="https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2020/09/michael-hudson-how-an-act-of-god-pandemic-is-destroying-the-west-the-u-s-is-saving-the-financial-sector-not-the-economy.html">We need a debt jubilee</a>.


feed_id: c21ae40f34c9a13d17cab772ea7e10b0
title: Plea deal
uri: Plea-deal
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#8_September_2020_%28Plea_deal%29
content:
<p>
A prosecutor in Louisville offered Breonna Taylor's ex, accused of
drug trafficking, <a href="https://www.kalb.com/2020/08/31/attorney-says-jamarcus-glover-was-offered-plea-deal-to-name-breonna-taylor-as-co-defendant/">a plea deal in which he would say that she was
involved in the transaction</a>.

<p>
Now the prosecutor argues that since the offer was made during
negotiations, and was not the final plea deal offer, we should imagine
that it never happened.


feed_id: 578642d042d29f97b2cdc6e2ff6c4f5c
title: Terrifyingly easy trip to the North Pole
uri: Terrifyingly-easy-trip-to-the-North-Pole
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#8_September_2020_%28Terrifyingly_easy_trip_to_the_North_Pole%29

content:
<p>
The icebreaker Polarstern had a very quick and easy trip to the North
Pole, Terrifyingly easy.  <a href="https://earther.gizmodo.com/scientists-made-an-alarmingly-easy-trip-to-the-north-po-1844858358">The Arctic ice has lost 75% of its volume in
the past 30 years</a>.


feed_id: 059a4e5d56df150cc5cf8c292b4c1399
title: Facebook and right wing extremism
uri: Facebook-and-right-wing-extremism
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#8_September_2020_%28Facebook_and_right_wing_extremism%29

content:
<p>
Arguing that Facebook deliberately promotes right wing extremism
<a href="https://boingboing.net/2020/08/31/facebook-is-a-parallel-unive.html">because it would benefit from a Republican victory</a>.


feed_id: 26abf689526d968c8d5b6eb7e82c1ae9
title: Bombing of Libya
uri: Bombing-of-Libya
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#8_September_2020_%28Bombing_of_Libya%29
content:
<p>
The US bombing of Libya in 2011 <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/03/obamas-biggest-mistake-still-wreaking-havoc">caused a disaster that has harmed many
countries in North Africa</a>.


feed_id: 9a069cee5f0ac3b58b0f69377e059c31
title: In charge of building dense housing
uri: In-charge-of-building-dense-housing
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#8_September_2020_%28In_charge_of_building_dense_housing%29

content:
<p>
Putting the residents in each community in charge of building new,
dense housing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/06/want-to-build-high-rise-homes-for-74000-more-people-in-wellington-build-consensus-first">can defuse the conflicts about it</a>.


feed_id: ac1b32de6e01fdfa65e0737410cffe0d
title: Prisoners without access to soap, disinfectant
uri: Prisoners-without-access-to-soap-disinfectant
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#8_September_2020_%28Prisoners_without_access_to_soap%2C_disinfectant%29

content:
<p>
Most prisoners' families say that US prisoners do not have access to
soap, disinfectant, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/03/report-only-7-inmates-loved-ones-say-prisoners-have-soap-and-other-basic-necessities">and other things they need to stop the spread of
coronavirus</a>.

<p>
One other thing they don't have enough of is space to stay away from
each other.


feed_id: 7b1d20cfc00078a8b21adec862604622
title: Former Salvadorean minister on trial in Spain
uri: Former-Salvadorean-minister-on-trial-in-Spain
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#9_September_2020_%28Former_Salvadorean_minister_on_trial_in_Spain%29

content:
<p>

A former Salvadorean minister is now on trial in Spain for ordering
the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/07/spanish-trial-brings-hope-of-justice-for-victims-of-salvadoran-death-squads">murder of six Spanish priests</a> during the country's war of repression.


feed_id: 8ab3042ef0a52417e734d53df418ac20
title: Landlords will install Alexa listening devices
uri: Landlords-will-install-Alexa-listening-devices
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#9_September_2020_%28Landlords_will_install_Alexa_listening_devices%29

content:
<p>

Landlords will <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qj45kx/amazon-wants-alexa-to-move-into-your-apartment-before-you-do">install Alexa listening devices</a> and claim that entitles
them to a higher rent.
<p>
I think the crucial question is whether the tenants can physically
disconnect it.
<p>
Alexa for Residential will help people (including landlords) <a href="https://gizmodo.com/amazons-alexa-for-landlords-is-a-privacy-nightmare-wait-1844943607">snoop on
each other</a>.
<p>
How about passing laws that forbid landlords from requiring tenants to
tolerate microphones or cameras inside the property they rent?
<p>
Requiring tenants to use an "online portal" (which is
likely to require running nonfree Javascript software and could make
tenants sign away their rights) should be forbidden as well.


feed_id: 9b2f95897a4ec7e053e0fda035d34abc
title: Assange extradition hearing
uri: Assange-extradition-hearing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#9_September_2020_%28Assange_extradition_hearing%29
content:
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/sep/07/julian-assange-extradition-hearing-begins-at-old-bailey-wikileaks">Assange's lawyers charge</a> that the US replaced the indictment trying to
disguise the invalidity of the extradition request.  They also
complain about being denied the opportunity to meet with their client.


feed_id: d23d1bc5d7831e2fe900b481f02b1241
title: Violent police arrest in Hong Kong
uri: Violent-police-arrest-in-Hong-Kong
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#9_September_2020_%28Violent_police_arrest_in_Hong_Kong%29

content:
<p>

*Hong Kong shocked by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/07/hong-kong-violent-police-arrest-of-12-year-old-girl">violent police arrest</a> of 12-year-old girl.*
<p>
That's what <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> do when they perceive the people as enemies.
We see it in the US too.


feed_id: 9f904f69cc089fed6d7a1754d9b82e6b
title: Australia plans to reduce environmental protections
uri: Australia-plans-to-reduce-environmental-protections
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#9_September_2020_%28Australia_plans_to_reduce_environmental_protections%29

content:
<p>

Australia's extractivist government plans to reduce environmental
protections to permit more mining.  Conservationists <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/07/unesco-urged-to-oppose-alarming-changes-to-australian-environment-laws">ask UNESCO to object</a>
since the change would imperil world heritage sites.


feed_id: f6a625873bfcf51c3e69e9baf829090f
title: China has been working to do away with Tibetan culture
uri: China-has-been-working-to-do-away-with-Tibetan-culture
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#9_September_2020_%28China_has_been_working_to_do_away_with_Tibetan_culture%29

content:
<p>

China has been working for 80 years to <a href="https://savetibet.org/tibetan-prayer-flags-forced-down-by-chinese-authorities/">do away with Tibetan culture</a>.
<p>
The methods developed in repression of the Uighurs may now be used
to <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/08/31/tibet-china-repression-xinjiang-sinicization/">sinicize Tibetans</a>.
It's making me sinical about China's intentions ;-}.
<p>
It is true that Tibet was a feudal society in 1950.  But ending
feudalism did not have to be followed by assimilation, and forced
inclusion in an even worse system of government.  China could have
ended the feudalism and left Tibetans mostly alone, and come out
admired.


feed_id: efc0d74e65fe83c1700a767aac3105f1
title: A Tennessee thug faces criminal charges
uri: A-Tennessee-thug-faces-criminal-charges
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#9_September_2020_%28A_Tennessee_thug_faces_criminal_charges%29

content:
<p>

A Tennessee thug faces criminal charges for <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2020/09/04/fired-thp-trooper-arrested-assault-charge-after-confronting-protester/5714218002/">attacking Andrew Golden</a>, who
was making a video of a traffic stop from a safe distance.
<p>
The <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thug</a> should be charged with reckless endangerment for breathing,
maskless, in Golden's face with no justification.


feed_id: 375f3a78500ef6094a3f5203c1ae001c
title: The bully backed off on newspaper Stars and Stripes
uri: The-bully-backed-off-on-newspaper-Stars-and-Stripes
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#9_September_2020_%28The_bully_backed_off_on_newspaper_Stars_and_Stripes%29

content:
<p>

The bully <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-military-trump-media/after-criticism-trump-says-pentagon-will-not-shut-down-military-newspaper-idUSKBN25V2XN">backed off</a> on his plan to close the newspaper Stars and
Stripes.


feed_id: e5fe521e3ad7ede484261061fca071e6
title: To understand the bullshitter
uri: To-understand-the-bullshitter
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#9_September_2020_%28To_understand_the_bullshitter%29

content:
<p>

Matt Taibbi: To understand the bullshitter, <a href="https://taibbi.substack.com/p/the-trump-era-sucks-and-needs-to">think if him as a salesman
who sells the experience of being sold to</a>.  Just what he says he is
selling makes no difference to him.
<p>
The Democratic Party can't make a serious response because it has no
serious response to America's problems, and its attempts to respond
play into the bullshitter's hands.
<p>
I am no expert, but I think we should ignore his outrageous verbal
provocations, and focus on the real harm he does, and the good we can do.


feed_id: f656167af3ab964b19cfbc32c0183c80
title: Prisoners without access to soap, disinfectant
uri: 2020-09-09-Prisoners-without-access-to-soap-disinfectant
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#8_September_2020_%28Prisoners_without_access_to_soap%2C_disinfectant%29

content:
<p>
Most prisoners' families say that US prisoners do not have access to
soap, disinfectant, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/03/report-only-7-inmates-loved-ones-say-prisoners-have-soap-and-other-basic-necessities">and other things they need to stop the spread of
coronavirus</a>.

<p>
One other thing they don't have enough of is space to stay away from
each other.


feed_id: be16d6f97f798254301acf9826eab406
title: Remote school to prison pipeline
uri: Remote-school-to-prison-pipeline
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#9_September_2020_%28Remote_school_to_prison_pipeline%29

content:
<p>
Remote school does not protect children from the school-to-prison
pipeline.  Colorado school officials suspended a child for playing
with a nerf gun (a harmless toy which does not look like a real gun)
while visible on camera, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/08/colorado-springs-boy-suspended-toy-gun-virtual-class-police">then sent a thug to his house</a>.

<p>
It's not that the officials are unable to tell the difference between
a real gun and a nerf gun.  It's not that they can't tell the
difference between having a gun near you and seeing one on TV.  It is
much worse than that: they have been convinced that <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2013-may-aug.html#16_August_2013_(Lunatic_zero_tolerance_policies_in_schools)">it is their job to
ignore the difference</a>.

<p>
This is much worse, because it can become far more widespread.  We can
expect that not more than a handful of school officials would lose
track of the difference between reality and a picture; but if someone
teaches them to ignore the difference, they could all do it!

<p>
The article presents this as a matter of racism.  The child is black,
and the parents assume the officials acted insanely because of that.
Perhaps they did, but the article does not present evidence for that.
Maybe they would have been insanely cruel to any child, regardless of
race.

<p>
Let's hope these parents sue the pants off them, so they and other
school officials will learn not to do this to any child, ever.


feed_id: 784fec052e6278de586c2ebf49c3865b
title: Protection
uri: Protection
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#9_September_2020_%28Protection%29
content:
<p>
The UK's thug minister <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/08/extinction-rebellion-criminals-threaten-uks-way-of-life-says-priti-patel">vows to protect Britons from Extinction Rebellion</a>.

<p>
Who will protect Britons from extinction?


feed_id: 2d261771e3ed0cd00fbbde7312eb2d5e
title: Thugs shooting a 13 years old
uri: Thugs-shooting-a-13-years-old
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#9_September_2020_%28Thugs_shooting_a_13_years_old%29

content:
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">Thugs</a> in Salt Lake City answered a 9-1-1 call from a woman who said
her unarmed 13-year-old son was uncontrollably upset.  <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/08/linden-cameron-police-shooting-boy-autism-utah">They treated him
as if he were an armed and dangerous gangster</a>.

<p>
The shots did not kill him, but after those injuries he may wish they
had.

<p>
This is a precise example of the reason behind "Defund the police".
The city should have sent an unarmed team of calmers and deescalaters,
not <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a>.


feed_id: 258afd0fa1861ccafc928e21513976b8
title: War on Terror
uri: 2020-09-09-War-on-Terror
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#9_September_2020_%28War_on_Terror%29
content:
<p>
*'Horrifically Catastrophic': Report Finds So-Called US War on Terror <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/08/horrifically-catastrophic-report-finds-so-called-us-war-terror-has-displaced-many-59">Has Displaced as Many as 59 Million People</a>.*

<p>
On the other hand, it might be as few as 37 million people &mdash; which is still
a global calamity.


feed_id: a2734a71b027b126d67420ebede5b81b
title: Carbon capture
uri: Carbon-capture
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#9_September_2020_%28Carbon_capture%29
content:
<p>
*Rise in carbon capture as global warming speeds growth of forests <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/08/shorter-lifespan-of-faster-growing-trees-will-add-to-climate-crisis-study-finds">would
be negated by earlier deaths, say scientists</a>.*

<p>
I wonder if we could counteract that by cutting down those trees while
they are large, then somehow preserving the wood from decay.  But that
is a far-fetched idea, and if it doesn't work, we must stop letting
companies distract us <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2013-sep-dec.html#26_October_2013_(The_carbon_budget)">with "carbon offsets" and "net carbon emissions"</a> and
accept no substitute for <em>less emission</em>.


feed_id: a3d9f32e3a06945c3543d74f938403dd
title: Michael Cohen's repentance
uri: Michael-Cohen-s-repentance
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#9_September_2020_%28Michael_Cohen%27s_repentance%29
content:
<p>
Is publishing a book denouncing the conman <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/08/michael-cohen-is-scathing-about-donald-trump-so-why-did-he-spend-years-enabling-him">enough repentance to forgive
Michael Cohen for decades of serving him</a>?


feed_id: 554effcdff322d430959bb0da8fccd3c
title: Opportunity
uri: Opportunity
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#9_September_2020_%28Opportunity%29
content:
<p>
*The pandemic is an opportunity <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/08/pandemic-covid-19-work-society">to reconsider what makes a good life</a>.*


feed_id: fa35a6209bb8fc6190a8ba017d90b13d
title: The next Dalai Lama
uri: The-next-Dalai-Lama
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#9_September_2020_%28The_next_Dalai_Lama%29
content:
<p>
The Tibetan Policy and Support Act would have the US <a href="https://savetibet.org/why-tibet/tibet-support-act/">officially reject
and punish China's intended attempt to appoint the next Dalai Lama</a>.


feed_id: 043bc558e82a0ca66349104f35c19688
title: The Real Hoax
uri: The-Real-Hoax
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#9_September_2020_%28The_Real_Hoax%29
content:
<p>
*The Real 'Hoax' in America <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/06/real-hoax-america-record-wall-street-profits-nations-jobless-millions-cannot-afford">Is Record Wall Street Profits as Nation's Jobless
Millions Cannot Afford Rent</a>.*

<p>
Rage is building.  But Republicans fool the enraged public into
directing their rage against masks and disease-prevention precautions,
instead of the proper targets: the plutocrats and the politicians that
serve them.


feed_id: 66719cbcc0b9ea56a803ea526c761d9d
title: Unprofitable even in the short term
uri: Unprofitable-even-in-the-short-term
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#9_September_2020_%28Unprofitable_even_in_the_short_term%29

content:
<p>
The fossil fuel industry, deadly in the long term, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/07/big-dirty-money-behind-california-wildfires">is unprofitable overall
even in the short term</a>.

<p>
However, the big fossil fuel companies are not hurting enough to shut down.
If they are not making profits in the way we were taught to think of
business as making profits, I suspect they are running something we would
consider a scam if we knew about it.
  


feed_id: 8b4122480300b2c982e2a0bc58b87e9c
title: Barring Amnesty International from Assange hearing
uri: Barring-Amnesty-International-from-Assange-hearing
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#9_September_2020_%28Barring_Amnesty_International_from_Assange_hearing%29

content:
<p>
The UK barred Amnesty International and other human rights groups <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/07/not-normal-human-rights-press-freedom-advocates-denied-remote-access-assange-hearing">from
monitoring Julian Assange's extradition hearing</a>.

<p>
The UK government now believes it can get away with all sorts of repression
and anti democratic behavior.  I hope it is mistaken.


feed_id: e938785f60d11d534a066fbdec2419e7
title: Constant pain
uri: Constant-pain
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#9_September_2020_%28Constant_pain%29
content:
<p>
Jacob Blake describes his life as constant pain.  <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/07/hurts-breathe-sleep-move-eat-first-public-remarks-being-shot-jacob-blake-describes">Every movement
hurts</a>.

<p>
I hope it gets less painful as his wounds heal.


feed_id: ee815438e82a5e0ca6d1037573cfc33d
title: PRO Act
uri: PRO-Act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#9_September_2020_%28PRO_Act%29
content:
<p>
Americans, pay attention to the PRO Act, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/07/21st-century-priority-pro-act-will-revive-labor-movement-and-re-build-middle-class">which would help workers
unionize</a>.


feed_id: 09f47b1373c54845c4b1138f8c0d940b
title: Mulan
uri: Mulan
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#9_September_2020_%28Mulan%29
content:
<p>
The remake of Mulan was filmed partly in Xinjiang with the help
of a Chinese government agency <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/sep/07/disney-remake-of-mulan-criticised-for-filming-in-xinjiang">that also runs brainwashing camps</a>.

<p>
It may seem advantageous that US commercial culture production sells
well in China, but it gives the Chinese government influence <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/sep/07/mulan-disney-live-action-remake-hong-kong-china">over what
American companies say or show to the rest of the world about China</a>.


feed_id: 93b9bd5adb2d598a979f8b3771b003c2
title: Dejoy investigations
uri: Dejoy-investigations
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#9_September_2020_%28Dejoy_investigations%29
content:
<p>
Postmaster Dejoy faces investigation in North Carolina for the crime
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/louis-dejoy-campaign-contributions/2020/09/06/1187bc2c-e3fe-11ea-8181-606e603bb1c4_story.html">of passing campaign contributions through intermediaries</a>.

<p>
The wrecker cannot pardon him from state charges and his flunky in
charge of the "Justice Department" <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/07/postmaster-general-urged-immediately-step-aside-north-carolina-ag-backs-probe">cannot call off the investigation</a>.

<p>
However, I don't see how this investigation could make Dejoy undo the
harm he has done to mail delivery.  I doubt he could even be charged
before election day.

<p>
Firing him would not help either, because he is not an individual
criminal loner.  He is part of a shameless political machine.  If he
were gone, the wrecker would put in another hatchet man to finish the
job.


feed_id: 291e09aba8d1cef732838bc2133d0ccd
title: Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Covid-19 cases
uri: Sturgis-Motorcycle-Rally-Covid-19-cases
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28Sturgis_Motorcycle_Rally_Covid-19_cases%29

content:
<p>

The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/08/worst-case-scenario-report-finds-sturgis-motorcycle-rally-superspreader-event">indirectly led to 260,000 cases of Covid-19</a>,
which is likely to include at least hundreds of deaths.
<p>
Gratuitous foolish disease spreading on subsequent occasions must
have contributed.


feed_id: dd61811bbb716101eb7a6db508564325
title: How the World Bank rates every country
uri: How-the-World-Bank-rates-every-country
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28How_the_World_Bank_rates_every_country%29

content:
<p>

The World Bank <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/08/world-bank-must-permanently-end-ideologically-driven-doing-business-rankings">rates every country</a> on the "ease of doing business",
which turns out to mean the "ease of big foreign companies' muscling in."


feed_id: 5e338fbeed135124413986eb4eed5660
title: EU deaths caused by environmental pollution
uri: EU-deaths-caused-by-environmental-pollution
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28EU_deaths_caused_by_environmental_pollution%29

content:
<p>

13% of deaths in the EU are <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/08/covid-19-pandemic-yet-another-wake-call-1-8-deaths-across-eu-tied-environmental">caused by environmental pollution</a>.
<p>
It could be worse in the US, where the environmental standards are
weaker and enforcement is not very good either.


feed_id: 82a4c518a39fdd35be489229860f7f71
title: Covid-19 is intensifying famines
uri: Covid-19-is-intensifying-famines
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28Covid-19_is_intensifying_famines%29

content:
<p>

Covid-19 is <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/08/un-warns-pandemic-intensified-famines-are-looming-endangering-lives-millions">intensifying famines</a> in many parts of the world.  The UN
predicts that around 265 million people will be on the brink of
statement by the end of this year.


feed_id: ca556b9fcbc83257ba9d44e3d21fc842
title: Urgent: Coal power construction
uri: Urgent-Coal-power-construction
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28Urgent%3A_Coal_power_construction%29

content:
<p>

Everyone: call on Samsung to <a href="https://act.priceofoil.org/sign/samsung-vung-ang-2/">stop participating in coal power construction</a>.


feed_id: 11a9d2aa3362f98fcd057730b10aa936
title: Urgent: call on Rochester officials
uri: Urgent-call-on-Rochester-officials
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28Urgent%3A_call_on_Rochester_officials%29

content:
<p>

Everyone: call on Rochester officials to (1) <a href="https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/Justice_For_Daniel_Prude/">prosecute the thugs</a> that
killed Daniel Prude, and (2) stop sending <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> to "help" people
having mental breakdowns.


feed_id: 314725e667e0617159934c76366c9aad
title: Australian scientists' warnings about environmental damage
uri: Australian-scientists-warnings-about-environmental-damage
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28Australian_scientists%27_warnings_about_environmental_damage%29

content:
<p>

Hundreds of Australian scientists say that the government and
businesses are gagging them when they try to warn about coming damage
to the environment, and altering their writing, effectively <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/09/australian-scientists-say-logging-mining-and-climate-advice-is-being-suppressed">putting
lies in their mouths</a>.


feed_id: 0da8ae286bb07b6a6a974c7035c0a9f7
title: The Rochester thug department chief
uri: The-Rochester-thug-department-chief
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28The_Rochester_thug_department_chief%29

content:
<p>

The Rochester thug department chief and his deputy <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/08/daniel-prude-death-rochester-police-chief-deputy-retire">have resigned</a>.
<p>
That's progress, but their replacements must act, with the city's firm
support, to curb the violence and lies of <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a>.  This would be a good
time to shift jobs other than confronting real criminals to other
departments.


feed_id: 25b38e657eb8bad2209bc8ef86bfef45
title: High cost of air pollution to society
uri: High-cost-of-air-pollution-to-society
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28High_cost_of_air_pollution_to_society%29

content:
<p>

Air pollution has a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/09/air-pollution-causes-3m-lost-working-days-per-year-in-uk-says-cbi">high cost to society</a>.
<p>
It would make sense, in a democratic society, to take big steps
to reduce pollution.


feed_id: 635e95c5a842374d9a347190d5a46f0a
title: California's megafires
uri: California-s-megafires
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28California%27s_megafires%29
content:
<p>

California's megafires have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/08/california-wildfires-torch-2m-acres-blazes-force-evacuations">burned over 3100 square miles</a>, which
is more than 2% of California's land area. And the fire season still has months to run.
<p>
20 years from now, the average year will be like this year.  A bad
year will be far worse.


feed_id: 278027321e66075d43b989253d901960
title: Evidence to prosecute Purdue Pharma
uri: Evidence-to-prosecute-Purdue-Pharma
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28Evidence_to_prosecute_Purdue_Pharma%29

content:
<p>

In 2006, the US government had evidence to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/08/us-justice-department-opioid-crisis-purdue">prosecute Purdue Pharma</a>,
but it did not.  We don't know why not.


feed_id: c758cd5bac94f7a2ee4c6b73a77c89ad
title: Charges of journalism
uri: Charges-of-journalism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28Charges_of_journalism%29
content:
<p>

Two Australian journalists in China were barred from leaving until
they answered questions about a third Australian journalist who is in
some sort of jail and being <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/08/cheng-lei-china-says-australian-news-anchor-was-arrested-on-national-security-grounds">investigated for charges of journalism</a>.
<p>
Governments that are highly repressive and secretive tend to be quick to
equate asking nosy questions with spying.  Of course, asking nosy questions
is the job of a good journalist,
<p>
The US government has been becoming more repressive and secretive in
recent decades, and we see the effects of that in the prosecution
of Julian Assange.


feed_id: 49d6411baa0825798f374d069c47474c
title: No running from exile
uri: No-running-from-exile
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28No_running_from_exile%29
content:
<p>
Bolivia's pseudo-coup-installed government found an excuse to stop Evo
Morales from running for the senate: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200909124223/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/07/world/americas/bolivia-court-morales-senate.html">they have driven him into exile</a>.


feed_id: b96644c71c7f01dcf19baa177989582e
title: Arresting all opposition leaders
uri: Arresting-all-opposition-leaders
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28Arresting_all_opposition_leaders%29

content:
<p>
Lukashenko is arresting <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/09/belarus-opposition-figure-maxim-znak-taken-from-office-by-masked-men">all the opposition leaders he can get his hands on</a>.


feed_id: 26f7abc591cca6d4c93ae0bf942adc80
title: Berlusconi and Covid-19
uri: Berlusconi-and-Covid-19
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28Berlusconi_and_Covid-19%29
content:
<p>
Berlusconi <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/09/silvio-berlusconi-fighting-hellish-case-coronavirus-italy">has a severe case of Covid-19</a>.

<p>
I hope the right-wingers in Italy that despise wearing masks
learn something from this.


feed_id: bafebf6fdf220b3e8c6d93c00966e67c
title: Selling more pollution
uri: Selling-more-pollution
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28Selling_more_pollution%29
content:
<p>
Companies are selling car owners devices to modify their cars
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/09/auto-car-emissions-defeat-devices-delete-kits">to be more powerful and emit more pollution</a>.


feed_id: b181940fe119da949fa49f9b48569dea
title: California fires
uri: 2020-09-10-California-fires
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28California_fires%29
content:
<p>
*Thousands displaced by the [big 2018 California] fire have not returned to the
   communities devastated by it. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/09/trauma-fear-homelessness-paradise-camp-fire-migrants-climate-change">It’s a scenario that will repeat as fire
   risk intensifies</a>.*

<p>
If I lived in California with a forest nearby, I'd be looking to move away.
I wouldn't wait for a fire to burn my house.


feed_id: 82fdfad7bd608b6eb47f8761a2326905
title: Climate crisis displacement
uri: Climate-crisis-displacement
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28Climate_crisis_displacement%29
content:
<p>
*Climate crisis <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/09/climate-crisis-could-displace-12bn-people-by-2050-report-warns">could displace 1.2bn people by 2050, report warns</a>.*


feed_id: 5df63128829c660311bcafd22852f371
title: Fires in high-rise apartment buildings
uri: Fires-in-high-rise-apartment-buildings
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28Fires_in_high-rise_apartment_buildings%29

content:
<p>
A UK government inquiry recommended measures to protect against future
fires in high-rise apartment buildings.  <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/09/grenfell-tory-mps-inquiry-betray-recommendations">The Tories have refused to
adopt them</a>.


feed_id: cbab769c9c635423c84b046fd2fded47
title: Commitment to green electricity
uri: Commitment-to-green-electricity
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28Commitment_to_green_electricity%29

content:
<p>
Australia's opposition leader <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/09/australia-can-be-a-renewable-energy-superpower-anthony-albanese-declares">has made a commitment to exporting green
electricity instead of fossil fuels</a>.


feed_id: 927be3cd2a63455ec36c97c6b03d0ef2
title: Confession of killing Rohingya
uri: Confession-of-killing-Rohingya
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28Confession_of_killing_Rohingya%29

content:
<p>
Two soldiers from the Burmese army recorded confessions <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/08/myanmar-soldiers-tell-of-rohingya-killings-rapes-and-mass-burials">of carrying
out mass killings of Rohingya, under orders</a>.


feed_id: 803c6fe9b2e31be921cfb9aa220b3f8f
title: Justice Department taking up liability for damages
uri: Justice-Department-taking-up-liability-for-damages
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28Justice_Department_taking_up_liability_for_damages%29

content:
<p>
The wrecker has told the "Justice Department" to make the US take up
the liability for damages, as well as defense costs <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/08/trump-defamation-justice-department-e-jean-carroll-rape-accusation">in E Jean
Carroll's lawsuit accusing him of raping her</a>.


feed_id: bc7df555cd8057928e72d86e1477b4f8
title: Hate and love of testing
uri: Hate-and-love-of-testing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28Hate_and_love_of_testing%29
content:
<p>
*Why Does [the wrecker] <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/08/why-does-trump-hate-covid-testing-love-standardized-testing">Hate COVID Testing But Love Standardized
Testing [of students]</a>?*

<p>
I think it is a rational decision.  He desires the election chaos that
spreading Covid-19 could bring.  Cancelling standardized tests won't
create chaos at all, let alone chaos that he can profit from.


feed_id: 7236ac82c62e93e9904d981f92ddf3f5
title: Pledge for vaccine
uri: Pledge-for-vaccine
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28Pledge_for_vaccine%29
content:
<p>
Some pharma companies have pledged not to ask for approval of a vaccine
without success in a phase 3 blind trial, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/08/what-it-has-come-amid-fears-politicization-fda-big-pharma-pledge-stand-science-met">even though the wrecker
wants them to</a>.


feed_id: b49a79e02715ed76009ce82be0f14343
title: Fourth World country
uri: Fourth-World-country
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28Fourth_World_country%29
content:
<p>
The US has sunk <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/08/fourth-world-or-american-carnage-pandemic-president">from the First World to become the first Fourth World
country</a>.


feed_id: a4c6ec035cf82b2b1847be2c52b55bc5
title: Waiting to build school correctly
uri: Waiting-to-build-school-correctly
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28Waiting_to_build_school_correctly%29

content:
<p>
(<a href="https://www.theonion.com/local-villagers-just-waiting-around-for-american-volunt-1844942213">satire</a>) *&hellip; inhabitants of a rural Kenyan village
   confirmed Tuesday that they were waiting for a group of eager but
   unskilled American volunteers to leave so they could rebuild their
   school correctly.*


feed_id: 6afcda328e96c840551847b91ee0d31a
title: Investigation Into DeJoy
uri: Investigation-Into-DeJoy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#10_September_2020_%28Investigation_Into_DeJoy%29
content:
<p>
*Citing 'Criminal Exposure' in Straw-Donor Scheme and Possible Perjury, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/08/citing-criminal-exposure-straw-donor-scheme-and-possible-perjury-house-announces">House
Announces Investigation Into DeJoy</a>.*


feed_id: 278a8dd1291063f8a43286ac5920bab1
title: Cops in school in the UK
uri: 2020-09-10-Cops-in-school-in-the-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#7_September_2020_%28Cops_in_school_in_the_UK%29
content:
<p>

Having cops in a school <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/05/police-schools-manchester">harms students</a> in the UK,
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2013-nov-feb.html#11_January_2014_('Groundbreaking'_Guidelines_to_Stop_'School-to-Prison_Pipeline')">just as it does in the US</a>.


feed_id: d360cc438f196c2b5139d35ec7e71def
title: Urgent: Violation of Hatch Act
uri: Urgent-Violation-of-Hatch-Act
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#11_September_2020_%28Urgent%3A_Violation_of_Hatch_Act%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.demandprogress.org/sign/trump-political-rules/?t=1001&akid=27071%2E96703%2EmIZpnH">call on Congress</a> to investigate officials' violation of
the Hatch Act.


feed_id: 0b42fc2894cb73cf5e2f30b116a680c8
title: Government debt and Covid
uri: Government-debt-and-Covid
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#11_September_2020_%28Government_debt_and_Covid%29
content:
<p>
*New Zealand [and other countries too] <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/10/new-zealand-must-cast-off-its-worries-about-government-debt-in-its-covid-recovery">must cast off its worries about
government debt in its Covid recovery</a>.*

<p>
Modern monetary theory teaches that a country can increase its money
supply and spend the newly created money without causing harm,
provided the economy can absorb the additional currency.  I think that
means, in effect, provided it won't overload the productive capacity
in the long term.  New Zealand and other countries with their own
currencies have this solution available too,

<p>
Poor Euro zone!  Those countries will be crushed by the disaster of
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2015-jan-apr.html#15_March_2015_(Euro-zone)">the vicious cycle of budget cuts that cause more budget cuts, required
by Euro-zone rules</a>.


feed_id: 71bba055324dfe5a9c128d071e56fabb
title: National emergency
uri: National-emergency
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#11_September_2020_%28National_emergency%29
content:
<p>
The president of the UK Police Superintendents’ Association <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/sep/08/police-losing-legitimacy-among-people-of-colour-top-officers-say">described the
injustice of policing towards nonwhites as a national emergency</a>.

<p>
The US has a long way to go before something comparable could occur.


feed_id: 2493ee31f937129e05d86f0efabeb347
title: Credit score
uri: Credit-score
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#11_September_2020_%28Credit_score%29
content:
<p>
(<a href="https://www.theonion.com/equifax-assures-woman-that-drop-in-credit-score-unrelat-1844985391">satire</a>) *Equifax assured her that a recent drop in her credit score
   was unrelated to anything. “While your credit score is
   significantly lower now, we just want to you to keep in mind that
   you had absolutely no control over it.”*


feed_id: 3a51c23321d9e0c38a09fb7be9166707
title: Booby traps against protesters
uri: Booby-traps-against-protesters
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#11_September_2020_%28Booby_traps_against_protesters%29

content:
<p>
B'tselem: Israeli soldiers planted explosive booby traps at places
where the children of the Palestinian town of Kufr Qaddum often play,
<a href="https://www.972mag.com/kufr-qaddum-protests-dehumanization/">and where people gather for their weekly nonviolent protests</a>.

<p>
This is perhaps the most shocking form of Israeli violence against
protesters, but soldiers have attacked protesters many times 
occasionally kill them.


feed_id: 26c7deccca40791babfca75b8dad2e70
title: Malnutrition
uri: Malnutrition
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#11_September_2020_%28Malnutrition%29
content:
<p>
*<a href="https://electronicintifada.net/content/malnutrition-stalks-gaza/31086">Malnutrition stalks Gaza</a>.*


feed_id: 41c839d75fdc433be63216a70c3b81f6
title: Soldier killing civilians
uri: Soldier-killing-civilians
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#11_September_2020_%28Soldier_killing_civilians%29
content:
<p>
An Israeli soldier shot two Palestinians, a few minutes apart, for no
reason.  The second one died, and &mdash; amazingly &mdash; the soldier was
actually prosecuted <a href="https://www.ynetnews.com/article/B1aXwLBQv">and sentenced to three months in jail</a>.
  Plus three months of community service.

<p>
Israel's failure to prosecute most Israelis that kill Palestinians
means that <a href="https://al-shabaka.org/summaries/is-israels-reluctance-to-prosecute-suspected-criminals-an-opportunity/">the International Criminal Court has an opportunity to do so</a>.


feed_id: 8856685d6131eeaa518e75cb453debc0
title: National medical system
uri: National-medical-system
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#11_September_2020_%28National_medical_system%29
content:
<p>
It would be awfully ironic if the wrecker won the election for real
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/08/trump-biden-and-possible-october-single-payer-surprise">by saying he would implement a national medical system</a>.

<p>
It would be even more ironic when, after election day, he turned
against the idea again.  That is just like him.


feed_id: 9ddf16bd7becbaf791b205b1fbeb4ea4
title: METI
uri: METI
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#11_September_2020_%28METI%29
content:
<p>
(<a href="https://www.theonion.com/aliens-pointedly-ignoring-meti-transmissions-thought-sc-1844986858">satire</a>) *hellip;aliens pointedly avoiding METI
   transmissions confirmed Wednesday that they really thought Earth’s
   scientists would’ve taken the hint by now.*


feed_id: 792897d862fdd475ca574b8e0176b9fb
title: Interns
uri: Interns
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#11_September_2020_%28Interns%29
content:
<p>
(<a href="https://www.theonion.com/god-selects-fall-interns-1844985784">satire</a>) *&hellip;the Lord God Almighty confirmed Wednesday that He had
selected a new class of interns for the fall.*


feed_id: a58e8ad8bd0010ed1c3e2d6c1b319c5f
title: Federal Reserve and recession
uri: Federal-Reserve-and-recession
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#11_September_2020_%28Federal_Reserve_and_recession%29

content:
<p>
The Federal Reserve <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/09/no-federal-reserve-cannot-make-senate-gops-inaction">is the wrong tool to help America out of a recession</a>.


feed_id: 65637bef3e42df4db56c9cdbc2606e16
title: Interrogation of journalists
uri: Interrogation-of-journalists
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#11_September_2020_%28Interrogation_of_journalists%29

content:
<p>
China accuses Australia <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/09/china-accuses-australia-of-raiding-chinese-journalists-homes-in-serious-political-incident">of interrogating Chinese journalists and
telling them to hush it up</a>.

<p>
China is hardly hesitant to lie or distort, but this could be true.
Australia does things like that, <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#19_August_2020_(Australian_officials_illegally_bugged_East_Timor's_negotiating_team)">such as the secret prosecution
of a whistleblower</a>
  and <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_July_2020_(Secret_menace_to_software_developers)">the law that threatens every free software developer in the world</a>.


feed_id: d3cac47de9ca8a1b26ae8648ed8dde74
title: Confession of abusers of minors
uri: Confession-of-abusers-of-minors
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#11_September_2020_%28Confession_of_abusers_of_minors%29

content:
<p>
Queensland, Australia, has passed a law requiring Catholic priests <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/09/new-laws-in-queensland-mean-priests-no-longer-protected-by-seal-of-confession">to
testify about what they learn in confessions about sexual abuse of
minors by priests</a>.

<p>
The aim is laudable, but I doubt this law will actually produce much
evidence.

<p>
This reminds me of <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jan-apr.html#28_April_2016_(Boston_College_will_hand_tapes)">the US court ruling that seized the recordings made
by an American project that had interviewed former IRA terrorists and
promised to keep the recordings secret for a long time</a>.  Until after
their death, I think.
  Without that promise, they would not have made recordings.

<p>
The effect of this ruling was to set aside the premise and obtain the
evidence from that one set of terrorists, but also to bar any similar
future projects about other violent disputes.  Instead of learning
what happened, at some future time, we won't learn it ever.  In the
long term, I think we are worse off.


feed_id: eaeb6b939399167410098848dddc8511
title: Forbidding foreign reporters
uri: Forbidding-foreign-reporters
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#11_September_2020_%28Forbidding_foreign_reporters%29

content:
<p>
It appears Chairman Xi has decided <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/09/how-chinas-strained-relationship-with-foreign-media-unravelled">to cease allowing foreign reporters
in China</a>.
  Concealing dirty secrets that the reporters might get wind of is
more important than the benefit of cooperating with foreign press.

<p>
It might be interesting to set up a treaty imposing tariffs on the exports
the countries that repress the foreign press.


feed_id: 1de456ec9371ffb78b656c1c8a98393b
title: More unequal than Victorian times
uri: More-unequal-than-Victorian-times
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#11_September_2020_%28More_unequal_than_Victorian_times%29

content:
<p>
*Covid risks making [UK] society <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/09/covid-risks-making-society-more-unequal-than-since-early-victorian-times">more unequal than since early
Victorian times</a>.*

<p>
Tory cuts to the NHS and other programs that give poor people
a decent life began the process.


feed_id: 2b2f0eac49a6b70d830d351343571113
title: Boris Johnson's 'oven-ready' Brexit
uri: Boris-Johnson-s-oven-ready-Brexit
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Boris_Johnson%27s_%27oven-ready%27_Brexit%29

content:
<p>

*Boris Johnson's 'oven-ready' Brexit had a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/10/boris-johnson-oven-ready-brexit-cummings-withdrawal-agreement">secret footnote</a>: we'll rehash it
later.*
<p>
It is clear now that Bogus Johnson was lying to everyone all along about
his plans for taking the UK out of the EU.
<p>
Now that the Irish Republic has thrown off the legal dominion of
Catholic sexual repression, there is no reason for Northern Ireland
not to join the Irish Republic.  That would eliminate the insoluble
problems that Northern Ireland causes for UK-EU trade relations.


feed_id: 2cf7d5978e1ca767fd118c1c502093dd
title: Maria Kolesnikova (Belarus opposition leader)
uri: Maria-Kolesnikova-(Belarus-opposition-leader)
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Maria_Kolesnikova_%28Belarus_opposition_leader%29%29

content:
<p>

*Maria Kolesnikova (Belarus opposition leader) says she was told she
would be leaving country <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/10/maria-kolesnikova-belarus-opposition-figure-says-authorities-threatened-to-kill-her">‘alive or in bits’</a>.*
<p>
However, they were not in fact ready to go so far; she defied them and
they did not kill her.


feed_id: 54755ee796f8024ff2dd2a7201c2d3b6
title: Global heating disaster in California
uri: Global-heating-disaster-in-California
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Global_heating_disaster_in_California%29

content:
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/10/us-west-fire-season-california-oregon-climate-action">Global heating disaster</a> has turned life in California into fear and sickness.
No one can escape the harm.


feed_id: 289a70f9d78b583180209c3f91ca2880
title: Exiting the EU with no agreement
uri: Exiting-the-EU-with-no-agreement
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Exiting_the_EU_with_no_agreement%29

content:
<p>

Bogus Johnson has made it clear he wants the UK to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/sep/10/fears-grow-that-uk-is-preparing-to-quit-brexit-talks">exit the EU with no
agreement</a>.
<p>
This explains why there has been very little progress towards a deal:
he was only pretending to seek a deal.  This was an enormous lie to
Britons, from a man with a history of lying.


feed_id: 23d31362239dcb2c881e79ffdab723a9
title: Greenhouse gas emissions back to level before Covid-19
uri: Greenhouse-gas-emissions-back-to-level-before-Covid-19
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Greenhouse_gas_emissions_back_to_level_before_Covid-19%29

content:
<p>

Greenhouse gas emissions have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/11/impact-of-covid-slowdown-on-co2-in-the-atmosphere-not-even-a-blip-australian-scientist-says">returned to the level</a> before Covid-19.


feed_id: 9418a4ce90be98c1fea6e973cd391afc
title: Thousands left homeless by refugee camp fire
uri: Thousands-left-homeless-by-refugee-camp-fire
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Thousands_left_homeless_by_refugee_camp_fire%29

content:
<p>

*'Catastrophe' warning as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/sep/09/catastrophe-warning-as-thousands-left-homeless-by-lesbos-refugee-camp-fire">thousands left homeless</a> by Lesbos refugee camp fire.*


feed_id: 3a18d079f425192efc5fc48b5879d530
title: Former capital of Senegal is being lost rapidly
uri: Former-capital-of-Senegal-is-being-lost-rapidly
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Former_capital_of_Senegal_is_being_lost_rapidly%29

content:
<p>

Saint Louis, former capital of Senegal, is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/sep/09/the-city-being-swept-out-to-sea-nicky-quamina-woos-best-photograph-climate-crisis">being lost rapidly</a> to
rising sea levels.


feed_id: e8f07382cd47bfdc22ff41d9cc849b90
title: Tories wanted to fine people for sleeping in doorways
uri: Tories-wanted-to-fine-people-for-sleeping-in-doorways
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Tories_wanted_to_fine_people_for_sleeping_in_doorways%29

content:
<p>

Tories wanted to pass town laws to fine people for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/sep/09/dorset-council-rejects-tory-plan-to-fine-people-for-sleeping-in-doorways">sleeping in doorways</a>.
<p>
It is bad to have people sleeping in doorways that people will need to
go through.  But why would anyone do that?  Lack of any better
shelter, I'd expect.  The town should provide poor people with decent
places to sleep, places that will not be bad for others, or for them.
How about if they can also spend the day in their homes?
<p>
However, Tories are in favor of government handouts to make sure
somewhat wealthy people <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/09/racist-responses-to-marcus-rashfords-campaign-for-children-are-no-surprise">lose no luxuries</a> due to the economic crisis.


feed_id: 2f516913732bcd644a2e3fb83721ade2
title: The wrecker played down the coronavirus threat
uri: The-wrecker-played-down-the-coronavirus-threat
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28The_wrecker_played_down_the_coronavirus_threat%29

content:
<p>

*The wrecker knew the extent of the deadly coronavirus threat in
February but intentionally misled the public by deciding to "play it
down", <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/09/trump-bob-woodward-book-rage-coronavirus">according to interviews</a> recorded by Bob Woodward.*


feed_id: 31ab19e09bf002faebbfa78a1a864237
title: Warm ocean water eroding the Thwaites glacier in the Antarctic
uri: Warm-ocean-water-eroding-the-Thwaites-glacier-in-the-Antarctic
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Warm_ocean_water_eroding_the_Thwaites_glacier_in_the_Antarctic%29

content:
<p>

*British scientists have mapped cavities <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/09/cavities-threaten-glacier-great-britain-thwaites">half the size of the Grand
Canyon</a> that are allowing warm ocean water to erode the vast Thwaites
glacier in the Antarctic, accelerating the rise of sea levels across
the world.*
<p>
I think as-yet-undiscovered mechanisms will tend to encourage the
movement towards thermal equilibrium rather than retard it.
If you live in a low-lying city, and you are young, don't expect it
to remain.


feed_id: e00eb012640062c8780237957b64f172
title: Preventing Fauci from discussing Covid children risk
uri: Preventing-Fauci-from-discussing-Covid-children-risk
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Preventing_Fauci_from_discussing_Covid_children_risk%29

content:
<p>

*Trumpet preventing Fauci from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/09/fauci-coronavirus-children-dangers-trump-official">discussing Covid children risk</a>.*


feed_id: 61c1eb2c2b34ade9a49ba42ad5ef999a
title: Brian Murphy filed a whistleblower complaint denouncing DHS
uri: Brian-Murphy-filed-a-whistleblower-complaint-denouncing-DHS
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Brian_Murphy_filed_a_whistleblower_complaint_denouncing_DHS%29

content:
<p>

Brian Murphy accuses the trumpets running the DHS of ordering him to
fabricate intelligence, and suppress other intelligence, so as to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/09/trump-whistleblower-russia-election-threat">mislead the public</a>.  Eventually they demoted him for refusing, and he
has filed a whistleblower complaint denouncing them.
<p>
I believe he is sincere, because filing a complaint is a serious
matter.
<p>
I am curious what his job title was &mdash; the article does not say.
<p>
In general, I agree that China is a bigger threat to world freedom
than Russia.  Whether that means Xi threatens the US election more
than Putin, I have no idea.  But it is clear that rich Americans
threaten the US election more than any foreign country.  However,
those are all side issues for this.  What we see is that the corrupter
is corrupting US government agencies, and the trumpets who run them
are lying to congress.  They should go to prison for that.


feed_id: 6884e98e7550a6b40d19e9f3dde888c0
title: Transformational Action
uri: Transformational-Action
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Transformational_Action%29
content:
<p>

*With World Closing in on Paris Warming Limit, UN Report Makes Case for
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/09/world-closing-paris-warming-limit-un-report-makes-case-transformational-action">'Transformational Action' to Remake Global Economy</a>.*
<p>
The predicted climate disaster is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/11/the-future-has-arrived-these-explosive-fires-are-our-climate-change-wakeup-call">already starting</a>.  What should we do?
<p>
The article's title is a gross understatement.  The California
megafires are not our "wakeup call".  They are our "The meeting is
already starting and you're still in bed???" call.  If this were a
job, humanity would be fired.
<p>
I wonder why the understated term <a href="https://stallman.org/antiglossary.html#climatechange">"climate change"</a>
is becoming fashionable again.


feed_id: e40a22074b2895ec7294bb877b29d1c6
title: Toll highways in Florida
uri: Toll-highways-in-Florida
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Toll_highways_in_Florida%29
content:
<p>

Florida's Republican government proposes to build 300 miles
of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/11/florida-toll-roads-to-nowhere-coronavirus">unneeded toll highways</a> through vulnerable ecosystems so that
people can burn more fossil fuels.
<p>
The plan will succeed in providing income to construction companies,
filling the air with more CO2, and provide an excuse to leave poor
people without food, housing or medical care.
<p>
This is the epitome of Republican Party philosophy.


feed_id: 364bd1a3eb198d3770271adbeef48264
title: Uber and Lyft put a referendum on the ballot in California
uri: Uber-and-Lyft-put-a-referendum-on-the-ballot-in-California
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Uber_and_Lyft_put_a_referendum_on_the_ballot_in_California%29

content:
<p>

Uber and Lyft have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/11/why-uber-and-lyft-are-taking-a-page-out-of-big-tobaccos-playbook-in-labor-law-battle">put a referendum</a> on the ballot in California to
define their drivers a new legal status combining the worst aspects of
being an employee with the worst aspects of independent contracting.
<p>
The article also describes <a href="https://stallman.org/uber">other deceptive tricks</a> that they are using.
This is in addition to making customers identify themselves and run
nonfree software,


feed_id: 3bf7df42ce1117f2e90996701c9b4a34
title: Salvadorean army officer has been sentenced to life in prison
uri: Salvadorean-army-officer-has-been-sentenced-to-life-in-prison
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Salvadorean_army_officer_has_been_sentenced_to_life_in_prison%29

content:
<p>

A Salvadorean army officer has been sentenced to life in prison for
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/11/ex-salvadoran-colonel-inocente-orlando-montano-jailed-for-1989-of-spanish-jesuits">ordering the political murder</a> of five Spanish priests.


feed_id: aca80eefad07e93aac3613dda97faf79
title: Undocumented immigrants in the US census
uri: Undocumented-immigrants-in-the-US-census
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Undocumented_immigrants_in_the_US_census%29

content:
<p>

*Trump <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/10/trump-administration-undocumented-immigrants-census-ruling">can't exclude undocumented immigrants from census</a>, judges rule.*
<p>
But if his efforts have scared them into not answering, nothing can
undo that.


feed_id: 8e80ada221ebb8a8d04dc4a00918e3de
title: False reports of fires in Oregon being set by Antifacists
uri: False-reports-of-fires-in-Oregon-being-set-by-Antifacists
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28False_reports_of_fires_in_Oregon_being_set_by_Antifacists%29

content:
<p>

Right-wing bullshitters spread the bullshit that Oregon's forest fires
were set by Antifascist activists, so others are calling 9-1-1 with
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/09/10/oregon-police-beg-public-stop-calling-false-reports-blaming-antifa-wildfires/">false reports</a> about this.
<p>
A friend suggested to me that we should say "Antifascist" rather than
"Antifa", because the latter looks like a name that could refer to
anything and many people don't know it is short for "Antifascist".


feed_id: 7aba03d572f7056eca75d7c502796974
title: Heart problems in children that catch Covid-19
uri: Heart-problems-in-children-that-catch-Covid-19
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Heart_problems_in_children_that_catch_Covid-19%29

content:
<p>

A considerable number of children that catch Covid-19 <a href="https://news.uthscsa.edu/post-covid-syndrome-severely-damages-childrens-hearts-immense-inflammation-causing-cardiac-blood-vessel-dilation/">develop heart problems</a>
that may last life-long.
<p>
I cannot tell from the article what fraction of children that catch
Covid-19 go on to develop MIS-C.  I don't think their sample was
random.  But whatever the fraction is, this is a good reason to try to
keep children from catching it.


feed_id: 73a1f4f1bd8a4cf9e3625696eb0de0a9
title: Charged cost of COVID-19 antibody test
uri: Charged-cost-of-COVID-19-antibody-test
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Charged_cost_of_COVID-19_antibody_test%29

content:
<p>

*A Doctor Went to His Own Employer for a COVID-19 Antibody Test. It
Cost <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/a-doctor-went-to-his-own-employer-for-a-covid-19-antibody-test-it-cost-10-984">his insurance company</a> $10,984.*
<p>
The materials for the test cost 8 dollars.  The labor?  Surely not
more than $100.


feed_id: 7a353220027b3ea72f343598f24e80f4
title: Elimination of safety standards in meat processing plants
uri: Elimination-of-safety-standards-in-meat-processing-plants
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Elimination_of_safety_standards_in_meat_processing_plants%29

content:
<p>

In 1905, an exposé convinced the US public to demand better safety
standards in meat processing plants.  This plus unions give the workers
good pay and safe practices.  Now, after a 50-year lobbying campaign,
the companies have <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/09/something-rotten-big-meat-inc">eliminated both</a>.


feed_id: 82d0866aff473f27a144ce99050c4a09
title: Path to ending US interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan
uri: Path-to-ending-US-interventions-in-Iraq-and-Afghanistan
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Path_to_ending_US_interventions_in_Iraq_and_Afghanistan%29

content:
<p>

Transferring a few thousand troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan is easy
to do and would be easy to reverse; it is <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/09/reducing-troops-not-same-ending-wars-peace-activists-say-trump-drawdown-iraq-not">not a step on a path to ending
the US interventions there</a>.


feed_id: 69b46010fb8eb76e968142b18fb076a2
title: If you can't afford medical coverage, tough on you
uri: If-you-can-t-afford-medical-coverage-tough-on-you
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28If_you_can%27t_afford_medical_coverage%2C_tough_on_you%29

content:
<p>

A Republican senator's staffer told a constituent with cancer that
buying medical coverage is just like buying a shirt &mdash; if you can't
afford it, <a href="y">tough on you</a>.
<p>
That <em>is</em> the way the US medical system operates, and it shows why we
need a national medical system that won't charge people for medical
treatment.


feed_id: 9fc96a1e3d31bb80bc6882633bc162e3
title: Trump administration officials seeking to privatize public lands
uri: Trump-administration-officials-seeking-to-privatize-public-lands
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Trump_administration_officials_seeking_to_privatize_public_lands%29

content:
<p>

*Numerous high-ranking Trump administration officials in
the U.S. Department of the Interior are connected to right-wing
anti-environmental think tanks and legal groups funded by corporate
interests and wealthy individuals <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/09/09/public-citizen-report-trumps-land-privatization-was-decades-making-right-wing">seeking to privatize public lands</a>.*


feed_id: 0d2688d0d4d6b34a814862f1be1ac7be
title: Examination of living in harmony with nature
uri: Examination-of-living-in-harmony-with-nature
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Examination_of_living_in_harmony_with_nature%29

content:
<p>

*Warning of More Pandemics to Come, Public Health Experts Urge Collective
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/09/warning-more-pandemics-come-public-health-experts-urge-collective-examination-what">Examination of</a> What it Means to Live in 'Harmony with Nature'.*
<p>
Most terrorists would hesitate before releasing a disease that was
likely to kill their own side as well as the enemy.  But bats,
unknowingly spreading a virus that can affect humans, won't be held
back by any sort of conscious consideration.


feed_id: f07e1b9269507714c17bbfdf1d973ad3
title: The wrecker could destroy social security
uri: The-wrecker-could-destroy-social-security
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28The_wrecker_could_destroy_social_security%29

content:
<p>

The head of Social Security Works says that the wrecker really could
single-handedly <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/10/fact-checking-fact-checkers-trump-does-indeed-plan-destroy-social-security">destroy Social Security</a> if he is reelected.
<p>
Unless 2/3 of the House <em>and</em> the Senate pass a law to override or
compensate for his actions.


feed_id: 39e908be0f8f96d7bd66c7edc57c19d1
title: California prop 22
uri: California-prop-22
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28California_prop_22%29
content:
<p>

California voters: vote no on <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/11/why-uber-and-lyft-are-taking-a-page-out-of-big-tobaccos-playbook-in-labor-law-battle">prop 22</a>, the Uber exploitation exception.


feed_id: 0b1a263f8bce6f9467a2ea6e14e7b6b6
title: Social media posts that could be evidence
uri: Social-media-posts-that-could-be-evidence
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Social_media_posts_that_could_be_evidence%29

content:
<p>

Human Rights Watch: *Social media platforms are taking down online
content they consider terrorist, violently extremist, or hateful in a
way that prevents its potential use to <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/09/10/social-media-platforms-remove-war-crimes-evidence">investigate serious crimes</a>,
including war crimes.*


feed_id: b0d90c28ce57c2ce9ccef5f5bc1ed6ef
title: THRIVE resolution states
uri: THRIVE-resolution-states
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28THRIVE_resolution_states%29
content:
<p>

The THRIVE resolution states support for something <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/10/lawmakers-progressive-coalition-unveil-framework-create-thriving-fair-and-green">similar to the
Green New Deal</a>.
<p>
Can anyone show me how it compares with previous forms of the Green New Deal?
In particular, it could be only a part of the Green New Deal proposal.
However, it could also be bigger.


feed_id: f50fdb5d8e362dd9e7c5db7d5a56f64c
title: Insurance companies are exploiting loopholes to charge for Covid-19 tests
uri: Insurance-companies-are-exploiting-loopholes-to-charge-for-Covid-19-te
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Insurance_companies_are_exploiting_loopholes_to_charge_for_Covid-19_tests%29

content:
<p>

Greedy US medical insurance companies are exploiting loopholes, even
maybe-loopholes, to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/10/one-many-reasons-why-single-payer-matters-profit-insurers-hitting-people-illegal">charge for Covid-19 tests</a>.
<p>
*'Falling through the cracks'
isn't the exception in the US &mdash; it's a fundamental feature of the
system.*


feed_id: b4d9e0d62da8edf31efdde6d1481c5d0
title: The most dangerous phase of the US Covid-19 crisis
uri: The-most-dangerous-phase-of-the-US-Covid-19-crisis
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28The_most_dangerous_phase_of_the_US_Covid-19_crisis%29

content:
<p>

*The most dangerous phase of the US Covid-19 crisis may be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/sep/10/us-covid-19-crisis-health-economy">yet to come</a>.*
<p>
It should be pointed out that the "bipartisanship" of the "CARES" Act
gave some help to poor and unemployed Americans, but a lot more help
to big companies that ought to pay more tax.  That was saving poor
people for the short term and screwing them for the long term.


feed_id: 1491e587a7286923edf81ba315cc515b
title: Sentencing in Massachusetts is subject to systemic racism
uri: Sentencing-in-Massachusetts-is-subject-to-systemic-racism
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Sentencing_in_Massachusetts_is_subject_to_systemic_racism%29

content:
<p>

The Chief Justice of Massachusetts ordered a study of patterns of
sentencing, and it found clear evidence of racial bias.  Since the
study controlled for other pertinent variables, there is no doubt
about the conclusion: sentencing in Massachusetts is <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/09/09/metro/harvard-law-study-finds-stark-racial-disparities-criminal-court-sentencing-massachusetts/">subject to
systemic racism</a>.
<p>
That the study was ordered by the state's highest judge gives me hope
it will lead to considered action to reduce the injustice.
<p>
The article uses bigoted language ("white" and "Black"), and
ordinarily I decline to publicize such articles.  But the substance of
this article is so important that I decided to link to it anyway.
Please join me in pushing against intentional bigotry in journalism.


feed_id: 91d81874a889a9ee40a2f0d8be6b5b7f
title: The USPS governing board is satisfied with DeJoy
uri: The-USPS-governing-board-is-satisfied-with-DeJoy
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28The_USPS_governing_board_is_satisfied_with_DeJoy%29

content:
<p>

The USPS governing board is <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/10/dereliction-duty-outrage-usps-board-issues-gushing-praise-dejoy-amid-mail-slowdowns">100% satisfied with DeJoy</a>, both his
sabotage of the USPS and the fund-raising crimes he committed before
in support of Republicans.
<p>
What they are saying is that they are loyal members of the bullshit
party.


feed_id: bd9ddffb7f4935acca4c2fa242873b0c
title: South Australia ban on single-use plastic
uri: South-Australia-ban-on-single-use-plastic
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28South_Australia_ban_on_single-use_plastic%29

content:
<p>

South Australia will <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/11/south-australias-ban-on-single-use-plastic-cutlery-and-straws-hailed-as-historic">ban many kinds of single-use plastic</a> items.
<p>
This is good, but it is crucial to take action on <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jul-oct.html#24_October_2016_(Fishing_nets)">fishing nets discarded</a>
at sea.
One idea would be to charge a large deposit for them when selling them.
Large enough that no fishing boat operator would dream of failing to turn
in a ruined net.


feed_id: 302aa1f9cde0b93ece60934a939d7821
title: Tories plan to lick Covid-19
uri: Tories-plan-to-lick-Covid-19
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Tories_plan_to_lick_Covid-19%29

content:
<p>

The Tories plan to lick Covid-19 by applying <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/09/boris-johnson-pinning-hopes-on-covid-testing-moonshot-leaked-papers-show">hypothetical testing technology</a>
which they will try to develop.
<p>
Meanwhile, the Tory minister in charge tells asymptomatic people they
cannot have a test.  Doesn't he know that asymptomatic people can
transmit Covid-19?
<p>
A few years ago the Tories said, as they eliminated incentives to
install home solar power, that they would lick <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#global heating">global heating</a> with
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2015-mar-jun.html#10_April_2015_(Carbon_Capture_Dreams)">hypothetical carbon capture technology</a>.

That technology still has not been developed, and people rarely talk
about it any more.
<p>
I think carbon capture and storage was a distraction technique &mdash; and
it seems to have been successful, since we still are not taking
adequate measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions.


feed_id: 631ea082053ded0a95ed39e08917b747
title: Australia's untapped gas reserves
uri: Australia-s-untapped-gas-reserves
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Australia%27s_untapped_gas_reserves%29

content:
<p>

*Australia's untapped gas reserves could <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/10/australias-untapped-gas-reserves-could-unleash-three-years-worth-of-global-emissions">unleash three year's worth</a> of global
emissions.*
<p>
There is no room in the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/10/australias-untapped-gas-reserves-could-unleash-three-years-worth-of-global-emissions">carbon budget</a> for any additional fossil fuel facilities.


feed_id: 6f41067c943858fd90b5e911118f26fa
title: Populations of vertebrates have dropped since 1970
uri: Populations-of-vertebrates-have-dropped-since-1970
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Populations_of_vertebrates_have_dropped_since_1970%29

content:
<p>

Globally, populations of vertebrates have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/10/humans-exploiting-and-destroying-nature-on-unprecedented-scale-report-aoe">dropped 2/3</a> since 1970.
<p>
Populations of insects <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2018-sep-dec.html#23_November_2018_(Heatwaves_and_insect_fertility)">have also dropped</a> drastically, but they are not covered by this study.
<p>
What it adds up to is that we are ruining nature.


feed_id: 4a28aa0ef6618db7c8c0d6f4f005f272
title: The FBI strains to entrap lonely men
uri: The-FBI-strains-to-entrap-lonely-men
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28The_FBI_strains_to_entrap_lonely_men%29

content:
<p>

The FBI strains to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/26/magazine/sex-offender-operation-net-nanny.html">entrap lonely men</a> into planning to meet imaginary
women who have given contradictory ideas about their age.
<p>
A few years ago it was <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2015-mar-jun.html#24_April_2015_(FBI_entrapment)">targeting "terrorists"</a> who had to be persuaded
to agree to participate in a fictitious plan of violence they could
never have arranged on their own.

<p>
What these two schemes have in common is that they are opportunities
to pretend to protect people from dangers that are entirely imaginary.


feed_id: 686bee4037256e502bb852f75a62bbb0
title: Sentencing in Massachusetts is subject to systemic racism
uri: 2020-09-14-Sentencing-in-Massachusetts-is-subject-to-systemic-racism
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#12_September_2020_%28Sentencing_in_Massachusetts_is_subject_to_systemic_racism%29

content:
<p>

The Chief Justice of Massachusetts ordered a study of patterns of
sentencing, and it found clear evidence of racial bias.  Since the
study controlled for other pertinent variables, there is no doubt
about the conclusion: sentencing in Massachusetts is <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/09/09/metro/harvard-law-study-finds-stark-racial-disparities-criminal-court-sentencing-massachusetts/">subject to
systemic racism</a>.
<p>
That the study was ordered by the state's highest judge gives me hope
it will lead to considered action to reduce the injustice.
<p>
The article uses bigoted language ("white" and "Black"), and
ordinarily I decline to publicize such articles.  But the substance of
this article is so important that I decided to link to it anyway.
Please join me in pushing against intentional bigotry in journalism.
If you read stallman.org, I trust you already support the campaign
to eradicate racism against blacks.


feed_id: 21e1a0e3501fdbc7190e1641ce39e2ae
title: Suing to make USPS reverse policy changes
uri: Suing-to-make-USPS-reverse-policy-changes
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#14_September_2020_%28Suing_to_make_USPS_reverse_policy_changes%29

content:
<p>
14 states have sued <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/11/integrity-election-stake-14-states-demand-injunction-stop-dejoys-sabotage-us-postal">to make the USPS reverse DeJoy's mail-delaying
policy changes</a>.

<p>
*Colorado &hellip; filed a federal
lawsuit against DeJoy <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/12/condemning-attempt-voter-suppression-colorado-sues-dejoy-over-misleading-postal">for sending out mailers containing
information that could mislead and disenfranchise voters</a>.*

<p>
Republicans have spread disinformation about voting for many years,
but in the past they usually were limited to doing so in private
capacity.


feed_id: e9f11ab3001096be8c7f6e95a12ef0e6
title: CDC's weekly report
uri: CDC-s-weekly-report
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#14_September_2020_%28CDC%27s_weekly_report%29
content:
<p>
The wrecker's stooges have been editing their own spin into the CDC's
weekly report <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/12/us/politics/trump-coronavirus-politics-cdc.html">on the status of public health and diseases</a>.


feed_id: b27e287dbd840e7822c17e02d593da6d
title: Climate Emergency Overdrive
uri: Climate-Emergency-Overdrive
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#14_September_2020_%28Climate_Emergency_Overdrive%29
content:
<p>
*Climate Emergency Overdrive: <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/12/climate-emergency-overdrive-our-age-compound-disasters-10-oregon-evacuated">Our Age of Compound Disasters</a>.*

<p>
And this is just the beginning of it.  To imagine life in 20 years,
imagine that the worst we have seen happens in normal years,
and the worst years are far, far worse disasters.

<p>
Most Democrats are not advocating the sort of measures <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/11/climate-emergency-we-need-more-half-measures-democrats">that could stop
the problem from getting even worse than that</a>.


feed_id: f6634e06e62d86f4f2ee30b793783e0f
title: Reclaim populism
uri: Reclaim-populism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#14_September_2020_%28Reclaim_populism%29
content:
<p>
*We need to reclaim populism from the right. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/12/we-need-to-reclaim-populism-from-the-right-it-has-a-long-proud-leftwing-history">It has a long, proud leftwing
history</a>.*


feed_id: 63e539fff23983775275d61c10bd8c8c
title: Fires in Oregon
uri: Fires-in-Oregon
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#14_September_2020_%28Fires_in_Oregon%29
content:
<p>
There are large fires in Oregon; people are evacuating from places
near Portland.  <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/11/oregon-fires-towns-emptied-molalla">1/10 of the state's population has evacuated</a>.

<p>
That region is famous for having lots of rain.  That the climate has
dried up enough for it to have forest fires is shocking.


feed_id: b04bb4b22b3740ee8d4b2cafe75f4dff
title: Thugs running amok
uri: Thugs-running-amok
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#14_September_2020_%28Thugs_running_amok%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">Thugs</a> in Bogotá have run amok.  First they killed Javier Ordóñez by
tasing him repeatedly while they were holding him down.  This inspired
protests in many cities, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/11/colombia-protests-police-brutality-dead">and the thugs attacked the protesters</a>.


feed_id: 70d4f9fdae9abf95285350c8e86fd79e
title: Ex-cons votes
uri: Ex-cons-votes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#14_September_2020_%28Ex-cons_votes%29
content:
<p>
Republican judges in the 11th circuit federal appeals court approved Florida
Republicans' scheme <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/11/florida-felons-vote-debts-ruling-election">to block around 700,000 ex-cons from voting</a>.

<p>
The Supreme Court might reverse this, but if it does not, I urge those
people to to move to a state where their votes can do some good.


feed_id: b0d69ef56dd10c6ee1d180b986916a3f
title: Link to climate crisis
uri: Link-to-climate-crisis
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#14_September_2020_%28Link_to_climate_crisis%29
content:
<p>
*Most wildfire coverage on American TV news (85%) <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/11/american-tv-news-california-oregon-fires-climate-crisis">fails to mention
link to climate crisis</a>.*

<p>
But that's not as bad as it was in August.


feed_id: 8c02ac52293545c33399667bdd193533
title: Spy capture
uri: Spy-capture
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#14_September_2020_%28Spy_capture%29
content:
<p>
Maduro announced Venezuela's capture of a US marine with arms and
money, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/12/us-spy-captured-near-venezuelan-oil-refining-complex-claims-maduro">claimed to be spying on two oil refineries</a>.


feed_id: 9872e79d4f63adb4ae689f8d369fee3f
title: Ban of face recognition
uri: Ban-of-face-recognition
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#14_September_2020_%28Ban_of_face_recognition%29
content:
<p>
Portland, Oregon, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/10/every-city-council-should-follow-suit-portland-oregon-becomes-first-us-city-ban">has banned use of face recognition by businesses</a>.

<p>
I think this is the first such law in the US, and perhaps in the world.

<p>
Since the article quotes people as relating this to racial discrimination,
I wish to comment on that.

<p>
Racial discrimination is wrong, and tracking people is wrong, but it
is a mistake to relate the two issues too much.  If you think that
tracking people is wrong specifically because it enables
discrimination, that means you are missing the threat of tracking in
itself: that it is the base for repression.

<p>
To avert repression, we need to ban tracking regardless of whether it
is used for discrimination.


feed_id: 16ce9eaee0608dd0bf0063b5fec196e8
title: Releasing the vaccine
uri: Releasing-the-vaccine
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#14_September_2020_%28Releasing_the_vaccine%29
content:
<p>
(<a href="https://www.theonion.com/cdc-ordered-to-incinerate-screaming-boil-riddled-test-1844908262">satire</a>) *&hellip; the
   Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was reportedly ordered
   Thursday to incinerate hundreds of screaming, boil-riddled test
   subjects before widely releasing the vaccine.*


feed_id: dc68e27358a7f7161a02b001291527e4
title: Cartoons
uri: Cartoons
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#14_September_2020_%28Cartoons%29
content:
<p>
I'm looking for a volunteer cartoonist to draw a few cartoons per year.
Please send me email if you want to do this for me.


feed_id: 63e49da365b9337201096c66faa89809
title: Policy changes
uri: Policy-changes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#14_September_2020_%28Policy_changes%29
content:
<p>
The wrecker continues ordering policy changes to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/10/appalling-betrayal-new-report-details-dozens-trump-rollbacks-perpetrated-under-cover">undermine Americans' safety</a>:
  legal, economic and physical.


feed_id: f886416d890167a09c1e045e9c591b46
title: Fossil fuel companies being sued
uri: Fossil-fuel-companies-being-sued
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#14_September_2020_%28Fossil_fuel_companies_being_sued%29

content:
<p>
Delaware has sued 31 fossil fuel companies plus the American Petroleum
Institute for the predicted damage <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/10/faced-rising-seas-and-other-consequences-climate-crisis-low-lying-delaware-sues-31">that will result from the
greenhouse gas emissions they have already made</a>.

<p>
All the oil companies' money can't compensate for the damage that
their products are doing, but massive lawsuits against them can help
defeat them and take away their power continue.

<p>
*Another Four Years of Trump <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/09/another-four-years-trump-might-kill-remaining-hope-saving-planet-climate">Might Kill Off Remaining Hope Saving
Planet From Climate Destruction</a>.*

<p>
Sad to say, four years of Biden might have the same result.


feed_id: 2b29a84554c1d0da29db1e6e1b22869c
title: Influence of big money
uri: Influence-of-big-money
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#14_September_2020_%28Influence_of_big_money%29
content:
<p>
Connecticut's public campaign funding system (for state offices) has been
a big success.  <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/10/what-healthy-democracy-should-look-connecticut-small-dollar-campaign-program-model">It has reduced the influence of big money</a>.

<p>
Massachusetts adopted a similar system decades ago by initiative
petition, but the legislators repealed it.  We voted for the public
funding system again by initiative petition, and the legislators
repealed it again.  Why anyone voted to reelect any legislator who had
eliminated the system, I cannot comprehend, but people did.


feed_id: 49eac977f2be6e2afb0a3896a0265464
title: Australian Green Party supports Facebook and Google Pay if it extends journalism
uri: Australian-Green-Party-supports-Facebook-and-Google-Pay-if-it-extends
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Australian_Green_Party_supports_Facebook_and_Google_Pay_if_it_extends_journalism%29

content:
<p>

The Australian Green Party will support making Facebook and Google pay
to redistribute journalistic articles if the plan is extended to cover
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/sep/14/greens-may-back-forcing-facebook-and-google-to-pay-for-news-if-abc-is-included">more sources of journalism</a>.
<p>
I am very much in favor of this, as I expect that it will pry loose
those companies' influence over what news people access.
<p>
There are some sorts of works that I believe should be free.  But that
doesn't apply to news articles.  I think individuals such as you and
me should be free to redistribute exact copies, but I don't think that
companies such as Google and Facebook are entitled to that right.
Thus, I see nothing immoral about such a tax.  It is a pragmatic
question and nothing more.


feed_id: b7ed3b1e3062b3a21540cb8a6eb8ce04
title: Modi has chosen to play identity politics
uri: Modi-has-chosen-to-play-identity-politics
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Modi_has_chosen_to_play_identity_politics%29

content:
<p>

*Rather than rebuild the social fabric of his country during the
coronavirus-driven economic slump, Narendra Modi has chosen to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/13/the-guardian-view-on-indias-strongman-in-denial-about-a-covid-crisis">play
identity politics</a>.*
<p>
Modi is a hater-divider-scapegoater, in the same mold as the <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#bully">bully</a> in
the US and Bolsonaro in Brazil.


feed_id: 91683b6c368e40661db8cff40c8110c7
title: Rally against Lukashenko on eve of Putin showdown
uri: Rally-against-Lukashenko-on-eve-of-Putin-showdown
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Rally_against_Lukashenko_on_eve_of_Putin_showdown%29

content:
<p>

*Belarus: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/13/belarus-100000-join-rally-against-lukashenko-on-eve-of-putin-showdown">100,000 join rally</a> against Lukashenko on eve of Putin showdown.*


feed_id: 8d34694dad6c21b55da54ebd81c40de9
title: Portland's ban on business use of face recognition
uri: Portland-s-ban-on-business-use-of-face-recognition
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Portland%27s_ban_on_business_use_of_face_recognition%29

content:
<p>

Portland's <a href="media/174f52b6.704_Sep_9_2TC_TW_Ord_BPS_2__1_.pdf" data-original-source="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21868277/704_Sep_9_2TC_TW_Ord_BPS_2__1_.pdf">ban on business use of face recognition</a> covers business premises
which offer goods or services to the public.
<p>
I don't think this has any effect on Clearview AI, which is unfortunate since
that is face recognition's most dangerous face.


feed_id: 76284c0ce2ebf8f1f6dfc3215705c45c
title: Michael Forest Reinoehl shot by thugs without being called out to surrender
uri: Michael-Forest-Reinoehl-shot-by-thugs-without-being-called-out-to-surr
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Michael_Forest_Reinoehl_shot_by_thugs_without_being_called_out_to_surrender%29

content:
<p>

A neighbor saw thugs shoot and kill Michael Forest Reinoehl <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/further/2020/09/10/nothing-see-here-just-attorney-general-condoning-extra-judicial-killings-save-us">without
calling on him to surrender or identifying themselves as thugs</a>.
<p>
Those acts add up to murder.  We need an investigation to determined
what happened, though we must distrust the testimony of <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> as
usual.


feed_id: 50b3f05c27859f2c61e4262ef20d7b24
title: Households suffered serious economic hardship
uri: Households-suffered-serious-economic-hardship
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Households_suffered_serious_economic_hardship%29

content:
<p>

54% of Americans households with incomes under $100,000 have suffered
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/11/survey-shows-nearly-half-us-suffering-serious-economic-hardship-and-situation-going">serious economic hardship</a> since March.
<p>
Dr Fauci says life will not be back to normal until <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/11/fauci-warns-pre-pandemic-normalcy-not-likely-until-well-or-towards-end-2021">a year from now</a>,
even if a vaccine is ready early next year.
<p>
Only after many people receive the vaccine can we start to determine
how long its effect lasts.


feed_id: 4827fa3d7a9af92a940d39ecc973b48d
title: Australians want power to block destruction of ancient sites
uri: Australians-want-power-to-block-destruction-of-ancient-sites
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Australians_want_power_to_block_destruction_of_ancient_sites%29

content:
<p>

Indigenous Australians demand rules giving them the power to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/sep/12/indigenous-leaders-say-rio-tinto-dumping-executives-must-be-beginning-of-genuine-transformation">block
destruction</a> of ancient indigenous people's sites.
<p>
If their demands are granted, they will probably preserve most of
these ancient sites, and that is good.  But not necessarily all of
them.  The "traditional owners" of a site would have the power to
permit destroying it, and sometimes they would do so.
<p>
These archaeological sites are important records of human history, all
the more important because few other sites are so old.  The most
important thing to do with them is study them, and that should take
precedence over all other use.  <em>No one</em>, capitalist or indigenous,
should be allowed to destroy them.
<p>
If they indigenous groups agree to protect the sites and cooperate
with carefully planned scientific investigation, I would support
giving them full authority over all other aspects of use of these
sites.


feed_id: 03a1aec35041c6e91a22ac8aa9b91cd8
title: (satire) relief that businesses were forced to close before Covid-19
uri: (satire)-relief-that-businesses-were-forced-to-close-before-Covid-19
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28%28satire%29_relief_that_businesses_were_forced_to_close_before_Covid-19%29

content:
<p>

(satire) *&hellip; residents of a small town in western
Wisconsin expressed relief Friday that all of their beloved local
businesses had been forced to close down <a href="https://local.theonion.com/small-town-relieved-all-their-beloved-local-businesses-1845014579">long before Covid-19 struck</a>.*


feed_id: ed358f8e6c7f603c7d8effe89ee7d25c
title: Urgent: Stop supporting "police foundations"
uri: Urgent-Stop-supporting-police-foundations
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Urgent%3A_Stop_supporting_police_foundations%29

content:
<p>

Everyone: call on corporations to stop supporting <a href="https://policepiggybank.com/">"police foundations"</a>.


feed_id: c6490476e476452dca9908e3e96ee6ef
title: Urgent: call on Twitch to disallow US military recruiting
uri: Urgent-call-on-Twitch-to-disallow-US-military-recruiting
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Urgent%3A_call_on_Twitch_to_disallow_US_military_recruiting%29

content:
<p>

US citizens: call on Twitch to <a href="http://act.winwithoutwar.org/sign/twitch_military_recruiters/">disallow US military recruiting</a>.
<p>
Recruiting on Twitch is tantamount to aiming recruiting at children,
even if the military does not acknowledge that.


feed_id: 9807833bbe61e487696dd8273804e9ba
title: Denial of legal recourse to the prisoners in Guantanamo
uri: Denial-of-legal-recourse-to-the-prisoners-in-Guantanamo
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Denial_of_legal_recourse_to_the_prisoners_in_Guantanamo%29

content:
<p>

The Court of Appeals of the DC circuit continues doing its utmost
to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/11/court-just-slammed-guantanamo-gate-shut">deny all legal recourse</a> to the prisoners in Guantanamo.
<p>
The US owes each prisoner either a fair trial or release from prison.
If the US cannot do so, because by torturing them it eliminated the
possibility of a fair trial, the US should release them and then think
about avoiding such a foolish actions in the future.
<p>
Arguments about expediency cannot override those rights &mdash; but I think
they lead to the opposite conclusion.  Freeing the prisoners would end
a practice that motivates some people to hate the US.


feed_id: 2e84c9c9aa3a4ba7830684751c8fdb02
title: (satire) Peering through windows of wealthier classmates
uri: (satire)-Peering-through-windows-of-wealthier-classmates
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28%28satire%29_Pearing_through_windows_of_wealthier_classmates%29

content:
<p>

(satire) *&hellip; Public Schools encouraged students
without internet access Friday to attend remotely by <a href="https://local.theonion.com/students-without-internet-access-to-attend-remotely-by-1845002618">peering through
the home windows</a> of wealthier classmates.*
<p>
There is an extra level of irony here that the authors are not aware
of.  Zoom is proprietary malware, and it surveils the users.  You can
protect yourself by not actually running Zoom or being seen by it in a
camera.  I have suggested finding a classmate who will record the
video presentation, perhaps by pointing another camera at it, and send
you the recording as a file.   Looking through per window would also
do the job, thought it would be less convenient.


feed_id: 5ce68aaa5db12636af17b76fd756ab89
title: Use of paramilitary forces to suppress protest
uri: Use-of-paramilitary-forces-to-suppress-protest
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Use_of_paramilitary_forces_to_suppress_protest%29

content:
<p>

*"One can draw a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/11/direct-line-portland-authoritarian-crackdowns-around-world">direct line</a> between the [wrecker's] use of paramilitary
forces to suppress protest domestically, and the tendency of
security forces [sic] in foreign countries to violently suppress
their own citizenry &mdash; security forces that for years have been
backed, funded, trained, and armed by the United States
government."*
<p>
Meanwhile, the wrecker <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2020/09/watch-trump-threatens-to-put-down-very-quickly-democrats-who-take-to-the-streets-in-protest-if-he-wins-re-election/">threatens to crush</a> protesting Americans who
might disbelieve the claim, that he will surely make, to have won the
election.


feed_id: eeb3435976faccce98af02e0a04101e0
title: Don't send cops to someone having a mental crisis
uri: Don-t-send-cops-to-someone-having-a-mental-crisis
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Don%27t_send_cops_to_someone_having_a_mental_crisis%29

content:
<p>

If asked to send help because someone is having a mental crisis,
the last people you should send are cops.  When they don't understand,
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/11/police-encounters-during-mental-health-crises-dont-have-be-violent">their solution is "shoot"</a>.
<p>
Stress, including being confronted by armed <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a>, can make people
with mental disabilities lose their capacity to understand what others
are saying to them.  In <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thug</a>-think, that means "resisting arrest,
shoot!"


feed_id: 83c21f1a723277c28b1139f27435a0a5
title: Objection to criticizing racism
uri: Objection-to-criticizing-racism
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Objection_to_criticizing_racism%29

content:
<p>

People who condemned anti-racist gestures by pro sports players cited
various details as objectionable, but now those excuses have been
stripped away.  What those people object to is <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/11/nfl-players-offer-show-unity-booing-fans-shows-objections-protests-was-always-about">criticizing racism</a>.


feed_id: 6e95b5d310712b09af3b3bed55d27bcb
title: Profit-seeking from education
uri: Profit-seeking-from-education
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Profit-seeking_from_education%29

content:
<p>

*Our national and state policies [about Edtech] are <a href="https://dianeravitch.net/2020/09/08/laura-chapman-edtech-is-driven-by-the-profit-motive/">designed to subsidize</a>
profit-seeking from education.*


feed_id: 9fc59679903295d90e4b0b524c49195c
title: The Tragedy of the Singular ‘They’
uri: The-Tragedy-of-the-Singular-They
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28The_Tragedy_of_the_Singular_%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%98They%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%99%29

content:
<p>

*The <a href="https://secularhumanism.org/2020/03/the-tragedy-of-the-singular-they/">Tragedy of the Singular ‘They’</a>.*
<p>
The author is mistaken to despair.  No one can force him to use
singular "they", and no one can force me, or you either.
<p>
For my own views, and the solution I have adopted, see "Better
<a href="https://stallman.org/articles/genderless-pronouns.html">Genderless Pronouns</a> in English."


feed_id: 82763fa386a992c97f9b4dcbd7ca24db
title: Proper preparedness
uri: Proper-preparedness
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Proper_preparedness%29
content:
<p>
Proper preparedness for future pandemics could be achieved <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/sep/14/just-5-per-person-a-year-could-prevent-future-pandemic-says-ex-who-head">at the cost
of around 5 dollars per person per year, estimates Gro Harlem
Brundtland</a>.


feed_id: 6810c4ed1f71db49f062124a91eda950
title: Path for freedom of speech
uri: Path-for-freedom-of-speech
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Path_for_freedom_of_speech%29
content:
<p>
GitHub ironically offers a path for freedom of speech across the great
firewall of China.  China <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/china-github-free-speech-covid-information/">can't control it and can't afford to block
it</a>.


feed_id: 9e6d786ae7faed482cc8c0ee432fd344
title: Can't afford climate catastrophe
uri: Can-t-afford-climate-catastrophe
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Cant_afford_climate_catastrophe%29

content:
<p>
*Sanders Delivers Message to Lawmakers Who Claim US Can't Afford Green New
Deal: <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/13/sanders-delivers-message-lawmakers-who-claim-us-cant-afford-green-new-deal-climate">Climate Catastrophe Is 'Much More Expensive'</a>.*

<p>
Biden now talks about <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/12/wildfires-tearing-through-west-biden-slams-trump-denial-and-calls-climate-crisis">"meeting and defeating the onrushing climate
crisis."</a>

<p>
Acknowledging the magnitude of <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#climate">climate mayhem</a> is a change for the
better, but not the same as proposing an adequate plan.


feed_id: 398da65a06ed262a30ee6a4b25fc160b
title: Hand over videos
uri: Hand-over-videos
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Hand_over_videos%29
content:
<p>
The Seattle <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thug</a> department demanded various news organizations hand over
their videos of protests in a massive and indiscriminate way.  <a href="https://mynorthwest.com/2063833/judge-grants-pause-spd-subpoena-media-footage/">As of
a month ago, they obtained a delay</a>.

<p>
Can anyone find out what has happened since?


feed_id: ad2f929af13e2d42a40c065a2b839884
title: Political surveillance
uri: Political-surveillance
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Political_surveillance%29
content:
<p>
Whistleblower Christopher Pyle, starting with an article in 1970,
reported on how the US Army was systematically tracking Americans'
civic engagement &mdash; not limited to actual dissent &mdash; <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/13/how-us-army-whistleblower-revealed-apparatus-police-state">and won the political
support to shut it down completely</a>.

<p>
He was able to do this because Americans at the time recognized the danger
of tracking and surveillance.  Legislators recognized it because they
came from a people that recognized it.

<p>
It's up to us to lead the development of a people that detests
tracking and surveillance.  Otherwise the people and legislators of
the future will fail to shut down the dangerous systems of the future.


feed_id: c21d2788f5ec486ac03e827f4617fc7a
title: Harassing workers
uri: Harassing-workers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Harassing_workers%29
content:
<p>
Tesla persistently <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/13/citizen-musk">harasses and cheats workers</a>.


feed_id: 93f8bf3d0816cb640ec7d38eefefa432
title: Sending helpful mailings
uri: Sending-helpful-mailings
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Sending_helpful_mailings%29
content:
<p>
A court ordered the USPS not to send out "helpful" mass mailings to Colorado
voters <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/13/warning-patently-false-information-will-sow-confusion-federal-judge-blocks-postal">that contain misinformation about voting in Colorado</a>.


feed_id: 3007b1c2f94e9c424ba3a2abd4e9708d
title: Witchcraft
uri: 2020-09-15-Witchcraft
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Witchcraft%29
content:
<p>
Campaigning for a posthumous pardon <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/sep/13/300-years-on-will-thousands-of-women-burned-as-witches-finally-get-justice">for 2500 women executed for
witchcraft in Scotland</a>.

<p>
This cruel form of scapegoating <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2015-may-aug.html#24_July_2015_(Ivory_Coast)">continues to this day</a> in <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2013-nov-feb.html#08_January_2014_(Govt_of_Ghana_wants_to_close_refuges_for_people_accused_of_witchcraft)">Africa</a>.


feed_id: ecde9368628cf78e717bdbc1d8a19f8f
title: Forbidden protest
uri: Forbidden-protest
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Forbidden_protest%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">Thugs</a> in Melbourne arrested peaceful protesters (though some of them
threw fruit), <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/13/police-arrest-74-people-at-melbourne-coronavirus-anti-lockdown-protest">saying that protest is forbidden</a>.

<p>
The hell you say, Australia!  A government which forbids protest is
tyranny.

<p>
Not that repression is unusual in Australia, the country which paid
Nauru to hold Australia's immigration prison and then to abolish
freedom of the press <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jan-apr.html#20_February_2016_(Nauru_restricting_visits_by_Australians)">so that journalists could not reach the prison</a>.

<p>
As long as the protesters wore masks and maintained distance, they
were entitled to protest.

<p>
Defending their right to protest does not mean I support their
protest.  Some of them reportedly are QAnon fantasists.  That fantasy,
which mutates as fast as HIV-1, is too incoherent to support a serious
inquiry of whether "it" is true, because "it" would be different next
week.  I wish they were displaying their steadfastness for a good
cause.


feed_id: 360ccfb2358b13ca55aa327b15a67ba1
title: Fusion center
uri: Fusion-center
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Fusion_center%29
content:
<p>
The US railroad industry has its own fusion center, with an
information track leading straight to various government departments
that can repress potential protesters.  It can target even people that
only criticize for investigation, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/09/13/blueleaks-railroad-industry-oil-environmental-journalist-terrorist/">and thugs might subsequently forget
that they are only writing</a>.

<p>
Reporter Justin Mikulka was painted as a criminal by association
because what he wrote might inspire protests which could perhaps be
illegal.

<p>
The "fusion centers" facilitate repression, so if we don't get rid of them,
we must stop them from being used for repression.


feed_id: 6f7383d221406ac5b22cb8f9cea170ff
title: Morality
uri: Morality
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Morality%29
content:
<p>
*Morality has been stripped from public life. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/13/morality-public-life-moral-wellbeing-mental-health-modern-politics">Here’s a four-step plan to
revive it</a>.*


feed_id: 96f142f408fafb42e4616819db748713
title: Working for Russia
uri: 2020-09-15-Working-for-Russia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Working_for_Russia%29
content:
<p>
Peter Strzok insists <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/13/trump-compromised-by-russians-peter-strzok-former-member-mueller-team">that the wrecker is working for Russia</a>.


feed_id: 6676864dd0d20a1fba9cc8877fbc48b5
title: Putting opponents in prison
uri: Putting-opponents-in-prison
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Putting_opponents_in_prison%29
content:
<p>
The wrecker's henchman, Roger Stone, said that the wrecker should put
his opponents in prison <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/13/roger-stone-to-donald-trump-bring-in-martial-law-if-you-lose-election">if he can't make them pretend he has won the
election</a>.

<p>
Stone is a loyal henchman and would not have said this without
encouragement from the wrecker himself.

<p>
I say "pretend to have won" <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#11_December_2016_(Democrats)">because Republicans stole the 2016
presidential election</a>,
                       as well <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/archive-2001.html#Florida_voter_disenfranchisement">as the 2000</a>
  and <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2004-nov-feb.html#02 November 2004 (Bush trying to steal the vote in Ohio)">2004
  presidential elections</a>.

<p>
An appearance of "victory" for the wrecker is probably going to be
fake.  To be sure, millions of Americans will really vote for him, but
they won't be enough to make an honest victory without the cheating.


feed_id: 8f72e9efd407dd80078ca99481b15b1e
title: Haiti
uri: 2020-09-15-Haiti
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Haiti%29
content:
<p>
The US <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/07/28/us-occupation-haiti">has colonized Haiti (unofficially) for 105 years</a>.
  In effect, <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jan-apr.html#16_February_2017_(Haiti_elections)">it still does</a>.
  


feed_id: 398aa1baf955ce4b8b962a2b9198bf10
title: Youtube recommendations
uri: 2020-09-15-Youtube-recommendations
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#15_September_2020_%28Youtube_recommendations%29
content:
<p>
It is useful to recall that four years ago YouTube's recommendation algorithm
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/feb/02/youtube-algorithm-election-clinton-trump-guillaume-chaslot">recommended pro-bullshitter videos far more often than pro-Clinton videos</a>.

<p>
This does not prove that the algorithm was intentionally designed for
that result.  Perhaps they were; but we know that <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#18_August_2020_(Promotion_of_holocaust_denial)">right-wingers have
learned how to manipulate recommendation algorithms</a>;
                                      perhaps these results are a
reflection of that.  
                     We know that they do <em>not</em> reflect a majority
preference for the bullshitter, since he lost the popular vote.

<p>
Google's response amounts to, "Do not try to judge our actions without
the full information that we won't let you have."


feed_id: eb521ea091c7d5a91fec9b5acbf752cf
title: Covid-19 death cult
uri: Covid-19-death-cult
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28Covid-19_death_cult%29
content:
<p>
The wrecker is still actively spreading Covid-19 to his death cult,
and now we have proof that <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/14/how-should-america-respond-when-its-president-commits-negligent-homicide">he is knowingly lying to them when he
denies the danger</a>.

<p>
Don't be distracted into disputes about when Bob Woodward really ought
to have published this fact.  It is a side issue, and it is being
raised as a distraction.  I see no reason to assume his news would
have had more impact in May or July than it has now.


feed_id: cb7d2702d10450db7df95ad54e1eea90
title: Thank you letter
uri: Thank-you-letter
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28Thank_you_letter%29
content:
<p>
*A Thank You Letter <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/14/thank-you-letter-coronavirus-my-enablers-united-states">From Coronavirus to My Enablers in the United States</a>.*

<p>
This is not from The Onion.


feed_id: 2d6750680539f19bce4c4237e8d994eb
title: Global heating denialist at NOAA
uri: Global-heating-denialist-at-NOAA
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28Global_heating_denialist_at_NOAA%29

content:
<p>
The saboteur in chief has appointed a <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#global heating">global heating</a> denialist to the
management team at NOAA, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/14/politics/noaa-climate-change-skeptic-appointed/index.html">in charge of climate research there</a>.

<p>
One of the practices used to shelter denialists is calling them
"skeptics".  CNN's article does this, but please don't repeat that
practice.  To be a skeptic means that one is not convinced and wants
to do more investigation to determine what is happening.  By contrast,
Legatos is denying what is well established.  He is no "skeptic",
he is a denialist.

<p>
In general, skepticism is a wise and useful attitude towards claims
until they are demonstrated, but it can be carried too far.  For
instance, there are times when skepticism about an approaching danger
must be set aside.  When it is time to join the bucket brigade to put
out a fire, objecting that there is no proof this fire can spread is
not an acceptable excuse for refusing to help put it out.


feed_id: 7d25836baf8a7c96e20e03873565b293
title: Covid-19 in prisons
uri: 2020-09-16-Covid-19-in-prisons
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28Covid-19_in_prisons%29
content:
<p>
A nurse working a privatized immigration prison describes how the
management disregard Covid-19, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/09/14/ice-detention-center-nurse-whistleblower/">gratuitously allowing it to spread to
prisoners and staff</a>.


feed_id: f11d6226dd9bc8f13c5628be9446002f
title: Undermining own emissions-cutting targets
uri: Undermining-own-emissions-cutting-targets
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28Undermining_own_emissions-cutting_targets%29

content:
<p>
The EU has decided to undermine its own 2030 emissions-cutting targets
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/14/eu-commission-accused-of-cheating-on-net-zero-emissions-accounting">by counting estimated carbon sinks against the emissions</a>.

<p>
This is the same error as trying to plan in terms of "net" emissions
(emissions minus absorptions).  Any future greenhouse gas absorption
is conjectural.  Trees won't remove CO2 from the air if they burn up.


feed_id: dc7ccc134b1fecf37e0ad211fb8ac59a
title: Scapegoating anti-violence activists
uri: Scapegoating-anti-violence-activists
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28Scapegoating_anti-violence_activists%29

content:
<p>
There were pogroms against Muslims in Delhi in February, led by
ruling party, which has now decided <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/14/india-student-activist-umar-khalid-arrested-over-delhi-riots">to scapegoat a Muslim activist who
spoke against violence</a>, 
  along with other opposition figures.

<p>
See <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jan-apr.html#27_February_2020_(Pogrom_against_Muslims)">previous information about the pogroms</a>.


feed_id: dcc03ac4e8509888de371321a19865f8
title: Settler sentenced to life for murder of family
uri: Settler-sentenced-to-life-for-murder-of-family
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28Settler_sentenced_to_life_for_murder_of_family%29

content:
<p>
*Fanatical Israeli "settler" who killed Palestinian family <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/14/jewish-extremist-who-killed-palestinian-family-sentenced-to-life">sentenced to life
[imprisonment]</a>.*

<p>
This is news because often Israelis who murder Palestinians get a slap
on the wrist.


feed_id: 0d8f144e9b1a91e0756714405bc82270
title: Hottest ever summer
uri: Hottest-ever-summer
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28Hottest_ever_summer%29
content:
<p>
*Northern hemisphere <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/sep/14/northern-hemisphere-record-hottest-summer-noaa">breaks record for hottest ever summer</a>.*


feed_id: 5f1871fea6612b4936e0fe58fdf20513
title: Raising drug prices despite taxpayer money
uri: Raising-drug-prices-despite-taxpayer-money
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28Raising_drug_prices_despite_taxpayer_money%29

content:
<p>
*Sanders Blasts AstraZeneca for Raising Drug Prices <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/14/outrageous-sanders-blasts-astrazeneca-raising-drug-prices-despite-12-billion">Despite $1.2 Billion From Taxpayers for Covid-19 Vaccine</a>.*


feed_id: 113598a55b96c366ea8124464d9ac1e7
title: Net zero emissions by 2050
uri: Net-zero-emissions-by-2050
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28Net_zero_emissions_by_2050%29
content:
<p>
A giant consortium of investors has demanded companies <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/14/investors-worth-us47tn-demand-worlds-biggest-polluters-back-plan-for-net-zero-emissions">get on course
to achieve "net zero" emissions by 2050</a>.

<p>
The firmness is admirable, but they need to demand more.
2050 is too late a target,
  and measuring by "net" emissions tends to underestimate emissions.


feed_id: 50acce3f9a7bbf1b6fe4001dca1c0eae
title: Invalidly held in prison
uri: Invalidly-held-in-prison
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28Invalidly_held_in_prison%29
content:
<p>
Ronnie Long was convicted of rape in 1976 <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200914085848/https://www.cbs17.com/news/local-originals/ronnie-longs-lawyer-appeal-courts-decision-confirms-conviction-was-a-profound-injustice/">because prosecutors
manipulated evidence and hid evidence</a>.

<p>
Nonetheless, he is being held in prison to await a new trial, which
could take a months or years.

<p>
An invalid conviction is no grounds to imprison someone, so invalidation
of a conviction should invalidate the sentence too.


feed_id: 7a3b820194e5291d359e1e7465e1861c
title: Self-contradiction as a tool
uri: Self-contradiction-as-a-tool
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28Self-contradiction_as_a_tool%29

content:
<p>
Right-wing bullshitters in Oregon are fabricating claims that "antifa"
arsonists started the fires, then in imitation of the bullshitter, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/14/disinformation-oregon-wildfires-spreading-social-media">denying
that that is what they said</a>.

<p>
For them, self-contradiction is a tool.


feed_id: aa5818217d512b9083b50ce4915d70cf
title: No fair trial
uri: No-fair-trial
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28No_fair_trial%29
content:
<p>
Rwanda is not giving dissident Paul Rusesabagina <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/14/hotel-rwanda-dissident-paul-rusesabagina-in-court-terror-changes">a fair trial
on charges of terrorism</a>.


feed_id: faac7d0499600fffd68b64af84281423
title: Immigration prisons confinement
uri: Immigration-prisons-confinement
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28Immigration_prisons_confinement%29

content:
<p>
Mardin Arvin: *Australians complain about weeks in quarantine. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2020/sep/14/australians-complain-about-weeks-in-quarantine-ive-been-in-immigration-detention-for-almost-eight-years">I've
been in [Australia's immigration prisons] for almost eight years</a>.*


feed_id: d60abdb4df95c5ea04e313b15acf4ec4
title: All seeing car
uri: All-seeing-car
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28All_seeing_car%29
content:
<p>
A car with cameras looking in all directions <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/safe-is-the-new-bold/2020/aug/26/could-cars-with-all-seeing-eyes-help-put-an-end-to-serious-road-accidents">could in principle
avoid all collisions</a>.

<p>
It could also give the state, or Clearview AI, a chance to identify all
other cars and people it passes near.  We must make sure that only
highly processed data gets out of the video processor.


feed_id: d204c183dbdfbfc5b1e3a8740a7a790b
title: Plastics recycling
uri: Plastics-recycling
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28Plastics_recycling%29
content:
<p>

Oil companies (which are also plastic companies) have worked hard for
decades to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled">make the public think that used plastic products would be
recycled</a> if we handed them in, knowing this was not true, so that we
would buy and discard plastic without hesitation.
<p>
Most of what we hand in goes into landfill because recycling it is not
feasible.
<p>
Did they know, decades ago, that plastic products would <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2018-sep-dec.html#22_September_2018_(Eating_microplastics)">damage wild
animals</a> and <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2019-sep-dec.html#14_September_2019_(Earthworms_and_microplastics)">ecosystems</a>?
<p>
Perhaps not.  (It would be interesting to investigate what they knew
about this and when.)  In any case, we know it now.  We must reduce
drastically the amount of plastic waste that does not in fact get
recycled, so we do not leave our planet full of toxin dispensers.


feed_id: c406e950478f1abb6b26d5e5011b4538
title: Physicians for Human Rights calls for banning rubber-coated hard bullets
uri: Physicians-for-Human-Rights-calls-for-banning-rubber-coated-hard-bulle
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28Physicians_for_Human_Rights_calls_for_banning_rubber-coated_hard_bullets%29

content:
<p>

Physicians for Human Rights calls for banning the use of
rubber-coated hard bullets against protesters, citing 115 instances
of protesters that <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/14/blood-all-over-physicians-group-identifies-115-head-injuries-caused-so-called-less">suffered grave head wounds</a> from them.
<p>
It is against the rules to fire those bullets at people's heads, but
it is clear that they often do it anyway.  Perhaps some of them were
firing wildly.  Others, I suppose, hit protesters' heads
intentionally.  Many <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#27_July_2017_(Protesters_charged)">thugs are right-wing extremists</a>,
and if they see opportunities to maim protesters and not be punished,
they may go for it eagerly.


feed_id: 1ab49bf3c19103758d8cfa7e92256dc4
title: Last independent radio station and theater in Hungary
uri: Last-independent-radio-station-and-theater-in-Hungary
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28Last_independent_radio_station_and_theater_in_Hungary%29

content:
<p>

Orbán is moving to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/15/hungary-students-viktor-orban-university-theatre-budapest">take control</a> of the last radio station and last
theater in Hungary which are independent of state power.


feed_id: 07d107352c5570e19da5595a78ab4d19
title: Pandemic makes struggling Britons visible
uri: Pandemic-makes-struggling-Britons-visible
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28Pandemic_makes_struggling_Britons_visible%29

content:
<p>

*Millions in Britain have struggled for years. Only in a pandemic <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/15/britain-pandemic-coronavirus-normal-poverty">are
they seen</a>.*
<p>
I have a hunch that, for Bogus Johnson, starving the poor is not an ideological
commitment, merely a consequence of enriching the rich.


feed_id: 7863db388570107bc01a849214b36ea8
title: World fails to meet a single target
uri: World-fails-to-meet-a-single-target
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28World_fails_to_meet_a_single_target%29

content:
<p>

*World <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/15/every-global-target-to-stem-destruction-of-nature-by-2020-missed-un-report-aoe">fails to meet a single target</a> to stop destruction of nature &mdash;
UN report.*


feed_id: e77e243c1e72ecfa97fe1c1d3d8f8ab7
title: Circular economy of plastics
uri: Circular-economy-of-plastics
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28Circular_economy_of_plastics%29

content:
<p>

Ideas for a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/innovative-sustainability/2020/sep/11/plastic-recycling-could-a-circular-economy-be-the-way-to-a-sustainable-future">circular economy of plastics</a>.


feed_id: 269166c4c6385b7e30e10c514f273aac
title: Bogus Johnson's deal with the EU
uri: Bogus-Johnson-s-deal-with-the-EU
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28Bogus_Johnson%27s_deal_with_the_EU%29

content:
<p>

Bogus Johnson pretends to be negotiating a larger deal with the EU
while <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/15/boris-johnson-brexit-swindle-ireland-eurosceptic-good-friday-agreement">cheating on last year's smaller deal</a>.


feed_id: 938f3cc755f32bc3da7e0a19c2578017
title: Hong Kongers tried to separate from China
uri: Hong-Kongers-tried-to-separate-from-China
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28Hong_Kongers_tried_to_separate_from_China%29

content:
<p>

12 Hong Kongers tried to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/15/hong-kong-12-who-fled-by-boat-to-taiwan-held-in-criminal-detention-by-china">separate themselves</a> from China in a boat, but
Chinese forces caught them and China will prosecute them &mdash; perhaps
for "separatism" &mdash; in a bogus trial.
<p>
The very idea of stopping citizens from leaving a country is a form of
tyranny which Communist governments were well known for.  In the
1980s, the Soviet Union charged a ransom giving a Jew permission to
emigrate.  In earlier decades, it was very difficult for anyone to get
permission to leave the Soviet Empire.  Since 2000, millions of Chinese
were allowed to travel for tourism. but I would guess that China never
completely dropped the practice of forbidding some people from
leaving.


feed_id: f43cab36268da94fd0ef902a4f51a168
title: Fossil fuel demand
uri: Fossil-fuel-demand
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28Fossil_fuel_demand%29
content:
<p>

Billionaire Polluters say that demand for fossil fuels <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/sep/14/global-oil-demand-may-have-passed-peak-says-bp-energy-report">will not increase</a>.
What is not certain is when it will start to decrease.
<p>
That detail is tremendously important.  Bigger fires are coming soon
to a forest near you, and if you'd prefer to have them only a little
bigger rather than much bigger, you'd be wise to help make sure the
demand declines fast.


feed_id: 999ff749f2ae6ce7d459f8cbe80bab58
title: American Academy of Arts' past participation in racism
uri: American-Academy-of-Arts-past-participation-in-racism
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28American_Academy_of_Arts%27_past_participation_in_racism%29

content:
<p>

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences' commits to
working to undo the effects of its <a href="https://www.amacad.org/anti-racism-statement">past participation
in racism</a>.
<p>
The academy's present leaders are not guilty
for actions that happened before they were born,
but the responsibility to undo the continuing effects
of those actions falls to them nonetheless.
<p>
This is the same reasoning which led me to conclude, in 2014, that the
United States, acting for today's Americans, <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2014-may-aug.html#01_July_2014_(Reparations_owed_to_US_blacks)">should pay compensation</a>
to the descendants of those who were denied equal legal rights under
the systems of slavery and segregation.


feed_id: b43bbe8dda20734e4861e96f2cd42fcf
title: (satire) Body camera shut off out of respect
uri: (satire)-Body-camera-shut-off-out-of-respect
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28%28satire%29_Body_camera_shut_off_out_of_respect%29

content:
<p>

(satire) *&hellip; NYPD <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#police">police officer</a> Tom
Sloane reportedly shut off his body camera early Monday morning out of
<a href="https://local.theonion.com/police-officer-shuts-off-body-camera-out-of-respect-for-1845050209">respect for his dying victim</a>.*

*The NYPD added that it seemed exploitative to
publicize the man’s death because that would be what people remembered
about him, so the department was refraining from releasing any details
   about the incident to respect his privacy.*


feed_id: a85a041ee785ce0f872a5006d4a0ff81
title: Surveillance power extension
uri: Surveillance-power-extension
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#16_September_2020_%28Surveillance_power_extension%29

content:
<p>

The ACLU and other organizations called on Congress not to extend
surveillance powers by <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/09/14/leave-patriot-act-out-continuing-resolution-aclu-demand-progress-freedomworks">slipping that into a rider</a> in a continuing
resolution or other "must-pass" uncontroversial bill.


feed_id: 3e7a5bafcc06e580917dc51d35d65d42
title: Poverty
uri: 2020-09-17-Poverty
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#17_September_2020_%28Poverty%29
content:
<p>
*America has millions of people in poverty because Americans choose
 <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/15/myths-and-lies-about-poverty">not to demand the policies that would lift them out of poverty</a>.*


feed_id: a06ad5c36224ab5ba27a1ad771899997
title: Threat to national security
uri: Threat-to-national-security
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#17_September_2020_%28Threat_to_national_security%29
content:
<p>
For the US, global heating is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/16/climate-crisis-national-security-threat-us">a big threat to national security</a>.
  What does that make the planet-roasters?  And the wrecker?

<p>
Of course, <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#global heating">global heating</a> is a threat to the national security of many
other countries.  Some are sure to be destroyed entirely by it.


feed_id: 7ca874a11c69d462be33d7e14c613f56
title: Policies following the polls
uri: Policies-following-the-polls
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#17_September_2020_%28Policies_following_the_polls%29

content:
<p>
It is a mistake for a political party <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/16/labour-shape-public-opinion-policy-strategy">to adopt policies following the polls</a>.

<p>
Of course, it is even worse to adopt policies following the rich people's
donations as "centrist" Democrats do.
  A party must have values and come to conclusions.


feed_id: 68b3796063de44b0972c2ce7d0c5a711
title: Palm oil
uri: 2020-09-17-Palm-oil
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#17_September_2020_%28Palm_oil%29
content:
<p>
Malaysia may force prisoners to harvest palm oil
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/sep/16/malaysian-prisoners-may-face-forced-labour-on-palm-oil-plantations">which will be exported for use in our food</a>.


feed_id: bf9fd2f7421de952ee26f82e08ab1555
title: Herd mentality
uri: Herd-mentality
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#17_September_2020_%28Herd_mentality%29
content:
<p>
The wrecker said that Covid-19 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/16/first-thing-trump-says-covid-19-could-be-stopped-by-herd-mentality">could be stopped by 'herd mentality'</a>.
  He sure tries to inculcate a herd mentality into his followers;
if that could stop Covid-19, we would see less infection, rather than more,
in places he holds rallies.


feed_id: 1fbac850ce163d60610302371ddd5bbf
title: Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
uri: Organ-Pipe-Cactus-National-Monument
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#17_September_2020_%28Organ_Pipe_Cactus_National_Monument%29

content:
<p>
The wrecker's campaign to build a wall has covered only a fraction of
the border with Mexico, but that was enough to wreck Organ Pipe Cactus
National Monument.  <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/09/16/indigenous-activists-border-wall-protest/">It can never be restored</a>.


feed_id: f2e5433758425f6ca92a58d399be3cd0
title: Childfree
uri: Childfree
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#17_September_2020_%28Childfree%29
content:
<p>
Women state their feelings <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/04/guardian-readers-on-being-childfree-or-not-i-am-not-a-superwoman">about being childfree</a>
 (or, in a few cases, about having children).


feed_id: 99fa66c0aaf5eba5217f17c62b1a8bc1
title: Too messed up to cope with strategy
uri: Too-messed-up-to-cope-with-strategy
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#17_September_2020_%28Too_messed_up_to_cope_with_strategy%29

content:
<p>
Ai Weiwei explains China's strategy, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/06/sanctions-china-politics-us-showdown">and how the US and the west are
too messed up to cope with it</a>.


feed_id: 5aab1a7c79a49baea6a44f5175b0d61b
title: Calling victims terrorists
uri: Calling-victims-terrorists
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#17_September_2020_%28Calling_victims_terrorists%29
content:
<p>
Netanyahu stated that Israeli thugs murdered a Palestinian, <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-bedouin-citizen-killed-netanyahu-admission-cover-up">then
falsely called him a "terrorist" to justify the murder</a>.
  He went so far as to apologize to the victim's family.

<p>
Netanyahu is, as a general matter, an unprincipled corrupt greedy
bastard.  The article suggests that he made these true admissions
about the murder as a way to deny his share of the responsibility.


feed_id: 5b66b57238d6b2e61dbe98cb1cdd8fe5
title: Worse place to live
uri: Worse-place-to-live
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#17_September_2020_%28Worse_place_to_live%29
content:
<p>
The beginnings of climate disaster will make many parts of the US
worse places to live.  Over time, half the population will be
affected.  <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/15/where-will-everyone-go-new-report-documents-how-climate-migration-could-reshape-us">Millions will need to move, but to where</a>?

<p>
The government should not pay so people can bullheadedly remain in
land that is becoming uninhabitable, but it should help the people who
become trapped in houses that are becoming unsalable, enabling them to
move elsewhere.


feed_id: 02b49a2be16240fb9b901441cf117b7f
title: Planned nuclear power
uri: Planned-nuclear-power
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#17_September_2020_%28Planned_nuclear_power%29
content:
<p>
The exploding price of a planned nuclear power plant in the UK
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/sep/15/hitachi-to-pull-plug-on-north-wales-nuclear-power-station">has made the manufacturer cancel it</a>.

<p>
However, the UK has promised unbounded subsidy to the builder
of its first new nuclear power plant, so that one won't be
cancelled by expense.  But cancelled it must be, to free up funds
to build wind farms instead.


feed_id: e947533bec441815a6feaaa03e5a147b
title: Voters winning tactics
uri: Voters-winning-tactics
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#17_September_2020_%28Voters_winning_tactics%29
content:
<p>
*Research shows "respectful, non-judgmental conversations are able to
move voters <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/15/groundbreaking-study-shows-deep-listening-over-100-times-more-effective-winning">where many other tactics have failed</a>."*


feed_id: 30ea2239deeed449d0c779c516fe21ca
title: Lowering wages
uri: Lowering-wages
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#17_September_2020_%28Lowering_wages%29
content:
<p>
Lowering real US wages since 1975 has taken trillion dollars from
non-rich Americans since then, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/15/25-trillion-theft-study-shows-richest-1-americans-have-taken-50-trillion-bottom-90">giving them to rich Americans</a>.

<p>
Each year, <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#doohnibor">dooH niboR</a> takes 2.5 trillion more.


feed_id: 2c1084450f2f48af17280474631c153b
title: Biodiversity report
uri: Biodiversity-report
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#17_September_2020_%28Biodiversity_report%29
content:
<p>
*UN Biodiversity Report Urges 8 Transitions <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/15/un-biodiversity-report-urges-8-transitions-needed-restore-essential-ecosystems">Needed to Restore Essential
Ecosystems Impacted by Humanity</a>.*


feed_id: 98cbfff96e74e08c5e0e7ecb385ca452
title: Caste use of rape
uri: Caste-use-of-rape
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#17_September_2020_%28Caste_use_of_rape%29
content:
<p>
*Dalits bear brunt of India's 'endemic' sexual violence crisis.*
Upper caste men use brutal rape <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/16/dalits-bear-brunt-of-indias-endemic-sexual-violence-crisis">to maintain their domination of the
Dalits</a>.


feed_id: fe62221ff8d1fc6a422d903b71dac954
title: Urgent: End weapon sales to Salafi Arabia
uri: Urgent-End-weapon-sales-to-Salafi-Arabia
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#18_September_2020_%28Urgent%3A_End_weapon_sales_to_Salafi_Arabia%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.winwithoutwar.org/act/congress-end-all-weapon-sales-saudi-arabia">call on Congress</a> to end weapons sales to Salafi Arabia.


feed_id: bf971e750997c0c7bceae387b495b872
title: Trees moving north
uri: Trees-moving-north
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#18_September_2020_%28Trees_moving_north%29
content:
<p>
Tree species in the US northeast <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/17/shoots-and-leaves-the-shotgun-scientist-who-hunts-moving-trees-aoe">are moving north under the pressure
of global heating</a>.


feed_id: 189760af2e028f9ab6fa558107131727
title: Making occupation profitable
uri: Making-occupation-profitable
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#18_September_2020_%28Making_occupation_profitable%29

content:
<p>
Israel has discovered <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/17/occupying-palestine-israel-gulf-peace-deal-uae-bahrain">how to make occupation of Palestine profitable</a>.


feed_id: 20436b5272ca0523442906636ca39b35
title: Thugs arresting and killing a man
uri: Thugs-arresting-and-killing-a-man
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#18_September_2020_%28Thugs_arresting_and_killing_a_man%29

content:
<p>
Indian thugs in Kashmir arrested a man, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/17/kashmir-protests-erupt-after-alleged-cover-up-of-death-in-custody">then tortured him and killed him</a>.
  (Of coure, they deny this.)  This triggered protests, much as it does in the US.

<p>
It appears that the repression of Kashmir in general is not as severe as it
was some months ago: the internet is not shut off all the time any more,
only sometimes.


feed_id: b836c0821cd7756afc3de60f0ac01090
title: Recording information about video recommendations
uri: Recording-information-about-video-recommendations
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#18_September_2020_%28Recording_information_about_video_recommendations%29

content:
<p>
* Extension on Firefox browser will allow users to record information
about videos recommended by [youtube].*  The aim is to figure out <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/sep/17/youtube-viewers-to-help-uncover-how-users-are-sent-to-harmful-videos">why
youtube's recommendation algorithm recommends noisome videos</a>.


feed_id: bc1ea37fd833fbe4d76f66b05e1e952a
title: 60 more naval ships
uri: 60-more-naval-ships
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#18_September_2020_%2860_more_naval_ships%29
content:
<p>
The US military-industrial complex <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/17/us-plans-big-expansion-of-navy-fleet-to-challenge-growing-chinese-sea-power">proposes to build 60 additional
naval ships</a>,
   because a navy that China could catch up with in decades is
not considered sufficient.  That does not seem logical to me.

<p>
China's approach to taking over the South China Sea is to build
airfields on small islands and reefs.  Ships are much more vulnerable
than those airfields.  It seems to me that the US would find it more
effective, as well as cheaper, to help its regional allies build more
such airfields.


feed_id: c74e083bc984d53cf0c759abbda94b73
title: Sedition
uri: 2020-09-18-Sedition
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#18_September_2020_%28Sedition%29
content:
<p>
Barr asked US attorneys to charge protesters with "sedition" &mdash; <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/16/bill-barr-sedition-charges-protests">a charge
that would almost always be bullshit</a>.


feed_id: d1f6f7614ed8edb0cfd14750099016db
title: Forced hysterectomies
uri: Forced-hysterectomies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#18_September_2020_%28Forced_hysterectomies%29
content:
<p>
A whistleblower reports that a privatized immigration prison <a href="https://boingboing.net/2020/09/15/new-whistleblower-complaint-al.html">carried out
hysterectomies by force against prisoners</a>.

<p>
One of the reasons we must abolish privatized prisons is that it is
harder to hold them accountable for any sort of cruel, degrading,
injurious or even fatal conduct.  Even when people have been convicted
of a crime &mdash; which these prisoners mostly have not been &mdash; that does
not excuse such treatment of them.


feed_id: d4d10969a01179d5ec49ec3421d09d2c
title: Prosecuted for mocking dead sultans
uri: Prosecuted-for-mocking-dead-sultans
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#18_September_2020_%28Prosecuted_for_mocking_dead_sultans%29

content:
<p>
A dissident journalist in Turkey <a href="https://www.codastory.com/disinformation/turkish-journalist-arrested/">is being prosecuted for mocking
medieval Ottoman sultans</a>.

<p>
I doubt the statement that they were from the 13th century, since the
first Ottoman prince, Osman, did not become the ruler of a
principality until 1299.  It is more likely that they were from the
14th or 15th centuries.

<p>
It should not be a crime to insult a deceased person, or a living
person &mdash; or anyone or anything.  Such laws are repressive.


feed_id: 127d2330b617694202667c9be1ffe4c3
title: Bonuses for bankruptcy
uri: Bonuses-for-bankruptcy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#18_September_2020_%28Bonuses_for_bankruptcy%29
content:
<p>
*US corporations file for bankruptcy and lay off workers. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/sep/16/us-corporations-file-for-bankruptcy-and-lay-off-workers-why-do-execs-still-get-bonuses">Why do execs still
get bonuses</a>?*


feed_id: 0d69f71270f4dc935665c26b78b652cd
title: Government spending without tax increases
uri: Government-spending-without-tax-increases
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#18_September_2020_%28Government_spending_without_tax_increases%29

content:
<p>
The OECD calls for government spending without tax increases, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/sep/16/governments-must-resist-covid-spending-cuts-and-tax-rises-says-oecd">to
reduce the Covid-19 depression and help unemployed people</a>.

<p>
Deficit spending can be made possible by government borrowing, but also by
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#11_September_2020_(Government_debt_and_Covid)">creating more currency in accord with Modern Monetary Theory</a>,
  except <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2018-mar-jun.html#23_June_2018_(Greece_and_the_banksters)">for countries trapped in the Euro-zone</a>

<p>
I think it is safe to tax billionaires a lot more
since they got such a windfall this year.


feed_id: 65a5678c6f0ec2f35a5c78bca934917c
title: News events
uri: News-events
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#18_September_2020_%28News_events%29
content:
<p>
Big US news media accept lots of money from corporations <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/16/corporate-crime-new-york-times-and-washington-post">to sponsor
"news events" that present slanted news</a>.


feed_id: a0346bf4fc60dc252ad2a78acc3fcc0e
title: Sanctions
uri: Sanctions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#18_September_2020_%28Sanctions%29
content:
<p>
The US government is pretending that sanctions against Iran, ended by
virtue of US rejection of the non-nuclear deal, will come back into
force on Sep 20.  This could be meant as an excuse for the wrecker <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/16/mike-pompeo-preparing-october-surprise">to
launch a war to "enforce the sanctions", to manipulate the
election</a>.

<p>
Will Iran's rulers have the self-discipline to refrain from retaliation
until after November 3 so as to refuse to help the wrecker?


feed_id: 06a5e3322d3d1c7179f09f6d405e8a6c
title: Greener after Covid-19
uri: Greener-after-Covid-19
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#18_September_2020_%28Greener_after_Covid-19%29
content:
<p>
*People want <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/sep/16/people-want-a-fairer-greener-britain-after-covid-inquiry-reveals">a fairer, greener Britain after Covid, inquiry reveals</a>.*

<p>
I wish they had voted for the leader who really stood for this: Corbyn.


feed_id: 6605dbe36fc28ae9f02cb5c494725469
title: Crime of going limp
uri: Crime-of-going-limp
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#18_September_2020_%28Crime_of_going_limp%29
content:
<p>
A UK thug called for making it a crime <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/16/extinction-rebellion-go-floppy-when-arrested-complains-senior-met-officer">to go limp when arrested</a>.

<p>
It makes me think of Israel fining Palestinians for not demolishing
their own houses.


feed_id: ce2220fc9fbad5209646a62112cfa02d
title: Alexei Navalny recovery
uri: Alexei-Navalny-recovery
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#20_September_2020_%28Alexei_Navalny_recovery%29
content:
<p>

Alexei Navalny is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/19/alexei-navalny-walking-down-stairs-russian-opposition-berlin">making a good recovery</a>.
<p>
However, one thing makes me worry that his brain has been injured: a
perverse inclination to use Instagram.  ;-{.


feed_id: 2d0d0f4b1f1bfdc6ba39de16d59271c5
title: Climate system's tipping points
uri: Climate-system-s-tipping-points
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#20_September_2020_%28Climate_system%27s_tipping_points%29

content:
<p>

We don't know where the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/sep/19/the-tipping-points-at-the-heart-of-the-climate-crisis">climate system's tipping points</a> are, but if one tips,
it could tip others.  Or it could block others.
<p>
It's like playing a pinball game with Earth as the ball.


feed_id: ee80853b015c4bdee6e65f9d6d610829
title: Biden's Michigan campaign organization
uri: Biden-s-Michigan-campaign-organization
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#20_September_2020_%28Biden%27s_Michigan_campaign_organization%29

content:
<p>

Biden seems to have <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/17/recipe-disaster-democrats-worry-biden-campaign-missing-action-battleground-states">no presencial campaign organization</a> in Michigan.
<p>
I wonder if this is because rational people are scared to go there,
and especially scared to approach lots of strangers there.
<p>
Meanwhile, the wrecker has taught his followers a delusion of
invulnerability.  They don't feel inhibitions about meeting people on
the street to reinforce their rejection of masks.
<p>
In effect, the wrecker has found a way to arrange that Republicans
can do real canvassing and campaigning, while his rational opponents
know it is not safe.


feed_id: a54987d3a25fccc9dc084b55f44faa40
title: Social media, no substitute for real life
uri: Social-media-no-substitute-for-real-life
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#20_September_2020_%28Social_media%2C_no_substitute_for_real_life%29

content:
<p>

*Coronavirus Depression Spike Suggests Social Media Is <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonchandler/2020/09/08/coronavirus-depression-spike-suggests-social-media-is-no-substitute-for-real-life/#358f60676103">No Substitute For Real Life</a>.*
<p>
Thus, if you refuse to use Zoom, Netflix, Amazon and Facebook,
you can do without them.


feed_id: 30f1faf4fd552c0955925f01676d4fbc
title: Reversal of DeJoy's postal sabotage
uri: Reversal-of-DeJoy-s-postal-sabotage
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#20_September_2020_%28Reversal_of_DeJoy%27s_postal_sabotage%29

content:
<p>

A US court has ordered <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/18/denouncing-intentional-effort-sabotage-election-judge-orders-nationwide-reversal">reversal of DeJoy's postal sabotage</a>.


feed_id: d381c26a072624b2f99990dd358f5ac1
title: (satire) Something to stick into your arm
uri: (satire)-Something-to-stick-into-your-arm
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#20_September_2020_%28%28satire%29_Something_to_stick_into_your_arm%29

content:
<p>

(satire) *White House Vows To Have <a href="https://www.theonion.com/white-house-vows-to-have-something-to-stick-into-your-a-1845096436">Something To Stick</a> Into Your Arm By
October.*


feed_id: 339765d5a8dc75f9f45ececdeb325da9
title: Rights of voters' postal ballots in New York State
uri: Rights-of-voters-postal-ballots-in-New-York-State
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#20_September_2020_%28Rights_of_voters%27_postal_ballots_in_New_York_State%29

content:
<p>

New York State agreed to a court settlement which <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/09/18/new-york-expands-options-absentee-voters-have-their-vote-counted">protects the rights of voters</a>
that sent in postal ballots against unjust rejection of their ballots.
<p>
Which states have not done this?


feed_id: fc48e3af2822400ecff3c1720bd059ed
title: One-sided patriotic propaganda
uri: One-sided-patriotic-propaganda
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#20_September_2020_%28One-sided_patriotic_propaganda%29

content:
<p>

The bullshitter wants to turn US history teaching into <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/18/trump-doesnt-understand-history-any-more-he-understands-epidemics">one-sided
patriotic propaganda</a>.
<p>
To a large extent, that's what US history teaching has tended to be:
justifying actions of the US in conflict with other countries, and the
winners in domestic disputes, with the exception of the Civil War: the
supporters of the Confederacy perversely gained the upper hand about
reconstruction.
<p>
However, it wasn't totally one-sided in the 60s.  You could see that
the indigenous people were cheated.  Slavery was condemned.
<p>
We see a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/sep/18/the-eight-hundred-how-chinas-blockbusters-became-a-new-political-battleground">similar practice of propaganda</a> history in China.
<p>
(satire) *Trump Signs Executive Order Establishing ‘1946 Commission’
To Teach How <a href="https://politics.theonion.com/trump-signs-executive-order-establishing-1946-commissi-1845108409">America Started At President’s Birth</a>.*


feed_id: 8bd20b814cbf7febb3f6750c88750ced
title: 50 Reasons the bully's administration is bad for workers
uri: 50-Reasons-the-bully-s-administration-is-bad-for-workers
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#20_September_2020_%2850_Reasons_the_bully%27s_administration_is_bad_for_workers%29

content:
<p>

*<a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/50-reasons/">50 reasons</a> the <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#bully">bully's</a> administration is bad for workers.*


feed_id: f8c9c961fc575f7821121d4361b59d60
title: (satire) Powerful gale has overwhelmed our electoral system
uri: (satire)-Powerful-gale-has-overwhelmed-our-electoral-system
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#20_September_2020_%28%28satire%29_Powerful_gale_has_overwhelmed_our_electoral_system%29

content:
<p>

(satire) *With 30% of the U.S. electorate currently stumbling
through the streets in pursuit of their ballots and shouting, ‘Wait,
come back!’ we fear this sudden, powerful gale has <a href="https://politics.theonion.com/democratic-process-in-peril-as-millions-of-americans-ch-1845062185">overwhelmed our
electoral system</a>.*


feed_id: 261fc9d89f0b9517d4a0d1808dfc9f63
title: Urgent: Stop supporting the Louisville thug department
uri: Urgent-Stop-supporting-the-Louisville-thug-department
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#20_September_2020_%28Urgent%3A_Stop_supporting_the_Louisville_thug_department%29

content:
<p>

US citizens: call on UPS, Humana, and Ford to <a href="https://act.weareultraviolet.org/sign/divest_louisville_police/">stop supporting the
Louisville thug department</a>.


feed_id: 9dc528e9628718a227b3e28a58327b26
title: Urgent: Reject Chad Wolf as head of the Department of Harshness and Sadism
uri: Urgent-Reject-Chad-Wolf-as-head-of-the-Department-of-Harshness-and-Sa
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#20_September_2020_%28Urgent%3A_Reject_Chad_Wolf_as_head_of_the_Department_of_Harshness_and_Sadism%29

content:
<p>

US citizens: call on your senators to <a href="https://act.winwithoutwar.org/act/tell-your-senator-vote-no-chad-wolf">reject Chad Wolf</a> as head of the
Department of Harshness and Sadism.
He is too apt for harshness and sadism to be entrusted with official
authority over it.

<p>The Capitol Switchboard numbers are 202-224-3121, 888-818-6641 and 888-355-3588.</p>

<p>If you call please spread the word!</p>
  


feed_id: 452664b64225ce62c274859c35a0d2b4
title: Julian Assange's hearing has resumed
uri: Julian-Assange-s-hearing-has-resumed
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#19_September_2020_%28Julian_Assange%27s_hearing_has_resumed%29

content:
<p>

Julian Assange's hearing has resumed, and Craig Murray is covering it
as before.  I was unable to post these before because I was overloaded
writing a long article.
<p>
Murray reports that Keir Starmer, the tame new head of the Labour
Party, condemns Extinction Rebellion as a threat to the free press for
blocking right-wing newspaper trucks one morning, but says nothing
when the free press is <a href="https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/09/media-freedom-show-me-the-msm-journalist-opposing-the-torture-of-assange/">truly threatened</a>.
<p>
In the <a href="https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/09/your-man-in-the-public-gallery-the-assange-hearing-day-6/">first day of the resumed hearing</a>,
Assange saw for the first
time the totally new charges, which his lawyers saw only in the past
few weeks and had been unable to show him in prison.  They had a
discussion about them and asked for an adjournment to gather evidence.
The judge refused this.
<p>
The defense will not be allowed to call witnesses except the ones it
chose for the old charges.
<p>
This continues what we have seen all along: the rules of justice
twisted over and over to assure a politically pre-decided outcome.
This is not as obvious a show trial as the ones Stalin held, but
it is substantively similar.
<p>
Organizations such as Amnesty and Reporters without Borders had to
fight for a chance to view the hearing, so strong were the efforts
to prevent public monitoring of the treacherous proceedings.


feed_id: a337123b390cbbff63c455e2c930c4b4
title: Salafi Arabia uranium deposits
uri: Salafi-Arabia-uranium-deposits
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#19_September_2020_%28Salafi_Arabia_uranium_deposits%29

content:
<p>

Salafi Arabia has possible <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/17/revealed-saudi-arabia-may-have-enough-uranium-ore-to-produce-nuclear-fuel">large uranium deposits</a>.
Now that fission power is effectively obsolete, the only reason the
country would be interested is to make nuclear weapons.
<p>
It would be natural to propose a nuclear disarmament treaty for Salafi
Arabia and Iran &mdash; and perhaps Israel too.


feed_id: e779cc727b75dcaea77ce59a054fcb18
title: Learning from the Corbyn era
uri: Learning-from-the-Corbyn-era
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#19_September_2020_%28Learning_from_the_Corbyn_era%29

content:
<p>

*Only an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/17/honest-conversation-corbyn-labour-events">honest conversation</a> about the Corbyn era will help us learn from it.*


feed_id: 75c2ed201baa1fa539edb7dc5596f22d
title: Freedom of speech in Hong Kong
uri: Freedom-of-speech-in-Hong-Kong
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#19_September_2020_%28Freedom_of_speech_in_Hong_Kong%29

content:
<p>

When Hong Kong was a British colony, Britain did not respect freedom
of speech there.  Now that it is a Chinese colony, it is China that
doesn't respect freedom of speech there, but it finds the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/17/hong-kong-activist-denied-bail-after-being-charge-with-sedition-tam-tak-chi">old British
law against "sedition"</a> handy for jailing dissidents.


feed_id: f426d0686e8307d3da208a2a60c9d1a6
title: Australia too, has seen red skies
uri: Australia-too-has-seen-red-skies
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#19_September_2020_%28Australia_too%2C_has_seen_red_skies%29

content:
<p>

*Dear America, we too have seen red skies in Australia and we can tell you
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/18/dear-america-we-too-have-seen-red-skies-in-australia-and-we-can-tell-you-what-happens-next">what happens next</a>.*
<p>
It is not too late to bring about a small disaster instead of the big one
humanity is heading for.


feed_id: 5c4cc526bc32e74bb1c9f745505d21ca
title: (satire) Apple watch rabbit-ear antenna
uri: (satire)-Apple-watch-rabbit-ear-antenna
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#19_September_2020_%28%28satire%29_Apple_watch_rabbit-ear_antenna%29

content:
<p>

(satire) *Apple announced Wednesday that its new smart watch would
feature a <a href="https://www.theonion.com/apple-announces-new-watch-with-rabbit-ear-antenna-that-1845050498">rabbit-ear antenna</a> capable of picking up five or more
television channels in the area where a user lives.*


feed_id: ac20794e3c7c3256561c283c16ff32ba
title: Hydrogen fuel for vehicles generated by solar energy
uri: Hydrogen-fuel-for-vehicles-generated-by-solar-energy
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#19_September_2020_%28Hydrogen_fuel_for_vehicles_generated_by_solar_energy%29

content:
<p>

Scotland will use solar electricity to generate <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/sep/16/scottish-green-hydrogen-scheme-gears-up-to-fuel-ferries-buses-and-trains">hydrogen as fuel for
vehicles</a>.
<p>
One convenient thing is that it doesn't matter that there are times
when there is no light to make hydrogen with.  If you make hydrogen at
a high rate when there is light, you have enough for the rest of the
time too.


feed_id: c6f00243011504c72ad983d3d3762895
title: Children's privacy rules and rights
uri: Children-s-privacy-rules-and-rights
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#19_September_2020_%28Children%27s_privacy_rules_and_rights%29

content:
<p>

*The shift to online schooling is running roughshod over children's
<a href="https://www.axios.com/childrens-privacy-suffers-as-school-goes-online-321b010a-1319-4028-b456-46a0a47f8920.html">privacy rules and rights</a>,*
which were inadequate to start with.
<p>
The article is concerned that wealthier schools will choose systems
that "protect" privacy "better" whereas impecunious schools will have
to use systems that protect privacy less.  That would be a real
danger, if some of these systems did protect privacy.
<p>
In practice, none of these systems give much protection.  Whatever
data a company collects is already on the road to being misused.  The
only effective protection for privacy is not to put the data in
a database.


feed_id: e331653b06239b474c7ff481dd8f248c
title: Certification of elections in some states
uri: Certification-of-elections-in-some-states
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#19_September_2020_%28Certification_of_elections_in_some_states%29

content:
<p>

Greg Palast: Republicans may be planning to <a href="https://www.gregpalast.com/warning-trump-and-his-rioters-can-win-using-the-xii/">refuse to certify the
elections</a> in some states, using uncounted postal ballots as an excuse.
Use early voting instead of postal voting.
<p>
That is what I did for the Massachusetts primary on Sept 1,
and that is what I plan to do for the general election too.


feed_id: 9d783e5864032845eec4d3b3e3feca95
title: Covid-19 recovery for reduction of greenhouse emissions
uri: Covid-19-recovery-for-reduction-of-greenhouse-emissions
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#19_September_2020_%28Covid-19_recovery_for_reduction_of_greenhouse_emissions%29

content:
<p>

Some US cities have plans to use the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/18/us-cities-plot-green-recovery-after-pandemic">recovery from the Covid-19
depression</a> to reduce local greenhouse emissions.
<p>
Every little bit helps, but we need more than local improvements to avoid
most of the climate disaster.


feed_id: fcd7ebe020dd8c4d53078e02fc970ff6
title: China forced "surplus workers" to move long distances
uri: China-forced-surplus-workers-to-move-long-distances
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#19_September_2020_%28China_forced_surplus_workers_to_move_long_distances%29

content:
<p>

China <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/18/china-white-paper-forced-labour-xinjiang-uighurs">forced 2.6 million "surplus workers"</a> in Xinjiang to move long
distances.  The critical attention to what it does there is making
the government uncomfortable.


feed_id: b0514324bd39510de6310953f7fe6cfb
title: Multistory pig farms
uri: Multistory-pig-farms
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#19_September_2020_%28Multistory_pig_farms%29
content:
<p>

China is moving to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/18/a-12-storey-pig-farm-has-china-found-a-way-to-stop-future-pandemics-">giant multistory pig farms</a>, isolated from the
outside, so as to stop transmission of diseases.


feed_id: f7c2877c8d31ead5057172bb83ce9a39
title: CDC published weak recommendations for Covid-19 tests
uri: CDC-published-weak-recommendations-for-Covid-19-tests
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#19_September_2020_%28CDC_published_weak_recommendations_for_Covid-19_tests%29

content:
<p>

The CDC published the weak recommendations for who should get a
Covid-19 test over the objections of its scientists.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/18/cdc-guidelines-coronavirus-testing-published-despite-objection-scientists


feed_id: 2eb4a90e610e54312503a380c13846a3
title: Wilderness lost in just 13 years
uri: Wilderness-lost-in-just-13-years
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#19_September_2020_%28Wilderness_lost_in_just_13_years%29

content:
<p>

*Wilderness the size of Mexico <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/19/shocking-wilderness-the-size-of-mexico-lost-worldwide-in-just-13-years-study-finds">lost worldwide</a> in just 13 years.*


feed_id: f69247d41dbe074095414adbd7a67964
title: US-backed coup against Evo Morales in Bolivia
uri: US-backed-coup-against-Evo-Morales-in-Bolivia
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#19_September_2020_%28US-backed_coup_against_Evo_Morales_in_Bolivia%29

content:
<p>

*<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/18/silence-us-backed-coup-evo-morales-bolivia-american-states">Silence reigns</a> on the US-backed coup against Evo Morales in Bolivia.*


feed_id: 0c2a9157809f14cf22354075880e12ba
title: Papua New Guinea's thugs
uri: Papua-New-Guinea-s-thugs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#19_September_2020_%28Papua_New_Guinea%27s_thugs%29
content:
<p>

The minister in charge of Papua New Guinea's <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> says that they
are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/18/papua-new-guinea-police-accused-of-gun-running-and-drug-smuggling-by-own-minister">corrupt from the top down</a>, and that they drive out any honest employees.


feed_id: 8522dda7b2d6f0a552144120e1fa2ed7
title: Bill prohibiting discrimination against pregnant workers
uri: Bill-prohibiting-discrimination-against-pregnant-workers
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#19_September_2020_%28Bill_prohibiting_discrimination_against_pregnant_workers%29

content:
<p>

The House of Representatives passed a bill <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/17/house-passes-historic-legislation-protect-pregnant-workers-discrimination-prompting">prohibiting discrimination</a>
against pregnant workers, and requiring employers to make reasonable
accommodations so a pregnant worker can keep working.
<p>
There is no chance that the Republicans who control the Senate will
agree to this, but passing the bill is useful as political pressure.


feed_id: 2b4beb74ac1b29dbaa0a932d7a127f3d
title: Oil-and-plastic companies blocking efforts to reduce plastic pollution
uri: Oil-and-plastic-companies-blocking-efforts-to-reduce-plastic-pollution
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#19_September_2020_%28Oil-and-plastic_companies_blocking_efforts_to_reduce_plastic_polution%29

content:
<p>

How the oil-and-plastic companies have organized world-wide to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/17/delay-distract-and-derail-new-report-reveals-how-plastic-polluters-have-avoided">block efforts</a>
to reduce plastic pollution.
<p>
This is yet another facet of the harm done by plutocratic rule.


feed_id: 7010987e867a0d6d33adbc3fa3ade7a0
title: Belarus protesters are pulling the masks off thugs
uri: Belarus-protesters-are-pulling-the-masks-off-thugs
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#19_September_2020_%28Belarus_protesters_are_pulling_the_masks_off_thugs%29

content:
<p>

Belarus protesters are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/17/the-only-way-to-stop-violence-why-protesters-are-unmasking-belarus-police">pulling the masks off thugs</a> to identify them.
This seems to dissuade them from violence.
<p>
It is an interesting reversal, to use face recognition against the servants
if a tyrant.  I think it is justified in that situation,
<p>
This suggests to me that the <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> of Belarus are just barely clinging to
obedience to Lukashenko, and that at any moment they could snap.


feed_id: 1f0d288202f82a5d4ffcb103bbe8be62
title: Global coalition against China's aggression
uri: Global-coalition-against-China-s-aggression
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#19_September_2020_%28Global_coalition_against_China%27s_aggression%29

content:
<p>

*Taiwan calls for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/17/taiwan-calls-for-global-coalition-against-chinas-aggression-as-us-official-flies-in">global coalition</a> against China's aggression as US official
flies in.*
<p>
I think it would be interesting for several important countries to
open diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and let China break relations
or keep relations, however it wishes.  After a few years, I believe,
China would decide that it needs the diplomatic relations more than it
needs to show aggression against Taiwan.


feed_id: 0823267959ff3c1ffb14b30237c36b46
title: Urgent: Prohibition of facial recognition in schools
uri: Urgent-Prohibition-of-facial-recognition-in-schools
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#19_September_2020_%28Urgent%3A_Prohibition_of_facial_recognition_in_schools%29

content:
<p>

Parents: call for prohibition of <a href="https://www.parentsagainstfacialrecognition.org/">facial recognition in schools</a>.


feed_id: 28aedc97aea806605af6b86d038e81ef
title: Urgent: Boycott Chevron
uri: Urgent-Boycott-Chevron
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#19_September_2020_%28Urgent%3A_Boycott_Chevron%29
content:
<p>

Everyone: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/17/chevron-amazon-oil-toxic-waste-dump-ecuador-boycott">boycott Chevron on behalf of Ecuadorians and Steven Donziger</a>.


feed_id: 7b8e37bfaaca7a07ba803fcbd8c3cfb1
title: Urgent: MORE Act
uri: Urgent-MORE-Act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#21_September_2020_%28Urgent%3A_MORE_Act%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.colorofchange.org/letter/black-communities-need-more/">call on your congresscritter</a> to support the MORE Act.


feed_id: e98153a85e24f7b2dba164004a17472f
title: Urgent: discrimination against trans people
uri: Urgent-discrimination-against-trans-people
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#21_September_2020_%28Urgent%3A_discrimination_against_trans_people%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://go.peoplepower.org/letter/tell-department-housing-and-urban-development-protect-transgender-people/">call on the Department of Housing and Urban Development</a>
not to allow discrimination against trans people.


feed_id: 6e60ce29c4bdf698ea6ee0dc23df487e
title: Promotion
uri: Promotion
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#21_September_2020_%28Promotion%29
content:
<p>
The UK government has replaced promotion of the most capable <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/19/meritocracy-dido-harding-rise">with
promotion of the most politically loyal</a>.

<p>
Michael Young, in The Rise of the Meritocracy, was perceptive.  He saw
that if society offered enough social mobility for capable people to
get out of the working class won their own, that would leave the
remaining workers with no one capable enough to organize them to stand
up for their rights.

<p>
We must educate and promote capable people anyway, because the
alternative is to let the incapable run things &mdash; but we must somehow
prevent this from resulting in telling the less "meritorious" to
suffer low pay and a life of hardship.


feed_id: b5c0452b825e5a60972077811992ebf0
title: Wetland fires and drought
uri: Wetland-fires-and-drought
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#21_September_2020_%28Wetland_fires_and_drought%29
content:
<p>
*Brazilian wetlands fires <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/18/brazilian-wetlands-fires-started-by-humans-and-worsened-by-drought">started by humans and worsened by drought</a>.*

<p>
The people who set the fires are criminals who wanted to replace the
wetlands with cattle ranching.  Due to the drought, the large Pantanal
wetland is not wet now.


feed_id: 106f4a23effe100be0b90870223c8607
title: Covid and education
uri: Covid-and-education
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#21_September_2020_%28Covid_and_education%29
content:
<p>
*Covid is Widening <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/17/covid-widening-educational-inequalities-children-around-world">Educational Inequalities for Children Around the World</a>.*


feed_id: 8a82f16d1e05344fc15eea2c013b0aea
title: Protecting buildings from fire
uri: Protecting-buildings-from-fire
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#21_September_2020_%28Protecting_buildings_from_fire%29

content:
<p>
California could protect its buildings from fire <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/18/california-fires-wildfires-future-housing">with requirements
for careful precautions</a>.

<p>
More frequent fires outside the cities might result in less intense fires.


feed_id: 31915067c8cdace363b4d819f86f616a
title: Endangered matsutake
uri: Endangered-matsutake
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#21_September_2020_%28Endangered_matsutake%29
content:
<p>
Japan's red pine forests are endangered, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/19/japan-matsutake-mushroom-under-threat">and with them the prized
matsutake mushroom</a>.


feed_id: d9d4076b4f1eb653df7e5c1a9aaa9221
title: Social worker
uri: Social-worker
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#21_September_2020_%28Social_worker%29
content:
<p>
*In 2016, the Alexandria, Kentucky, police chief talked the city into
   hiring a social worker &mdash; and four years on, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/19/alexandria-kentucky-police-social-workers">the current chief sees the
   program as indispensable</a>.*


feed_id: 844632b04cb84d59d3452749fa67747e
title: Ending lockdowns too soon
uri: Ending-lockdowns-too-soon
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#21_September_2020_%28Ending_lockdowns_too_soon%29
content:
<p>
Warning Latin America <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/19/latin-america-covid-coronavirus-warnings">not to end lockdowns too soon</a>.

<p>
The US, and then Europe, have shown that this is likely to mean
a new outbreak of Covid-19.

<p>
England has been trying to restrain the spread of Covid-19 with local
restrictions, and being rather rigid about them, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/19/england-wide-covid-lockdown-needed-sooner-later-says-former-adviser-neil-ferguson">but it is not
working</a>.

<p>
I think the country needs nationwide measures.  However, they don't
need to be absolutely rigid.  The UK's approach strikes me like
measuring the distance between two people and fining them if is only
198 cm instead of 200 cm.


feed_id: a989f1d43afc8bdf53db16c9dbd35d1e
title: Neglect from prisons to deportation flights
uri: Neglect-from-prisons-to-deportation-flights
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#21_September_2020_%28Neglect_from_prisons_to_deportation_flights%29

content:
<p>
The US deportation <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> extend their medical neglect for prisoners
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/19/ice-air-immigration-medical-negligence">from the prisons to the deportation flights</a>.


feed_id: 8c1bd9481dd536c60c12ec674d0e814e
title: Racing to demolish environmental protections
uri: Racing-to-demolish-environmental-protections
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#21_September_2020_%28Racing_to_demolish_environmental_protections%29

content:
<p>
The Environmental Poisoning Agency (formerly Environmental Protection Agency)
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/09/19/wildfires-trump-election-epa-environment/">races to demolish environmental protections</a>.

<p>
Republicans are fighting on every level to keep <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/19/america-deadly-wildfires-trump-inferno">the world moving
steadily to a deadly 7C if heating</a>.

<p>
Rebecca Solnit: Climate change, Covid – our hearts ache. But a new era
is possible. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/19/covid-climate-change-">We can do it</a>.


feed_id: 1f1dc29963778b7ea9fff7a6c6591de0
title: Anti-government protests
uri: Anti-government-protests
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#21_September_2020_%28Anti-government_protests%29
content:
<p>
*Thousands gather in Thailand <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/19/thousands-gather-in-thailand-for-anti-government-protest-bangkok">for anti-government protest</a>.*


feed_id: d7430e57ea4824969f6b644c5b56c9b4
title: AI on body cameras
uri: AI-on-body-cameras
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#21_September_2020_%28AI_on_body_cameras%29
content:
<p>
Using AI recognition systems on body cameras could be a powerful system
<a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90546743/ai-could-create-a-new-era-of-policing-reform-if-only-the-police-allowed-it">for teaching thugs to be less brutal</a>.
  However, it could also be a powerful system for repression of everyone
that comes into range of the camera.

<p>
To make body cameras serve and protect the people, rather than repress
the people, we need to make sure that they capture video and audio when they
should, and not when they shouldn't.  <a href="https://stallman.org/articles/when-should-body-cameras-record.html">I've made a technical proposal</a>
  for part of that, but we also need proper laws about publishing the
videos.

<p>
As for the idea that live monitoring of the video could enable a
deescalation specialist to intervene and prevent a killing, that might
have saved George Floyd.  But many killings by thugs occur <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2014-sep-dec.html#16_December_2014_(After_thugs_shot_John_Crawford)">when thugs
react without taking even a second to think</a>.
                                              There would be no time
to intervene, either.  Meanwhile, the live transmission would imply
transmitting the video all the time, which is wrong because most of the
time the video should not be saved at all.


feed_id: f9a88f5cf747446e9a807198dbfc0f15
title: Investigating Barr
uri: Investigating-Barr
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#21_September_2020_%28Investigating_Barr%29
content:
<p>
Congressional Democrats call for investigation of Barr <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/18/top-dems-demand-ig-probe-possible-illegal-election-influencing-favor-trump-william">for politicizing
his office as Attorney General</a>.

<p>
I don't know if this can have much effect.  <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#bully">The bully</a> has already
placed his officials are above the law by showing <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jan-apr.html#15_April_2020_(Firing_corruption_investigator)">that he will fire
any inspector general that tries to investigate their crimes</a>.


feed_id: ae1af3e0b434cbbbcb23ed3b0e4dbbff
title: Smoke from wildfires
uri: 2020-09-21-Smoke-from-wildfires
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#21_September_2020_%28Smoke_from_wildfires%29
content:
<p>
The smoke from wildfires, when breathed by pregnant women, <a href="https://theconversation.com/pregnant-women-should-take-extra-care-to-minimise-their-exposure-to-bushfire-smoke-129349#:~:text=Research">causes lasting
harm to their fetuses in later life</a>.

<p>
In some US states, women could be prosecuted for breathing the smoke.
  Perhaps millions of women would commit this "crime".

<p>
One could imagine prosecuting oil companies too, but the right-wing
officials in those states don't want to go after oil companies, only
women.


feed_id: ec2518a44f211c24cf7df86eaf610c48
title: Shutting down gangs outside cities
uri: Shutting-down-gangs-outside-cities
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Shutting_down_gangs_outside_cities%29

content:
<p>
UK cops report that they have learned <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/sep/20/new-tactics-against-county-lines-are-working-say-police">how to shut down the
gangs that sell cocaine and heroin outside cities</a>.

<p>
I congratulate them, because cocaine and heroin are dangerous, but
this focus on the punitive approach can't ever stop the sale of those
drugs.  As the article recognizes, someone else will always show up to
sell them.

<p>
What <em>will</em> make those drugs nearly disappear is to adopt a more
intelligent approach &mdash; the one that works in the Netherlands
  and in Portugal.

<p>
This approach is for the national medical system to let addicts
register, then give them drugs of reliable purity to use, and safe
places to use them.  When the main buyers are not buying from private
sellers, most of the market will disappear, and so will the private
selling.


feed_id: 916943fabdd2320b641ac54c85a68bfc
title: Double CO2 emissions
uri: Double-CO2-emissions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Double_CO2_emissions%29
content:
<p>
*World's richest 1% <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/21/worlds-richest-1-cause-double-co2-emissions-of-poorest-50-says-oxfam">cause double CO2 emissions of poorest 50%, says Oxfam</a>.*

<p>
However, I disagree with the recommendations.  Instead of "using the
carbon budget for the best," we must use as little of it as possible.

<p>
When we speak of the carbon budget, we are making an estimate of how
much more emissions we can make before a certain level of disaster.
We don't know exactly how much, and more emissions means a worse
disaster.  It is valid to say, "If we emit considerably more than the
carbon budget, we will make life horrible."  It is not valid to say,
"If we emit a little less than the carbon budget, we will be ok."

<p>
If we could be certain, absolutely certain, that we had done enough
to avoid disaster, perhaps at that point we could switch to the goal
of helping the poor.

<p>
But since disaster is already starting, it is pretty clear we have
already failed to do enough.  So we must do the most we can.

<p>
*The climate crisis will sweep away my country <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/21/the-climate-crisis-will-sweep-away-my-country-if-the-world-doesnt-keep-its-promises">if the world doesn't keep its
promises</a>.*

<p>
What we have to do for the people of many regions that are threatened
&mdash; many of whom are among the poorest 50% &mdash; is cut emissions ASAP.


feed_id: d7ede471675f7698fd5f24f766e54f71
title: Thugs dox
uri: Thugs-dox
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Thugs_dox%29
content:
<p>
Activists <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/20/hackers-leak-data-on-1000-belarusian-police-officers">doxed 1,000 Belarusian thugs</a>.

<p>
We don't know from the information in the article <a href="https://stallman.org/articles/on-hacking.html">whether they
are hackers</a>.
  We also don't know whether they are crackers &mdash; we don't
know whether they had to break computer security to get the data.

<p>
But I can say with certainty that they struck a good blow against
Lukashenko's tyranny.

<p>
Doxing someone is like a kind of violence.  Ordinarily, it is bad to
do violence to others, but there are situations where it is justified.
When the <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> are carrying out violent repression of dissidents,
it is justified for dissidents to respond with counter-violence.

<p>
It may or may not be a good tactic.  In this case, because doxing is a
warning rather than actual physical harm, I think it is a good tactic.


feed_id: 151f329416fc5b40b521c2e641c3c063
title: Walmart, Amazon and QAnon
uri: Walmart-Amazon-and-QAnon
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Walmart%2C_Amazon_and_QAnon%29
content:
<p>
Walmart and Amazon supported the campaign of a candidate <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/20/walmart-amazon-donated-tennessee-lawmaker-promoted-qanon">who promotes
the QAnon fantasy</a>.


feed_id: ce5d02bd14cec0065eb40826a2f6c422
title: Saudi nuclear bomb
uri: Saudi-nuclear-bomb
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Saudi_nuclear_bomb%29
content:
<p>
(<a href="https://www.theonion.com/u-s-officials-hurt-saudi-arabia-would-try-to-develop-n-1844636155">satire</a>) *U.S. officials told reporters
   Thursday they were hurt that Saudi Arabia would try to develop its own
   nuclear weapon rather than just asking nicely for one from America.*


feed_id: 58c067c573bd1ef6397f6216c8793ad4
title: Prisoners and wildfires
uri: Prisoners-and-wildfires
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Prisoners_and_wildfires%29
content:
<p>
California hires lots of prisoners to help fight wildfires.  But it is
hard for ex-prisoners to get a job to do this: fire departments
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/19/how-formerly-incarcerated-firefighters-are-getting-jobs-and-pay-they-deserve">exclude them because of their prison record</a>.


feed_id: 0edafee25caac0fd3ff3e9dc410a4de7
title: Advice to BP
uri: Advice-to-BP
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Advice_to_BP%29
content:
<p>
Advice to BP (Billionaire Polluters) if it is <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/19/will-bp-finally-succeed-moving-beyond-petroleum-survive-it-must">serious about
transitioning to green energy</a>.

<p>
Many oil companies are going bankrupt, and the rest face a dim future.
We can count on them to try to extract every last dollar from their
operations, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/19/dying-industry-leaving-deadly-legacy">leaving nothing to pay for the sealing of their wells</a>.

<p>
We need to pass laws to collect a substantial well-sealing tax
which will go into a fund to seal old wells.


feed_id: 951b43a5e8351d105c1148be6aaf0bfc
title: Giving away control to Corporations
uri: Giving-away-control-to-Corporations
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Giving_away_control_to_Corporations%29

content:
<p>
Ralph Nader: *Why Do Americans <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/19/why-do-americans-give-away-so-much-control-corporations">Give Away So Much Control to Corporations</a>?*

<p>
I disagree with Nader on one point.  The problem with giving personal
information to companies is not that they get it without paying.  It
is that they get it <em>at all</em>.  Simply having the data and using them
gives them power over people.  So don't be distracted by the proposals
to make them pay for the data, one way or another; they don't go far
enough.


feed_id: 480504f80107b573c907dc202c950647
title: One way or the other
uri: One-way-or-the-other
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28One_way_or_the_other%29
content:
<p>
Most of the US is in the zones to be affected by climate disaster, one
way or another.  If you don't get fires, or water shortage, you get
hurricanes or torrential raines.  <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/18/climate-floods-climate-droughts-climate-fires-interactive-map-illustrates-how">Here's a map</a>.


feed_id: 3f41f11e4b204ba73106938b9309d9f9
title: Education in prisons
uri: Education-in-prisons
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Education_in_prisons%29
content:
<p>
Lori Loughlin will serve her prison sentence in a prison near her new
home.  The prison has many educational programs, <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/09/lori-loughlin-prison-recreational-activities-college-admission-scandal">including creative skills
and job skills</a>.

<p>
All prisons should offer such lessons.  That is called
"rehabilitation" &mdash; a concept American prisons used to practice, but
forgot about under Reagan's spirit of cruelty.

<p>
Lori Loughlin does not need to learn a new trade, but many prisoners do,
and it can be the opportunity to change from a life of crime to a life
as a good citizen.

<p>
Is it silly to teach arts, including music?  Some prisoners can make
an emotional contact with an art and see that there is something in life
other than what you can get for yourself.

<p>
What bothers me is not that Ms Loughlin's prison has these things.
It is that so many prisons don't.

<p>
It would be fair to make wealthy prisoners pay for participating in
these programs &mdash; but that is dangerous, because it might lead to
charging poor prisoners for participating in them.  That we must not
do!


feed_id: 912b487fb13f976aa04b7260fcb11b72
title: Replacing Justice Ginsburg
uri: Replacing-Justice-Ginsburg
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Replacing_Justice_Ginsburg%29
content:
<p>
Democrats and progressives <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/19/ruth-bader-ginsburg-democrats-fight-trump-supreme-court">are pressuring Republicans not to try to
replace Justice Ginsburg this year</a>.

<p>
It may be possible to succeed.  Several Republican senators now running for
reelection are reported not to want to vote on this.

<p>
The issue of replacing Justice Ginsburg <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/19/ruth-bader-ginsburg-senate-presidential-election-trump-biden-collins-democrats-republicans">is boosting support
for Democrats in senate races</a>.

<p>
I am concerned that what Schumer and other Democrats are now saying &mdash;
"Appoint another justice now and we will expand the Supreme Court" &mdash;
might be interpreted as promising the converse: "Don't appoint another
justice now, and we won't expand the Supreme Court."  That worries me,
because we need to expand the Supreme Court.  We should do this to
cancel Gorsuch and Kavanaugh; we should do this to reverse
plutocratist decisions made before them, including <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2012-jan-apr.html#26_April_2012_(Right-wing_plutocrat)">the Corporations
United decision</a>

  and <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2013-may-aug.html#27_June_2013_(Supreme_Court_guts_the_Voting_Rights_Act)">the weakening of the Voting Rights Act</a>

  and <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2014-may-aug.html#02_July_2014_(Denial_of_access_to_contraception)">the decision that applied "religious freedom"
co companies</a>.


feed_id: 85631f805d22f011a437d6776bc07266
title: Making a demon of JK Rowling
uri: Making-a-demon-of-JK-Rowling
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Making_a_demon_of_JK_Rowling%29

content:
<p>
*Making a demon of JK Rowling is a wretched sport, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/20/making-a-demon-of-jk-rowling-is-a-wretched-sport-born-of-misogyny-and-resentment">born of misogyny and
resentment</a>.*

<p>
I continue to rebuke Rowling for <a href="https://stallman.org/harry-potter.html">her unjust lawsuit against
people who bought one of her books</a>,
  and since them I have refused on principle to buy any of her books.
But I do not hate her.  She does not deserve to be vilified based on
distortions of what she said.


feed_id: 7101ea59f1a648013fca66092cf18b5e
title: Prosecution of soldiers
uri: Prosecution-of-soldiers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Prosecution_of_soldiers%29
content:
<p>
Bogus Johnson is proposing to create <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/20/overseas-operations-bill-uk-government-bend-rules-torture-soldiers">three new obstacles against
prosecuting UK soldiers for war crimes including torture</a>.

<p>
Fortunately the International Criminal Court will be able to prosecute them
if the British government does not try.

<p>
No army is immune to the temptation to vent anger through war crimes.
If a country protects its own soldiers from charges, it in effect
encourages war crimes.  The world is full of bad examples; the UK has
been a good example until now.


feed_id: 8adf035e922ce5c95ed67bd6c7eeafe9
title: Bringing back normal
uri: Bringing-back-normal
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Bringing_back_normal%29
content:
<p>
*A Biden victory <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/19/joe-biden-victory-normal-hard-right">cannot bring normal back</a>.*

<p>
Even if it could, that would hardly be desirable except in contrast to
the present.  The old "normal" was pretty bad for most Americans, and
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#climate">climate mayhem</a> is making it rapidly worse.

<p>
The article uses the non-US definition of "liberalism", meaning
deregulation of business.  In the US, "liberalism" is the term we have
used for many decades for the agenda now more often called "progressive".

<p>
Medical care for all has been a liberal program since the New Deal.
Likewise workers' rights, and support for the poor.  By the 1960s it
included racial equality.  By the 70s, it included women's equality,
gay rights, and eliminating pollution.

<p>
Why, I wonder, does anyone think to define the term "liberal" to refer
to self-styled "centrists" such as right-wing Democrats?


feed_id: edf98365efc069731bfd0620c02acbba
title: Mass arrests of protesting women
uri: Mass-arrests-of-protesting-women
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Mass_arrests_of_protesting_women%29

content:
<p>
Lukashenko's thugs <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/19/hundreds-of-women-detained-during-belarus-protest-march-alexander-lukashenko">are now trying mass arrests of protesting women</a>.


feed_id: 2224fc0329eaeedb224f71501106d11e
title: Urgent: Investigate attacks by thugs on BLM protesters in Wisconsin
uri: Urgent-Investigate-attacks-by-thugs-on-BLM-protesters-in-Wisconsin
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Urgent%3A_Investigate_attacks_by_thugs_on_BLM_protesters_in_Wisconsin%29

content:
<p>

Everyone: call on Wisconsin Attorney General Kaul to <a href="https://go.peoplepower.org/letter/tell-attorney-general-josh-kaul-investigate-police-misconduct-protests/">investigate
attacks by thugs on BLM protesters</a>.


feed_id: 698af56abfba254153c8de241f2c9715
title: Urgent: End oil drilling in California
uri: Urgent-End-oil-drilling-in-California
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Urgent%3A_End_oil_drilling_in_California%29

content:
<p>

Everyone: call on California Governor Newsom to <a href="https://act.350.org/signup/newsom-demands-20200918/">end oil drilling
in that state</a>.


feed_id: 39c2bde1e52ac394535c71d60f9bd98e
title: UK woman fired from her job at a school for posting same-sex marriage disapproval
uri: UK-woman-fired-from-her-job-at-a-school-for-posting-same-sex-marriage
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28UK_woman_fired_from_her_job_at_a_school_for_posting_same-sex_marriage_disapproval%29

content:
<p>

A woman in the UK was fired from her job at a school for posting,
elsewhere, a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/21/woman-fights-sacking-for-objecting-to-sons-lgbtq-classes">statement disapproving of same-sex marriage</a>.

<p>
I disagree with her views, but we must respect her right to state
them.  Her employer should have to respect that, too.
<p>
As it happens, she made the statement based on her religion, but that
should make no difference.  An Atheist should also have the same right to
state those views, or other views, as a religious believer.


feed_id: 9cb9f54b0cb2ac7f9977cc51b750641e
title: Funders of the State Policy Network
uri: Funders-of-the-State-Policy-Network
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Funders_of_the_State_Policy_Network%29

content:
<p>

The State Policy Network aims at *crushing unions, promoting fossil
fuels and undermining climate science, eliminating regulations and
cutting taxes, privatizing education, stopping Medicaid expansion, and
hiding the identities of political donors.* <a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2020/09/21/more-than-100-funders-state-policy-network-revealed/">Now we know 100 of its funders.</a>
<p>
It would be useful to develop a consumer boycott list based on this
information.


feed_id: 936b78b050638acb895f3c539343f598
title: Cyprus blocked the EU from putting sanctions on Belarus
uri: Cyprus-blocked-the-EU-from-putting-sanctions-on-Belarus
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Cyprus_blocked_the_EU_from_putting_sanctions_on_Belarus%29

content:
<p>

Cyprus <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/21/eu-fails-agree-belarus-sanctions-cyprus-blocks-plan">blocked the EU from putting sanctions on Belarus</a>, using the issue
as a pawn.
<p>
Cyprus demands the EU take its side in the dispute about which country will
get to extract fossil fuel from the Mediterranean Sea and convert it
into planet-roasting greenhouse gas.  It seems that the EU does not recognize
that it must never be done.  Why not?
<p>
There are many low-lying coastal cities in Turkey, which will be
inundated by <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#global heating">global heating</a>.  I don't think Turks want them to be
flooded.  Don't they realize?


feed_id: 4059b7c0aa7588f74b869ba8a108245c
title: 156 countries agree to Covid vaccine allocation deal
uri: 156-countries-agree-to-Covid-vaccine-allocation-deal
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28156_countries_agree_to_Covid_vaccine_allocation_deal%29

content:
<p>

*'Landmark moment': 156 countries <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/sep/21/landmark-moment-156-countries-agree-to-covid-vaccine-allocation-deal">agree to Covid vaccine allocation
deal</a>.* People who are particularly vulnerable, due to their conditions
or their work, will get priority.

In the US, rich people will be first.


feed_id: 9325891a2c321d839af66c35c0b5ad0c
title: Alexei Navalny demands Russia return the clothes he was wearing
uri: Alexei-Navalny-demands-Russia-return-the-clothes-he-was-wearing
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Alexei_Navalny_demands_Russia_return_the_clothes_he_was_wearing%29

content:
<p>

Alexei Navalny demands Russia <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/21/labs-found-novichok-in-and-on-my-body-says-alexei-navalny-russia">return the clothes he was wearing</a> when
he was poisoned, as evidence.


feed_id: 2bcf47a0386abd1b7a46b2b6e3dd3287
title: Half of the world's known oil reserves will never be used
uri: Half-of-the-world-s-known-oil-reserves-will-never-be-used
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Half_of_the_world%27s_known_oil_reserves_will_never_be_used%29

content:
<p>

BP has <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/09/16/bp-drops-cluster-bomb-big-oil/">confirmed</a> that half the world's known oil reserves will never be used
and are worthless.  This article speculates about political
consequences.
<p>
The article also talks about reviving carbon capture, but that
technology was only hypothetical.  If it is ever made to work, let's
do it, but don't pretend it is available technology.
<p>
The plan to make hydrogen from methane is misguided.
Methane wells leak lots of methane.  Transporting methane
leaks too.  To add to that, making <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/sep/21/airbus-reveals-plans-zero-emission-aircraft-fuelled-hydrogen">hydrogen from natural gas releases CO2</a>! That is a bad way to make hydrogen.
<p>
As for the idea that there is something wasteful about using green
electricity to make hydrogen, that would make sense if we were hitting
a limit on supply of solar and wind energy.  The real limit is how much
of those facilities we build, and we can ramp that up.
<p>
Meanwhile, how come Greece, Cyprus and Turkey are still fighting about
possible oil reserves under the sea?  Have they not grasped this news?
Or is there something not known to me, nor described in the article,
which makes those new undersea reserves worth something despite
all the other known reserves that won't be used?


feed_id: fbf6f3b8ecb1436ceb8bd7dcb8ebaf6d
title: Yelp is screwing over restaurants
uri: Yelp-is-screwing-over-restaurants
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Yelp_is_screwing_over_restaurants%29

content:
<p>

*Yelp is <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wjwebw/yelp-is-sneakily-replacing-restaurants-phone-numbers-so-grubhub-can-take-a-cut">Screwing Over Restaurants</a> By Quietly Replacing Their Phone Numbers.*
The phone numbers add tracking before connecting to a restaurant, so
that Grubhub can bill for a marketing fee.


feed_id: 410ecc4136e279264335e6308e8568f2
title: Fight against monopolies and tax havens
uri: Fight-against-monopolies-and-tax-havens
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Fight_against_monopolies_and_tax_havens%29

content:
<p>

The global <a href="https://www.taxjustice.net/2019/11/01/if-tax-havens-scare-you-monopolies-should-too-and-vice-versa/">fight against monopolies and tax havens</a> is picking up.
<p>
The article also reminds us that the fight against excessive market
concentration is not limited to blocking mergers and breaking up large
companies.  Though we need to do a lot of that, and my <a href="https://stallman.org/articles/progressive-tax-on-business-gross-income.html">tax proposal</a>
can help.


feed_id: 46deb9d74256d8068d51913ff479593b
title: Israeli Parliament votes down equality for Palestinian-Israelis
uri: Israeli-Parliament-votes-down-equality-for-Palestinian-Israelis
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Israeli_Parliament_votes_down_equality_for_Palestinian-Israelis%29

content:
<p>

*Affirming Jim Crow, Israeli Parliament <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/20/affirming-jim-crow-israeli-parliament-votes-down-bill-guaranteeing-equality">Votes Down Bill</a> Guaranteeing Equality
for Palestinian-Israelis.*


feed_id: fe01afe349761be34a8976e0cb1645f4
title: Right-wing scapegoating parties
uri: Right-wing-scapegoating-parties
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Right-wing_scapegoating_parties%29

content:
<p>

Right-wing scapegoating parties are doing very well against
plutocratist parties, since plutocratists around the world have
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/20/death-neoliberalism">crushed and silenced the left</a>.


feed_id: 4d4151c263957338698e510b5a138f3d
title: Republicans aren't hypocrites
uri: Republicans-aren-t-hypocrites
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Republicans_aren%27t_hypocrites%29

content:
<p>

<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/20/republicans-arent-hypocrites-lesson-power-aftermath-rbgs-death">*Republicans Aren't Hypocrites.*</a> To be a hypocrite, you have to stand
for principles.
<p>
According to this article, Republicans are cynics that don't care
about any political positions, except as ways to give their supporters
enemies to win victories over.


feed_id: 600186381d137b5e00f9eb6737e76698
title: Friday school climate strikes
uri: Friday-school-climate-strikes
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Friday_school_climate_strikes%29

content:
<p>

Friday school climate strikes are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/21/schoolchildren-strike-climate-emergency">starting again</a>.


feed_id: 49d46e982a76e22b3ff7c718e6b61693
title: Offending China with reporting on repression
uri: Offending-China-with-reporting-on-repression
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Offending_China_with_reporting_on_repression%29

content:
<p>

In 2018, China threatened to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/21/chinese-authorities-threatened-to-detain-abc-journalists-14-year-old-daughter">imprison</a> Australian journalist Matthew
Carney, and his wife, and their teenage daughter &mdash; separately &mdash; for
a fabricated visa crime, for offending China with his reporting on
repression.
<p>
Carney kept silent about this until now for the safety of other
Australian journalists.
<p>
Both the US and China have imprisoned whole families, often separating
children and teenagers from their parents.  I don't know which country
does this more often.  There are not very many foreign journalists in
China but there are millions of Uighurs.
<p>
Another similarity is that both countries do this as part of a
campaign to attack truth.
<p>
But the US does not do this to foreign journalists.  It is trying to
imprison Julian Assange, which is evil, but it is not trying to
imprison his mate and their children.


feed_id: e4f54c340fb453a3d8edde9be66ddcf5
title: Alaska community changed forever by climate change
uri: Alaska-community-changed-forever-by-climate-change
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Alaska_community_changed_forever_by_climate_change%29

content:
<p>

*I'm 18 and can already see my Alaska community <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/21/sitka-alaska-community-changed-forever-climate-change-cora-dow">changed forever</a> by climate
change.*


feed_id: dfce2f4d37dad342b50e1b5f863c2239
title: Meet the doomers
uri: Meet-the-doomers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Meet_the_doomers%29
content:
<p>

*Meet the doomers: why some young US voters have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/21/meet-the-doomers-some-young-us-voters-have-given-up-hope-on-climate">given up hope on climate</a>.*
<p>
I agree with their estimation of our future.  But they are wrong to
give up the fight because of the situation.
<p>
They are right that avoiding disaster calls for big national efforts
which current governments refuse to do.  (I call them "planet
roasters" because of that refusal.)  And it is too late to fully avoid
the disaster.
<p>
But it is not too late to avoid part of the disaster.  If 20% of
species go extinct, instead of 50%, that will be a great conservation
achievement.  If heating kills 8 billion people in this century rather
that 11 billion, that will mean saving 3 billion human lives.
<p>
Whatever we achieve in preservation of democracy and human rights will
also make a lasting difference, if civilization survives.
<p>
Fortunately, some of the young people are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/21/student-climate-protesters-urge-universities-carbon-neutral-">not giving up</a>.
<p>
Whatever universities do by 2030, or by 2050, will not make a big
difference <em>directly</em>.  But pressuring universities into rapid action
can lead to broader actions that are bigger.


feed_id: 6e57c7c26484e03450940990a1184448
title: Immigrant rights groups urge senators to block Iris Lan's nomination
uri: Immigrant-rights-groups-urge-senators-to-block-Iris-Lan-s-nomination
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Immigrant_rights_groups_urge_senators_to_block_Iris_Lan%27s_nomination%29

content:
<p>

*Immigrant rights groups urge New York senators to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/21/calls-to-block-iris-lan-court-seat-role-trump-child-separation-policy">block Iris Lan’s
nomination</a> to serve as a federal judge in the southern district.*
<p>
I hope they can do so, but Republicans have already disregarded that
traditional Senate practice.


feed_id: 8b05d0001073b47451a54617af50ee6e
title: Australia's mining companies destroying ancient sites
uri: Australia-s-mining-companies-destroying-ancient-sites
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Australia%27s_mining_companies_destroying_ancient_sites%29

content:
<p>

Australia's laws give mining companies great license to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/21/mining-companies-have-operated-with-a-free-rein-and-few-consequences-for-too-long">destroy
ancient sites</a> with their mines.  One might think they were designed to
do that.
<p>
I am not persuaded by the "sacred site" argument, because no religion
deserves special deference from people who are not its adherents.
Every church is someone's "sacred site", but that should not protect
all churches from eminent domain and demolition.  (For the same
reason, I do not call priests "father".)  What we owe to other
people's religions, in general, is to respect people's right to
practice their religions.
<p>
What is special about these sites is not that someone's religion calls
them "sacred," but that they are irreplaceable relics from humanity's
past.  That applies to some churches and other religious buildings and
objects, too.  Typically those are already protected, except that
sometimes fanatical religion attacks them.


feed_id: 7e22721dc7c93fdfd61c15876bec3ef9
title: The QAnon fantasy
uri: The-QAnon-fantasy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28The_QAnon_fantasy%29
content:
<p>

The QAnon fantasy enables right-wing believers to feel they are protecting
innocent children.  Alas, the protect those children from a fantasy danger
which distracts people from the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/20/qanon-conspiracy-child-abuse-truth-trump">real source</a> of real sexual abuse.
<p>
The QAnon fantasy resembles a cancer in the body of knowledge.  Just
as cancer cells have become disconnected from the rules and needs of
the body they are supposed to be part of, QAnonsense beliefs are
disconnected from the body of real knowledge and real society's real
needs.  Whatever variant appeals more to the susceptible, will spread.
<p>
This jamming together of conspiracies reminds me of a great work of
fiction from the 1970s: the Illuminatus trilogy.  It presents a
fictional world in which every well-known conspiracy theory of the day
is posited as true, and weaves them together by inventing connections
that are literally consistent but shockingly implausible.
<p>
For instance, three assassins had separately gone to Dallas to shoot
President Kennedy, and the agent who was there to save Kennedy &mdash; John
Dillinger &mdash; decided he couldn't possibly stop all three, except by
shooting Kennedy before they did.  Completely preposterous, but it
wasn't meant to be believed.
<p>
What was delightful absurdity as fiction in Illuminatus becomes a
dangerous delusion when taken seriously by the credulous.


feed_id: 3687398aea416c5f64fa7f2916a00331
title: Two expert witnesses in Assange's hearing
uri: Two-expert-witnesses-in-Assange-s-hearing
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Two_expert_witnesses_in_Assange%27s_hearing%29

content:
<p>

On the <a href="https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/09/your-man-in-the-public-gallery-assange-hearing-day-7/">testimony of two expert witnesses</a> in Assange's hearing.
<p>
Clive Stafford Smith, a lawyer who defends the rights of people faced
with torture and assassination by the US government and campaigns
against those activities, testified about cases that had been helped
Wikileaks releases, and about how US trials about publication of
secrets really work, and explained that the indictment included a
charge of "conspiracy" for which everything Wikileaks released, which
had come from Manning, would be pertinent.
<p>
One thing that amazed me was his assertion that Obama had decided not
to prosecute Assange.  This amazed me because Obama certainly did not
call off the teams that were keeping him bottled up in the Ecuadorian
embassy.  It has been thoroughly established that Sweden and the UK
were manipulating the Swedish charges rather than trying honestly to
pursue them.
<p>
Mark Feldstein, an expert on journalistic practices, testified about
how journalists ask source for leaks of secrets and how they protect
the leakers.  He said that the things Assange is accused of doing were
standard practice.
<p>
The witnesses had prepared based on the old indictment and have been
denied a chance to study the new one carefully, as described in a
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#19_September_2020_(Julian_Assange's_hearing_has_resumed)">previous report</a>.


feed_id: aae8dabcfc2c457bfc738803a83a7fa4
title: Adjunct professors
uri: Adjunct-professors
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#23_September_2020_%28Adjunct_professors%29
content:
<p>
Covid-19 has made adjunct professors <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/09/20/metro/pandemic-deepens-great-divide-academia/">even more likely to be junct</a>.
  They also fear losing their medical insurance, although many of them
already have none.  If they get sick, they can be fired rather than treated.

<p>
They would not have that danger if the US had a national medical
system.  In general, a national medical system can encourage hiring
workers because the state can fund their medical treatment by taxing
profits rather than taxing employment.


feed_id: 65e2e998c4fa649857d7c92ac624de16
title: Cat and mouse
uri: Cat-and-mouse
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#23_September_2020_%28Cat_and_mouse%29
content:
<p>
Matthew Carney recounts more of the Chinese psychological game of cat
and mouse, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-21/matthew-carney-foreign-journalist-china-intimidation-birtles/12678610">threatening him and his family</a>.

<p>
You may have a mission to do in China which is so important that you
take the risk of being thrown in prison for political reasons.  But
don't bring your family with you!


feed_id: abd9d4c936fbac20202ae69ed26e69bd
title: Dirty Cash
uri: Dirty-Cash
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#23_September_2020_%28Dirty_Cash%29
content:
<p>
*Calls for Major Reforms After Leaked Docs Detail How Big Banks <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/21/calls-major-reforms-after-leaked-docs-detail-how-big-banks-help-criminals-and">Help Criminals
and Oligarchs Launder Their 'Dirty Cash'</a>.*


feed_id: f8ee1f9673d471116820c42262788d21
title: Covid-19 and aerosols
uri: Covid-19-and-aerosols
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#23_September_2020_%28Covid-19_and_aerosols%29
content:
<p>
The CDC posted notice that Covid-19 can be spread via aerosols.  Then,
a few days later, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/21/very-likely-scandal-demands-answers-cdc-abruptly-deletes-guidance-airborne-spread">it deleted that notice</a>.

<p>
Can anyone find the evidence about spread via aerosols?


feed_id: 9826f882fca000e5e142fe6a0972a141
title: Climate emergency is a crime
uri: Climate-emergency-is-a-crime
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#23_September_2020_%28Climate_emergency_is_a_crime%29

content:
<p>
*The Climate Emergency Isn't Just a Crisis, It's a Crime.*
The fossil fuel companies <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/21/climate-emergency-isnt-just-crisis-its-crime">are the mobsters that organized the crime</a>.

<p>
Clean energy makes more jobs than dirty energy, but "creating jobs" <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/21/fracking-not-sustainable-pathway-prosperity-new-report-shows-clean-energy-would">is used
as an excuse for subsidizing the latter</a>.

<p>
A heavily subsidized Shell plant <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/09/21/fracking-and-petrochemicals-create-fewer-pennsylvania-jobs-clean-energy">is an example of this</a>.

<p>
I have to point out, though, that employment is a secondary
consideration when the survival of civilization and the ecosphere is
at stake.  What would be the sense in paying people to poison our
future, even if it did make lots of jobs?

<p>
It would be better to create jobs by paying them to move a big pile of
gravel from one lot to another, with shovels.  At least that work
wouldn't do any harm.


feed_id: e2f2ef34ba5fa607abb0e075fbf0140e
title: Working against women's rights
uri: Working-against-women-s-rights
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#23_September_2020_%28Working_against_womens_rights%29

content:
<p>
*AT&T, Coca Cola, Disney, Nike, Procter & Gamble and Uber
   all target female consumers and promote women-friendly work
   environments, yet <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/09/21/new-corporate-accountability-campaign-puts-six-major-companies-notice-anti">they bankroll candidates who actively work against
   women’s rights</a>.*


feed_id: 44255f17f1948b8fc07ecf37067bd4f9
title: Health security
uri: Health-security
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#23_September_2020_%28Health_security%29
content:
<p>
*We need to create <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/22/coronavirus-global-novel-virus-world-health">a new framework for health
   security</a>.*


feed_id: 5f244563e56012d9259036c8c1dc900a
title: Control of state legislatures
uri: Control-of-state-legislatures
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#23_September_2020_%28Control_of_state_legislatures%29

content:
<p>
Republicans put a lot of effort, 10 years ago, into winning control of
state legislatures so they could gerrymander subsequent elections.
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/22/democrats-state-legislative-elections-democracy">Democrats need to win them back</a>.


feed_id: 85c42ec870c72fd727814691ea291906
title: Tuning distancing rules
uri: Tuning-distancing-rules
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#23_September_2020_%28Tuning_distancing_rules%29
content:
<p>
Bogus Johnson has tuned the distancing rules for the UK, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/22/coronavirus-boris-johnson-sets-out-new-covid-restrictions-at-perilous-turning-point">hoping this
will stop the rapid growth in Covid-19 cases</a>.

<p>
Experience with him suggests that he has no solid basis to think that
it will do so.  I don't have a solid basis to think it won't, but
since tuning has been insufficient in many other places, I predict it
will be insufficient this time too.


feed_id: bf99e3035f3cc863568c14004664ccfc
title: Paying fines of ex-cons
uri: Paying-fines-of-ex-cons
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#23_September_2020_%28Paying_fines_of_ex-cons%29
content:
<p>
Bloomberg is paying the fines for 31,000 Florida ex-cons <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/22/mike-bloomberg-florida-felons-vote-election">so that they
will be able to vote this year</a>.

<p>
It should not be forgotten that the Florida election was not actually
close.  It appeared to be so after Republicans disenfranchised around
50,000 voters, chosen systematically in a way that ensured most of
them would be black and therefore probably Democrats.


feed_id: 378e545dee27ba9b707c234f57af8587
title: Tasing sleeping man
uri: Tasing-sleeping-man
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#23_September_2020_%28Tasing_sleeping_man%29
content:
<p>
Australian <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> found a man drunk and asleep, so they pepper-sprayed
and tased him to wake him up.  Then they made false charges against
him.  So far, so usual.  Except that he was a famous professional
rugby player <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/22/nsw-police-commissioner-sympathetic-to-officers-who-tasered-nrl-player-curtis-scott-while-unconscious">and there is a video of what they did to him</a>.

<p>
The <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thug</a> commissioner seems to have a great capacity to sympathize
with <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a>, but insufficient sympathy for everyone else.  I was
surprised that his list of ways to deal with the situation did not
include having four people pick him up, each holding one limb.  That
doesn't generally hurt, and he might have stayed asleep.


feed_id: f4098693b5d6912543b47d4f3b8cd91f
title: Underwater country
uri: Underwater-country
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#23_September_2020_%28Underwater_country%29
content:
<p>
*A third of my country (Bangladesh) was just underwater. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2020/sep/22/climate-change-action-bangladesh-paris-agreemen">The world must act on climate</a>.*


feed_id: 6d0f2f3f6fff5d4b480505fc7b136ded
title: Uber for evicting people
uri: Uber-for-evicting-people
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#23_September_2020_%28Uber_for_evicting_people%29
content:
<p>
*Gig Economy Company Launches (a company like) Uber, <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ep435n/gig-economy-company-launches-uber-but-for-evicting-people">but for Evicting People</a>.*


feed_id: b3037c9afea4f32947b7fbece424ba76
title: Exporting castes
uri: Exporting-castes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#23_September_2020_%28Exporting_castes%29
content:
<p>
Many upper-caste Indian engineers have moved to the US.  Alas, <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/indias-ancient-caste-system-is-ruining-lives-in-the-valley/">they
have brought caste prejudice with them</a>.

<p>
The Indian I admire most is Dr Ambedkar, who was the leader of the
Dalits.  I urge people to read a biography of him.  The one I read was
Ambedkar &mdash; Toward an Enlightened India, by Gail Omvedt.

<p>
Please do not buy this (or anything) <a href="https://stallman.org/amazon.html">from Amazon</a>!

<p>
At the end of his life, Ambedkar developed a rationalist form of Buddhism
which he called Navayana.

<p>
Jai Bhim!


feed_id: 39bd39d589867bdb491e0af706c6835c
title: Mistrusting water
uri: Mistrusting-water
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#23_September_2020_%28Mistrusting_water%29
content:
<p>
*'It smells bad, it tastes bad': <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/22/martin-county-kentucky-tap-water">how Americans stopped trusting their water</a>.*


feed_id: c11b0960b932bf093976f557de587229
title: Coronavirus inflicts American deaths equivalent to a 9/11 every few days
uri: Coronavirus-inflicts-American-deaths-equivalent-to-a-9-11-every-few-da
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#24_September_2020_%28Coronavirus_inflicts_American_deaths_equivalent_to_a_9%252F11_every_few_days%29

content:
<p>

*   Coronavirus inflicts American deaths <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/22/america-covid-deaths-coronavirus-culture">equivalent to a 9/11 every few
days</a>, but [the wrecker] and his allies seem blithely unconcerned.*
<p>
Republicans don't care if other people die, but in 2001 they had a
chance to gain by making a fuss about some Americans who died.
Whereas today they have a chance to gain by pretending it isn't
happening.


feed_id: d3b2a310ed0cf47126b1f92e89754794
title: EU greenhouse gases from livestock
uri: EU-greenhouse-gases-from-livestock
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#24_September_2020_%28EU_greenhouse_gases_from_livestock%29

content:
<p>

*Greenpeace says [the EU] must get a grip on <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/22/eu-farm-animals-produce-more-emissions-than-cars-and-vans-combined-greenpeace">reducing greenhouse gases</a> from
livestock or risk missing Paris agreement targets.*


feed_id: 89d82500b8a0d2e7b3474153a99d9c64
title: Austin, Texas voted to cut the thug department's budget
uri: Austin-Texas-voted-to-cut-the-thug-department-s-budget
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#24_September_2020_%28Austin%2C_Texas_voted_to_cut_the_thug_department%27s_budget%29

content:
<p>

Austin, Texas, voted to <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/09/22/texas-austin-police-militarization-budget/">cut the thug department's budget</a>.  Texas
Governor Abbott threatens to cut Austin's taxes as a punishment for
this, and put the city's <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thug</a> department under the control of the lawless and cruel state thug department.
<p>
The article starts by describing how the state <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> attacked Lauren
Mestas.  Her car had slogans such as FUCK THESE RACIST POLICE, and
"all cops are bastards."  A <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thug</a> was so offended by this that he
believed he was entitled to bring many <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> to point guns at her,
then force her out of the car, which they ruined &dash; demonstrating that
at least Texas state cops are bastards.


feed_id: 9dfa399ebc218712d2f026bfd0ba24bd
title: Chine's insufficient pledge to be carbon-neutral
uri: Chine-s-insufficient-pledge-to-be-carbon-neutral
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#24_September_2020_%28Chine%27s_insufficient_pledge_to_be_carbon-neutral%29

content:
<p>

China has made a glaringly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/22/china-pledges-to-reach-carbon-neutrality-before-2060">insufficient</a> pledge to be carbon-neutral by
2060.


feed_id: 2803dd149fefe9bbe235c7367a37a5d6
title: Counting valid postal ballots
uri: Counting-valid-postal-ballots
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#24_September_2020_%28Counting_valid_postal_ballots%29

content:
<p>

The cheater hopes courts will <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/21/trump-says-he-counting-federal-court-system-declare-winner-election-night-many">stop states from counting valid postal ballots</a>
that arrive after election day.
<p>
By itself, this is merely unfair.  But when combined with DeJoy's
efforts to delay mail, it adds up to sabotage.


feed_id: 3d1b8259fa27dda76982ff0dbbc4da4f
title: Use 'Every Procedural Tool Available' to stop Trump from filling RBG vacancy
uri: Use-Every-Procedural-Tool-Available-to-stop-Trump-from-filling-RBG-v
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#24_September_2020_%28Use_%27Every_Procedural_Tool_Available%27_to_stop_Trump_from_filling_RBG_vacancy%29

content:
<p>

*Ocasio-Cortez Demands Democrats Use 'Every Procedural Tool Available' to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/21/ocasio-cortez-demands-democrats-use-every-procedural-tool-available-stop-trump">Stop
Trump From Filling RBG Vacancy</a>.*
<p>
I completely agree.


feed_id: ba6fb585f0a7647a534ef0b9a16a2916
title: 18 years in prison
uri: 18-years-in-prison
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#24_September_2020_%2818_years_in_prison%29
content:
<p>
18 years in prison <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/22/ren-zhiqiang-who-called-chinese-president-a-clown-jailed-for-18-years">for criticizing Xi</a>.


feed_id: c511d03f05c378c4b4fd754942156586
title: Plotting violence ahead of rallies
uri: Plotting-violence-ahead-of-rallies
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#24_September_2020_%28Plotting_violence_ahead_of_rallies%29

content:
<p>
*Revealed: pro-Trump activists <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/23/oregon-portland-pro-trump-protests-violence-texts">plotted violence ahead of Portland rallies</a>.*

<p>
*Patriots Coalition members suggested political assassinations and said
‘laws will be broken, people will get hurt’, leaked chats show.*

<p>
We all suspected this, but we could not be sure.  Now we know
that the <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#bully">bully</a>'s supporters are a criminal gang.


feed_id: 377d058ca5205ed3329af26583cb3aa5
title: Assange extradition hearings
uri: Assange-extradition-hearings
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#24_September_2020_%28Assange_extradition_hearings%29

content:
<p>
I have not had time to keep up with Craig Murray's coverage of
Julian Assange's extradition hearings, so here are the links.

<p>
<a href="https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/09/your-man-in-the-public-gallery-assange-hearing-day-8/">Day 8</a>.

<p>
<a href="https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/09/your-man-in-the-public-gallery-assange-hearing-day-9/">Day 9</a>.

<p>
<a href="https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/09/your-man-in-the-public-gallery-assange-hearing-day-10/">Day 10</a>.

<p>
<a href="https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/09/your-man-in-the-public-gallery-assange-hearing-day-11/">Day 11</a>.

<p>
<a href="https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/09/your-man-in-the-public-gallery-assange-hearing-day-12/">Day 12</a>.

<p>
<a href="https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/09/your-man-in-the-public-gallery-assange-hearing-day-13/">Day 13</a>.
<p>

<a href="https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/09/your-man-in-the-public-gallery-assange-hearing-day-14/">Day 14</a>.

<p>
<a href="https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/09/your-man-in-the-public-gallery-assange-hearing-day-15/">Day 15</a>.


feed_id: d25bea703c0ffbd6c2f244c2e2c99d7b
title: 2C of global heating
uri: 2020-09-24-2C-of-global-heating
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#24_September_2020_%282C_of_global_heating%29
content:
<p>
After 2C of global heating, Antarctic ice melt <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/23/melting-antarctic-ice-will-raise-sea-level-by-25-metres-even-if-paris-climate-goals-are-met-study-finds">would raise sea level
2.7 meters</a>.

<p>
That would be in addition to the effects of melting in Greenland and
the expansion of the ocean due to its own heating.  I don't know
what the total would be.


feed_id: 6207678ae7cc0617f0c1483ed067a10a
title: Freedom to blaspheme
uri: Freedom-to-blaspheme
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#24_September_2020_%28Freedom_to_blaspheme%29
content:
<p>
French journalists unite to back Charlie Hebdo <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/23/french-journalists-unite-to-back-charlie-hebdo-after-death-threats">and the freedom
to blaspheme</a>.


feed_id: 0056439af5ffe27853c08191ade5e284
title: Weird burning sensation
uri: Weird-burning-sensation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#24_September_2020_%28Weird_burning_sensation%29
content:
<p>
(<a href="https://www.theonion.com/earth-hopes-weird-burning-sensation-nothing-serious-1845131166">satire</a>) *Earth reportedly expressed hope Tuesday that a weird
   burning sensation was nothing serious.*


feed_id: 268d31ff1bca9a516be69f2e324e9004
title: Sandwich method
uri: Sandwich-method
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#24_September_2020_%28Sandwich_method%29
content:
<p>
(<a href="https://politics.theonion.com/xi-jinping-jails-chinese-tycoon-for-failing-to-use-sand-1845142504">satire</a>) *&hellip; Xi Jinping jailed Chinese real estate tycoon Ren
   Zhiqiang Tuesday for failing to use the sandwich method of
   constructive criticism when condemning him.*


feed_id: 3632289018255ece6cfb724b1284eb13
title: Amnesty denied access
uri: Amnesty-denied-access
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#24_September_2020_%28Amnesty_denied_access%29
content:
<p>
Amnesty International rebukes the UK <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/22/why-are-amnesty-international-monitors-not-able-observe-assange-hearing">for denying it access to monitor
Assange's extradition hearing</a>.

<p>
If it were not for Craig Murray's coverage, the hearing would be
effectively secret.  This is what we expect from outright tyrannies
such as China, but apparently the UK is approaching the same level of
decay.


feed_id: 0d71bac1ba4cf7214efffb56d341c21c
title: Scope of Pebble Mine
uri: Scope-of-Pebble-Mine
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#24_September_2020_%28Scope_of_Pebble_Mine%29
content:
<p>
The developers of the Pebble Mine in Alaska pretend it will be 5
square miles, which is merely large, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/22/secretly-recorded-pebble-tapes-mining-execs-reveal-true-scope-200-year-project">but what they say in private is
that it will be enormous</a>.


feed_id: 37321ca34e9f2026d749e034bbf54398
title: Tapping phones of protesters
uri: Tapping-phones-of-protesters
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#24_September_2020_%28Tapping_phones_of_protesters%29

content:
<p>
*If Report Proven, ACLU Says Federal Agents Tapping Phones of Protesters <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/22/if-report-proven-aclu-says-federal-agents-tapping-phones-protesters-would-be">Would
Be 'Outrageous' Constitutional Violation</a>.*


feed_id: a117fd0f83634992e9dd295c8e5d1de6
title: Derecognizing journalists
uri: Derecognizing-journalists
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#24_September_2020_%28Derecognizing_journalists%29
content:
<p>
Hong Kong's puppet government has derecognized most journalists,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/23/hong-kong-police-tighten-control-on-media-with-new-accreditation-rules">as a preparatory step for repression</a>.

<p>
Remember this if politicians in your country try to impose rules about
who is a journalist and who is not.  For instance, if they claim that
Julian Assange is not a journalist.


feed_id: 85509f383eef42441c489942b951f1bb
title: QAnon orphans
uri: QAnon-orphans
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#24_September_2020_%28QAnon_orphans%29
content:
<p>
*The QAnon orphans: people <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/23/qanon-conspiracy-theories-loved-ones">who have lost loved ones to conspiracy theories</a>.*

<p>
Cults like these used to be run as businesses: Scientology, and the
Moonies.  As far as I know, there is no one business profiting off
QAnon.  But with so many credulous people, I'm sure there are people
with plans to profit off exploiting them in a tight, cult-like way.


feed_id: d5bee5c73d1377eb5d979c157ecfe985
title: Door-to-door at JPMorgan
uri: Door-to-door-at-JPMorgan
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#24_September_2020_%28Door-to-door_at_JPMorgan%29
content:
<p>
(<a href="https://politics.theonion.com/biden-campaigns-door-to-door-in-jpmorgan-chase-headquar-1845109310">satire</a>) *As the Democratic presidential nominee ramped up his in-person
   efforts to get out the vote, members of the Joe Biden campaign
   reportedly went door-to-door Tuesday in the JPMorgan Chase
   headquarters.*


feed_id: 48f5fbcabf37971ea745bf948757950f
title: Chosen to run the Pentagon
uri: Chosen-to-run-the-Pentagon
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#24_September_2020_%28Chosen_to_run_the_Pentagon%29
content:
<p>
Medea Benjamin: reports say that Biden will choose, to run the
Pentagon, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/22/will-michele-flournoy-be-angel-death-american-empire">the architect of the US policy of military intimidation
around the world</a>.

<p>
Biden is proving to be every bit as bad as we expected last spring.
I expect he will put money into the military rather than saving
poor Americans from total misery.


*Facebook says it may <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/sep/22/facebook-says-it-may-quit-europe-over-ban-on-sharing-data-with-us">quit Europe</a> over ban on sharing data with US.*
<p>
This is the road to victory!  Make sure <a href="https://stallman.org/facebook.html">Facebook</a> leaves Europe, and
the US, and then everywhere else.


feed_id: a27d932d7c947097b379e969fff74237
title: Joshua tree
uri: Joshua-tree
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#25_September_2020_%28Joshua_tree%29
content:
<p>
California will study whether the Joshua tree needs legal protection
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/24/california-law-two-million-year-old-joshua-tree-under-threat-climate-crisis">from being wiped out by global heating</a>.


feed_id: 93ad17a9de045cf078a28498c154c0b3
title: Manslaughter and miscarriages
uri: Manslaughter-and-miscarriages
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#25_September_2020_%28Manslaughter_and_miscarriages%29

content:
<p>
*   Dozens of women have been convicted for manslaughter, homicide and
   aggravated homicide after having miscarriages, stillbirths and other
   obstetric emergencies since El Salvador <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/sep/24/el-salvador-woman-freed-after-six-years-in-jail-following-stillbirth">introduced a total ban on
   abortion in 1998</a>.*


feed_id: 46a6e6d2b323499f10aa1b17eb068f1b
title: Security risk
uri: Security-risk
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#25_September_2020_%28Security_risk%29
content:
<p>
*White House 'pressured official <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/24/white-house-john-bolton-book-classified-national-security-council-ellen-knight">to say John Bolton book was security risk</a>'.*

<p>
It's another example of how the wrecker corrupts every government activity.


feed_id: 911f9806a4390be5c7506b9ff5001812
title: US Chamber of Commerce
uri: 2020-09-25-US-Chamber-of-Commerce
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#25_September_2020_%28US_Chamber_of_Commerce%29
content:
<p>
The US Chamber of Commerce has found 23 Democrats in Congress
sufficiently plutocratist <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/09/24/chamber-of-commerce-democrats/">to endorse their election campaigns</a>.


feed_id: 68121e8d88f2721d516104b707496e5c
title: Talking about concerns
uri: Talking-about-concerns
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#25_September_2020_%28Talking_about_concerns%29
content:
<p>
Some large US corporations have learned to talk about concern for
"stakeholders" other than their owners and executives, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/22/study-shows-stakeholder-capitalism-failing-live-promises-corporations-continue">but it's only
talk</a>.


feed_id: 4de44921f3764b5be8e5e6d741031d10
title: Recruiting teenagers
uri: 2020-09-25-Recruiting-teenagers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#25_September_2020_%28Recruiting_teenagers%29
content:
<p>
In the UK, teenagers (not "children" as the article says) <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/sep/23/children-interested-in-extremism-covid-says-neil-basu-counter-terrorism-officer">are being
recruited to violent right-wing extremism via internet communications</a>.


feed_id: 91f68a01aed2c980ab528d0c5e062c4e
title: Hardly discussing global heating disaster
uri: Hardly-discussing-global-heating-disaster
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#25_September_2020_%28Hardly_discussing_global_heating_disaster%29

content:
<p>
In this year's presidential debates, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/23/planet-stake-moderators-must-make-climate-focus-debates">the danger of global heating
disaster may hardly be discussed</a>.

<p>
If there is a question about this issue, it is likely to use the
vague, neutral term "climate change" which invites candidates to miss
the point.


feed_id: a00b036d272d569496bb5548a98f780b
title: Bolstering companies who laid off
uri: Bolstering-companies-who-laid-off
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#25_September_2020_%28Bolstering_companies_who_laid_off%29

content:
<p>
*The Federal Reserve bond
   purchasing program meant to prevent workers from losing their jobs amid
   the Covid-19 pandemic instead bolstered companies who laid off <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/23/fed-program-meant-help-workers-amid-pandemic-prioritized-wall-street-investors">more
   than one million workers while paying massive dividends to
   shareholders</a>.*


feed_id: 1ed8ede80f090f99c472cddfd2c5bac0
title: Climate activists and energy bill
uri: Climate-activists-and-energy-bill
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#25_September_2020_%28Climate_activists_and_energy_bill%29

content:
<p>
Climate activists call <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/09/23/over-100-groups-oppose-democrats-energy-bill-insufficient">for defeat of the Congressional Democrats'
inadequate energy bill</a>.

<p>
The article says that passing that bill would by a "Pyrrhic" victory,
which is incorrect use of the word.  "Pyrrhic" describes a victory won
at such a great cost that you can't afford to win another.  (King
Pyrrhos of Epirus said that about his victory over Rome.)  This bill
would be, rather, a dummy victory.

<p>
The oil companies' conservation plans <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/09/23/big-oil-reality-check-new-paper-finds-failure-across-board-oil-industry-climate">are also drastically inadequate</a>.


feed_id: 4abc13789f92ba360e8f113faec02e42
title: 2021 Ecuador election
uri: 2021-Ecuador-election
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#25_September_2020_%282021_Ecuador_election%29
content:
<p>
Ecuador's treacherous president Moreno is trying to rig the 2021 election
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/23/political-trials-and-electoral-bans-battle-democracy-ecuador">by stopping Correa and his supporters from running</a>.


feed_id: 3cd251ec785362b641d35038f33b9c29
title: Earth is dating the Moon
uri: Earth-is-dating-the-Moon
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#25_September_2020_%28Earth_is_dating_the_Moon%29
content:
<p>
(<a href="https://www.theonion.com/nasa-scientists-confirm-earth-dating-the-moon-1845097495">satire</a>) *&hellip; the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
   confirmed Monday that the Earth is dating the Moon.*


feed_id: d567f5243b4e965a78ba9e52f11cc5e1
title: Inciting violence against reporters
uri: Inciting-violence-against-reporters
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#25_September_2020_%28Inciting_violence_against_reporters%29

content:
<p>
The bully continually incites violence <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/23/these-are-actions-fascist-press-rights-advocates-warn-dangerous-pattern-trump-again">against reporters
but pretends not to be doing so</a>.

<p>
Remember how in 2016 a Republican candidate apologized for punching a
reporter, but the <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#bully">bully</a> praised it anyway?


feed_id: 725d46b8525670d22e79ce99a21696d8
title: Zero greenhouse emissions vehicles
uri: Zero-greenhouse-emissions-vehicles
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#25_September_2020_%28Zero_greenhouse_emissions_vehicles%29

content:
<p>
Governor Newsom ordered that all vehicles sold in California after 2035
make zero greenhouse gas emissions, but he failed to take real steps
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/09/23/governor-gavin-newsoms-executive-order-makes-great-strides-zero-emissions">to reduce oil and gas extraction in the state</a>.


feed_id: 6deea5740fdb0bbf6141042bf7d7a7ae
title: Stealing the election
uri: Stealing-the-election
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#25_September_2020_%28Stealing_the_election%29
content:
<p>
*Trump Keeps Telling Us How He and Republicans Plan to Steal This Election.
 <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/23/trump-keeps-telling-us-how-he-and-republicans-plan-steal-election">Can we stop him and save our republic before it's too late</a>?*

<p>
Is "steal" the correct word?  The final step would use a loophole in
the Constitution,  <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2020/09/23/report-trump-campaign-actively-discussing-radical-measures-to-bypass-election-results/#345778e04800">and that <em>a such</em> would not be stealing it</a>.
  But the first step is a fraudulent accusation of fraud, and I think that
would justify the word "steal".

<p>
Why are Republicans in control of all the swing states' legislatures?
Some of those states now vote majority Democrat, but gerrymandering
has prevented the voters from electing legislators that reflect their
views.


feed_id: 43eada900ea424919e3cb2e5cb7c9db4
title: Perspectives from a worried military spouse
uri: Perspectives-from-a-worried-military-spouse
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#25_September_2020_%28Perspectives_from_a_worried_military_spouse%29

content:
<p>
*Perspectives <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/22/war-zone-america">on a riven nation from a worried military spouse</a>.*


feed_id: a3e9d32b0940782ac7625912cbe76839
title: Covid-19 is surging in France
uri: Covid-19-is-surging-in-France
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#27_September_2020_%28Covid-19_is_surging_in_France%29

content:
<p>

Covid-19 is surging in France, filling hospitals with people who are
badly sick and forcing the postponement of operations people need for
other reasons.
<p>
The only way to stop the surge <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/25/france-covid-cases-hit-record-high-as-anger-grows-over-restrictions">is with distancing</a>, but selfish people
are angry at the unpleasantness of this.


feed_id: cef0b63d5575c08b98d7070eeb0c92ea
title: British government may be thinking of repealing the GDPR in the UK
uri: British-government-may-be-thinking-of-repealing-the-GDPR-in-the-UK
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#27_September_2020_%28British_government_may_be_thinking_of_repealing_the_GDPR_in_the_UK%29

content:
<p>

The British government may (if I understand this article correctly)
be thinking of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/sep/25/dominic-cummings-data-law-shake-up-a-danger-to-trade-says-eu">repealing the GDPR in the UK</a>.
<p>
The GDPR are <a href="https://stallman.org/articles/real-privacy-laws.html">greatly inadequate</a>
but they do some good.  This would be a change for the worse, and
indicates the intent to let companies such as Facebook and Google
snoop on Britons more and manipulate them more.


feed_id: 0e97195e1e442bbde6dcf06c0a7887ee
title: Medical effect studies for men and for women
uri: Medical-effect-studies-for-men-and-for-women
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#27_September_2020_%28Medical_effect_studies_for_men_and_for_women%29

content:
<p>

Medical effect studies need to keep track of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/sep/25/not-accounting-for-sex-differences-in-covid-research-can-be-deadly">outcomes for men and for women</a>
separately.  Some drugs work well for one and badly for the other.


feed_id: edc3d40dae3426a7e394a41b3b8e4723
title: Experiments to test how long small droplets with coronavirus can be infectious
uri: Experiments-to-test-how-long-small-droplets-with-coronavirus-can-be-in
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#27_September_2020_%28Experiments_to_test_how_long_small_droplets_with_coronavirus_can_be_infectious%29

content:
<p>

Experiments will determine how long coronavirus can <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/25/uk-scientists-begin-study-of-how-long-covid-can-survive-in-the-air">survive and be
infectious</a> in small droplets that float in the air.


feed_id: d3d84f93f46157a2021e4f87af12c087
title: Argentine member of Congress was forced to resign
uri: Argentine-member-of-Congress-was-forced-to-resign
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#27_September_2020_%28Argentine_member_of_Congress_was_forced_to_resign%29

content:
<p>

An Argentine member of Congress was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/25/argentina-politician-breasts-online-debate">forced to resign for a trifle</a>: he
engaged in sexplay with his lover and did not realize his camera was
on.
<p>
Can't those people distinguish between causing embarrassment and really
doing wrong?


feed_id: b6473537ddccde0a19b819980611cbde
title: Asian lawyers mistaken for defendants
uri: Asian-lawyers-mistaken-for-defendants
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#27_September_2020_%28Asian_lawyers_mistaken_for_defendants%29

content:
<p>

*Dozens of Asian [i.e., of Indian ancestry] lawyers [in the UK] say
they have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/25/dozens-of-asian-lawyers-say-they-have-been-mistaken-for-defendants">mistaken for defendants</a>.*
<p>
Such a mistake can hurt feelings but does not do real damage.
However, it is a sign of racial stereotyping that must have other bad
effects.


feed_id: 1c44b05b15dc71eb2cc97c6a2e1cd385
title: Facebook made its product as addictive as cigarettes
uri: Facebook-made-its-product-as-addictive-as-cigarettes
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#27_September_2020_%28Facebook_made_its_product_as_addictive_as_cigarettes%29

content:
<p>

*Facebook's former director of monetization (sic) says Facebook
<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/former-facebook-exec-addictive-as-cigarettes-tim-kendall-2020-9">intentionally made its product</a> as addictive as cigarettes.*
<p>
  The term <a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html">"monetization"</a>
  encourages the attitude which leads people
  to act this way.  Let's shun it.


feed_id: 497b9de70ba3240d0d288a86504639a8
title: Volkswagen to pay compensation
uri: Volkswagen-to-pay-compensation
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#27_September_2020_%28Volkswagen_to_pay_compensation%29

content:
<p>

*Volkswagen to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/24/volkswagen-brazil-ex-employees-persecuted-military-dictatorship-compensation">pay compensation</a> for collaborating with Brazil’s
[1964-85] dictatorship.*


feed_id: 3b6e7b1e8cd42d374676495e67b8b663
title: Senator Sanders has called for an independent election commission
uri: Senator-Sanders-has-called-for-an-independent-election-commission
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#27_September_2020_%28Senator_Sanders_has_called_for_an_independent_election_commission%29

content:
<p>

*Senator Bernie Sanders <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/24/bernie-sanders-trump-election-commission">has called for</a> an independent election commission to stop Donald Trump defying the will of the people and
plunging the US into a constitutional crisis.*


feed_id: f8ff5054d1778aa53e0c32a4222c1327
title: Doordash scheme to mislead restaurant owners
uri: Doordash-scheme-to-mislead-restaurant-owners
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#27_September_2020_%28Doordash_scheme_to_mislead_restaurant_owners%29

content:
<p>

Doordash has a scheme where it discounts pizza for customers but pays
the restaurant full price.  (This is a scheme to mislead and trap
restaurant owners for the long term.)
<p>
One restaurant owner started ordering pizzas from his own restaurant
via Doordash, and <a href="https://pluralistic.net/2020/05/18/code-is-speech/#schadenpizza">making money</a> from Doordash on each one.


feed_id: b4b3d0f59d8095a3169e68744f134411
title: Tax payer money meant for masks and swabs
uri: Tax-payer-money-meant-for-masks-and-swabs
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#27_September_2020_%28Tax_payer_money_meant_for_masks_and_swabs%29

content:
<p>

*Pentagon used taxpayer money <a href="https://boingboing.net/2020/09/22/pentagon-used-taxpayer-money-meant-for-masks-and-swabs-to-make-jet-engine-parts-and-body-armor.html">meant for masks and swabs to make jet engine
parts and body armor</a>.*


feed_id: 98a9cc31b0d722a78e818de053f1bf6d
title: Arizona thugs told a dog to bite Alfredo Saldivar
uri: Arizona-thugs-told-a-dog-to-bite-Alfredo-Saldivar
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#27_September_2020_%28Arizona_thugs_told_a_dog_to_bite_Alfredo_Saldivar%29

content:
<p>

Arizona thugs told a dog to <a href="https://apnews.com/46c4fd4d66ec927d3ceaabdca73dd675">bite Alfredo Saldivar</a> because he
"hesitated" before obeying a command to stand up.
<p>
To dispute whether he really hesitated is a distraction.  The point
is, even if he did, that is no excuse for such dangerous escalation.


feed_id: 537bfefd49cad6b4a31a3fa959da0f4b
title: Non-drastic measures to avoid "climate lockdown"
uri: Non-drastic-measures-to-avoid-climate-lockdown
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#27_September_2020_%28Non-drastic_measures_to_avoid_climate_lockdown%29

content:
<p>

To avoid a future "climate lockdown" where drastic measures are imposed
to cut greenhouse gas emissions, we <a href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/radical-green-overhaul-to-avoid-climate-lockdown-by-mariana-mazzucato-2020-09">need to use non-drastic measures now</a>
to achieve faster reductions.


feed_id: c3667a40f461e518cf5f9956fd46a17a
title: Facebook being pressured to tag criticism of Israel
uri: Facebook-being-pressured-to-tag-criticism-of-Israel
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#27_September_2020_%28Facebook_being_pressured_to_tag_criticism_of_Israel%29

content:
<p>

Neve Gordon: Facebook is being pressured to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/24/redefining-anti-semitism-facebook">tag criticism</a> of Israel automatically as "anti-Semitism."
<p>
The change Facebook recently made, which recognizes the claiming that
Jews secretly rule the world as anti-Semitism, is correct.  That
conspiracy theory is antisemitic, and it is not criticism of Israel's
occupation and colonization of Palestine.


feed_id: 607438efe5bab2500166a8452a1706fe
title: Big oil companies give public impression of change away from fossil fuels
uri: Big-oil-companies-give-public-impression-of-change-away-from-fossil-fu
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#27_September_2020_%28Big_oil_companies_give_public_impression_of_change_away_from_fossil_fuels%29

content:
<p>

Big oil companies are giving a public impression of starting to change
away from fossil fuels, but the change is <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/24/new-oci-analysis-gives-big-oil-much-needed-reality-check">pretty small</a> so far.
<p>
Here's the <a href="http://priceofoil.org/big-oil-reality-check">detailed report</a>.


feed_id: 325dccac354032b16a02b4a5966da6a1
title: If Trump fills RBG's seat
uri: If-Trump-fills-RBG-s-seat
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#27_September_2020_%28If_Trump_fills_RBG%27s_seat%29
content:
<p>

*If Trump Fills RBG’s Seat, the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/24/if-trump-fills-rbgs-seat-courts-legitimacy-will-be-crisis">Court’s Legitimacy Will Be in Crisis</a>.*


feed_id: 9fb8a40f35e1baa67e039fc8d3d3553f
title: Reversing the wrecker's sabotage of US environmental policies
uri: Reversing-the-wrecker-s-sabotage-of-US-environmental-policies
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#27_September_2020_%28Reversing_the_wrecker%27s_sabotage_of_US_environmental_policies%29

content:
<p>

What Biden would need to do to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/24/will-we-be-able-reverse-trumps-climate-damage">reverse the wrecker's sabotage</a> of US environmental policies.
<p>
The article says it it would take two years to undo environmental
deregulation, handling each regulation separately, and this would face
opposition from extractivist companies.  I have another idea.
<p>
Those channels are specified by laws.  It should be possible to pass a
law reverting a specified set of regulations to their status as of
January 2017.  The old regulations that would go back into effect were
approved through the official legal process, so it would be hard
to challenge them.  The process could be finished in a few months.
<p>
This would require eliminating the filibuster.
<p>
The wrecker is still at it, now <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/24/tongass-national-forest-trump-administration-logging">eliminating protection</a> for the Tongass National Forest in Alaska.


feed_id: 7bd6d60450779cbb593324159e778fb2
title: Facebook Ad Ban is another hollow gesture
uri: Facebook-Ad-Ban-is-another-hollow-gesture
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#27_September_2020_%28Facebook_Ad_Ban_is_another_hollow_gesture%29

content:
<p>

*Facebook Ad Ban on Premature Election Victory Ads Is Yet Another <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/09/24/facebook-ad-ban-premature-election-victory-ads-yet-another-hollow-gesture">Hollow
Gesture</a>.*  Because it won't cover premature election victory <em>announcements</em>.


feed_id: ef96029674d916afb92c7bae281a8608
title: Trudeau pledges tax on 'extreme wealth inequality'
uri: Trudeau-pledges-tax-on-extreme-wealth-inequality
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#27_September_2020_%28Trudeau__pledges_tax_on_%27extreme_wealth_inequality%27%29

content:
<p>

*Trudeau <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/23/trudeau-canada-coronavirus-throne-speech">pledges tax</a> on 'extreme wealth inequality' to fund Covid spending
plan.*
<p>
If he really does this, it would be a great example.


feed_id: 648ef3cdab71d107a0d6b6b9f63dcfa1
title: False accusations against Bolivia's President Morales
uri: False-accusations-against-Bolivia-s-President-Morales
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#27_September_2020_%28False_accusations_against_Bolivia%27s_President_Morales%29

content:
<p>

Sanders and other US legislators <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/22/sanders-leads-30-democrats-call-oas-avoid-prolonging-crisis-democracy-and-human">called on the Organization of
American States</a> to investigate how it came to publish false accusations
against Bolivia's President Morales.


feed_id: d947f8b729244accd25883387d5a7dad
title: Senator Feinstein wants to allow Republicans to block all progressive legislation
uri: Senator-Feinstein-wants-to-allow-Republicans-to-block-all-progressive
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#27_September_2020_%28Senator_Feinstein_wants_to_allow_Republicans_to_block_all_progressive_legislation%29

content:
<p>

Bad news for America: Senator Feinstein wants to allow Republicans to
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/09/22/stand-america-responds-sen-feinstein-filibuster-your-position-unacceptable-and">block all progressive legislation</a>, even if the Democrats win a
majority in the Senate.
<p>
It is logical that a plucratist legislator would want to help the right-wing extremist party to block progressive legislation.


feed_id: fbc773adcc574bcaa641440b52cbf0e3
title: Urgent: Prevent confirmation of a new Supreme Court justice before the presidential inauguration
uri: Urgent-Prevent-confirmation-of-a-new-Supreme-Court-justice-before-the
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#27_September_2020_%28Urgent%3A_Prevent_confirmation_of_a_new_Supreme_Court_justice_before_the_presidential_inauguration%29

content:
<p>

US citizens: phone your senators at 1-844-335-4855 and implore them to
do everything they can to <a href="https://go.peoplepower.org/go/22211">prevent confirmation</a> of a new Supreme Court
justice before the presidential inauguration on Jan 20.


feed_id: c4b32e758a271873097595e48ae68a33
title: Contact tracing and privacy
uri: Contact-tracing-and-privacy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#28_September_2020_%28Contact_tracing_and_privacy%29
content:
<p>
The UK's Covid-19 contact tracing app
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/sep/24/arrival-of-nhs-contact-tracing-app-heralds-return-of-qr-codes">asks
users to scan a QR code when they enter certain places</a>.
<p>
I suspect that scanning the QR code immediately informs the state
where the phone is located at that moment.  That is a violation of
people's privacy.
<p>
The Google/Apple contact detection protects privacy pretty well,
though I am not an expert on it.  I'd be willing to use that,
if it did not require a mobile phone.
<p>
Italy has an approach I think is better, both for finding all cases
and for respecting privacy: simply
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/24/north-korea-accused-of-killing-south-korean-official-and-burning-his-body">test
all the acquaintances of anyone that catches Covid-19</a>, and don't
worry about whether they saw each other recently.


feed_id: 71d46991bed9399f50e7b780ee9c54d9
title: No-knock breakins by thugs
uri: No-knock-breakins-by-thugs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#28_September_2020_%28No-knock_breakins_by_thugs%29
content:
<p>
The grand jury
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/24/breonna-taylor-protests-what-we-know-so-far">did
not indict any of the thugs involved in killing Breonna Taylor</a> for
that killing.  Naturally this triggered protests in many cities.
<p>
The decision not to charge the <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> may have been imposed by law.
I saw an article, a couple of months ago, which explained that the
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> could legally claim self-defense, and it would have been
impossible to convict them.
<p>
I did not link to that article because it ended with antisocialist
views about right and wrong, which I did not want to link to, and
because I did not know if its claims about the legalities were valid.
But the outcome suggests that they were.
<p>
Since we condemn the outcome, we need to consider this question: at
what point did the <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> commit an act that they deserve to be
punished for?
<p>
I believe that point was when they broke into the house without
announcing who they were.  When cops act like burglars, they invite
the residents to shoot; but if the residents do so, they are the ones
that are likely to get killed, as happened this time.
<p>
The outcome we want is that innocent people don't risk death.  One way
to get that outcome is to make cops identify themselves as cops before
entering, with no exceptions.  Criminals might fight with or without
the announcement, but the announcement will inform innocent residents
not to.
<p>
It is not enough to set a policy against no-knock breakins.  It should
be a crime for <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> to do that, so we can indeed punish them when
they do.
<p>
We could allow the cops to send unarmed robots to enter the house,
given a warrant.  If robots get shot, it is no great loss, and they
would not try to shoot back.


feed_id: 90b0c348d596de6095a7d9ce09b0b88e
title: Labour's target
uri: Labour-s-target
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#28_September_2020_%28Labours_target%29
content:
<p>
*Labour's target
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/24/labours-target-tory-party-johnson-credibility-conservatives">should
be the Tory party</a>, not Johnson's credibility.*


feed_id: f6d015bfabd9d3d92de3dc01c75d70d7
title: Plans to build oil wells near Lake Chad
uri: Plans-to-build-oil-wells-near-Lake-Chad
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#28_September_2020_%28Plans_to_build_oil_wells_near_Lake_Chad%29

content:
<p>
Chad is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/24/chad-halts-lake-world-heritage-status-request-over-oil-exploration-unesco">planning
to build oil wells near Lake Chad</a>.
<p>
The shore of Lake Chad belongs to four countries, all of which will be
harmed when the oil pollutes the lake.  Meanwhile, the greenhouse
emissions from burning the oil will harm the whole world.  We
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2013-sep-dec.html#26_October_2013_(The_carbon_budget)">cannot
afford to extract all the oil from existing wells</a>, so any new well
is at best wasted expense, and at worst an assurance of doom.


feed_id: 8b407f467e480bac7a06b6ca364c6320
title: Still no federal limits for PFAS compounds
uri: Still-no-federal-limits-for-PFAS-compounds
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#28_September_2020_%28Still_no_federal_limits_for_PFAS_compounds%29

content:
<p>
*The federal government has still not set limits for PFAS compounds,
and some allege that
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/24/pfas-dangerous-forever-chemicals-drinking-water">could
be because it is a polluter of them itself*</a>.


feed_id: 355df6aa0ce2776351df27243c7f159d
title: Chicago refuses to reform thug department
uri: Chicago-refuses-to-reform-thug-department
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#28_September_2020_%28Chicago_refuses_to_reform_thug_department%29

content:
<p>
Chicago has obdurately
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/24/chicago-police-reforms-demands-for-change">refused
to reform its extremely cruel thug department</a>.


feed_id: 44c9aabc3f7a9ff054dc6093df3fecfb
title: Reporter missing since piece on China's Covid-19 response
uri: Reporter-missing-since-piece-on-China-s-Covid-19-response
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#28_September_2020_%28Reporter_missing_since_piece_on_Chinas_Covid-19_response%29

content:
<p>
Chen Qiushi, who reported on China's measures to deal with Covid-19,
disappeared on Feb 10.  It appears he
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/24/wuhan-covid-journalist-missing-since-february-found-says-friend-chen-qiushi-china">has
been a prisoner ever since</a>.


feed_id: b9d1e2c6256e84ea9e8a26fc50447caa
title: China continues building prisons for Uighurs
uri: China-continues-building-prisons-for-Uighurs
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#28_September_2020_%28China_continues_building_prisons_for_Uighurs%29

content:
<p>
China continues building prisons for Uighurs &mdash;
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/24/china-has-built-380-internment-camps-in-xinjiang-study-finds">380
have been discovered so far</a>.  Some are adjacent to factories.
<p>
Some ancient Uighur neighborhoods in Xinjiang are now
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/24/china-imprisoning-uighurs-satellite-images-xinjiang">empty
of people</a>.  All the inhabitants have been moved, perhaps to those
prisons.


feed_id: 0fde4888f74249704b2324725c6f8885
title: Urgent: shut down the Senate
uri: Urgent-shut-down-the-Senate
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#28_September_2020_%28Urgent%3A_shut_down_the_Senate%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.demandprogress.org/sign/rbg-scotus/?source=k2&t=1001&akid=27120%2E96703%2EYRyzJ-">call on Senate Democrats</a> to shut down the Senate to stop
Republicans from picking Justice Ginsburg's successor.


feed_id: b4d7705d12f128773c595a41ef35e00b
title: Anarchist jurisdiction
uri: Anarchist-jurisdiction
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#28_September_2020_%28Anarchist_jurisdiction%29
content:
<p>
(<a href="https://www.theonion.com/bill-barr-declares-ipswich-middle-school-anarchist-juri-1845173206">satire</a>) *In an effort to restore the rule of law, Attorney General
   Bill Barr declared Ipswich Middle School an anarchist jurisdiction
   Friday after finding a circle-A symbol scrawled on a notebook cover.*


feed_id: 469b8f6b83b31a32ba611ac1893a369e
title: PAT RIOT Act
uri: 2020-09-28-PAT-RIOT-Act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#28_September_2020_%28PAT_RIOT_Act%29
content:
<p>
Rep. Jayapal is leading the fight <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/09/25/reps-davidson-jayapal-and-three-dozen-allies-demand-critical-answers-regarding">against the PAT RIOT Act's massive
surveillance</a>.


feed_id: ac3c760fdd1389326dc5ee9b26ac90cd
title: Who is on the Supreme Court
uri: Who-is-on-the-Supreme-Court
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#28_September_2020_%28Who_is_on_the_Supreme_Court%29
content:
<p>
Howard Zinn said, who is on the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/25/why-we-should-all-be-reading-howard-zinn-right-now">is not as
important as what the American people demand</a>.

<p>
But I don't think we should relax and stop trying to block the
wrecker's choice.


feed_id: e3d44b1efbcee76fdd7ae56e02f2d36c
title: Climate strike events
uri: Climate-strike-events
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#28_September_2020_%28Climate_strike_events%29
content:
<p>
On September 25 <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/25/masked-socially-distanced-and-mad-hell-global-youth-take-streets-over-3200">there were over 3,200 climate strike events</a>.

<p>
I wrote to the organizers to ask them to make it possible to find the
events without running nonfree software.  That would be an easy change
to make.  I hope that I will be able to participate in the future.

<p>
What is the use of a virtual protest, though?  The idea of a protest
rally is to show the public and the news media where people stand.  If
only the participants can see the rally, it doesn't seem to do
anything.


feed_id: e13f4d7a7478183a64854df50790a857
title: Destruction done to the ecosphere
uri: Destruction-done-to-the-ecosphere
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#28_September_2020_%28Destruction_done_to_the_ecosphere%29

content:
<p>
David Attenborough's Witness Statement shows us the destruction we
have done to Earth's ecosphere, then tells us <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/sep/25/david-attenborough-a-life-on-our-planet-review-climate-emergency-documentary">what we need to do to
save what is left</a>.


feed_id: 1438a6167f75c99be797390df5e43f93
title: 2 million deaths
uri: 2-million-deaths
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#28_September_2020_%282_million_deaths%29
content:
<p>
WHO: if we don't take effective collective action to curb the 
spread of Covid-19, there could be 2 million deaths from Covid-19
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/25/absent-collective-action-who-warns-global-covid-19-deaths-could-surpass-two-million">before a vaccine starts to slow it</a>.


feed_id: 576c6926f1949fdea5930d174cc628cb
title: Postal ballots
uri: Postal-ballots
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#28_September_2020_%28Postal_ballots%29
content:
<p>
Postal ballots in Pennsylvania require two different envelopes,
one inside the other.  If the voter omits the inner envelope,
per vote won't be counted.  <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/25/foreseeable-train-wreck-warnings-ballot-technicality-could-toss-out-100000">This could reject tens of thousands
of ballots</a>.

<p>
It is another reason to do early voting, not vote by mail.

<p>
A Republican senator proposed a bill <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/25/joining-trump-undermine-election-results-gop-senator-proposes-nullifying-all-mail">to require all postal ballots to
be counted in just 48 hours</a>.

<p>
This surely won't be enacted &mdash; and I doubt it is constitutional &mdash;
but it illustrates the "win by hook or by crook" attitude of
Republicans.

<p>
*As Trump Sows Chaos, Democrats <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/24/trump-sows-chaos-democrats-urged-increase-push-person-voting-early-if-possible">Urged to Increase Push for In-Person
Voting—Early If Possible</a>.*


feed_id: e51addb4ec538aec7741a4046420f7a9
title: Military and constitution
uri: Military-and-constitution
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#28_September_2020_%28Military_and_constitution%29
content:
<p>
What would the US military do if the wrecker orders it <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/25/trump-and-gop-openly-hatch-election-theft-plot-question-grows-which-side-will-our">to
suppress "rebellion" based on "fake news"</a>?

<p>
For generals to resign if ordered to overthrow constitutional
government would save their own individual honor, but it would not
save constitutional government.  Rather, the first one in line who
hasn't got enough honor to resign would commit the crime.  Their
duty would be to preserve constitutional government, not step aside.


feed_id: 511a126137a67113b41562cbd3cec96e
title: Protest upending mayoral race
uri: Protest-upending-mayoral-race
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#28_September_2020_%28Protest_upending_mayoral_race%29

content:
<p>
*How the Protests Upended Portland's Mayoral Race* <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/09/25/portland-mayor-police-protests-election-wheeler-iannarone/">for the better</a>.


feed_id: 18318e33bf48180d46635d57444ceb7b
title: Political ultimatum for bird conservation group
uri: Political-ultimatum-for-bird-conservation-group
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#28_September_2020_%28Political_ultimatum_for_bird_conservation_group%29

content:
<p>
Birdlife International gave the Taiwanese bird conservation group <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/25/hawk-or-dove-birdwatching-worlds-feathers-ruffled-over-taiwan-independence">a
political ultimatum, following China's orders</a>.

<p>
The US and other countries could conceivably pass laws requiring
organizations to accept cooperation with Taiwan if they do is with
China, on fair conditions.  If China tries to <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#bully">bully</a> these
organizations by refusing, the organizations will be required to say,
"That's your choice, China, but it's a shame you see it that way."  


feed_id: a207ded6d5f295ea8391cc8d38aefea2
title: Going hungry because of imported food price
uri: Going-hungry-because-of-imported-food-price
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#28_September_2020_%28Going_hungry_because_of_imported_food_price%29

content:
<p>
Lebanese are going hungry because imported food is now far more
expensive.  <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/sep/25/money-is-worth-nothing-now-how-lebanon-is-finding-a-future-in-farming">Some are turning to farming</a>.


feed_id: 480aec772e195b5b46fcd5d9f701c041
title: Systematically destroying mosques
uri: Systematically-destroying-mosques
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#28_September_2020_%28Systematically_destroying_mosques%29

content:
<p>
China is systematically destroying mosques in Xinjiang, by the thousands,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/25/thousands-of-xinjiang-mosques-destroyed-damaged-china-report-finds">including sites that are a thousand years old</a>.


feed_id: a1e302560b96652682ad1aa31eb06678
title: Thugs and indigenous people
uri: Thugs-and-indigenous-people
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#28_September_2020_%28Thugs_and_indigenous_people%29
content:
<p>
US thugs treat indigenous people <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/25/california-native-american-women-police-violence">with the same arrogance that they
show to blacks</a>.


feed_id: bcef9be0c9a866e27132a088fc3640b0
title: Pardon for revealing source
uri: Pardon-for-revealing-source
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#28_September_2020_%28Pardon_for_revealing_source%29
content:
<p>
US lawyers do not contest that Rep. Rohrabacher offered Assange a
pardon if he would reveal information about sources of a leak.  <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/us-admits-that-putins-favorite-congressman-offered-pardon-to-assange-if-he-covered-up-russia-links">He
refused</a>.

<p>
Assange did say that the leaked DNC emails were not obtained by cracking.


feed_id: c75607517b760225bf1c8e02ec5acd21
title: New England drought and heat
uri: New-England-drought-and-heat
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28New_England_drought_and_heat%29

content:
<p>

New England has been hit by <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/09/25/metro/with-record-temperatures-little-rain-severe-drought-has-gripped-much-new-england/">drought and heat</a>.
<p>
Wildfires (small compared with California's) have continued rather
that ceasing in June.  Cranberry plants are failing to produce
cranberries.  Streams are running empty.


feed_id: 7ab5c3c8a6755fcd8091fb8e2706e859
title: Thugs in Boston and some neighboring cities
uri: Thugs-in-Boston-and-some-neighboring-cities
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Thugs_in_Boston_and_some_neighboring_cities%29

content:
<p>

The reforming district attorney for Boston and some neighboring cities has
published a <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/09/25/metro/suffolk-da-rollins-releases-watch-list-136-area-officers-accused-misconduct/">list of cops</a> in the zone who have been specifically accused of
being <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a>.
<p>
It will be harder for them to succeed by <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#testilying">testilying</a>.


feed_id: 5128be3c4f111c66637775f9666e7911
title: Claims of regenerative agriculture
uri: Claims-of-regenerative-agriculture
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Claims_of_regenerative_agriculture%29

content:
<p>

Advocates of regenerative agriculture claim that it could <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/26/regenerative-agriculture-and-soil-carbon-solution-new-paper-outlines-vision-climate">absorb all
of humanity's CO2 emissions</a>.
<p>
I don't have the basis to judge claims about regenerative agriculture.
I can't tell whether they are valid, because I don't know any ground
truth from which I can deduce anything in that area.  And I don't know
of any unbiased entities I could have confidence in.  Are any farms
succeeding in business using these techniques?
<p>
Is it possible to set up a regenerative agriculture emissions
compensation scheme?  How would it measure up, in terms of costs per
ton of CO2 absorbed, against investments in increased energy
efficiency?  Can the benefit of improved or protected topsoil be
quantified?
<p>
It would be good to spell out the claim that is being made.  What are
the claimed benefits, and what are the costs?  For instance, the claim
could be, "This is a better method of agriculture and farms should
make the investment to switch now."  Or it could be, "This system or
agriculture can't compete today because it would require more farm
labor, but we must adopt it for civilization to survive."  The difference
is fundamental.


feed_id: 4b959c994485f6c2df7ef19616ba3ed0
title: To follow Sweden in curbing Covid-19
uri: To-follow-Sweden-in-curbing-Covid-19
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28To_follow_Sweden_in_curbing_Covid-19%29

content:
<p>

To follow Sweden in curbing Covid-19 requires imitating Sweden's very
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/26/welcome-to-libertarian-covid-fantasy-land-thats-sweden-to-you-and-me">strong and effective welfare system</a>.


feed_id: f96e588920b5e484185702ec91aa22f5
title: Australia's proposed plan for reducing greenhouse emissions
uri: Australia-s-proposed-plan-for-reducing-greenhouse-emissions
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Australia%27s_proposed_plan_for_reducing_greenhouse_emissions%29

content:
<p>

Australia's government has proposed a plan for reducing greenhouse emissions,
but it depends on making carbon capture and storage <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/27/what-are-the-key-technologies-in-the-coalitions-low-emissions-roadmap-and-can-they-deliver">far more efficient than
it ever has been</a>.


feed_id: e21baedf66470b737fb40d3c303d252d
title: Covid-19 can cause you lasting damage
uri: Covid-19-can-cause-you-lasting-damage
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Covid-19_can_cause_you_lasting_damage%29

content:
<p>

No matter what your age or condition, Covid-19 can cause you <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/26/i-used-to-be-ms-covid-casual-but-with-a-sick-sister-thats-changed">lasting damage</a> that can be incapacitating.  The damage can last at least six
months, we now know.  Six months from now, we may know it can last a year.
There is no reason to assume it will ever get better.


feed_id: 4417539fd2ed955e60a64f652f460f5c
title: A communism that no longer exists
uri: A-communism-that-no-longer-exists
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28A_communism_that_no_longer_exists%29

content:
<p>

*From [the wrecker] to Bolsonaro, reactionary leaders are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/26/communist-enemy-nationalist-right-trump-us-bolsonaro-brazil">invoking a communism
that no longer exists</a> as a [dishonest] way of attacking the left.*
<p>
Today's left isn't Communist anyway, but liars don't care about the truth
of anything.


feed_id: 32ac7408dbadcab288361b70c0909601
title: Mainstream press shows little interest in prosecution of Julian Assange
uri: Mainstream-press-shows-little-interest-in-prosecution-of-Julian-Assang
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Mainstream_press_shows_little_interest_in_prosecution_of_Julian_Assange%29

content:
<p>

The mainstream press shows little interest in the prosecution of
Julian Assange even though success could pave the way for <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/26/julian-assange-press-shows-little-interest-media-trial-century">prosecuting
other publishers</a>.


feed_id: 38e77f6f4675a2578d5d391a130f0456
title: Stimulus checks helped some Americans with medical expense
uri: Stimulus-checks-helped-some-Americans-with-medical-expense
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Stimulus_checks_helped_some_Americans_with_medical_expense%29

content:
<p>

The up-to-1200-dollars stimulus checks <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/24/anti-poverty-programs-they-work-experts-declare-after-fed-survey-reveals-benefits">enabled 7% more Americans to
handle a surprise medical expense</a>.  Even that small amount did real
help.


feed_id: 8e7f1fba743db1656df706f2fca89546
title: USPS chief of logistics pressed local chiefs to implement service cuts
uri: USPS-chief-of-logistics-pressed-local-chiefs-to-implement-service-cuts
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28USPS_chief_of_logistics_pressed_local_chiefs_to_implement_service_cuts%29

content:
<p>

The USPS chief of logistics, in July, made a presentation to local chiefs
pressing them to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/09/24/usps-delays-dejoy-documents/">implement the service cuts</a>.
<p>
Although DeJoy was not in that meeting, various vice presidents were,
so it is clear he did this with DeJoy's own support.


feed_id: 5ee1e56445c61c90fb95a3044e881f1d
title: Rural US hospitals are in danger of going broke
uri: Rural-US-hospitals-are-in-danger-of-going-broke
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Rural_US_hospitals_are_in_danger_of_going_broke%29

content:
<p>

Many rural hospitals in the US, which now face a lot of Covid-19
cases, are in <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/24/covid-19-has-not-left-rural-america-healthcare-advocates-urge-congress-save-small">danger of going broke</a>.


feed_id: 6cd375ddd847b0643cdfe8ddc4ef6996
title: Petitions against exam-monitoring systems
uri: Petitions-against-exam-monitoring-systems
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Petitions_against_exam-monitoring_systems%29

content:
<p>

Students are <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/09/students-are-pushing-back-against-proctoring-surveillance-apps">organizing petitions</a> against the intrusive exam-monitoring systems imposed by many universities.
<p>
If you launch a petition at your university, please make sure to give people
a way to sign the petition without having to run any nonfree software,
and that includes JavaScript software sent by a web site.  You can invite
people to send email to add their names.
<p>
I suggest it is unwise to focus on issues of effective discrimination
against subsets of students.  Why so?  It's not that these problems
don't matter &mdash; they do.  What makes them weak focuses is that the
developers of the systems can probably fix them, resulting in a system
that mistreats students in those subsets only as much as it mistreats
everyone else.
<p>
Another mistake to avoid is to weaken your demands as a <a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/compromise.html">"compromise"</a>
before you state them.  Start the negotiations with what you really
want.
<p>
By demanding a real solution for the problem, you can build a stronger
movement.  You can agree to a compromise later &mdash; but it will be,
explicitly, only a partial victory.  So it won't make your movement
scatter.


feed_id: dce95ee799abdfdfe21c2973aca5e9bc
title: (satire) Biden's lack of plan for widespread violence
uri: (satire)-Biden-s-lack-of-plan-for-widespread-violence
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28%28satire%29_Biden%27s_lack_of_plan_for_widespread_violence%29

content:
<p>

(satire) *Reporter Presses Biden On <a href="https://politics.theonion.com/reporter-presses-biden-on-lack-of-own-plan-to-trigger-w-1845183264">Lack Of Own Plan To Trigger
Widespread Violence</a>.*


feed_id: 135d7ba5c612e74e8ab663db842adb9f
title: Proposed bill for term limits in the Supreme Court
uri: Proposed-bill-for-term-limits-in-the-Supreme-Court
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Proposed_bill_for_term_limits_in_the_Supreme_Court%29

content:
<p>

Ro Khanna proposes a bill for <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/25/time-standardize-and-democratize-supreme-court-ro-khanna-introduces-bill-justice">term limits in the Supreme Court</a>.  After
a justice's term ends, <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#perse">perse</a> would remain a judge and move to lower
courts.


feed_id: 1e7aca021d507b42e442cbdac4a4c031
title: (satire) The basic tenets of America's autocracy
uri: (satire)-The-basic-tenets-of-America-s-autocracy
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28%28satire%29_The_basic_tenets_of_America%27s_autocracy%29

content:
<p>

(satire) *"Anyone questioning what President Trump will do on
election night or afterwards is participating in a very dangerous
effort to get <a href="https://politics.theonion.com/fox-news-slams-democrats-for-repeatedly-attempting-to-u-1845179901">Americans to mistrust the basic tenets of this country's
autocracy</a>," said Sean Hannity on his broadcast.*


feed_id: c2d16fec96c9796fd70b80acd7e11f65
title: A shame Justice Ginsburg didn't retire when Democrats controlled the Senate
uri: A-shame-Justice-Ginsburg-didn-t-retire-when-Democrats-controlled-the-S
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28A_shame_Justice_Ginsburg_didn%27t_retire_when_Democrats_controlled_the_Senate%29

content:
<p>

It's a shame Justice Ginsburg <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/25/ruth-bader-ginsburg-and-peril-americas-aging-elite">did not retire</a> last time Democrats controlled
the Senate and the presidency.


feed_id: 7984ba50a7f0e04e3e19f34887bf5962
title: Urgent: Pass the ROE act
uri: 2020-09-29-Urgent-Pass-the-ROE-act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Urgent%3A_Pass_the_ROE_act%29
content:
<p>

US citizens: call on Massachusetts legislators to <a href="https://action.aclu.org/send-message/tell-massachusetts-lawmakers-honor-rbg%E2%80%99s-legacy-pass-roe-act">pass the ROE act</a>.
<p>
This would get rid of old laws restricting abortion rights, which have
been unenforced due to Roe v Wade.  It would also in general increase
abortion rights.


feed_id: 8461128e7425d2884dc75d49e43fb764
title: To voters
uri: To-voters
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28To_voters%29
content:
<p>
Ralph Nader: *To Democratic Voters &mdash; Up Your Demands; To Trump Voters
&mdash; <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/26/democratic-voters-your-demands-trump-voters-see-how-he-didnt-deliver-you">See How He Didn’t Deliver for You</a>.*


feed_id: 229fe75f02f89be3172dd42ad1f32702
title: Ministers replacing parliament
uri: Ministers-replacing-parliament
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Ministers_replacing_parliament%29

content:
<p>
UK ministers have mostly replaced Parliament as the author of the law,
and are imposing absurd and useless punishments connected with Covid-19.
This has given right-wing antisocialists <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/27/where-is-the-voice-of-the-left-as-libertarians-annex-the-covid-19-debate">the opportunity to pose
as defenders of liberty</a>.


feed_id: 5fe61ba3b2f77af77bcb383e5fc0ff63
title: How to help QAnon believers
uri: How-to-help-QAnon-believers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28How_to_help_QAnon_believers%29
content:
<p>
Advice for how to help QAnon believers <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/28/if-your-friends-or-family-have-fallen-for-an-internet-conspiracy-cult-heres-what-you-should-do">get out of the QAnonsense</a>.


feed_id: 76f86205a749ab941deda010832e4e97
title: Racist thug explaining himself
uri: Racist-thug-explaining-himself
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Racist_thug_explaining_himself%29

content:
<p>
The thug that shot Jacob Blake <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/27/jacob-blake-kenosha-rusten-sheskey">offers an explanation</a>.

<p>
Unconscious racism often manifests by leading someone to jump to the
worst possible conclusion, and take it as absolutely certain.  If the
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thug</a> is telling the truth about what he thought at the time &mdash;
something we cannot be sure of &mdash; this could be the explanation for
it.

<p>
I don't think it justifies shooting Blake.


feed_id: d64c1e7f2a1a6d9393613f526db91602
title: Less war
uri: Less-war
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Less_war%29
content:
<p>
*The American public wants less war. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/18/biden-foreign-policy-us-public-wants-less-war">Can Joe Biden deliver</a>?*


feed_id: 36ca5e30a0e5b4727c0846d3f2fd921f
title: Sabotage
uri: 2020-09-29-Sabotage
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Sabotage%29
content:
<p>
Mueller failed to use all the means at his disposal to investigate
the possible crimes committed by the corrupter.  And then <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/27/where-law-ends-review-robert-mueller-donald-trump-andrew-weissmann">Barr sabotaged
the awareness of what Mueller had found</a>.


feed_id: 4ab92aa035c1457d14d28a96822c66ff
title: Enforcing mask requirement
uri: Enforcing-mask-requirement
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Enforcing_mask_requirement%29
content:
<p>
About the difficulty of enforcing the rather lax mask requirement of Key West,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/27/florida-key-west-mask-patrol-social-distancing">and dealing with covidiots</a>.

<p>
The people who don't wear a mask, and say "It's my business if I take a risk,"
evidently don't understand that their mask is needed to protect others.
Other people's masks protect you; your mask is to protect them.

<p>
Perhaps it would be useful to have a massive publicity campaign about that.


feed_id: a455d7ea41d255770d6f8b09165cc5ed
title: Surveillance on workers
uri: Surveillance-on-workers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Surveillance_on_workers%29
content:
<p>
Many employers are using nonfree software, including videoconference
software, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/27/shirking-from-home-staff-feel-the-heat-as-bosses-ramp-up-remote-surveillance">to surveil and monitor staff working at home</a>.

<p>
The feature that lets someone check whether you are "active" is a
malicious feature.  With free software, you could fix it to say
you are active.

<p>
We see also how connecting to one of those cloudy dis-service
can be a way for an employer to monitor you.


feed_id: 7150e1518cf2af0b79c4b12e2f00a022
title: Art of Phillip Guston
uri: Art-of-Phillip-Guston
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Art_of_Phillip_Guston%29
content:
<p>
There is a controversy over whether and how a museum should display the art
of Philip Guston, which depicted people in KKK robes <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/sep/26/sense-or-censorship-row-over-klan-images-in-tates-postponed-show">to relate their evil
to everyday life activities</a>.

<p>
The danger is not only that people might miss the irony the artist
intended.  It is also that right-wing conspiracy fabricators might
intentionally try to misrepresent it or build QAnonsense around it.


feed_id: c05c0d87a90ef3332f671055cf3e6bfb
title: Islamic Relief
uri: Islamic-Relief
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Islamic_Relief%29
content:
<p>

Islamic Relief will argue in the Israeli Supreme Court <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/27/islamic-relief-charity-terrorist-court-israel-palestinians">to refute false
accusations that it is a terrorist group</a>.


feed_id: bc5db8be4252a568d67ceb62298f2e9d
title: Ban on distributing food
uri: Ban-on-distributing-food
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Ban_on_distributing_food%29
content:
<p>
*Activists protest ban <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/27/activists-protest-ban-on-distributing-food-to-migrants-in-calais">on distributing food to migrants in Calais</a>.*

<p>
It is unconscionable to try to eliminate inconvenient poor people
by denying them food.


feed_id: 620b3435598f7bcfba8b8ac8f50d61b2
title: Immunity for dangerous working conditions
uri: Immunity-for-dangerous-working-conditions
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Immunity_for_dangerous_working_conditions%29

content:
<p>
The few giant meat-processing companies in the US want Congress to give them
immunity <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/26/dont-grant-global-meat-corporations-immunity-hold-them-accountable-covid-19">for working conditions that encourage the spread of Covid-19</a>.
  The corrupter has already told OSHA to support the businesses rather
than the workers.

<p>
To shut down the meat plants until they could run with safe procedures
would have caused a disaster.  But the government could have made
them, could still make them, heavily liable for failure to protect the
workers in all feasible ways, while helping to increase what is feasible.


feed_id: 0d3fdfdf66bd3299ce414feaa72bc855
title: Preying on restaurants
uri: Preying-on-restaurants
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Preying_on_restaurants%29
content:
<p>
Food delivery companies have many ways <a href="https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/19/we-are-beautiful/#man-in-the-middle">of preying on the restaurants
they offer "services" to</a>.


feed_id: 7d6caa33053b049910c2bc2c6997d595
title: Gig economy companies
uri: Gig-economy-companies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Gig_economy_companies%29
content:
<p>
Cory Doctorow: many major gig economy companies <a href="https://pluralistic.net/2020/05/19/larval-pegasi/#long-con">are con games,
funded by Salafi Arabia</a>.

<p>
They are designed to grow very large over a period many years, but
always losing money.  *Then, Softbank exits with an IPO that offloads
the money-losing company on suckers who think its longevity means
there must be a 'path to profitability.'* The way the investors profit
is that the IPO brings in more than their investments.


feed_id: 43d30f9d863c56ea8d53d01d8a23ba3a
title: Nuclear weapons
uri: 2020-09-29-Nuclear-weapons
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Nuclear_weapons%29
content:
<p>
Nuclear weapons <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/26/time-put-end-nuclear-age">are still a threat to the survival of civilization</a>.


feed_id: 90f73420385d3cfc53d58e7ab08066cd
title: Argentines pressuring the president to legalize abortion
uri: Argentines-pressuring-the-president-to-legalize-abortion
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28Argentines_pressuring_the_president_to_legalize_abortion%29

content:
<p>

Argentines are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/sep/28/argentina-president-under-pressure-to-keep-election-promise-on-abortion">pressuring the president</a> to keep his pledge to legalize
abortion.


feed_id: dd8f130fc5d6b850619d546025b5bb0d
title: Greece is spending a lot of money on arms to beat Turkey
uri: Greece-is-spending-a-lot-of-money-on-arms-to-beat-Turkey
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28Greece_is_spending_a_lot_of_money_on_arms_to_beat_Turkey%29

content:
<p>

Greece is being crushed by debt, but it is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/28/mike-pompeo-due-in-athens-amid-spiralling-tensions-between-greece-and-turkey">spending a lot of money on
arms to beat Turkey</a> for the chance to extract some undersea gas.
<p>
Whichever country wins will win the chance to help destroy
civilization.  Meanwhile, even if this doesn't result in a war, the
arms will kill destitute Greeks.


feed_id: 4ae5ed9e7c4914cbb34fbf3a8345553d
title: Criticizing judicial nominees for their religion
uri: Criticizing-judicial-nominees-for-their-religion
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28Criticizing_judicial_nominees_for_their_religion%29

content:
<p>

It is legitimate to criticize judicial nominees for their religion, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/28/democrats-arent-anti-catholic-bigots-for-questioning-amy-coney-barrett">if
they seem likely to impose it on the rest of us</a>.


feed_id: 8e8fe08af6baaaeb0aec439f00858300
title: If the cheater didn't break the law, does that mean he didn't do anything wrong?
uri: If-the-cheater-didn-t-break-the-law-does-that-mean-he-didn-t-do-anyth
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28If_the_cheater_didn%27t_break_the_law%2C_does_that_mean_he_didn%27t_do_anything_wrong_%29

content:
<p>

If the cheater did not break the law in paying so little tax, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/28/trump-tax-avoidance-national-system-americans-refund">does that
mean he did not do anything wrong?</a>
<p>
The article explains why that conclusion does not follow.
But it seems to accept the widespread idea that people are
not to blame for mistreating others when the rules permit it.
<p>
That is where I disagree.  If person P takes advantage of a flaw
in the system to do injustice, the system is at fault <em>and</em>
P is at fault as well.


feed_id: 09c7601e085a301163122236609b6c54
uri: Ai-Weiwie-carried-out-a-solitary-protest-in-front-of-the-court-house-w
title:
Ai Weiwie carried out a solitary protest in front of the court house where Assange's hearing is being held

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28Ai_Weiwie_carried_out_a_solitary_protest_in_front_of_the_court_house_where_Assange%27s_hearing_is_being_held%29

content:
<p>

Ai Weiwei carried out a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/28/major-outlets-ignore-assange-extradition-hearing-ai-weiwei-demands-freedom-wikileaks">solitary protest</a> in front of the court house where
Assange's hearing ie being held.
He was doing what every journalist ought to be doing.
<p>
Daniel Ellsberg, famed leaker of the Pentagon Papers that showed the
dishonesty of the US about fighting the Vietnam War, testified that
Assange asked the US government to help redact the leaked documents so
there would be no risk anyone working for the US would be endangered,
but the US government refused to help, so as to be able to accuse
Assange of endangering them.


feed_id: 8c1c2e19344246d1651548132efa7528
title: The pope has gone silent on criticizing China
uri: The-pope-has-gone-silent-on-criticizing-China
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28The_pope_has_gone_silent_on_criticizing_China%29

content:
<p>

The pope has gone silent on <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/28/mike-pompeo-to-protest-against-vaticans-deal-with-china-during-visit">criticizing China</a>, apparently in exchange for a
say in appointment of Catholic bishops there.
<p>
Pompeo has no moral authority, but I think he is right on this one.
Of course, the injustices that the pope should criticize include many
committed by other countries, and they include the USA.


feed_id: b0fa74125f36e41792bd6e28f9dcd816
title: Officials can NOT strip search kids
uri: Officials-can-NOT-strip-search-kids
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28Officials_can_NOT_strip_search_kids%29

content:
<p>

*No, Officials Can NOT Strip Search Kids Just Because <a href="https://www.freerangekids.com/no-officials-can-not-strip-search-kids-just-because-their-mom-let-them-wait-briefly-in-the-car/">Their Mom Let Them Wait
Briefly in the Car</a>.*


feed_id: 2775caeba86a441d8addca8bfd2caa8d
title: Kidnapped by thugs for hours for being a Black Lives Matters Protester
uri: Kidnapped-by-thugs-for-hours-for-being-a-Black-Lives-Matters-Protester
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28Kidnapped_by_thugs_for_hours_for_being_a_Black_Lives_Matters_Protester%29

content:
<p>

*I was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/27/i-was-kidnapped-by-police-for-nine-hours-for-being-a-black-lives-matter-protester">kidnapped by [thugs]</a> for nine hours for being a Black Lives
Matter protester.*


feed_id: 0cf6e92f69632063023d441c14b1353d
title: Trumps con of selling voters on being a successful business man
uri: Trumps-con-of-selling-voters-on-being-a-successful-business-man
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28Trumps_con_of_selling_voters_on_being_a_successful_business_man%29

content:
<p>

*Trump sold voters on the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/28/trump-new-york-times-tax-returns-president">folly that he's a successful businessman</a>. That's a
con.*
<p>
I am not surprised.  He would not have fought so long and hard to conceal
his tax returns if it were not going to embarrass him badly.
<p>
*<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/28/donald-trump-a-bad-businessman-or-a-tax-probably-both">"A bad businessman or a tax cheat – probably both"</a>, say
accountants.*


feed_id: 98ddb12e3d5fa140a37e750da5b897ea
title: Heating of upper levels of the ocean
uri: Heating-of-upper-levels-of-the-ocean
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28Heating_of_upper_levels_of_the_ocean%29

content:
<p>

The heating of upper levels of the ocean is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/28/how-our-warmer-oceans-are-contributing-to-climate-breakdown">making hurricanes stronger</a>
and interfering with vertical mixing of the water.
It also causes a positive feedback by confining further
heating to the surface level.


feed_id: 0e4957bc72ce71ce50a17b5f13696f92
title: Ordering stars not to wear clothing that supports political causes
uri: Ordering-stars-not-to-wear-clothing-that-supports-political-causes
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28Ordering_stars_not_to_wear_clothing_that_supports_political_causes%29

content:
<p>

To what extent should businesses be able to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2020/sep/28/why-it-matters-when-black-lives-matter-clothing-is-banned">order stars</a> not to wear
clothing that supports political causes?
<p>
Political rights cannot discriminate between one political view and
another.  Where and when BLM slogans are permitted, so are right-wing
slogans.


feed_id: d7315ba47f2933ca45c76b0b8bf1bea0
title: Craig Murray's coverage of the Assange extradition hearing
uri: Craig-Murray-s-coverage-of-the-Assange-extradition-hearing
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28Craig_Murray%27s_coverage_of_the_Assange_extradition_hearing%29

content:
<p>

Craig Murray's coverage of <a href="https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/09/your-man-in-the-public-gallery-assange-hearing-day-16/">three</a> more <a href="https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/09/your-man-in-the-public-gallery-assange-hearing-day-17/">sessions</a> of the <a href="https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/09/your-man-in-the-public-gallery-assange-hearing-day-18/">Assange extradition hearing</a>.


feed_id: bc685ee8149edf5f4ceac090bc8edefb
title: Armed fascist demonstrators
uri: Armed-fascist-demonstrators
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28Armed_fascist_demonstrators%29
content:
<p>

Armed fascist demonstrators invade Portland every day and confront
antifascist and BLM protesters, occasionally <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/28/portland-violence-far-right-protests-police">committing violence</a>
against them, against reporters, and against bystanders.  The <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a>
tend to let them do it.


feed_id: 2ff27b9921b69a1e09f216f959da236a
title: Food delivery app companies are parasites
uri: Food-delivery-app-companies-are-parasites
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Food_delivery_app_companies_are_parasites%29

content:
<p>

Food delivery app companies are parasites; the commissions they charge
to restaurants are <a href="https://www.economicliberties.us/our-work/rescuing-restaurants-how-to-protect-restaurants-workers-and-communities-from-predatory-delivery-app-corporations/">draining the restaurants dry</a>.
<p>
They wantonly disregard laws to limit their commissions.


feed_id: 04ca4f0926735708a49b4c506f937bb6
title: UK ordered schools not to use materials from organizations that advocate eliminating capitalism
uri: UK-ordered-schools-not-to-use-materials-from-organizations-that-advoca
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28UK_ordered_schools_not_to_use_materials_from_organizations_that_advocate_eliminating_capitalism%29

content:
<p>

The authoritarian UK government has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/sep/27/uk-schools-told-not-to-use-anti-capitalist-material-in-teaching">ordered</a> schools not to use any
materials from organizations that advocate eliminating capitalism.
<p>
This means that schools can't teach about the history of labor
organizing and the Labour Party.
<p>
Already prohibited is anything produced by an organization that
"endorses illegal activity."  I suppose that rules out showing people
anything written by Extinction Rebellion.  Although that organization
is nonviolent, its protests do include violating laws in minor ways.
Also anything that says you should share copies of published works,
disregarding any unjust laws or anti-socializing contracts that say
you can't.


feed_id: 1737e8b8783eac390c993b0ea3bec032
title: The Farm System Reform Act
uri: The-Farm-System-Reform-Act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28The_Farm_System_Reform_Act%29
content:
<p>

The <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/27/how-we-pry-corporate-stranglehold-our-farm-system">Farm System Reform Act</a> would break the dominion of Big Ag over
small farms.


feed_id: 4a712f15fe532c2f339e644b17889851
title: Child Protection
uri: Child-Protection
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Child_Protection%29
content:
<p>

When Colorado thugs <a href="https://reason.com/2020/09/24/aurora-police-hogtied-child-services-abuse/">arrested Vanessa Peoples</a>, dislocating her shoulder and tying her up so that she had trouble breathing, they shone a light
on of a massive system of oppression, nominally called "child
protection".
<p>
There really are parents who mistreat their children grossly, and the
"child protection"service does sometimes protect children from real
dangers.  But it tends to be too officious about small mistakes or
confusions, doing harm and spreading terror.
<p>
They demand a standard of attentiveness that a middle-class housewife
might aspire to, from parents who don't have either the money or the
time to try.  The effective way to improve matters in those families
is to give them more money, but right-wing authoritarians are only
interested in punishing.  More than half of black US families get
investigated by these services.
<p>
Bringing <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> (many of whom are racist) into the family situation
puts people in many kinds of danger, including the danger of getting a
criminal record, which can ruin your chance for a lawful career and
increase the poverty your children live in.
<p>
The same thing happens when <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> are stationed in schools &mdash; minor
incidents become opportunities to initiate someone's <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2013-nov-feb.html#11_January_2014_('Groundbreaking'_Guidelines_to_Stop_'School-to-Prison_Pipeline')">criminal record</a>.


feed_id: db3ef84e5bfe01eb4c48f78bc923b59d
title: Hope and dialogue into practice
uri: Hope-and-dialogue-into-practice
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Hope_and_dialogue_into_practice%29

content:
<p>

*There are increasing numbers of <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/27/yes-there-hope">experiences</a> putting collaborative
methods for hope and dialogue into practice.*


feed_id: 2857c8d8ab647d3a131ab285cd095db4
title: Stores in small towns in Sweden
uri: Stores-in-small-towns-in-Sweden
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Stores_in_small_towns_in_Sweden%29

content:
<p>

In small towns in Sweden there are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/06/unstaffed-digital-supermarkets-transform-rural-sweden">stores with no staff</a>.  They are
very convenient for the people who live nearby, because they don't
recognize the danger of requiring them to log in using a national ID
number to buy anything.
<p>
Vending machines that accept cash in varying amounts are not unusual.
It would not be hard to make these stores accept cash, too.
There should be a legal requirement that people not have to identify
themselves to buy in a store.


feed_id: bbaee20e776704feb4b66d3142de1517
title: The corrupter's loans
uri: The-corrupter-s-loans
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28The_corrupter%27s_loans%29
content:
<p>

The corrupter will have to pay $400 million in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/27/new-york-times-trump-tax-returns-key-findings">loans within the next
few years</a>, and he may not have that much.  No wonder his palm is
always open for gifts.


feed_id: 66cc443f14953befb5aead8e8c842677
title: 60 countries promise to put wildlife and climate at heart of post-Covid recovery
uri: 60-countries-promise-to-put-wildlife-and-climate-at-heart-of-post-Covi
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%2860_countries_promise_to_put_wildlife_and_climate_at_heart_of_post-Covid_recovery%29

content:
<p>

*   France, Germany and UK among more than 60 countries <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/28/world-leaders-pledge-to-halt-earth-destruction-un-summit">promising</a> to put
wildlife and climate at heart of post-Covid recovery plans.*


feed_id: 7d94e816c514a902ea04e8add88f468f
title: Illegal drift nets threaten endangered species
uri: Illegal-drift-nets-threaten-endangered-species
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#29_September_2020_%28Illegal_drift_nets_threaten_endangered_species%29

content:
<p>

*Surge in illegal drift nets <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/18/walls-of-death-surge-in-illegal-drift-nets-threatens-endangered-species">threatens endangered species</a>.*


feed_id: c2bcdaa11ed97335630396bcc0d5757e
title: When the world is on fire
uri: When-the-world-is-on-fire
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28When_the_world_is_on_fire%29
content:
<p>
*What to Do When the World Is on Fire.* Government policies should
encourage localized and diversified agriculture, using methods that
improve the land and retain water, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/28/what-do-when-world-fire">should replace the encouragement of
monocultures controlled by megacorporations</a>.

<p>
I don't want to live on a farm; I would feel isolated and bored there.
But many people would really love to do this, if government policies
encouraged <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2015-sep-dec.html#31_December_2015_(DMCA)">hiring intelligent workers rather than buying "intelligent"
tractors with proprietary software and DRM</a>.


feed_id: dd0b24996164327c2ac1f36a9ffb5f30
title: Enemy of workers
uri: Enemy-of-workers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28Enemy_of_workers%29
content:
<p>
*         Supreme Court Nominee Amy Coney Barrett Is an Enemy of Workers.*
Indeed, <a href="https://jacobinmag.com/2020/09/supreme-court-pick-trump-amy-coney-barrett-gig-economy-workers">she supports businesses against individuals in general</a>.


feed_id: 598ac58862a9bc8ec6d38c4e08331816
title: FBI and apple
uri: FBI-and-apple
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28FBI_and_apple%29
content:
<p>
(<a href="https://www.theonion.com/fbi-demands-apple-s-assistance-in-opening-iphone-packag-1845157871">satire</a>) *&hellip; the Federal Bureau of Investigation
   reportedly contacted Apple Monday to demand its assistance in opening
   an iPhone 11’s packaging.*


feed_id: 69bbaa0ee7cc5f846abd2893bc67d236
title: Inadequate tracking
uri: Inadequate-tracking
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28Inadequate_tracking%29
content:
<p>
National Nurses United reports <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/09/28/new-report-reveals-widespread-government-failure-track-and-report-data-covid-19">on inadequate tracking of Covid-19
cases and deaths in the US</a>.
  These errors lead to bad response.


feed_id: 5711d7de464d0a5ab47088382c68357f
title: Evil rebels
uri: Evil-rebels
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28Evil_rebels%29
content:
<p>
The wrecker has divided America, and <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/28/coming-civil-war-over-trumps-ego">his supporters think of us
as evil rebels</a>.

<p>
What makes this so devastatingly dangerous is that he has taught
his supporters to reject the idea of following moral rules that
ought to limit their conduct.  Because they imagine we are evil,
they believe that any violence, any lie, is justified.

<p>
People of such amorality are not fit to have any role in government.


feed_id: 411b4e418d8b23eb7ab210a2fa9c87c7
title: Diverting money out of business
uri: Diverting-money-out-of-business
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28Diverting_money_out_of_business%29

content:
<p>
The conman's tax affairs illustrate that the US has made it easy for
rich "businessmen" to divert money out of a business <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/09/28/new-york-times-trump-tax-revelation-confirms-what-we-already-know">as an excuse
to say it made no profit and owes no tax</a>.


feed_id: 7290c518d909c74de6e0560c859a2145
title: Until vaccine
uri: Until-vaccine
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28Until_vaccine%29
content:
<p>
*Until there's a Covid vaccine, we need to focus on treating
longer-term health consequences.* <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/29/until-theres-a-covid-vaccine-we-need-to-focus-on-treating-longer-term-health-consequences">In particular, hyperinflammation,
which injures organs</a>.


feed_id: ac3e4868c58f146631de8876d1642fd6
title: Human rights abroad
uri: Human-rights-abroad
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28Human_rights_abroad%29
content:
<p>
Palantir says it will not support governments that abuse human rights
abroad.  The word "abroad" is necessary because <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/09/28/palantir-technologies-contracts-raise-human-rights-concerns-nyse-direct-listing">Palantir supports the
US deportation thugs</a>.


feed_id: 61053581fd6eaef8f3da4b8e28a21d0e
title: Everything he says is false
uri: Everything-he-says-is-false
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28Everything_he_says_is_false%29
content:
<p>
Robert Redfield, head of the CDC, was overheard condemning one of the
bullshitter's advisers, saying that "Everything he says is false".
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/28/everything-he-says-false-cdc-director-overheard-airplane-condemning-trump-covid">The adviser in question was Scott Atlas</a>.

<p>
He may be misleading the bullshitter as well as the public.  However,
getting bullshit as advice from advisers he chose cannot excuse the
corrupter's campaign of bullshit.

<p>
I hope that the training of radiologists is not so narrow that they
escape learning basic medical facts about infectious diseases and
epidemics.  However, no amount of education can overcome a determined
partisan intention to expose bullshit.


feed_id: 936a150ffe4fdbf0bdc08af3dc965a35
title: Swing voters
uri: Swing-voters
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28Swing_voters%29
content:
<p>
(<a href="https://politics.theonion.com/biden-removes-defeating-trump-from-platform-to-avoid-1845183053">satire</a>) *Biden Removes ‘Defeating Trump’ From Platform To Avoid
Alienating Swing Voters.*


feed_id: 224db93ec7323d2d25932c463f2b3891
title: Prosecution of journalists
uri: 2020-09-30-Prosecution-of-journalists
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28Prosecution_of_journalists%29
content:
<p>
Adani, the company that wants to construct a giant coal mine in
Australia, is prosecuting an activist for doing what Julian Assange
did: asking for leaks about the plans.  Now the company apparently
wants to go further and prosecute the people who did what Glenn
Greenwald did: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/sep/28/adani-legal-action-sparks-fears-journalists-could-be-targeted-over-carmichael-mine-leaks">prosecute the journalists who received the leaks from the
activist</a>.


feed_id: d10060e9e7fde146a10bd520e08924e5
title: Protecting students
uri: Protecting-students
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28Protecting_students%29
content:
<p>
Oxford University's measures to protect students studying about China
from repression by China: they submit their homework anonymously, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/sep/28/oxford-moves-to-protect-students-from-chinas-hong-kong-security-law">and
recording those classes is forbidden</a>.

<p>
The precise extent and depth of this anonymity are not clear in the
article.  If it means that their teachers don't know their real
identities, that is surprising but may be necessary &mdash; I won't argue
with it.

<p>
If it means simply that their identities are not associated with
their work in some corporation's cloudy data base that the school uses,
<em>all</em> students deserve that kind of anonymity, on general principles.
Don't dox anyone to a company.

<p>
The prohibition on recording classes seems to be necessary in this
case, but it has the unfortunate effect of blocking the one way you
can fully participate in a Zoom class without running Zoom:
find someone willing to make a recording of it, one way or another,
and watch that video (either in real time, or later).  (You can participate
in audio by phoning in.)

<p>
This could still be done if your friend sets up a webcam on another
computer pointing at the screen, and transmits a stream to your
machine.  But that is extra hard since webcams are expensive these
days.


feed_id: 1654169e0fa88a0044988d31f9626cbb
title: Swimming to freedom
uri: Swimming-to-freedom
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28Swimming_to_freedom%29
content:
<p>
Decades ago, some Chinese swam to freedom in Hong Kong.  <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/28/back-where-we-were-history-repeats-for-hong-kongs-freedom-swimmers">Now the tyranny they
escaped from has recaptured them</a>.

<p>
I read that the UK agreed to try to stop refugees from arriving in
Hong Kong so that Chine would not invade.  It would have been
impossible to defend Hong Kong militarily against a Chinese invasion.


feed_id: 8c59417c5463a29376c1786bda1636ad
title: Spreading hope
uri: Spreading-hope
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28Spreading_hope%29
content:
<p>
On spreading hope for ultimately <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/27/yes-there-hope">replacing the system of rule by the rich</a>.


feed_id: 8543b1a3b63e018254a4a995300e006a
title: National security law
uri: National-security-law
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#30_September_2020_%28National_security_law%29
content:
<p>
How broad is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/28/quiz-can-you-navigate-your-way-through-hong-kongs-national-security-law">the repression of China's Hong Kong national security
law</a>?


feed_id: b3928d14720bf7218b8ab2520244654c
title: Safe Covid-19
uri: Safe-Covid-19
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#1_October_2020_%28Safe_Covid-19%29
content:
<p>
In the UK, a few scientists claim that it is safe to let Covid-19
infect nearly everyone.  They do this with interpretations and
arguments that are not necessarily wrong, but are strained.  The
right-wing press <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/29/rival-scientists-lockdowns-scientific-covid-19">exaggerates the importance of their dissent</a>.

<p>
It seems that group disregards entirely the danger of long-term
injury, even to young people.
  Because of this, allowing lots of people to be infected,
even people who are unlikely to die, would be a big mistake.

<p>
If transmission-limiting measures are taken soon, the hospitals
will not fill up with people sick with Covid-19, and normal treatment
of other diseases can continue.


feed_id: 9936acbc2394cf5c1b3d2e3ab3abb7cc
title: Keeping election observers away
uri: Keeping-election-observers-away
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#1_October_2020_%28Keeping_election_observers_away%29

content:
<p>
The US government has contrived to keep most international election
observers away, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/28/us-election-observers-europe-latin-america">just when we need them more than ever</a>.


feed_id: cdefdea24be4a000d7cc6dfea81c98ff
title: Excuse to disregard harm
uri: Excuse-to-disregard-harm
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#1_October_2020_%28Excuse_to_disregard_harm%29
content:
<p>
Australian rules for approving fossil fuel plants are designed to rush
the approval and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/29/narrabri-gas-project-environment-group-says-new-groundwater-evidence-not-considered">provide excuses for disregarding harm that is likely
to result</a>.


feed_id: aee331bb92c7871c8f9bf2f660f7f048
title: Interview of stalked woman
uri: Interview-of-stalked-woman
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#1_October_2020_%28Interview_of_stalked_woman%29
content:
<p>
An interview with a woman <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/sep/29/stalked-11-years-abusive-ex-boyfriend">who has been stalked for 11 years by a violent
ex-lover</a>.

<p>
There are many situations where there are a few ways to respond, and
each one may succeed, do nothing, or backfire, and there is no way to
predict.  You can choose to roll the dice, spin the wheel, or guess
which number is in the envelope.  Good advice might tell you which
gamble gives you the best odds, but you can't avoid gambling, except
by giving up.  Whether to threaten an abusive ex may be one of these
situations.

<p>
If you lose, you can always agonize about the fact that you might have
won if you had chosen a different source of randomness to bet on.  But
the choice you made also might have won.  It is useless to agonize
about or criticize the choice of gamble.  The best you can do is
choose the best odds and go ahead.

<p>
To come up with a better plan could do a lot of good.

<p>
I wonder if it might make sense to sentence stalkers to carry digital
trackers to detect whether they approach places where their victims go.
It is unjust to do this to people in general, but it would be acceptable
as a punishment for stalking.


feed_id: ecfcf3326cbb446b36197224f98642bf
title: Blocking funds for disrespect of rule of law
uri: Blocking-funds-for-disrespect-of-rule-of-law
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#1_October_2020_%28Blocking_funds_for_disrespect_of_rule_of_law%29

content:
<p>
An EU requirement for countries to respect and implement rule of law
is blocking the release of EU funds to Hungary for coping with Covid-19.
A compromise <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/29/german-compromise-on-releasing-eu-funds-caves-in-to-viktor-orban">is being considered to release the funds</a>.

<p>
I am glad to see that the European Parliament is standing firm for
that requirement.  However, perhaps it is right to make an exception
for the medical emergency.  Surely other funds, used for things that are
not desperately urgent, would offer a good opportunity to pressure
Órban, perhaps even a bigger one.


feed_id: 4295d2d59629fb0e6d8c1f3bbe43d51f
title: Freezing Amnesty International bank account
uri: Freezing-Amnesty-International-bank-account
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#1_October_2020_%28Freezing_Amnesty_International_bank_account%29

content:
<p>
Modi has forced Amnesty International out of India <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/9/29/amnesty-says-its-halting-work-in-india-due-to-govt-witch-hunt">by freezing its
bank account</a>.


feed_id: 2910d08c15e4369ba877e2678ab08b68
title: Cruel deporting of autistic
uri: Cruel-deporting-of-autistic
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#1_October_2020_%28Cruel_deporting_of_autistic%29
content:
<p>
It's not unusual for the UK and US to deport people to countries they
were too young to remember, and where they know no one.  But it is
especially cruel to deport Osime Brown, who is autistic, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/29/osime-brown-deportation-uk-racist-justice-system-autistic-black-jamaica">and won't be
able to survive in Jamaica on his own</a>,

<p>
A person who was brought to a country as a child has the right to live
there.


feed_id: 3636cf6c05801844ec5820350a32787d
title: Using UK courts to sue China
uri: Using-UK-courts-to-sue-China
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#1_October_2020_%28Using_UK_courts_to_sue_China%29
content:
<p>
The UK may authorize minorities in China to use British courts <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/29/uk-courts-could-be-given-power-to-rule-that-uighurs-are-facing-genocide">to sue
China for repression</a>.


feed_id: ff6de0015f499928329ab9b8eced147b
title: Imprisoned for posting negative review
uri: Imprisoned-for-posting-negative-review
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#1_October_2020_%28Imprisoned_for_posting_negative_review%29

content:
<p>
In Thailand, you can be imprisoned <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/29/american-wesley-barnes-faces-prison-thailand-bad-hotel-review">for posting a negative review</a>.

<p>
That is because defamation is a crime there, rather than a civil dispute.
That is fundamentally unjust.

<p>
I have read that some US states make defamation a crime, but those crimes
seem to rarely if ever be prosecuted.


feed_id: 23b6f8fe60d4ddb21c2ca49f528fef21
title: Fossil fuel workers
uri: 2020-10-01-Fossil-fuel-workers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#1_October_2020_%28Fossil_fuel_workers%29
content:
<p>
*Many fossil fuel workers like me want to transition to renewables &mdash; <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/29/fossil-fuel-workers-transition-renewables-covid">but we
need support</a>.*


feed_id: bf890871f5fedf1dbdef9cdd27489a53
title: Right wing extremists infiltrating thugs
uri: Right-wing-extremists-infiltrating-thugs
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#1_October_2020_%28Right_wing_extremists_infiltrating_thugs%29

content:
<p>
An FBI report from 2006 warned that <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/09/29/police-white-supremacist-infiltration-fbi/">right wing extremists would try
to infiltrate US thug departments</a>.

<p>
We know that a large fraction of <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> are right-wing extremists.
Whether this is the result of active infiltration, I don't know,
but I don't think it matters much.


feed_id: 7761e32122a36d5b199a58625793aa6c
title: Palm recognition
uri: Palm-recognition
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#1_October_2020_%28Palm_recognition%29
content:
<p>
Amazon is deploying <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/29/21493094/amazon-one-palm-recognition-hand-payments-amazon-go-store">a system for palm recognition</a>.

<p>
As the article says, this is much better than other forms of biometric
authentication.  Another advantage is that people don't constantly
leave palmprints wherever they go, as they leave fingerprints.

<p>
I have wondered whether the inside of the elbow might be a good choice.


feed_id: 412e8a297cbdb0d30d1359704a00c283
title: Status of inequality
uri: Status-of-inequality
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#1_October_2020_%28Status_of_inequality%29
content:
<p>
A report <a href="https://inequality.org/facts">on the status of inequality</a>, 
                                      in the US and internationally.
With Javascript disabled, it looks a little weird, but I'm told
that the information is all accessible.


feed_id: ee9bfb0a412c5f9f6c3cde61c4707591
title: Proud boys
uri: Proud-boys
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#1_October_2020_%28Proud_boys%29
content:
<p>
The "Proud Boys" in Portland were few but violent; they attacked three
journalists while thugs did nothing to stop them.  However, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/09/28/portland-proud-boys-rally-journalists/">thugs did
attack BLM and antifascist protesters, as well as journalists</a>.


feed_id: 5daec19e20fb2128ed2855a1d55cb8c2
title: Fossil fuel export business
uri: Fossil-fuel-export-business
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#1_October_2020_%28Fossil_fuel_export_business%29
content:
<p>
China's pledge to limit and reduce fossil fuel use <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/29/qa-australias-fossil-fuel-industry-will-collapse-within-20-years-mike-cannon-brookes-says">will ruin Australia's
fossil fuel export business</a>.
  This is because China will use its own coal rather than buy
from Australia.

<p>
The sad thing is, China may do this by building new coal mines.  The
decrease in Australia's extraction may not be a decrease in coal
burning for the world as a whole.


feed_id: 2a9c759390569d7f9de083b53577aae0
title: The bullshitter's 2016 campaign discouraged black from voting
uri: The-bullshitter-s-2016-campaign-discouraged-black-from-voting
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28The_bullshitter%27s_2016_campaign_discouraged_black_from_voting%29

content:
<p>

The bullshitter's campaign in 2016 <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/09/28/new-report-raises-concerns-facebook-and-2016-trump-campaign-colluded-political">used Facebook ads to discourage
blacks from voting</a>.  Facebook should show the public precisely what
it did to achieve that.
<p>
Using advertisements to discourage some group from voting is, in
spirit, an attack on democracy.  It is not as bad as outright <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jan-apr.html#12_February_2020_(Fighting_voter_suppression)">voter
suppression, but it is bad.


feed_id: a20eea3ff4f19d9f6084c38f9ee67dd7
title: Israel is neglecting Arab citizens in dealing with Covid-19
uri: Israel-is-neglecting-Arab-citizens-in-dealing-with-Covid-19
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Israel_is_neglecting_Arab_citizens_in_dealing_with_Covid-19%29

content:
<p>

Israel is <a href="https://www.972mag.com/palestinian-citizens-arabic-israel-coronavirus/">neglecting Arab citizens</a> in dealing with Covid-19,
so the disease is spreading in Arab areas.
<p>
Israel permits overt <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2010-sep-dec.html#12%20December%202010%20(Israeli%20racism%20grows%20more%20virulent)">housing discrimination</a> against Arabs.


feed_id: 523b6225184076c2ec17d42eb3c6dd95
title: Amazon's warehouse robots
uri: Amazon-s-warehouse-robots
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Amazon%27s_warehouse_robots%29
content:
<p>

Amazon's warehouse robots <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/29/21493752/amazon-warehouses-robots-higher-injury-rates-report-reveal">impose a high pace of work</a> on the humans
that still work there.  Apparently Amazon has cut their numbers too
far.


feed_id: df4cdbcdcbeb10afdeaf71e65a241084
title: Human Rights Watch Details NYPD Attack on Peaceful Protesters
uri: Human-Rights-Watch-Details-NYPD-Attack-on-Peaceful-Protesters
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Human_Rights_Watch_Details_NYPD_Attack_on_Peaceful_Protesters%29

content:
<p>

*Human Rights Watch Details <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/09/30/nypd-nyc-protests-police-report/">NYPD Attack on Peaceful Protesters</a>.*
<p>
It was a Black Lives Matter protest on June 4.  The <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> encircled the
protesters to force them to remain till after the curfew, at which point
the <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> attacked them systematically.


feed_id: bf1068bf2ec61233c9ba74146b5d3456
title: Investigation of Amazon's plans to increase surveillance of its workers
uri: Investigation-of-Amazon-s-plans-to-increase-surveillance-of-its-worker
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Investigation_of_Amazon%27s_plans_to_increase_surveillance_of_its_workers%29

content:
<p>

EU unions <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/sep/30/trade-unions-urge-eu-to-investigate-amazon-effort-to-spy-on-workers">call for investigation</a> of Amazon's plans to increase surveillance
of its workers.


feed_id: c252b8f06f79a076ec5528f1f1f4c78b
title: Turkey is signing up Syrian opposition fighters as mercenaries
uri: Turkey-is-signing-up-Syrian-opposition-fighters-as-mercenaries
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Turkey_is_signing_up_Syrian_opposition_fighters_as_mercenaries%29

content:
<p>

Turkey is signing up <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/30/nagorno-karabakh-at-least-three-syrian-fighters-killed">Syrian opposition fighters as mercenaries</a>
to fight for Azerbaijan against Armenia.
<p>
Why would they want to do that?  Purely for the money?  Because Armenians
are "infidels"?


feed_id: 78ec67cb83740483ed9f1271da139036
title: (satire) Christian act of charity
uri: (satire)-Christian-act-of-charity
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28%28satire%29_Christian_act_of_charity%29

content:
<p>

(satire) *&hellip; top GOP leaders argued Monday that
giving President Donald Trump a second term would be a <a href="https://www.theonion.com/gop-says-giving-trump-second-term-would-be-christian-ac-1845206174">Christian act of
charity for a poor, elderly man</a>.* And help him stay out of prison.


feed_id: d8f1b232de36529e89c8c3e02cdf381f
title: Wild-caught bats and rodents
uri: Wild-caught-bats-and-rodents
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Wild-caught_bats_and_rodents%29
content:
<p>

The US imports a large amount of products made from wild-caught bats
and rodents.  Catching them and handling them creates a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/09/28/report-americas-massive-wildlife-imports-fuel-global-pandemic-risks">danger of new
diseases</a>, and so does shipping them to the US.


feed_id: 55a9301793df7df7cc6d284b5cb99ab1
title: 80% of US household wealth owned by millionaires and billionaires
uri: 80-of-US-household-wealth-owned-by-millionaires-and-billionaires
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%2880%2525_of_US_household_wealth_owned_by_millionaires_and_billionaires%29

content:
<p>

*Analysis Shows Nearly 80% of US Household Wealth <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/28/analysis-shows-nearly-80-us-household-wealth-owned-millionaires-and-billionaires">Owned by Millionaires and
Billionaires</a>.*
<p>
Yanis Varoufakis proposes an <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/28/redistribution-games">alternative to a wealth tax</a> that would
achieve the same purpose.


feed_id: 561ae75acd556946df9ddc4af0c3533f
title: Environmental protections could be in danger
uri: Environmental-protections-could-be-in-danger
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Environmental_protections_could_be_in_danger%29

content:
<p>

*Environmental Protections <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/09/29/environmental-protections-could-be-danger-trumps-scotus-pick">Could Be in Danger</a> with Trump’s SCOTUS Pick.*
<p>
*Progressives Warn Barrett's Right-Wing Ideology and Past Rulings Signal She
Could <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/28/progressives-warn-barretts-right-wing-ideology-and-past-rulings-signal-she-could">Intentionally 'Make the Country a More Unjust Place'</a>.*


feed_id: 69e10c12d618d8c0ec8eb9f19c73270f
title: Yitzhak Rabin's politics towards Palestinians
uri: Yitzhak-Rabin-s-politics-towards-Palestinians
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Yitzhak_Rabin%27s_politics_towards_Palestinians%29

content:
<p>

<a href="https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2020/09/28/aoc-ignites-a-debate-about-yitzhak-rabin/">Investigating the complexities</a> of Yitzhak Rabin's politics
towards Palestinians.


feed_id: d29e7f1aad601c86ab8ecad7d98f79ac
title: (satire) Moisturizer to prevent forest dryness
uri: (satire)-Moisturizer-to-prevent-forest-dryness
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28%28satire%29_Moisturizer_to_prevent_forest_dryness%29

content:
<p>

(satire) *California Firefighters <a href="https://www.theonion.com/california-firefighters-massage-2-5-million-gallons-of-1845159161">Massage 2.5 Million Gallons Of
Moisturizer</a> Into Forests To Prevent Dryness.*


feed_id: 8fa9a259ba164ccd40ebd042c2711869
title: Criminal charges against reporter April Erlich
uri: Criminal-charges-against-reporter-April-Erlich
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Criminal_charges_against_reporter_April_Erlich%29

content:
<p>

RSF calls on Oregon to <a href="https://rsf.org/en/news/us-journalist-facing-criminal-charges-reporting-homeless-encampment-oregon">drop criminal charges against reporter April
Ehrlich</a>, for interviewing homeless fire refugees being kicked out of a
park.
<p>
The <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> wanted to keep her outside where she couldn't talk with
them.


feed_id: 4799bb46e11a427f518346c2719fe2af
title: The cheater privately regards Christians as useful suckers
uri: The-cheater-privately-regards-Christians-as-useful-suckers
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28The_cheater_privately_regards_Christians_as_useful_suckers%29

content:
<p>

<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#cheater">The cheater</a> poses in public to make Christians think he is one of them,
while privately regarding them as <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/09/trump-secretly-mocks-his-christian-supporters/616522/">useful suckers</a>.
<p>
I too think of them as fools, but unlike <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#cheater">the cheater</a>, I respect them
by honestly showing them my disapproval and opposition.


feed_id: 26bace4e0700f7314213fdf2c9702e37
title: Court order to continue the census as planned
uri: Court-order-to-continue-the-census-as-planned
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Court_order_to_continue_the_census_as_planned%29

content:
<p>

A court order tells the Census to continue for another month as
originally planned, but the Saboteur of Commerce said he will <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/29/outrageous-and-disturbing-openly-defying-federal-court-order-wilbur-ross-moves-shut">defy the
order</a>.
<p>
This looks like another step in the wrecker's campaign to disarm all legal
restraint on what he does.


feed_id: a2312adafc4eab1d07f27a761f5c1494
title: Cars driven into Black Lives Matter protesters
uri: Cars-driven-into-Black-Lives-Matter-protesters
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Cars_driven_into_Black_Lives_Matter_protesters%29

content:
<p>

104 drivers have <a href="https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/nation/2020/07/08/vehicle-ramming-attacks-66-us-since-may-27/5397700002/">driven cars into Black Lives Matter protesters</a> since
May 25.  Some of them were terrorist attacks, and 39 drivers face
criminal charges.
<p>
Some right-wing fanatics escaped prosecution by claiming they were afraid
of the protesters they had driven into the middle of.


feed_id: 97bc214483fbc7096c536228fbdd9066
title: Deactivated mail sorting machines disassembled
uri: Deactivated-mail-sorting-machines-disassembled
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Deactivated_mail_sorting_machines_disassembled%29

content:
<p>

DeJoy said that he had the deactivated mail sorting machines
<a href="https://boingboing.net/2020/09/25/postmaster-dejoy-says-removed-mail-sorting-machines-were-stripped-for-parts-cant-be-reinstalled.html">disassembled</a> &mdash; apparently to make sure they could not be put back in
service in the event a court ordered it.
<p>
He also said that the parts were put into other machines,
but this seems to have been false.
<p>
However, some staff have <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/29/quiet-revolt-brewing-usps-postal-workers-defy-postmaster-general-louis-dejoys-mail">disobeyed and kept machines working</a>, and in general continued doing their jobs well.
<p>
It is a mistake to run the Post Office as a business.
We should <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/29/new-report-details-why-postal-service-which-must-be-protected-shouldnt-be-run">define it as a national service</a> and think about what more
it can do.
<p>
*The <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/09/29/economic-benefits-public-us-postal-service">Economic Benefits</a> of a Public US Postal Service.*


feed_id: c6a4c37621b813c7db0f35910f6d3dca
title: Giuliani owned company with no employees got a federal PPP loan
uri: Giuliani-owned-company-with-no-employees-got-a-federal-PPP-loan
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Giuliani_owned_company_with_no_employees_got_a_federal_PPP_loan%29

content:
<p>

Giuliani owns a company that has no employees, but <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/09/16/invisible-company-owned-by-rudy-giuliani-got-taxpayer-backed-ppp-money--but-where-did-it-go/">got a federal PPP loan</a>
which it is allowed to use only for paying employees.  Was this a crime?
<p>
If we have an honest Justice Department some day, it should investigate.
Putting that arrogant liar in prison for this and other crimes would
be a little justice.


feed_id: e0e3894591ec8bb75f08a7b678eec06c
title: Many banks cover up their bad debts
uri: Many-banks-cover-up-their-bad-debts
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Many_banks_cover_up_their_bad_debts%29

content:
<p>

Many banks cover up their bad debts, with the <a href="https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/how-bankers-hide-losses">tacit approval of
government regulators</a>.  Some conceal so much in the way of bad debts
that their net worth is negative but they don't let on.


feed_id: a25828982591e870fdee87d1735217e8
title: West Virginia's billionaire Republican governor
uri: West-Virginia-s-billionaire-Republican-governor
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28West_Virginia%27s_billionaire_Republican_governor%29

content:
<p>

West Virginia's Republican governor is a billionaire but his companies
keep getting <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/this-billionaire-governors-companies-have-now-reached-140-million-in-lawsuit-settlements-and-judgments-over-unpaid-bills">sued for nonpayment of debts</a>.
<p>
The companies often lose or settle the debts &mdash; $140 million so far &mdash;
but sometimes they still refuse to pay.
<p>
Even worse, officials that he appointed as governor have reduced the
fines his companies owe for environmental violations.  That is
corruption.
<p>
It demonstrates the plutocratic attitude: the country, the people, and
the Earth are here to be exploited.


feed_id: 9f900a714e6c0f80dcaf4fef0951e1b6
title: Nuclear plants and tsunamis
uri: Nuclear-plants-and-tsunamis
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Nuclear_plants_and_tsunamis%29
content:
<p>
Tepco has been found liable for failing to take steps <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/01/fukushima-nuclear-disaster-preventable-court-rules-with-more-damages-claims-likely">to keep the Fukushima
nuclear plants safe from tsunamis</a>.


feed_id: 0e72b24ff3a86f25c4c4ff272472d335
title: Reparations to descendants of past slaves
uri: Reparations-to-descendants-of-past-slaves
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Reparations_to_descendants_of_past_slaves%29

content:
<p>
California is considering <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/30/california-slavery-reparations-law">paying reparations to descendants of past slaves</a>.

<p>
I think the US government should do this; and the states that had
segregation laws ("Jim Crow") <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2019-may-aug.html#20_June_2019_(Reparations)">should pay reparations to the descendants
of blacks who lived in those states</a>.


feed_id: faf4dc93a10364772d952fc64563a767
title: Knowing someone is watching
uri: Knowing-someone-is-watching
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Knowing_someone_is_watching%29
content:
<p>
On the inhibiting effects <a href="https://www.socialcooling.com/">of knowing someone is always watching</a>.


feed_id: 7fb63efa2d0a3954e44c4fc4bc434aeb
title: USPS known addresses
uri: USPS-known-addresses
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28USPS_known_addresses%29
content:
<p>
The USPS stopped updating its list of people's known addresses in
August.  <a href="https://time.com/5893881/exclusive-as-states-prepared-mail-in-ballots-postal-service-failed-to-update-at-least-1-8-million-addresses/">This will interfere with states' voting records</a>.


feed_id: 97434d9dfdd8760a6b1c32501c0ea321
title: Treatment of refugees
uri: Treatment-of-refugees
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Treatment_of_refugees%29
content:
<p>
The UK government <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/sep/30/revealed-no-10-explores-sending-asylum-seekers-to-moldova-morocco-and-papua-new-guinea">is drawing inspiration from Australia's horrible
treatment of refugees</a>.


feed_id: 4db594bb6a77f75b0fbd7d5e77e15030
title: Denounce your base
uri: Denounce-your-base
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Denounce_your_base%29
content:
<p>
(<a href="https://www.theonion.com/stunned-pundits-criticize-trump-for-refusing-to-denounc-1845229050">satire</a>) *Stunned Pundits Criticize Trump For
   Refusing To Denounce His Base.*


feed_id: 1f366b5eb9faeceaeade9638addca736
title: Torture victim
uri: Torture-victim
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Torture_victim%29
content:
<p>
The US government is going to great lengths to prevent <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/09/29/appeals-court-rules-gtmo-torture-victim-should-be-seen-independent-medical">an independent medical
examination of torture victim Mohammed al-Qahtani</a>.


feed_id: e37b91a9facbbdcf1f370a5de9d26e35
title: Plants at risk of extinction
uri: Plants-at-risk-of-extinction
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Plants_at_risk_of_extinction%29
content:
<p>
*40% of world’s plant species <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/30/world-plant-species-risk-extinction-fungi-earth">at risk of extinction</a>.*

<p>
The way to save some of those is to curb <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#global heating">global heating</a> and protect more
areas of land and sea.


feed_id: 950dfd8f148a5385468acd64860efdfa
title: Technology in Hong-Kong
uri: Technology-in-Hong-Kong
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Technology_in_Hong-Kong%29
content:
<p>
US technology companies may already be helping China repress Hong
Kongers, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/30/big-tech-firms-may-be-handing-hong-kong-user-data-to-china">or anyone talking about Hong Kong</a>.

<p>
You cannot trust technology companies that operate in Hong Kong, or in China.


feed_id: 7141e1cd7f3f9cfb8f17e412fe2ee636
title: Properly dealing with Covid-19
uri: Properly-dealing-with-Covid-19
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Properly_dealing_with_Covid-19%29
content:
<p>
How Ghana licked Covid-19: its president did a proper job
of leading the country, <a href="https://medium.com/@indica/covid-underdogs-ghana-b77ca29192a7">focusing on the crucial goals</a>.

<p>
In other words, a country does not need to be rich or advanced to do
this; it is enough to have a competent leader that focuses seriously on
the task at hand, and that people trust.  Alas, many countries don't
have one.


feed_id: 4a7a77c96fa37ac0ebb63f67412e6053
title: Year of fire and tempests
uri: Year-of-fire-and-tempests
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Year_of_fire_and_tempests%29
content:
<p>
*America's year of fire and tempests <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/30/climate-crisis-americans-wildfires-hurricanes-2020">means climate crisis just got very real</a>.*


feed_id: 4485b24e49e85645fb69d814a48ae553
title: Pledges on the environment
uri: Pledges-on-the-environment
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Pledges_on_the_environment%29
content:
<p>
George Monbiot: *[Bogus] Johnson's pledges on the environment are
[bogus]. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/30/johnson-pledges-environment-un-biodiversity-summit">Worse is how cynical they are</a>.*


feed_id: 8d0fa8de3d7bd41c550a4afd46f0bc3a
title: Leaking password
uri: Leaking-password
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Leaking_password%29
content:
<p>
The Guardian is trying to excuse having leaked the password to decrypt
the file of encrypted unredacted US cables.

<p>
Wikileaks published unredacted US cables because various governments
and agencies were about to get the password to decrypt the encrypted
file.  A Guardian reporter <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/28/guardians-deceit-riddled-new-statement-betrays-both-julian-assange-and-journalism">had published the decryption password in a
Guardian book</a>.

<p>
Assange concluded it was better to publish the cables than for them
to be available only privately to those in the know.

<p>
Just recently the Guardian has started seriously covering the Assange
hearings.

<p>
Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/09/your-man-in-the-public-gallery-assange-hearing-day-20/">here are</a> <a href="https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/10/your-man-in-the-public-gallery-assange-hearing-day-21/">two more</a> days of Craig Murray's thorough coverage.


feed_id: 9064157b7cdd9ab696bc24046b82ba52
title: No acknowledged decision
uri: No-acknowledged-decision
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28No_acknowledged_decision%29
content:
<p>
With the wrecker determined to grab the coming election by hook or by
crook, we could end up on Jan 20 <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/11/what-if-trump-refuses-concede/616424/">with no acknowledged decision</a>.


feed_id: f130ec68bd5cd6809bfabaee0887a354
title: Trans people and ID cards
uri: Trans-people-and-ID-cards
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#2_October_2020_%28Trans_people_and_ID_cards%29
content:
<p>
Trans people in Panama faced big difficulties when the country
restricted which days each person could be on the street <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/sep/30/panamas-trans-community-failed-by-gendered-lockdown-measures-report">according
to the sex listed on per national ID card</a>.

<p>
I wonder who was allowed to go outdoors on Sundays?  Only intersex
people?

<p>
This is, by the way, one more reason <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#19_July_2017_(Dangers_of_national_ID_cards)">that national ID cards are an
injustice</a>.


feed_id: 11646c3764fd27d1eca81732150e7f6d
title: (satire) The bullshitter stoked fears surrounding crime
uri: (satire)-The-bullshitter-stoked-fears-surrounding-crime
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#3_October_2020_%28%28satire%29_The_bullshitter_stoked_fears_surrounding_crime%29

content:
<p>

(satire) *[the bullshitter] stoked fears surrounding crime Tuesday by having &hellip; Mike Pompeo disguise himself as a cat burglar and rob him on
the debate stage. "Oh no, look, it’s a violent Antifa <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thug</a> sent here by
Joe Biden to rob me!"*

https://politics.theonion.com/trump-stokes-crime-fears-by-having-mike-pompeo-disguise-1845216464


feed_id: 2e24f84e9b30b021b2ecff579a030c8e
title: ACLU litigation ends Trump Administration prohibiting immigrant minors from accessing abortion
uri: ACLU-litigation-ends-Trump-Administration-prohibiting-immigrant-minors
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#3_October_2020_%28ACLU_litigation_ends_Trump_Administration_prohibiting_immigrant_minors_from_accessing_abortion%29

content:
<p>

*As a Result of ACLU Litigation, Trump Administration <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/09/29/result-aclu-litigation-trump-administration-ends-policy-prohibiting-immigrant">Ends Policy Prohibiting
Immigrant Minors From Accessing Abortion</a>.*


feed_id: 976397a0471892926a08828942ac5b54
title: New Jersey increased taxes for incomes over a million dollars a year
uri: New-Jersey-increased-taxes-for-incomes-over-a-million-dollars-a-year
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#3_October_2020_%28New_Jersey_increased_taxes_for_incomes_over_a_million_dollars_a_year%29

content:
<p>

New Jersey has <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/29/fight-covid-19-address-inequality-and-boost-recovery-nj-gov-signs-millionaires-tax">increased taxes</a> on people and businesses with incomes over
a million dollars a year.
<p>
It is a small step, but it's a start!


feed_id: f86a2308fb26b8f8efaef12038b3209d
title: Amy Barrett's legal philosophy disqualifies her from being on the Supreme Court
uri: Amy-Barrett-s-legal-philosophy-disqualifies-her-from-being-on-the-Supr
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#3_October_2020_%28Amy_Barrett%27s_legal_philosophy_disqualifies_her_from_being_on_the_Supreme_Court%29

content:
<p>

Amy Barrett's legal philosophy, to apply her religion to every decision,
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/30/amy-coney-barrett-not-qualified-be-supreme-court-justice">disqualifies her from being on the Supreme Court</a>.


feed_id: f88b8712323fe3d63745b982fbd4e95c
title: Cambridge University has agreed to divest fully from fossil fuels
uri: Cambridge-University-has-agreed-to-divest-fully-from-fossil-fuels
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#3_October_2020_%28Cambridge_University_has_agreed_to_divest_fully_from_fossil_fuels%29

content:
<p>

Cambridge University has agreed to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/10/01/cambridge-university-makes-historic-break-fossil-fuel-industry-and-commits-full">divest fully from fossil fuels</a>.
<p>
The easiest part of the divestment will be done this year,
another part by 2025.  The divestment will be completed by 2030.
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/02/cambridge-fossil-fuels-divestment-fossil-fuels-climate-emergency">Divestment</a> is an important step, but there are limits to what it can
achieve.  We need laws to turn off the fossil fuel industry.
<p>
The Federal Reserve has <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/01/100-billion-lifeline-while-most-americans-are-being-left-behind-report-details">bought $355 million in bonds</a> of fossil fuel
companies since March.


feed_id: d79b9f097ae023da36e4330ab79984cc
title: DHS handed out PR instructions to be sympathetic
uri: DHS-handed-out-PR-instructions-to-be-sympathetic
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#3_October_2020_%28DHS_handed_out_PR_instructions_to_be_sympathetic%29

content:
<p>

The DHS handed out PR instructions telling its representatives to take
a <a href="https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/national-international/dhs-memo-told-officials-to-make-comments-favorable-to-kenosha-shootings-suspect/2432408/">sympathetic line</a> towards the right-wing Kenosha killer, and towards
the right-wing extremist group "Patriot Prayer".
<p>
Has the Department of Harshness and Sadism morphed into the Department
of Hatred Support?


feed_id: 67324f1a7b8a17c71a2e9aaabc4a6983
title: So long as U.S. leaders continue to coddle the Saudis
uri: So-long-as-U-S-leaders-continue-to-coddle-the-Saudis
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#3_October_2020_%28So_long_as_U.S._leaders_continue_to_coddle_the_Saudis%29

content:
<p>

*   So long as U.S. leaders continue to coddle the Saudis, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/10/01/two-years-after-khashoggis-brutal-murder-why-america-still-accomplice-mbss-crimes">it’s difficult
not to ask who is more evil</a>—the maniacal Saudi crown prince or the
mendacious Western governments and business people who support him?*


feed_id: 31459455d1c75d83064fbb4065c5077d
title: A new standard for "biodegradable plastic"
uri: A-new-standard-for-biodegradable-plastic
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#3_October_2020_%28A_new_standard_for_biodegradable_plastic%29

content:
<p>

The UK is considering a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/01/new-british-standard-for-biodegradable-plastic-introduced">new standard</a> for "biodegradable plastic" which requires
that they don't result in microplastic grains.


feed_id: 9afbaaf2fe8d5ffbe21c6cf5561b6a45
title: A hero of desegregation
uri: A-hero-of-desegregation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#3_October_2020_%28A_hero_of_desegregation%29
content:
<p>

A brief life of Paul Stephenson, a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/oct/01/paul-stephenson-the-hero-who-refused-to-leave-a-pub-and-helped-desegregate-britain">hero of desegregation</a> in the UK and
the US.


feed_id: 178af70308eca3c1192d289bb44d6ca9
title: Redirection of UK medicine to treating Covid-19
uri: Redirection-of-UK-medicine-to-treating-Covid-19
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#3_October_2020_%28Redirection_of_UK_medicine_to_treating_Covid-19%29

content:
<p>

The redirection of UK medicine to treating Covid-19 instead of other diseases
will end up having caused tens of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/oct/01/nhs-covid-disruption-could-cause-tens-of-thousands-of-deaths-mps-warn">thousands of avoidable deaths</a> from cancer
due to failure to treat it early.
<p>
I expect there were many more deaths due to failure to treat other
diseases.
<p>
The way to avoid this is to stay ahead of Covid-19 with measures strong enough
to keep the infection rate going down.  R approximately 1 is like a pencil
balanced on its point &mdash; it won't stay at 1.


feed_id: 85a289a52e78f2c9ba984f1d15230134
title: Exile from Hong Kong cannot contact his relatives at all
uri: Exile-from-Hong-Kong-cannot-contact-his-relatives-at-all
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#3_October_2020_%28Exile_from_Hong_Kong_cannot_contact_his_relatives_at_all%29

content:
<p>

Nathan Law, in exile from Hong Kong, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/01/beijing-hong-kong-democracy-exile-china-national-security-law">cannot contact his relatives at all</a>,
since China would seize the opportunity to pressure him by punishing them.
<p>
I don't see any hope for Hong Kong; I think China will turn it into a
hell that terrifies people into suppressing their thoughts until they
forget how to think them.
</a>
However, crushing Hong Kong is one step on a path of conquest and
tyranny, and the more the response to that crushing sets China back,
the less harm China will be able to do.


feed_id: ece9cf5bf043f91337bc3decae0f83cc
title: The "bread" in Subways' sandwiches cannot qualify for a tax exemption
uri: The-bread-in-Subways-sandwiches-cannot-qualify-for-a-tax-exemption
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#3_October_2020_%28The_bread_in_Subways%27_sandwiches_cannot_qualify_for_a_tax_exemption%29

content:
<p>

The "bread" in Subways' sandwiches cannot qualify for a tax exemption
in Ireland, because <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/01/irish-court-rules-subway-bread-is-not-bread">it has too much added sugar</a>.
<p>
That added sugar is not good for people.  I wonder if Subway will
reduce the sugar to qualify for the tax exemption.  I wonder if other
countries should adopt a similar legal policy.


feed_id: a0962734189f1bfdc7025b6bfc5f1684
title: India kicking Amnesty out
uri: India-kicking-Amnesty-out
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#3_October_2020_%28India_kicking_Amnesty_out%29
content:
<p>

*By kicking Amnesty out, India is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/01/amnesty-india-tarnish-reputation">betraying its founding ideals</a>.*


feed_id: 3177f09d8812ab8bb0a9e92c694ac701
title: The wrecker is following a playbook from 1930s Germany
uri: The-wrecker-is-following-a-playbook-from-1930s-Germany
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#3_October_2020_%28The_wrecker_is_following_a_playbook_from_1930s_Germany%29

content:
<p>

*Signalling to his base, as he did referring to the Proud Boys on
Tuesday, the [wrecker] is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/01/trump-defends-armed-rightwing-gangs-proud-boys-fascism">following a playbook from 1930s Germany</a>.*
<p>
An <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/01/citing-post-election-period-possible-flashpoint-fbi-memo-warns-far-right-white">FBI memo warns</a> about violent right-wing extremist violence, perhaps
after the election.


feed_id: 94997011b9691d58f464f4dd1bb85da7
title: US companies evade regulations on toxic PFAs
uri: US-companies-evade-regulations-on-toxic-PFAs
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#3_October_2020_%28US_companies_evade_regulations_on_toxic_PFAs%29

content:
<p>

US companies evade regulations on toxic PFAs by switching to newer
chemicals that are probably <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/01/new-forever-chemicals-contaminating-environment-regulators-say">just as bad</a>, but have not been studied
yet.


feed_id: 2a8968834ebb8ce4566e11d0906056a7
title: Meat plants are more dangerous
uri: Meat-plants-are-more-dangerous
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#3_October_2020_%28Meat_plants_are_more_dangerous%29
content:
<p>

It was obvious that faster processing and less inspection would
make meat plants <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/01/incredibly-dangerous-job-concerns-safety-is-slipping-at-us-meat-plants">more dangerous</a>.  And it has.


feed_id: 12142225bf12a81e0b42c597ff73981e
title: Human rights lawyers threatened by sanctions
uri: Human-rights-lawyers-threatened-by-sanctions
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#3_October_2020_%28Human_rights_lawyers_threatened_by_sanctions%29

content:
<p>

Human rights lawyers that make reports to help the International
Criminal Court are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/01/human-rights-lawyers-sue-trump-administration-for-silencing-them">threatened by sanctions</a> that the US placed on
anyone "providing support".
<p>
Since that threat is unconstitutional, they have gone to court asking
for a ruling that the sanctions don't apply to them.


feed_id: e2c4d4a19125947bd86a56d4330cad19
title: It will take months to vaccinate everyone
uri: It-will-take-months-to-vaccinate-everyone
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#3_October_2020_%28It_will_take_months_to_vaccinate_everyone%29

content:
<p>

It will take <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/01/covid-19-vaccine-alone-wont-defeat-spread-of-virus-report-warns">months to vaccinate everyone</a> against Covid-19, once
a good vaccine is available.
Only after massively vaccinating people will we find out how effective
the vaccine is, for various groups.


feed_id: 92abd99dea538547b5a7c1092a894cd8
title: Covid-19 increasing in UK cities in lockdown
uri: Covid-19-increasing-in-UK-cities-in-lockdown
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#3_October_2020_%28Covid-19_increasing_in_UK_cities_in_lockdown%29

content:
<p>

The UK has imposed lockdowns in 16 cities, but in most of them
Covid-19 has continued to increase, because people are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/01/england-covid-cases-have-doubled-under-most-local-lockdowns">not carrying
out the rules</a>.


feed_id: 7057bb71d7d7071070a47581103bc85c
title: Issues that surround the fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan
uri: Issues-that-surround-the-fighting-between-Armenia-and-Azerbaijan
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#3_October_2020_%28Issues_that_surround_the_fighting_between_Armenia_and_Azerbaijan%29

content:
<p>

A cloud of new issues that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/01/the-guardian-view-on-nagorno-karabakh-new-interests-in-an-old-conflict">surround the new instance</a> of fighting
between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
<p>
I think it is quite plausible that Erdoğan will have Turkish planes
attack Armenia.


feed_id: e46fbd647e9ceba63f0688364813b641
title: If Assange is convicted
uri: If-Assange-is-convicted
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#3_October_2020_%28If_Assange_is_convicted%29
content:
<p>

If Assange is convicted, he would be sent to the ADX Florence prison
for solitary confinement for the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/30/life-supermax-crime-merely-doing-journalism-uk-court-told-assange-likely-be-sent">rest of his life</a>.  A former warden
of that prison describes it as "a fate worse than death."
<p>
Perhaps El Chapo requires special security measures, so that his
henchmen cannot bust him loose.  Perhaps also some of the al-Qa'ida
prisoners.  But most of the prisoners listed in the article do not
belong to a gang and there is no special danger they would escape, no
need and no justification to destroy them this way.


feed_id: 83fefa011b66a02403bc8a87acc05764
title: Global heating affects nights worse than days
uri: Global-heating-affects-nights-worse-than-days
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#3_October_2020_%28Global_heating_affects_nights_worse_than_days%29

content:
<p>

Global heating affects <href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/01/global-heating-warming-up-nights-faster-than-days">nights worse than days</a>. Many people won't be able to sleep.


feed_id: 6a2f7cefd976b8afa0e43afd9e368741
title: Indigenous Activists Target Liberty Mutual's Boston Headquarters
uri: Indigenous-Activists-Target-Liberty-Mutual-s-Boston-Headquarters
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#4_October_2020_%28Indigenous_Activists_Target_Liberty_Mutual%27s_Boston_Headquarters%29

content:
<p>

*Indigenous Activists Target Liberty Mutual's Boston Headquarters Demanding
They <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/10/02/indigenous-activists-target-liberty-mutuals-boston-headquarters-demanding-they">Stop Insuring</a> Tar Sands Projects.*
<p>
Getting oil by mining tar sands is an especially bad form of fossil fuel;
its <a href="
">emissions are higher</a> than most others.

The world should not only stop investing that, it should shut that down
immediately.


feed_id: 14582f7aa0f93232ef950b7db663122d
title: Torres Strait Islanders
uri: Torres-Strait-Islanders
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#4_October_2020_%28Torres_Strait_Islanders%29
content:
<p>

Torres Strait Islanders <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-30/torres-strait-islanders-fight-government-over-climate-change/12714644">have complained</a> to the UN that Australia is
endangering their way of life by failing to curb <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#global heating">global heating</a>.
Their islands are in danger of flooding, and eventually permanent
inundation.
<p>
That damage lies in the the future, but Australia's current actions
are causing it, and they must be changed now.  Of course, Australia is
not solely responsible for <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#global heating">global heating</a>, but its part can be
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-sep-dec.html#16_November_2017_(Northern_Peru_global_heating)">identified and measured</a>.


feed_id: eda5dfa06091b3eaf6dddecf71c89ae0
title: Investors extracted $400 million from a hospital chain
uri: Investors-extracted-400-million-from-a-hospital-chain
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#4_October_2020_%28Investors_extracted_%24400_million_from_a_hospital_chain%29

content:
<p>

*Investors <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/investors-extracted-400-million-from-a-hospital-chain-that-sometimes-couldnt-pay-for-medical-supplies-or-gas-fo
r-ambulances">Extracted $400 Million</a> From a Hospital Chain That Sometimes
Couldn’t Pay for Medical Supplies or Gas for Ambulances.*
<p>
This is an example of how the US economic system's encouragement of
predatory businesses.  I think there should not be any for-profit
hospitals.


feed_id: e257d2233883b27bdb703c2ea4045cca
title: Should we wish the bullshitter a speedy recovery?
uri: Should-we-wish-the-bullshitter-a-speedy-recovery
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#4_October_2020_%28Should_we_wish_the_bullshitter_a_speedy_recovery_%29

content:
<p>

Should we wish Trump, the bullshitter, a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/03/democrats-liberals-donald-trump-infection-coronavirus">speedy recovery</a>?
<p>
All else being equal, I do.  But I think it is more important to wish
my country a speedy recovery from the influence of the bullshitter.
<p>
I do not wish him to die.  No person deserves to die, and the death of
any person is always something to regret.  I would not rejoice that he
is dead.
<p>
However, I would rejoice that he can do no more damage.


feed_id: 74dcbb386a476871af8b51fd98c997e1
title: Industrialization is destroying the mangroves of Kutch, in India
uri: Industrialization-is-destroying-the-mangroves-of-Kutch-in-India
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#4_October_2020_%28Industrialization_is_destroying_the_mangroves_of_Kutch%2C_in_India%29

content:
<p>

Industrialization is destroying the mangroves of Kutch, in India, and
with them the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/03/high-and-dry-will-india-swimming-camels-be-the-last-of-their-kind-aoe">unique breed of camels</a> that swim around them.


feed_id: e387d8788f24588435d27f7bf0c54624
title: China has made molecular hydrogen by electrolysis very cheap
uri: China-has-made-molecular-hydrogen-by-electrolysis-very-cheap
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#4_October_2020_%28China_has_made_molecular_hydrogen_by_electrolysis_very_cheap%29

content:
<p>

China has made the production of molecular hydrogen using electrolysis
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/03/green-hydrogen-from-renewables-could-become-cheapest-transformative-fuel-within-a-decade">so cheap</a> that the oil companies' dream of production hydrogen by burning
fossil fuels is already obsolete.


feed_id: bc2f9705206baa18dcafe09cd55c894b
title: Breonna Taylor Grand Jury proceedings
uri: Breonna-Taylor-Grand-Jury-proceedings
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#4_October_2020_%28Breonna_Taylor_Grand_Jury_proceedings%29

content:
<p>

*A judge has <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/further/2020/09/30/so-truth-may-prevail-heroic-lone-juror-sues-release-breonna-taylor-grand-jury">granted the request</a> of an anonymous juror in the [Breonna
Taylor] case that their Grand Jury proceedings be made public.*
<p>
After studying the transcript, lawyers will be able to tell us whether
the prosecutor tried properly to secure other indictments.


feed_id: 19b9b3e7fbfb076f9916e82f76d92bb7
title: What we have learned from the conman's tax returns
uri: What-we-have-learned-from-the-conman-s-tax-returns
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#4_October_2020_%28What_we_have_learned_from_the_conman%27s_tax_returns%29

content:
<p>

A <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/donald-trump-did-not-pay-income-tax-in-10-of-last-15-years-894048.html">thorough report</a> on what we have learned from the conman's tax returns.


feed_id: 9e00173679c3f357a1cc8c0e9039214c
title: A strong start, but not the end of the road
uri: A-strong-start-but-not-the-end-of-the-road
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#4_October_2020_%28A_strong_start%2C_but_not_the_end_of_the_road%29

content:
<p>

*<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/01/strong-start-not-end-road-says-greenpeace-biden-vows-bar-fossil-fuel-leaders">'Strong Start' But 'Not the End of the Road,'</a> Says Greenpeace as Biden Vows
to Bar Fossil Fuel Leaders From Transition Team.*


feed_id: 436d7ed0a8bd74744c03123b32eb73f8
title: Analysis reveals how law firms accelerate the climate crisis
uri: Analysis-reveals-how-law-firms-accelerate-the-climate-crisis
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#4_October_2020_%28Analysis_reveals_how_law_firms_accelerate_the_climate_crisis%29

content:
<p>

*First-Ever Analysis Reveals How America's Top 100 Law Firms Are <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/01/first-ever-analysis-reveals-how-americas-top-100-law-firms-are-accelerating-climate">'Accelerating
the Climate Crisis'</a>.* The study gives a grade to each of those law firms based on the work
it has done.


feed_id: 8aa76b94e256a7addd8718e777ef4efe
title: A Texas sheriff charged with destroying video evidence of Javier Ambler's death
uri: A-Texas-sheriff-charged-with-destroying-video-evidence-of-Javier-Amble
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#4_October_2020_%28A_Texas_sheriff_charged_with_destroying_video_evidence_of_Javier_Ambler%27s_death%29

content:
<p>

A Texas sheriff has been charged with <a href="https://boingboing.net/2020/09/29/texas-sheriff-charged-with-destroying-footage-of-officers-killing-black-suspect.html">destroying video evidence</a>
showing how <a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> tased Javier Ambler to death.


feed_id: df2551c6442b1086710a07c2c23280e1
title: Fines for not wearing a gratis mask in New York City
uri: Fines-for-not-wearing-a-gratis-mask-in-New-York-City
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#4_October_2020_%28Fines_for_not_wearing_a_gratis_mask_in_New_York_City%29

content:
<p>

From now on, New York City will <a href="https://boingboing.net/2020/10/01/new-york-city-will-aggressively-issue-1000-fines-for-not-wearing-a-face-mask.html">fine people</a> up to a thousand dollars
if they refuse to accept a gratis mask and wear it.
<p>
The article says "aggressively", but I think that starting with the
offer makes it a rather kind and gentle manner of enforcement:
"Please let us help you do what is needed to stamp out disease."


feed_id: a8f60b000a92a803474bb2d1289f2694
title: The 1880s counterpart to today's Amazon
uri: The-1880s-counterpart-to-today-s-Amazon
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#4_October_2020_%28The_1880s_counterpart_to_today%27s_Amazon%29

content:
<p>

The 1880s counterpart to today's Amazon was the railroads: a monopoly
of intermediation which could exploit producers and end-users.  One of
the anti-monopoly parties had <a href="http://www.protestsonglyrics.net/Anti_Capitalism_Songs/Anti-Monopoly-War.phtml">this song</a>.


feed_id: 9268a9c50ab2a70ea0b2cbd89634ccd7
title: We should break up monopolies in lots of fields
uri: We-should-break-up-monopolies-in-lots-of-fields
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#4_October_2020_%28We_should_break_up_monopolies_in_lots_of_fields%29

content:
<p>

Cory Doctorow: we should <a href="https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/29/betcha-cant-eat-just-one/#pwnage">break up monopolies</a> in lots of fields.
<p>
And not only those involved in digital activities.  Many fields are
too concentrated now in the US: some that come to my mind instantly
include pesticides, seeds, meat, pharmacies, book publishing, and
airlines.
<p>
Every area needs to have many competitors, or become a regulated
monopoly and perhaps not for profit.
<p>
My <a href="https://stallman.org/articles/progressive-tax-on-business-gross-income.html">tax scheme</a>
could be part of the solution.


feed_id: 9be3a9c74c053df75573eb2276cb3d13
title: Australia's offshore asylum centres
uri: Australia-s-offshore-asylum-centres
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#4_October_2020_%28Australia%27s_offshore_asylum_centres%29

content:
<p>

*Australia's offshore asylum centres have been a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/02/australias-offshore-asylum-centres-have-been-a-cruel-disaster-they-must-not-be-replicated-by-the-uk">cruel disaster</a>. They must not
be replicated by the UK.*


feed_id: ff6dd39a931a698bded9b93d2cd6ec96
title: Some Maori activists
uri: Some-Maori-activists
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#4_October_2020_%28Some_Maori_activists%29
content:
<p>

Some <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/02/the-maori-partys-vision-of-self-determination-is-not-to-be-ignored">Maori activists</a>
<p>
Maori have common interests, and in a democratic state such as New
Zealand there are well-established ways to pursue those interests.
One is to have a political party, and indeed the author is part of
one.  New Zealand's governmental system enables smaller parties to
have some influence, rather than next to zero influence as in the US.
<p>
However, a separate parliament &mdash; which implies separate laws &mdash; for a
subset of people that live dispersed around New Zealand would be
conflict with the principle that everyone is equal under the law.
<p>
The article cites the UK as an example to follow.  I contend it is
exactly the opposite.
<p>
I gather that people considered the UK too centralized.  Setting up
regional administrations and devolving some powers to them was perhaps
a wise idea.  However, doing this based on the historical "nations"
that were merged three centuries years ago to form the United Kingdom
was utterly foolish: each of those "nations" now has an influential
secessionist party.
<p>
Meanwhile, people in England (meaning most of the UK's population) got
none of the benefit of decentralization, because the UK did not set up
a national administration for England.  In effect, the UK acted to
boost separatism while remaining, for the most part, too centralized.
<p>
I suggest that the right way for the UK to decentralize would be to
divide its whole territory into a workable number of smaller regions,
perhaps roughly one million people in each, avoid aligning them with
old historical grudges, then devolve the same powers to each of them.


feed_id: 12d9e90c65c99d4d21336cd8878da703
title: The next target of Chinese imperialism
uri: The-next-target-of-Chinese-imperialism
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#4_October_2020_%28The_next_target_of_Chinese_imperialism%29

content:
<p>

The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/02/after-hong-kong-china-taiwan-invasion-armed-forces">next target</a> of Chinese imperialism is Taiwan.


feed_id: a9ce1ad70851943ef7bdf17d41bd91e1
title: Covid-19 has legitimized once-radical ideas in UK
uri: Covid-19-has-legitimized-once-radical-ideas-in-UK
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#4_October_2020_%28Covid-19_has_legitimized_once-radical_ideas_in_UK%29

content:
<p>

*Covid-19 has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/oct/02/covid-19-legitimised-once-radical-ideas-uk-green-party-conference">legitimized once-radical ideas</a> in UK, say Green leaders.*


feed_id: 341771eaaee684e570ecb811ceee4a04
title: Ivanka Trump is now caught in a financial scandal
uri: Ivanka-Trump-is-now-caught-in-a-financial-scandal
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#4_October_2020_%28Ivanka_Trump_is_now_caught_in_a_financial_scandal%29

content:
<p>

Ivanka Trump is now caught in a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/02/ivanka-trump-donald-trump-tax-affairs">financial scandal</a> that may be criminal.
<p>
Please don't use the term <a href="https://stallman.org/antiglossary.html#firstdaughter">"first daughter."</a>


feed_id: 6011954ede84eb211f2b820828cba2d4
title: The bullshitter was close enough to Biden to infect him
uri: The-bullshitter-was-close-enough-to-Biden-to-infect-him
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#4_October_2020_%28The_bullshitter_was_close_enough_to_Biden_to_infect_him%29

content:
<p>

The bullshitter was close enough to Biden during the debate to
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/10/02/trump-tests-positive-covid-48-hours-mocking-biden-wearing-mask/">possibly infect</a> him.  His family members were present, without masks,
trying hard to infect other people in the audience.
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/02/fears-joe-biden-may-have-been-exposed-after-trump-tests-positive-for-covid">More</a> about this danger.
<p>
Such events should invite people in the audience to ask the staff for
help in dealing with others near them not wearing masks, to tell them
to put on masks or move away.
<p>
The governor of Wisconsin <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/01/coronavirus-us-trump-wisconsin-rallies-cases-surge">begged the disease-spreader</a> to please not
come there for a disease-spreading event.
<p>
Now perhaps he won't.
<p>
What are the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/02/donald-trump-positive-test-covid-19-surprise-many-saw-coming-coronavirus">implications</a> of this event for the campaign?  Whatever
happens, the bullshitter will lie about it and try to turn it to his
advantage.


