# articles

feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#5_January_2023_(Global_heating_gun_violence)
title: Global heating gun violence
uri: Global-heating-gun-violence
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#5_January_2023_(Global_heating_gun_violence)
content:
 
<p>
Global heating <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/climate-change-gun">directly increases gun violence</a>, in the US at least.
Shooting deaths are more frequent during heat waves.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#5_January_2023_(Sweden_and_wolves)
title: Sweden and wolves
uri: Sweden-and-wolves
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#5_January_2023_(Sweden_and_wolves)
content:
 
<p>
Sweden is planning to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/02/huge-swedish-wolf-hunt-will-be-disastrous-for-species-warn-experts">kill half of its small wolf population</a>.  The population is already so small that that will put its genetic health in danger.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#5_January_2023_(Minors'_prison_philosophy)
title: Minors' prison philosophy
uri: Minors-prison-philosophy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#5_January_2023_(Minors'_prison_philosophy)
content:
 
<p>
*Teaching philosophy in a [minors'] prison has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/02/philosophy-children-prison-moral-anger-young-lives-wasted-politicians">shown me the meaning of anger</a>.*
It's a side issue, but please don't refer to 15-year-olds as
"<a href="http://stallman.org/antiglossary.html#children">children</a>".
They are teenagers -- adolescents.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#5_January_2023_(Racial_profiling)
title: Racial profiling
uri: 2023-01-05-Racial-profiling
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#5_January_2023_(Racial_profiling)
content:
 
<p>
Statistics show California thugs <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/03/california-police-force-against-black-people-report">practice racial profiling</a> when
deciding whom to search and which drivers to stop.   They also pick on
trans people.
<p>
The article linked to just above displays symbolic bigotry by
capitalizing "black" but not "white".  (To avoid endorsing bigotry,
capitalize both words or neither one.)  I denounce bigotry, and
normally I will not link to articles that promote it.  But I make
exceptions for some articles that I consider particularly important.
That article is one of the exceptions.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#5_January_2023_(Women_and_NGOs)
title: Women and NGOs
uri: Women-and-NGOs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#5_January_2023_(Women_and_NGOs)
content:
 
<p>
Forbidding women from working for NGOs has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/02/the-guardian-view-on-afghanistans-suffering-the-war-against-women">made humanitarian aid in
Afghanistan impossible</a> -- those tens of thousands of workers were
essential for them to operate.

 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#5_January_2023_(UK_adults_struggling)
title: UK adults struggling
uri: UK-adults-struggling
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#5_January_2023_(UK_adults_struggling)
content:
 
<p>
  *More than third of UK adults would <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jan/02/more-than-third-of-uk-adults-would-struggle-to-find-extra-20">struggle to find extra &pound;20 [per month]</a>.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(National_healthcare,_UK)
title: National healthcare, UK
uri: National-healthcare-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(National_healthcare,_UK)
content:
 
<p>

Staff of the UK's NHS say that 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/04/nhs-staff-share-despair-working-at-breaking-point">the fewness of staff and lack of facilities</a>
 is overloading them unbearably and driving them to quit.
<p>
I say "fewness" rather than shortage because Tory policies preclude
having more staff.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(The_House,_a_Republican_fiasco)
title: The House, a Republican fiasco
uri: The-House-a-Republican-fiasco
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(The_House,_a_Republican_fiasco)
content:
 
<p>

*<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/04/republicans-split-congress-govern-far-right">The House speaker fiasco shows that Republicans are unable to govern</a>.*
<p>
Their approach to governing is the terrorist's approach: "Give us all
we demand or we will wreck everything we can reach."  Now 20
Republicans, the extremest of the extremists, are using that approach
against against the not-quite-so-extremists.
<p>
Does the US Constitution give us any recource against terrorists that
control the House of Representatives, before the next congressional
election?

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(Global_heating,_litigation)
title: Global heating, litigation
uri: Global-heating-litigation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(Global_heating,_litigation)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/04/why-2023-will-be-a-watershed-year-for-climate-litigation">Around the world, people are suing</a> governments for failing to defend
the climate from human activity, and suing fossil fuel companies and
their investors for attacking the climate.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(Medication_abortion,_US)
title: Medication abortion, US
uri: Medication-abortion-US
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(Medication_abortion,_US)
content:
 
<p>

The <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/doj-abortion-pill">US now allows ordinary
pharmacies to fill prescriptions for mifepristone</a>, the abortion drug.
<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(Ecclesiastic_arrogance,_Iran)
title: Ecclesiastic arrogance, Iran
uri: Ecclesiastic-arrogance-Iran
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(Ecclesiastic_arrogance,_Iran)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/04/iran-warns-france-over-insulting-cartoons-depicting-supreme-leader-ali-khamenei">Iran's hierocratic government is as arrogant</a> towards other countries
as it is toward Iranian protesters and Iranian women.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(Weakening_the_judiciary,_Israel)
title: Weakening the judiciary, Israel
uri: Weakening-the-judiciary-Israel
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(Weakening_the_judiciary,_Israel)
content:
 
<p>

Israel's government <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/04/israel-unveils-controversial-plans-to-overhaul-judicial-system">plans to weaken the power of the judiciary to
overturn laws</a>.
  This would make it possible to impose repressive new laws that the
Supreme Court has rejected.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(Political_violence,_Israel)
title: Political violence, Israel
uri: Political-violence-Israel
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(Political_violence,_Israel)
content:
 
<p>

*Jewish Voice for Peace condemns the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/jewish-voice-peace-condemns-the-israeli-governments-latest-violent-escalation">Israeli government's latest
violent escalation</a>.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(Covid_19,_China_under-reporting)
title: Covid 19, China under-reporting
uri: Covid-19-China-under-reporting
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(Covid_19,_China_under-reporting)
content:
 
<p>

*<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/05/china-data-under-represents-true-impact-of-covid-outbreak-who">China data "under-represents" true impact of Covid outbreak</a> &mdash; WHO.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(MAGA,_shutdown_the_US)
title: MAGA, shutdown the US
uri: MAGA-shutdown-the-US
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(MAGA,_shutdown_the_US)
content:
 
<p>

The MAGA maggots are demanding an advance commitment to <a href="https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-last-exit-ramp-for-non-maga-republicans">shut down
the US government rather than increase the debt ceiling</a>, as a precondition
for voting for anyone for speaker.
  They are dead-set on sabotage.
<p>
I read, years ago, thet the Speaker of the House cannot absolutely
block a bill from being voted on.  If a majority of the House wants to
vote for a bill, they can sign a discharge petition to bring it to the
floor.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(Covid_variants,_XBB)
title: Covid variants, XBB
uri: Covid-variants-XBB
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(Covid_variants,_XBB)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/03/health/covid-variant-xbb-explainer/index.html">The XBB variant of Covid-19 is becoming dominant in the US</a>, because it
is more infectious than previous variants.  The new bivalent vaccine
does some good against it.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(Urgent:_Do_not_defund_the_IRS)
title: Urgent: Do not defund the IRS
uri: Urgent-Do-not-defund-the-IRS
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(Urgent:_Do_not_defund_the_IRS)
content:
 
<p>

US citizens: <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/tell-the-house-dont-defund-the-irs?nowrapper=true">call on the House of Representatives not to defund the IRS</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_((Satire)_Managing_union-busting)
title: (Satire) Managing union-busting
uri: (Satire)-Managing-union-busting
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_((Satire)_Managing_union-busting)
content:
 
<p>

(satire) *<a href="https://www.theonion.com/union-busting-manager-graciously-accepts-pay-cut-becaus-1849852488">Union-Busting Manager Graciously Accepts Pay Cut</a> Because
Boss Knows Best.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(Voter_efficacy,_US_Republicans)
title: Voter efficacy, US Republicans
uri: Voter-efficacy-US-Republicans
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(Voter_efficacy,_US_Republicans)
content:
 
<p>

*<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/will-gop-voters-ever-wake-up">When will Republican voters figure out how badly they’re getting  screwed</a> 
by Republican politicians?*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(Protesters,_Afghanistan)
title: Protesters, Afghanistan
uri: Protesters-Afghanistan
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(Protesters,_Afghanistan)
content:
 
<p>

Male Afghan <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/jan/04/afghan-men-quit-university-jobs-after-ban-on-women">professors are quitting their jobs to protest</a> the ban on
women as students.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(Avian_flu,_seabirds)
title: Avian flu, seabirds
uri: Avian-flu-seabirds
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#6_January_2023_(Avian_flu,_seabirds)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/04/guardian-readers-describe-impact-of-bird-flu-aoe">Avian flu is devastating seabird populations</a>, 
leaving just a few birds alive.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#7_January_2023_(Worker_rights,_US)
title: Worker rights, US
uri: Worker-rights-US
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#7_January_2023_(Worker_rights,_US)
content:
 
<p>

*FTC’s Proposed Noncompete Ban is a 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/ftcs-proposed-noncompete-ban-is-a-victory-for-american-workers-fair-competitive-markets">Victory for American Workers & Fair, Competitive Markets</a>.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#7_January_2023_(Progressive_POTUS,_2024)
title: Progressive POTUS, 2024
uri: Progressive-POTUS-2024
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#7_January_2023_(Progressive_POTUS,_2024)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/progressive-challenger-to-biden-2024">Will any progressive candidate run for president in 2024</a>?

<p>
 


title: Weaponized public institutions, India
uri: Weaponized-public-institutions-India
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#7_January_2023_(Weaponized_public_institutions,_India)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#7_January_2023_(Weaponized_public_institutions,_India)

content:
 
<p>

India's opposition is stymied because the Hindu fascist
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/05/rahul-gandhi-marching-india">BJP control or crush all avenues to reach the public</a>.
<p>
In desperation, the Congress Party leader is walking thousands of
miles, covering India's territory, to speak with the public.
<p>
An Indian friend told me that all Indian political parties buy votes
-- and that the surprise demonetization of 100-rupee bills was a trick
to catch the Congress Party with cash it was about to hand out.  The
BJP, by contrast, had advance notice of demonetization and therefore
was able to preserve its pile of cash for buying votes.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#7_January_2023_(Birth_control_access,_Texas)
title: Birth control access, Texas
uri: Birth-control-access-Texas
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#7_January_2023_(Birth_control_access,_Texas)
content:
 
<p>

Texas now makes it harder <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/05/texas-contraception-birth-control-parental-consent-title-x">for minors to get birth control</a>, by making
contraceptive clinics get parents' approval before filling prescriptions.
<p>
I wonder whether pharmacies in other states are required to obey Texas
law on this question, for customers in Texas.  Or can they thumb their
noses at it?  Does anyone know?

 


title: Virtual prisons, Ukrainians in Russia
uri: Virtual-prisons-Ukrainians-in-Russia
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#7_January_2023_(Virtual_prisons,_Ukrainians_in_Russia)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#7_January_2023_(Virtual_prisons,_Ukrainians_in_Russia)

content:
 
<p>

A Ukrainian teenager in Mariupol accepted "evacuation" to Russia,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/05/boy-who-tried-to-escape-war-in-ukraine-via-russia">thinking he could leave via Belarus, but they confiscated his passport</a>
and sent him to am institution.  He got out with the help of a secret
network of Ukrainian friends and Russian underground helpers.
<p>
The bureaucratic nature of Putin's policies to hold Ukrainians captive
always surprise me.  Putin's officials don't explicitly call all
Ukrainians prisoners and treat them as such.  On the contrary, most
Russian officials respect Ukrainians' nominal right to travel, after
other officials have intervened to make it nearly impossible for them
to satisfy the legal requirements for travel.  The minority that can
still meet the requirements, can leave Russia without further
difficulty.  The rest are effectively prisoners.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#7_January_2023_(Big_insurance,_fossil_fuel_cos.)
title: Big insurance, fossil fuel cos.
uri: Big-insurance-fossil-fuel-cos
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#7_January_2023_(Big_insurance,_fossil_fuel_cos.)
content:
 
<p>

"Liberty Mutual" insurance company (an ironic name) has a new CEO.  A
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/liberty-mutual-climate-policy">campaign presses for him to stop the corporation insuring and
investing in fossil fuel projects</a>.
<p>
This is a clear example of a pernicious development in progressive
thinking: advocating an explicitly privileged higher status of
citizenship for indigenous people.
<p>
The campaign makes four demands.  I support the first three,
<span>
<style type="text/css">
ol {
    counter-reset: item;
}
li { display: block; }
li:before {
    content: counter(item) "";
    counter-increment: item
}
</style>
<ol >
  <li>. Immediately stop insuring new and expanded coal, oil, and gas projects.
  <li>. Commit to phase out insurance for coal, oil and gas companies in line with 1.5ºC.
  <li>. Divest all assets from coal, oil, and gas companies that are not aligned with a 1.5ºC pathway.
  <li ><b>-</b>. adopt a policy to ensure the projects and clients you insure respect the right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) of impacted Indigenous Peoples.
</ol>
</span>
but I criticize the fourth demand (which I have relabeled "4<b>-</b>") for
the unfairness of demanding new rights but limiting them to indigenous
people, thus denying those rights to all other people impacted locally
by a large fossil fuel project.  That omission is racist in spirit.
<p>
Item 4<b>-</b> should be replaced by this one:
  4+. Adopt a policy to ensure the projects and clients you insure respect the right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) of the people of impacted areas.
<p>
Why would a group of progressives think of proposing 4- instead of 4+?
Why advocate rights that are clearly required by justice, then
spontaneously and arbitrarily limit them to a small subset of humanity?
<p>
In today's progressive thinking, there is a current which, not
satisfied with the goal of eliminating the racism against indigenous
people and compensating the injustices that have been practiced
against them, seeks to elevate them to a status above ordinary human
beings.  According to that line of thought, they are inherently
superior by birth to the rest of humanity -- born high-minded and
loyal to preserving nature.  Therefore we (the rest) should have faith
in them, consider them born to be our leaders, and grant them the
privileges and power to make decisions for all of us.  They would be,
in effect, a new noble class.
<p>
I would support demand 4+, which advocates additional rights for
everyone, indigenous people included.  I will not support 4-, which
denies those rights arbitrarily to the rest of us.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#7_January_2023_(Clean_power_future,_US)
title: Clean power future, US
uri: Clean-power-future-US
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#7_January_2023_(Clean_power_future,_US)
content:
 
<p>

The Tennessee Valley Authority wants to build a 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/112-organizations-call-for-white-house-to-fully-review-tva-decision-on-fossil-gas-expansion">new gas-fired power plant.  Biden should block it</a>.

 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#7_January_2023_(Military_budget,_US)
title: Military budget, US
uri: Military-budget-US
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#7_January_2023_(Military_budget,_US)
content:
 
<p>

The US should reduce the military budget by 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/platitudes-and-war">cancelling some dangerous spending on new nuclear weapons and avoidable wars</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#7_January_2023_(Anti-abortion,_SC)
title: Anti-abortion, SC
uri: Anti-abortion-SC
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#7_January_2023_(Anti-abortion,_SC)
content:
 
<p>

*<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/south-carolina-abortion">South Carolina Supreme Court Permanently Blocks Abortion Ban</a> [in that state].*
  This means that abortions are once again legal there.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#7_January_2023_(Judiciary_branch,_Israel)
title: Judiciary branch, Israel
uri: Judiciary-branch-Israel
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#7_January_2023_(Judiciary_branch,_Israel)
content:
 
<p>

Full details on how 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/israel-judiciary-overhaul">Israel's government plans to eliminate independence
of the judiciary</a> 
and allow the Knesset to override any and all rights.

 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#7_January_2023_(Winter_heat_wave,_Europe)
title: Winter heat wave, Europe
uri: Winter-heat-wave-Europe
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#7_January_2023_(Winter_heat_wave,_Europe)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/05/the-guardian-view-on-europes-heatwave-the-door-is-closing-but-there-is-a-way-out">A winter heat wave set high temperature records all across Europe</a>,
showing how close to disaster the world is.
<p>
*Oxford Study Warns <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/extreme-heat-drought">Extreme Heat and Drought to Hit 90% of World Population</a>.*
<p>
*World Could Lose Half of <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/melting-glaciers">Glaciers This Century Even If Warming Is
 Kept to 1.5°C</a>.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Flight_cancellations,_Buttigieg)
title: Flight cancellations, Buttigieg
uri: Flight-cancellations-Buttigieg
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Flight_cancellations,_Buttigieg)
content:
 
<p>

Secretary of Transportation Buttigieg was supposed to use his authority
to make airlines work to prevent massive cancellation of flights.
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/sec-buttigieg-could-have-prevented-the-southwest-debacle">He ignored warnings and did nothing.</a>
<p>
Democratic officials privately implored Buttigieg to do something about this,
but <a href="https://www.levernews.com/email/1fbcb37c-d6c1-4e00-b3b5-e546d85421a8">no Democrats wanted the public to know he was doing a bad job</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Jobs,_wages_fall,_US)
title: Jobs, wages fall, US
uri: Jobs-wages-fall-US
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Jobs,_wages_fall,_US)
content:
 
<p>

*<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/01/06/unemployment-inflation-fed-interest-rates/">Financial World Celebrates Slowing Wage and Employment Growth in New Jobs
 Report.</a>*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Air_pollution,_US_EPA)
title: Air pollution, US EPA
uri: Air-pollution-US-EPA
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Air_pollution,_US_EPA)
content:
 
<p>

The <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/epas-soot-pollution-rule-update-falls-short-again">EPA is proposing stricter standards for soot pollution</a>,
 which
harms people's health.  However, its proposal is not as strong as what
the EPA's scientist advisors say is needed.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Political_violence,_Jan_6)
title: Political violence, Jan 6
uri: Political-violence-Jan-6
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Political_violence,_Jan_6)
content:
 
<p>

*Two Years Later, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/held-to-account-for-jan-6-insurrection">Neither [the corrupter] Nor Worst Actors in Congress
Have Been Held to Account</a>
 for Jan 6. Insurrection.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Climate_disasters,_US)
title: Climate disasters, US
uri: Climate-disasters-US
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Climate_disasters,_US)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/06/us-adults-displaced-natural-disasters-survey-census-bureau">Over 1% of the US adult population were displaced by "natural"
disasters in 2022.</a>
  Of course, we know that these "natural" disasters were at least
partly artificial.
<p>
I wonder how this compares with past years' disasters.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Political_destruction,_Brazil)
title: Political destruction, Brazil
uri: Political-destruction-Brazil
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Political_destruction,_Brazil)
content:
 
<p>

Lula's wife says that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/06/brazil-first-lady-shaken-condition-presidential-palace-bolsonaro">Brazil's presidential residence was left by
Bolsonaro in very damaged condition</a>.
  I wonder when Bolsonaro started this act of spite.  Did he start it
before the election he lost?  Or only after he had lost?
<p>
Some art works appear to have been stolen.  The president surely does
not have the authority to dispose of state property, but he probably
did so.  Can he be charged with conspiracy to steal them?  That could
provide grounds to ask the US to extradite him.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Union-busting,_UK)
title: Union-busting, UK
uri: Union-busting-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Union-busting,_UK)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/06/rishi-sunak-anti-strike-legislation-britain-economy">New Tory strike-busting laws will order unions to betray workers</a>,
 and destroy
them if they don't.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Medical_abortion,_US_mail)
title: Medical abortion, US mail
uri: Medical-abortion-US-mail
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Medical_abortion,_US_mail)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/06/abortion-rights-medication">An old censorship law could be reinterpreted as prohibiting sending
abortion medicine through US mail.</a>
  The decision will be up to the
antiabortion right-wing extremists of the Supreme Court.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Water_protection,_US)
title: Water protection, US
uri: Water-protection-US
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Water_protection,_US)
content:
 
<p>

*Fears <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/06/us-supreme-court-ruling-clean-water-act-looming">US supreme court could radically reshape clean water rules</a>.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Jailed_protesters,_UK)
title: Jailed protesters, UK
uri: Jailed-protesters-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Jailed_protesters,_UK)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/06/writers-sign-letter-solidarity-jailed-uk-climate-activists">100 famous writers stated their solidarity with jailed British climate
protesters</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Security_at_The_House,_US)
title: Security at The House, US
uri: Security-at-The-House-US
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Security_at_The_House,_US)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/05/republicans-control-house-security-measures-capitol-attack">Republicans have eliminated the security checks for entering the House
of Representatives' chamber</a>,
 where the representatives meet and vote.
They demand to be allowed to bring in guns, and want Democrats to trust
them not to shoot anyone.
<p>
Some of them have hinted at murdering Democratic representatives in
Congress, and all of them practice frequent shameless lying.  I
wouldn't trust them not to plan to kill me.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#8_January_2023_(PISSI_mercenaries,_Austrailia)
title: PISSI mercenaries, Austrailia
uri: PISSI-mercenaries-Austrailia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#8_January_2023_(PISSI_mercenaries,_Austrailia)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/06/system-working-labor-defends-syria-repatriations-following-arrest-of-woman-on-terror-charge">Australia has brought home some Australians supporters of PISSI</a>
 who
were in prison camps in Syria.  Now one of them is facing charges of
going to Syria to support PISSI.
<p>
I think it was right to bring them home, and right to prosecute those
who supported PISSI.  Other countries should do likewise.  Exile
should not be used as a punishment for a crime, and imposing any
punishment for any alleged crime without a trial is even worse.
<p>
However, the actual charge is "Travelling to Raqqa."  That action is
being used as a proxy for the act of going to support PISSI.  The
prosecution of an action which is only a proxy for the real accusation
seems wrong to me.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#8_January_2023_(Hong_Kong_to_Taiwan)
title: Hong Kong to Taiwan
uri: Hong-Kong-to-Taiwan
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#8_January_2023_(Hong_Kong_to_Taiwan)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/05/ripped-away-from-home-we-are-haunted-by-the-hong-kong-taken-from-us">Hong Kong exiles in Taiwan</a>
 think about how their old home has been
changed into something they cannot return to &mdash; about the danger
that China could do the same thing to Taiwan next.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Airline flight cancellations
uri: Urgent-Airline-flight-cancellations
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Urgent:_Airline_flight_cancellations)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Urgent:_Airline_flight_cancellations)

content:
 
<p>

US citizens: call on leaders in 
<a href="https://the.levernews.com/general-airline-abuse-action/">Congress and Transportation Secretary
Buttigieg to fine airlines</a>
 that cancel flights for reasons other than
weather, and allow states to participate in enforcement.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Journalism_arrested,_Phoenix)
title: Journalism arrested, Phoenix
uri: Journalism-arrested-Phoenix
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Journalism_arrested,_Phoenix)
content:
 
<p>

As 
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/06/media/wsj-reporter-chase-arrest/index.html">reporter Dion Rabouin was interviewing people on the street outside
an office of Chase Bank in Phoenix</a>,
 a bank employee asked him what
he was doing.  Soon a Phoenix thug showed up, handcuffed him with no
apparant excuse, and made him sit in a police car, threatening violence
along the way.

<p>
Someone made a video of this harassment, and the thug threatened to
arrest per as well.
<p>
It is common in the US for thugs to arrest journalists for recording
how they treat members of the public.  It is less common for cops to
come and threaten reporters for journailsm that does not involve cops
at all.
<p>
The reporter worked for the powerful Wall Street Journal, which has
demanded explanations.


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Fossil_fuel_profits)
title: Fossil fuel profits
uri: Fossil-fuel-profits
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Fossil_fuel_profits)
content:
 
<p>

Windfall profits taxes in Europe permit 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jan/06/shell-windfall-taxes-uk-eu-quarter">fossil fuel companies
to deduct the amount they invest in access</a>
 to fossil fuels.
<p>
That is the usual way of handling taxes on business, but it will lead
for bad results with fossil fuel investments.  There is no room in the
carbon budget for more fossil fuel wells or processing capacity, so
investing in those things should be forbidden.  If it can't be
forbidden just yet, at least it should not be tax-deductible.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Genetic_engineering,_wheat)
title: Genetic engineering, wheat
uri: Genetic-engineering-wheat
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Genetic_engineering,_wheat)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/07/holy-grail-wheat-gene-discovery-could-feed-our-overheated-world">Scientists have solved the crucial problem of genetically engineering wheat</a>.
They plan to produce heat-resistant varieties.
<p>
If they go on to make flood-resistant varieties and drought-resistant
varieties of wheat, wheat could be safe against extreme weather.  Hmm,
better make that varieties which are flood-resistant and
drought-resistant.
<p>
But what about wildfires?  Can any wheat plant be fire-resistant?
<p>
The article says nothing about whether these new varieties of wheat
will be patented, or restricted by plant variety monopolies.  If they
are, their use will have an enormous cost for farmers, and will
further concentrate wealth for the richest few, at the expence of
everyone who eats wheat.
<p>
The world must exempt food, all forms of food plants and animals, from
imposed artificial monopolies.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Grief_recovery,_talking)
title: Grief recovery, talking
uri: Grief-recovery-talking
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Grief_recovery,_talking)
content:
 
<p>

This is advice about 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/07/ways-to-talk-to-people-grieving-cariad-lloyd-griefcast">talking with people who are grieving</a>,
 from
someone who has listened to many grieving people talk about it.

As I read the article, I thought of the friends and relatives I have
lost.  I have a list of the people I've lost via death, and every so
often I go through it and think about each one of them.
<p>
I frequently felt grief for the English language while reading the
article, each time I came across plural pronouns and verbs alternating
with singular pronouns and verbs, referring to the same one person.
<p>
I have never understand the idea that it was obligatory to try
desperately to avoid reminding someone about a loss.  In my
experience, I recall a raw loss frequently, whether anyone reminds me
about it or not.  That's what the author says, too.
<p>
Recalling the death of a friend years ago is not agony, more of a
distant regret.  It reminds me of feeling at ease with that person in
the past.  By contrast, recalling an old rejection can be devastating,
since it was probably my fault.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Guantanamo_release,_stateless)
title: Guantanamo release, stateless
uri: Guantanamo-release-stateless
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Guantanamo_release,_stateless)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/01/07/guantanamo-detainees-sabri-al-qurashi-kazakhstan/">Sabri al-Qurashi was released from Guantanamo prison to Kazakhstan</a>,
 where
he is treated as a stateless illegal immigrant,
 forbidden to work, and his wife is forbidden to visit him there.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Extreme_weather,_CA)
title: Extreme weather, CA
uri: Extreme-weather-CA
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Extreme_weather,_CA)
content:
 
<p>

California has been hit by 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/07/california-storm-deluge-cause-bomb-cyclone-atmospheric-river">several extreme rainstorms in sequence,
and more are expected</a>
 to follow.
<p>
Global heating is predicted to make this happen frequently in certain
places, the US Pacific Coast being one of them.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Mayor_visits,_Spain)
title: Mayor visits, Spain
uri: Mayor-visits-Spain
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Mayor_visits,_Spain)
content:
 
<p>

The 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/07/no-topic-off-table-spanish-mayor-hearing-voters-out-over-dinner">mayor of Xirivella</a>,
 a suburb of Valencia near its airport, visits
constituents for dinner to find out what they are thinking.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(McCarthy_on_shaky_ground)
title: McCarthy on shaky ground
uri: McCarthy-on-shaky-ground
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(McCarthy_on_shaky_ground)
content:
 
<p>

McCarthy was elected Speaker of the House after a series of
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/06/kevin-mccarthy-republican-wins-house-speaker">concessions that put him under the power of the hyperextremists</a>.
  If
even one of them no longer supports McCarthy as speaker, perse will be
able to demand a new election for speaker, and McCarthy could easily
face the resumption of the conflict.
<p>
""Kevin McCarthy has repeatedly put 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/mccarthy-elected-house-speaker">his personal ambitions ahead of
our democracy</a>."

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Financial_arrogance,_Musk)
title: Financial arrogance, Musk
uri: Financial-arrogance-Musk
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Financial_arrogance,_Musk)
content:
 
<p>

*Two months after Elon Musk laid off half of Twitter’s workforce,
some 
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/05/tech/twitter-layoffs-severance-pay/index.html">employees affected say they have yet to receive any formal
severance</a>
 offer or separation agreement.*
<p>
Twitter has stopped paying rent on a San Francisco office building.
Perhaps Musk believes he can get away with stiffing those employees.
<p>
Musk seems to be imitating the cheater's behavior patterns.  The cheater
is famous for 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-may-aug.html#15_June_2016_(Trumps_unpaid_workers)">refusing to pay contractors he hired to work on buildings</a>;
one of sued and won.
<p>
  Perhaps Musk feels inclined to follow that example of arrogance.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Glacial_heating,_2100)
title: Glacial heating, 2100
uri: Glacial-heating-2100
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Glacial_heating,_2100)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/05/world/glaciers-melt-sea-level-rise-climate-intl/index.html">Half the world's glaciers are expected to disappear by 2100</a>
 if we have
4C of global heating.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_((Satire)_Elections)
title: (Satire) Elections
uri: (Satire)-Elections
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_((Satire)_Elections)
content:
 
<p>

(satire) 
<a href="https://www.theonion.com/how-the-house-speaker-is-elected-1849953078">How the Speaker of the House is elected</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Anti-abortion_law,_England)
title: Anti-abortion law, England
uri: Anti-abortion-law-England
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Anti-abortion_law,_England)
content:
 
<p>

A woman in England is charged with the 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/05/man-and-woman-face-trial-illegal-abortion-allegations-gloucestershire">crime of trying to give herself
a late-term abortion</a>.
<p>
Even if this is not allowed, it should not be a crime.
Human life begins around the time of birth.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Forest_protection,_EU)
title: Forest protection, EU
uri: Forest-protection-EU
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Forest_protection,_EU)
content:
 
<p>

The EU has adopted a 
<a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20221205IPR60607/deal-on-new-law-to-ensure-products-causing-deforestation-are-not-sold-in-the-eu">plan to reject products produced via
deforestation</a>,
 including agricultural products.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#8_January_2023_(PISSI_mercenaries,_Australia)
title: PISSI mercenaries, Australia
uri: PISSI-mercenaries-Australia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#8_January_2023_(PISSI_mercenaries,_Australia)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/06/system-working-labor-defends-syria-repatriations-following-arrest-of-woman-on-terror-charge">Australia has brought home some Australians supporters of PISSI</a>
 who
were in prison camps in Syria.  Now one of them is facing charges of
going to Syria to support <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a>.
<p>
I think it was right to bring them home, and right to prosecute those
who supported <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a>.  Other countries should do likewise.  Exile
should not be used as a punishment for a crime, and imposing any
punishment for any alleged crime without a trial is even worse.
<p>
However, the actual charge is "Travelling to Raqqa."  That action is
being used as a proxy for the act of going to support <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a>.  The
prosecution of an action which is only a proxy for the real accusation
seems wrong to me.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Censorship,_US_universities)
title: Censorship, US universities
uri: Censorship-US-universities
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Censorship,_US_universities)
content:
 
<p>

Harvard's school of political science invited the former head of Human
Rights Watch to visit as a fellow.  Then
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/jan/06/harvard-kennedy-school-blocks-role-former-head-human-rights-watch-israel">the dean cancelled the invitation
because he has criticized Israel for human rights violations</a>.
<p>
Those human rights violations already amounted to apartheid, but Israel's
new government, which includes right-wing extremists, is planning to make
things much worse.  Honest defenders of human rights will have to criticize
Israel more than ever.  Rich supporters of Israel will surely increase
the censorship pressure in US universities.

Don't assume that those supporters are Jews.  Some of them are
fanatical Christians who are determined to bring about events that
would 
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/#21">fulfill certain prophecies related to Christian myths of
doomsday</a>.

 July 2004 (Uncritical support for Israeli policies from Christian fanatics)
<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Great_Salt_Lake_water_levels)
title: Great Salt Lake water levels
uri: Great-Salt-Lake-water-levels
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Great_Salt_Lake_water_levels)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/06/us/great-salt-lake-disappearing-drought-climate/index.html">Great Salt Lake could disappear in 5 years</a>
 at the current rate of
shrinkage.  Conservationists say Utah needs to adopt policies to
take less water from the lake.

<p>
The article says that the region is overdrawing the available water.
At some point it will hit a hard stop and have to cease much of its
economic activity.  However, it doesn't explain what harm will
come directly from the emptiness of the lake itself.

<p>
 


title: Great Salt Lake could disappear in 5 years
uri: Great-Salt-Lake-could-disappear-in-5-years
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Great_Salt_Lake_could_disappear_in_5_years)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Great_Salt_Lake_could_disappear_in_5_years)

content:
 
<p>

  Great Salt Lake <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/06/us/great-salt-lake-disappearing-drought-climate/index.html">could disappear</a> in 5 years at the current rate of
shrinkage.  Conservationists say Utah needs to adopt policies to
take less water from the lake.
<p>
The article says that the region is overdrawing the available water.
At some point it will hit a hard stop and have to cease much of its
economic activity.  However, it doesn't explain what harm will
come directly from the emptiness of the lake itself.

 


title: Court ruled banning bump stocks stretched law too far
uri: Court-ruled-banning-bump-stocks-stretched-law-too-far
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Court_ruled_banning_bump_stocks_stretched_law_too_far)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Court_ruled_banning_bump_stocks_stretched_law_too_far)

content:
 
<p>

One federal appeals court ruled that the policy of <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/06/politics/bump-stocks-guns-appeals-court/index.html">banning bump stocks
    stretched the law too far</a>.
I think this applies only to the states in that one circuit: Texas
and some nearby states.
<p>
In sensible times, the US would amend that law, but I expect the
anti-gun-control fanatics controlling the House of Representatives will
not allow that.

 


title: Military fired missile at NGO aid worker
uri: Military-fired-missile-at-NGO-aid-worker
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Military_fired_missile_at_NGO_aid_worker)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Military_fired_missile_at_NGO_aid_worker)

content:
 
<p>

Random innocent events, seen through the filter of confirmation bias,
enabled US military personnel to convince themselves that NGO aid
worker Zemari Ahmadi, traveling around Kabul on errands, was carrying
explosives for PISSI.  So they <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/06/us/politics/drone-civilian-deaths-afghanistan.html">fired a Hellfire missile</a> at the car he
had borrowed from the NGO.
<p>
In just a few minutes, analysts figured out that the missile had
killed noncombatants, and within hours, that it had killed children
(who were certainly noncombatants).  Nonetheless, the US military
continued pretending to be absolutely sure that it had attacked a <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a>
fighter and only fighters had been killed.
<p>
The US military did admit, in a week or so, that Ahmadi and the other
people killed were all noncombatants, not enemies at all.  That was a
big advance compared with the standard US practice before that, which
was to <a href="https://stallman.org/archives//2021-jul-oct.html#20_September_2021_(Kabul_drone_strike)">deny stubbornly</a> that a drone strike killed noncombatants,
  disregarding all evidence that it did.

 


title: Campaign against requiring internet companies to spy on people's communications
uri: Campaign-against-requiring-internet-companies-to-spy-on-people-s-commu
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Campaign_against_requiring_internet_companies_to_spy_on_people's_communications)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Campaign_against_requiring_internet_companies_to_spy_on_people's_communications)

content:
 
<p>

A campaign calls on governments <a href="https://protectthestack.org/">not to require internet infrastructure
    companies to censor people's communications</a>.
<p>
  Please don't call communications and publications <a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html#Content">"content"</a>.  That
term disparages all of them as mere filler to keep a container full of
something or other.
<p>
I find it disturbing that Facebook is criticized for labeling the
statement "Men are trash" as "hateful".  Of course it is hateful &mdash; it
blatantly expresses misandry, just as "Women are trash" would express
misogyny.  Both statements carry hate, similar kinds of hate, in a
similar way, differing only in which target is hated.
<p>
The crucial point is that neither of those statements should be banned
or censored.  I might rebuke a person for saying either of them, but
to forcibly limit people to saying only nice things (or to show hate
only towards those we revile) is intolerable.
<p>
  Despite that minor inconsistency, this <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/10/internet-not-facebook-why-infrastructure-providers-should-stay-out-content">campaign stands for freedom</a>.

 


title: Someone shooting at Democratic elected officials
uri: Someone-shooting-at-Democratic-elected-officials
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Someone_shooting_at_Democratic_elected_officials)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Someone_shooting_at_Democratic_elected_officials)

content:
 
<p>

  Someone is <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/06/us/albuquerque-democrat-officials-shootings-police-investigate/index.html">shooting at Democratic elected officials</a> in Albuquerque.
After five attacks, I think we can conclude that this is an expression
of the Republican party's encouragement of political violence.

 


title: Reports on Jan 6 insurrection that was not followed up
uri: Reports-on-Jan-6-insurrection-that-was-not-followed-up
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Reports_on_Jan_6_insurrection_that_was_not_followed_up)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Reports_on_Jan_6_insurrection_that_was_not_followed_up)

content:
 
<p>

Greg Palast reports on evidence about the Jan 6 insurrection
that was <a href="https://www.gregpalast.com/the-secret-history-of-a-riot/">not followed up, or not collected</a>.  Why didn't the state
identify every rioter and search their cell phones?
<p>
It is especially disturbing (though not surprising) that some capitol
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> showed their support to the insurrectionists, before the actual
insurrection.

 


title: NHS directing those with money to get "private clinic" appointments
uri: NHS-directing-those-with-money-to-get-private-clinic-appointments
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(NHS_directing_those_with_money_to_get_private_clinic_appointments)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(NHS_directing_those_with_money_to_get_private_clinic_appointments)

content:
 
<p>

The NHS now directs patients who have money to pay to get a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/07/revealed-nhs-trusts-tell-patients-they-can-go-private-and-jump-hospital-queues">"private
    clinic" appointment sooner</a> at the same place.
<p>
The NHS used to provide medical care for nearly everyone in Britain.
Under Tory power, it has become a provider of lousy care for the
people that the state considers unimportant.
<p>
  *When state services fail, citizens pay extra or sink. This is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/09/state-services-pay-rishi-sunak-britain-private">Sunak’s Britain</a>
now.*

 


title: Ralph Nader's advice to progressive congresscritters
uri: Ralph-Nader-s-advice-to-progressive-congresscritters
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Ralph_Nader's_advice_to_progressive_congresscritters)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Ralph_Nader's_advice_to_progressive_congresscritters)

content:
 
<p>

  Ralph Nader's <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/congressional-progressive-caucus-red-line">advice to progressive congresscritters</a> for how to champion
progressive policies effectively.

 


title: University teacher fired for showing old Persian painting of Mohammad
uri: University-teacher-fired-for-showing-old-Persian-painting-of-Mohammad
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(University_teacher_fired_for_showing_old_Persian_painting_of_Mohammad)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(University_teacher_fired_for_showing_old_Persian_painting_of_Mohammad)

content:
 
<p>

  Hamline University in Minnesota has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/08/an-art-treasure-long-cherished-by-muslims-is-deemed-offensive-but-to-whom">fired a teacher</a> for showing, in a class on the history of Islam, an old Persian painting of Mohammad.
It was made by Muslims as a religious object.
<p>
The article reports that in Persia, and in Persian-influenced Turkey
and India, there is an old Muslim tradition of paintings of human
beings including Mohammad.
<p>
Catering to the most conservative Muslim views, which are those spread
by <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#salafi">Salafi Arabia</a> since 2001, has become the requirement exacted by the
most fanatical devotees of tiptoe culture.  The university president
actually asserted that this demand overrides academic freedom.
<p>
A teacher must not insult students &mdash; to do so goes against the needs
of the job.  However, this must be interpreted using society's general
concept of what it means to insult anyone.  Students are not entitled
to demand that a teacher, when dealing with them, avoid doing whatever
they may call "insult".
<p>
The university owes the teacher who was fired an apology, restoration
of duties, pay for the period of work that <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#perse">perse</a> lost, and some
punitive damages.  And above all it must recognize that students cannot
eliminate academic freedom but shouting, "Offensive!  That harms us!"

 


title: Six-year-old student shot his teacher
uri: Six-year-old-student-shot-his-teacher
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Six-year-old_student_shot_his_teacher)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Six-year-old_student_shot_his_teacher)

content:
 
<p>

  A six-year-old student <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/08/virginia-teacher-shooting-by-six-year-old">intentionally shot his teacher</a> and critically
wounded her.

 


title: Protesters attempt to stop "imminent executions" at Iranian prison
uri: Protesters-attempt-to-stop-imminent-executions-at-Iranian-prison
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Protesters_attempt_to_stop_imminent_executions_at_Iranian_prison)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Protesters_attempt_to_stop_imminent_executions_at_Iranian_prison)

content:
 
<p>

  *Protesters gather at Iranian prison in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/09/protest-iran-prison-karaj-executions">attempt to stop ‘imminent executions’</a>.*

 


title: Tory policies that harmed people legally coming to Britain
uri: Tory-policies-that-harmed-people-legally-coming-to-Britain
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Tory_policies_that_harmed_people_legally_coming_to_Britain)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Tory_policies_that_harmed_people_legally_coming_to_Britain)

content:
 
<p>

Tories set up policies that tended to unjustly harm people who
lawfully came to Britain without any special papers in the past. but
  had no papers to prove it.  Tories dragged their feet in ending these policies and compensating victims.  Now they plan to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/09/tories-never-sorry-windrush-suella-braverman">throw the whole matter away</a>.

 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Bolsonaro_in_Florida)
title: Bolsonaro in Florida
uri: Bolsonaro-in-Florida
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Bolsonaro_in_Florida)
content:
 
<p>

  Bolsonaro probably <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/bolsonaro-refuge-florida">entered the US</a> using a visa he held as a head of
state.  In the normal course of events, that would be canceled now,
and he would be compelled to leave the US.
The US should make him leave rather than give him a base for planning
to endanger Brazil.
<p>
The ideal thing would be to extradite him to Brazil, but I would
expect there is no evidence to justify criminal charges.

 


title: Israel prohibits Palestinian flag in public
uri: Israel-prohibits-Palestinian-flag-in-public
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Israel_prohibits_Palestinian_flag_in_public)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Israel_prohibits_Palestinian_flag_in_public)

content:
 
<p>

  Israel has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/09/israel-security-minister-bans-palestinian-flag-flying-in-public">prohibited showing the Palestinian flag</a> in public places.
<p>
Palestine asked the UN to adjudicate Israel's occupation of Palestine,
and Israel is "punishing" this by applying many forms of repression
all at once.  (I have the feeling that the right-wing extremists in
the new Israeli government were itching for an opportunity to do
this.)
<p>
But why should Palestinians deserve punishment for asking the UN for
adjudication of their rights?

 


title: Insect declines mean reduced yields of healthy foods
uri: Insect-declines-mean-reduced-yields-of-healthy-foods
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Insect_declines_mean_reduced_yields_of_healthy_foods)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Insect_declines_mean_reduced_yields_of_healthy_foods)

content:
 
<p>

  *   Insect declines mean <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/09/global-pollinator-losses-causing-500000-early-deaths-a-year-study">reduced yields</a> of healthy foods like fruit and
   vegetables and increased disease in people.  This is estimated to cause
half a million early deaths per year.*

 


title: MAGAs and oligarchs lives on with McCarthy
uri: MAGAs-and-oligarchs-lives-on-with-McCarthy
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(MAGAs_and_oligarchs_lives_on_with_McCarthy)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(MAGAs_and_oligarchs_lives_on_with_McCarthy)

content:
 
<p>

  *With McCarthy, the <a href="https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-trump-coalition-of-economic-oligarchs">[corrupter's] coalition of MAGAs and oligarchs lives on</a>.*
<p>
I don't think the oligarchs want the US government to shut down.  What will
they do to prevent it?

 


title: Amazon worker died of heart attack at work
uri: Amazon-worker-died-of-heart-attack-at-work
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Amazon_worker_died_of_heart_attack_at_work)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Amazon_worker_died_of_heart_attack_at_work)

content:
 
<p>

Amazon warehouse worker Rick Jacobs had a heart attack and died while
at work.  To prevent any disruption, management kept the remaining
workers in the dark about it by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jan/09/amazon-employee-death-warehouse-floor-colorado">erecting a wall of cardboard boxes</a>
around the area where Jacobs's body lay.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Big_insurance,_fossil_fuel_cos.)
title: Big insurance, fossil fuel cos.
uri: 2023-01-10-Big-insurance-fossil-fuel-cos
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#9_January_2023_(Big_insurance,_fossil_fuel_cos.)
content:
 
<p>

"Liberty Mutual" insurance company (an ironic name) has a new CEO.  A
gklp-0=<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/liberty-mutual-climate-policy">campaign presses for him to stop the corporation insuring and
investing in fossil fuel projects</a>.
<p>
This is a clear example of a pernicious development in progressive
thinking: advocating an explicitly privileged higher status of
citizenship for indigenous people.
<p>
The campaign makes four demands.  I support the first three,
<table>
<tr>
  <td style="vertical-align:top">1.</td>
  <td> Immediately stop insuring new and expanded coal, oil, and gas projects.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
  <td style="vertical-align:top">2.</td> 
  <td>Commit to phase out insurance for coal, oil and gas companies in line with 1.5ºC.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
  <td style="vertical-align:top">3.</td> <td>Divest all assets from coal, oil, and gas companies that are not aligned with a 1.5ºC pathway.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
  <td style="vertical-align:top">4-.</td> <td>Adopt a policy to ensure the projects and clients you insure respect the right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) of impacted Indigenous Peoples.</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>
  but I criticize the fourth demand (which I have relabeled "4-") for
the unfairness of demanding new rights but limiting them to indigenous
people, thus denying those rights to all other people impacted locally
by a large fossil fuel project.  That omission is racist in spirit.
<p>
Item 4- should be replaced by this one:
<p>
<table>
  <tr> 
    <td style="vertical-align:top">4+.</td>
  <td >Adopt a policy to ensure the projects and
    clients you insure respect the right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent
    (FPIC) of the people of impacted areas.</td>
  </td>
  </tr>
</table>
<p>
Why would a group of progressives think of proposing 4- instead of 4+?
Why advocate rights that are clearly required by justice, then
spontaneously and arbitrarily limit them to a small subset of humanity?
<p>
In today's progressive thinking, there is a current which, not
satisfied with the goal of eliminating the racism against indigenous
people and compensating the injustices that have been practiced
against them, seeks to elevate them to a status above ordinary human
beings.  According to that line of thought, they are inherently
superior by birth to the rest of humanity -- born high-minded and
loyal to preserving nature.  Therefore we (the rest) should have faith
in them, consider them born to be our leaders, and grant them the
privileges and power to make decisions for all of us.  They would be,
in effect, a new noble class.
<p>
I would support demand 4+, which advocates additional rights for
everyone, indigenous people included.  I will not support 4-, which
denies those rights arbitrarily to the rest of us.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Congressional ethics, protection
uri: Urgent-Congressional-ethics-protection
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#10_January_2023_(Urgent:_Congressional_ethics,_protection)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#10_January_2023_(Urgent:_Congressional_ethics,_protection)

content:
 
<p>

US citizens: 
<a href="https://act.commoncause.org/petitions/protect-the-office-of-congressional-ethics/">call on Congress to protect the Office of Congressional Ethics</a>.

 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#11_January_2023_(Theocratic_power,_Netanyahu)
title: Theocratic power, Netanyahu
uri: Theocratic-power-Netanyahu
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#11_January_2023_(Theocratic_power,_Netanyahu)
content:
 
<p>

*<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/netanyahus-government-takes-a-turn-toward-theocracy">Netanyahu's Government Takes a Turn Toward Theocracy</a>.*

<p>
Theocratist parties joined the government in exchange for an opportunity
to attack the liberal order and human rights in Israel.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#11_January_2023_(Big_pharma,_financials)
title: Big pharma, financials
uri: Big-pharma-financials
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#11_January_2023_(Big_pharma,_financials)
content:
 
<p>

*<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/big-pharma-stock-buybacks-rd">When Big Pharma Spends More on Stock Buybacks Than R&D</a>.*
  I'd complete the sentence with, "We ought to pass laws to
reduce the price of medicines."

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#11_January_2023_(Extreme_weather,_2021,_2022)
title: Extreme weather, 2021, 2022
uri: Extreme-weather-2021-2022
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#11_January_2023_(Extreme_weather,_2021,_2022)
content:
 
<p>

Many 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/09/climate-crisis-extreme-weather-heat-rainfall-drought">instances of extreme weather in 2021 and 2022 were made worse by
global heating</a>.
  Some would have been outright impossible in the past.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#11_January_2023_(Labour_as_a_centrist_party)
title: Labour as a centrist party
uri: Labour-as-a-centrist-party
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#11_January_2023_(Labour_as_a_centrist_party)
content:
 
<p>

If a former  elected 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/09/ex-tory-minister-quits-party-and-lavishes-praise-on-starmer">official of the Tory  party quits and gives support to Labour</a>,
saying in effect "I haven't changed &mdash; the parties have changed," what
does that imply?
<p>
You could say that Labour is getting stronger, because it is attracting people
from new areas of political views.  But I think Labor is becoming more and
more like a "centrist" party that puts the rich first.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#11_January_2023_(US_exceptionalism)
title: US exceptionalism
uri: US-exceptionalism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#11_January_2023_(US_exceptionalism)
content:
 
<p>

The US is an exception among countries in several ways.  Here are a few
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/we-re-exceptional-and-it-s-horrible-to-witness">unfortunate exceptions that we Americans ought to fix.</a>
<p>
The ICC is supposed to prosecute people for war crimes when their own
countries fail to prosecute them.  The US should sign the ICC treaty;
but them it should never leave prosecution of American war criminals
to the ICC.  The US should prosecute them.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#11_January_2023_(Brazil_coup)
title: Brazil coup
uri: Brazil-coup
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#11_January_2023_(Brazil_coup)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/09/pro-bolsonaro-violence-social-media-platforms">Bolsonaro's followers openly promoted their violent plans</a>
 (to attack
Brazil's highest government buildings) on antisocial media platforms,
with hardly any hindrance.
<p>
The governor of the Brasilia region and its security chief were
Bolsonarists, and did not cooperate in protecting the government from
the planned riot.  
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/09/brazil-bolsonaro-lula-brasilia-attacks-insurrection">They have been fired</a>.

<p>
*<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/brazil-coup-arrests">1,500 Bolsonaro Backers [arrested] After Far-Right Coup Attempt</a>
 in Brazil.*
<p>
It is good that they did not let all the rioters get away.  But it
would have been better to hold everyone who had attacked the
government buildings, at least enough to identify them and search
them.

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/09/the-guardian-view-on-brazils-far-right-a-clear-and-present-danger">Bolsonaro's followers remain a threat</a>
 to democracy and liberty in
Brazil, and (due to their commitment to deforestation) to the survival
of civilization as well.

The US is an exception among countries in several ways.  Here are a few
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/we-re-exceptional-and-it-s-horrible-to-witness">unfortunate exceptions that we Americans ought to fix.</a>
<p>
The ICC is supposed to prosecute people for war crimes when their own
countries fail to prosecute them.  The US should sign the ICC treaty;
but them it should never leave prosecution of American war criminals
to the ICC.  The US should prosecute them.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#11_January_2023_(Covid_19,_2023_theory)
title: Covid 19, 2023 theory
uri: Covid-19-2023-theory
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#11_January_2023_(Covid_19,_2023_theory)
content:
 
<p>

Some scientists believe that 
<a href="https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2022/11/07/COVID-Reinfections-And-Immunity/">repeated Covid-19 infections gradually
wear down a human's immune system</a>
 and eventually render her more vulnerable
to various diseases.
<p>
It seems there is not yet enough clear evidence to be sure of the
truth about this.  In science it is not unusual to get various pieces
of information that don't add up to a clear picture.  Eventually,
scientists do the right experiments and get the insight to find the
answer &mdash; but that takes time.
<p>
In the mean time, it is wise to minimize your own risk &mdash; and the
risks to others who come hear you &mdash; by wearing good masks.
<p>
However, people in general seem to be 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/09/pandemic-fading-collective-memory">rushing to forget about Covid-19</a>
although it continues to spread, injure, kill and mutate.
  The same
thing happened after the 1918/1919 flu epidemic.
<p>
This is exactly the wrong thing for people to do now.


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#11_January_2023_((Satire)_Hospital_costs)
title: (Satire) Hospital costs
uri: (Satire)-Hospital-costs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#11_January_2023_((Satire)_Hospital_costs)
content:
 
<p>

(satire) *<a href="https://www.theonion.com/couple-loses-life-savings-after-getting-scammed-into-ha-1849871126">Couple Loses Life Savings After Getting Scammed Into Having
Baby At Hospital</a>.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#11_January_2023_(War_games,_Taiwan)
title: War games, Taiwan
uri: War-games-Taiwan
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#11_January_2023_(War_games,_Taiwan)
content:
 
<p>

War game simulation suggests that 
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/09/politics/taiwan-invasion-war-game-intl-hnk-ml/index.html">an attempted Chinese invasion of
Taiwan would fail</a>,
 leaving Taiwan in devastated condition though
unconquered, while wrecking the Chinese military and causing
substantial casualties for the US and Japan.

  These casualties would be large by the standard of 21st century US
wars, but small compared with what the US experienced in the Vietnam
War or the Korean War.
<p>
Taiwan would rebuild its infrastructure with help.  Being devastated
for a decade is not as bad as becoming brainwashed slaves forever.
<p>
Another article about 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/10/taiwan-invasion-by-china-would-fail-but-at-huge-us-cost-analysts-war-game-finds">the same war games</a>
  reports on projected political effects of the war's damage, but I
think it exaggerates that.  If the US had defeated China and still
possessed most of its armed forces, no other enemy would risk a
conventional war.
<p>
I wonder how this would affect global heating and climate defense.
<p>
The article also suggests how Taiwan could build a more effective
defense for much less money.
<p>
If China were not a totalitarian dictatorship, I think it would choose
not to attack Taiwan, rather than suffer such a defeat.  Surely some
sort of compromise and peace would be better for everyone.  Even Xi
might choose peace, and I hope he does; but he may not care about the
cost or the casualties to China as long as he wins.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#11_January_2023_((Satire)_Police_reports)
title: (Satire) Police reports
uri: (Satire)-Police-reports
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#11_January_2023_((Satire)_Police_reports)
content:
 
<p>

(satire) *
<a href="https://www.theonion.com/police-ask-for-public-s-help-in-falsifying-report-1849900721">Police Ask For Public's Help In Falsifying Report</a>.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#11_January_2023_(The_House,_new_proposal)
title: The House, new proposal
uri: The-House-new-proposal
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#11_January_2023_(The_House,_new_proposal)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/mccarthy-backroom-deals-gop">McCarthy's proposed House rules are dangerous</a>,
 but at least they are
up for a vote.
  He also made secret deals with hyperextremists; we don't know what
those deals are.

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/09/pro-bolsonaro-violence-social-media-platforms">Bolsonaro's followers openly promoted their violent plans</a>
 (to attack
Brazil's highest government buildings) on antisocial media platforms,
with hardly any hindrance.
<p>
The governor of the Brasilia region and its security chief were
Bolsonarists, and did not cooperate in protecting the government from
the planned riot.  
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/09/brazil-bolsonaro-lula-brasilia-attacks-insurrection">They have been fired</a>.

<p>
*<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/brazil-coup-arrests">1,500 Bolsonaro Backers [arrested] After Far-Right Coup Attempt</a>
 in Brazil.*
<p>
It is good that they did not let all the rioters get away.  But it
would have been better to hold everyone who had attacked the
government buildings, at least enough to identify them and search
them.

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/09/the-guardian-view-on-brazils-far-right-a-clear-and-present-danger">Bolsonaro's followers remain a threat</a>
 to democracy and liberty in
Brazil, and (due to their commitment to deforestation) to the survival
of civilization as well.

The US is an exception among countries in several ways.  Here are a few
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/we-re-exceptional-and-it-s-horrible-to-witness">unfortunate exceptions that we Americans ought to fix.</a>
<p>
The ICC is supposed to prosecute people for war crimes when their own
countries fail to prosecute them.  The US should sign the ICC treaty;
but them it should never leave prosecution of American war criminals
to the ICC.  The US should prosecute them.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#11_January_2023_(Brazil_coup_attempt)
title: Brazil coup attempt
uri: Brazil-coup-attempt
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#11_January_2023_(Brazil_coup_attempt)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/09/pro-bolsonaro-violence-social-media-platforms">Bolsonaro's followers openly promoted their violent plans</a>
 (to attack
Brazil's highest government buildings) on antisocial media platforms,
with hardly any hindrance.
<p>
The governor of the Brasilia region and its security chief were
Bolsonarists, and did not cooperate in protecting the government from
the planned riot.  
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/09/brazil-bolsonaro-lula-brasilia-attacks-insurrection">They have been fired</a>.

<p>
*<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/brazil-coup-arrests">1,500 Bolsonaro Backers [arrested] After Far-Right Coup Attempt</a>
 in Brazil.*
<p>
It is good that they did not let all the rioters get away.  But it
would have been better to hold everyone who had attacked the
government buildings, at least enough to identify them and search
them.

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/09/the-guardian-view-on-brazils-far-right-a-clear-and-present-danger">Bolsonaro's followers remain a threat</a>
 to democracy and liberty in
Brazil, and (due to their commitment to deforestation) to the survival
of civilization as well.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Carbon_bomb,_Permian_basin)
title: Carbon bomb, Permian basin
uri: Carbon-bomb-Permian-basin
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Carbon_bomb,_Permian_basin)
content:
 
<p>

*Greenpeace Calls on 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/permian-basin-carbon-bomb">US and Mexico to Defuse Largest Carbon Bomb</a>
 in
North America.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Worker_abuse,_Musk)
title: Worker abuse, Musk
uri: Worker-abuse-Musk
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Worker_abuse,_Musk)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/09/tech/twitter-layoffs-severance-offers/index.html">Musk promised laid-off Twitter workers</a>
 three months of severance pay.
He waited months, then offered them just one month of pay in exchange
for a nondisclosure agreement.
<p>
If they all sue. and he loses, it will be what that jerk deserves.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Laws_against_protesting,_UK)
title: Laws against protesting, UK
uri: Laws-against-protesting-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Laws_against_protesting,_UK)
content:
 
<p>

The Tories plan 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/09/rishi-sunak-plans-crack-down-go-slow-protests-just-stop-oil">a new law to attack each kind of nonviolent but
annoying protest that climate defenders come up with</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Gas_stoves_discredited)
title: Gas stoves discredited
uri: Gas-stoves-discredited
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Gas_stoves_discredited)
content:
 
<p>

The 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/gas-stove-ban">US Consumer Product Safety Commission advocates banning sale of
new gas stoves</a>,
 not only to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas
emissions, but because their indoor pollution is a major cause of
asthma for children.
<p>
When I tried cooking on old-fashioned electric stoves, I found I
couldn't do it.  The lag in response to changes of the heat setting
made it impossible for me to control it.  But I've read that new
induction stoves are as easy to use as gas stoves.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Protestors_killed,_18_in_Peru)
title: Protestors killed, 18 in Peru
uri: Protestors-killed-18-in-Peru
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Protestors_killed,_18_in_Peru)
content:
 
<p>

The new
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/11/genocide-investigation-opened-against-peru-president-after-protest-deaths">president of Peru has been officially charged with homicide
<em>and genocide</em></a>
 after state thugs guarding an airport killed 18 of the
thousands of protesters who tried to take over that airport.
<p>
Whether charges of homicide are justified depends on details I don't
know.  If they are, whether the charges legally should fall on the
thugs alone, or higher officials as well, depends on more details
I don't know.  I don't know which side is right or wrong in Peru.
<p>
But charges of genocide can't possibly be justified.  The thugs did
not try to wipe out a demographic group, or even to take actions in
that direction.  They did not even try to wipe out the <em>protesters</em>
in that one airport.
<p>
Weakening the definition of "genocide" will undermine the special
odium that the world has attached to any intentional effort to wipe
out a particular demographic group.  That would be a bad thing to do.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Protesors_killed,_18_in_Peru)
title: Protesors killed, 18 in Peru
uri: Protesors-killed-18-in-Peru
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Protesors_killed,_18_in_Peru)
content:
 
<p>

The new
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/11/genocide-investigation-opened-against-peru-president-after-protest-deaths">president of Peru has been officially charged with homicide
_and genocide_</a>
 after state thugs guarding an airport killed 18 of the
thousands of protesters who tried to take over that airport.
<p>
Whether charges of homicide are justified depends on details I don't
know.  If they are, whether the charges legally should fall on the
thugs alone, or higher officials as well, depends on more details
I don't know.  I don't know which side is right or wrong in Peru.
<p>
But charges of genocide can't possibly be justified.  The thugs did
not try to wipe out a demographic group, or even to take actions in
that direction.  They did not even try to wipe out the _protesters_
in that one airport.
<p>
Weakening the definition of "genocide" will undermine the special
odium that the world has attached to any intentional effort to wipe
out a particular demographic group.  That would be a bad thing to do.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Urgent:_Stop_defunding_IRS)
title: Urgent: Stop defunding IRS
uri: Urgent-Stop-defunding-IRS
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Urgent:_Stop_defunding_IRS)
content:
 
<p>

US citizens: 
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/tell-congress-stop-the-gop-plot-to-protect-wealthy-and-corporate-tax-cheats-by-defunding-the-irs?nowrapper=true&referrer=&source=email-one">call on Congress to stop the GOP plot to defund the IRS</a>
to protect wealthy and corporate tax cheats.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Haiti_government,_empty)
title: Haiti government, empty
uri: Haiti-government-empty
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Haiti_government,_empty)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/10/haiti-no-elected-officials-anarchy-failed-state">Haiti has no elected officials left</a>.
  It had a senate, but all the
senators' terms of office have ended.  The place is too chaotic to hold
an election to replace them.
<p>
The chaos is partly due to a series of <a href="2017-jan-apr.html#21_January_2017_(Haitian_warlord_arrested_for_US_drug_charges)">US interventions, including removing
    President Aristide from office</a>
<em>twice</em>,
and imposing two unelected presidents,
<a href="2016-sep-dec.html#4_December_2016_(Haitians_protest_election_rigging)">Martelly</a>
and <a href="2021-may-aug.html#11_July_2021_(Pressure_for_intervention_in_Haiti)">Moise</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Public_transit,_Australia)
title: Public transit, Australia
uri: Public-transit-Australia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Public_transit,_Australia)
content:
 
<p>

Watch out, Australia!  The system to pay for public transit in
Victoria will be replaced &mdash; 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/10/myki-cards-to-make-way-for-phones-on-victorias-public-transport-system-daniel-andrews-says">the plan is for people to pay using
portable phones</a>,
 which would effectively identify them to the system
and track where they go.

<p>
The existing payment system, "Myki", permits buying a card with cash;
however, buying another card is expensive enough that people will
hesitate to do that very often.  BART in San Francisco has done
something similarly unjust.
<p>
All in all, this system is not very good, but you can protect your
privacy with some effort.  It is possible to swap cards with a
stranger in a station, if there is a machine that will show how much
money is stored in a card.  The one who receives the card with the
greater sum stored can pay cash to compensate the other, so that
neither one loses or gains any money.
<p>
Victorians, please campaign now for the new system to be better for
privacy.  Demand a way to pay for one ride at a time <em>with cash</em>!


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Senatorial_crime,_Santos)
title: Senatorial crime, Santos
uri: Senatorial-crime-Santos
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Senatorial_crime,_Santos)
content:
 
<p>

Fabulist Santos is suspected of 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/10/george-santos-campaign-finance-complaint-republican">lying about the origin of his campaign
funds, which is illegal</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Brazil_riots_on_Bolsonaro)
title: Brazil riots on Bolsonaro
uri: Brazil-riots-on-Bolsonaro
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Brazil_riots_on_Bolsonaro)
content:
 
<p>

*Why 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/10/tuesday-briefing-why-former-brazil-president-jair-bolsonaro-is-responsible-for-the-riots">[Bolsonaro] is responsible for the riots [in Brasilia]</a>.*

<p>
Supporters of Bolsonaro in Brazil's military police encouraged the
riots, then helped them by failing to act to stop them.
<p>
<a href="#11_January_2023_(Brazil_coup_attempt)">High elected officials did this, too.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Pakistan_aid,_$10bn)
title: Pakistan aid, $10bn
uri: Pakistan-aid-10bn
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Pakistan_aid,_$10bn)
content:
 
<p>

*<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/jan/10/banks-and-countries-pledge-10bn-to-rebuild-pakistan-after-catastrophic-floods">Banks and countries pledge $10bn to rebuild Pakistan</a>
 after catastrophic
floods.*
<p>
Is the banks' "contribution" a donation, or is it a loan?  A big loan could
crush Pakistan decades or even centuries.
<p>
There will surely be more such floods, and even bigger.  Rebuilding in
any straightforward way will only lead to another destruction.  What method
can avert disaster if the rain repeats?

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Targeted_ads,_Facebook)
title: Targeted ads, Facebook
uri: Targeted-ads-Facebook
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Targeted_ads,_Facebook)
content:
 
<p>

Facebook will protect teenage useds 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jan/10/facebook-and-instagram-to-tighten-restrictions-around-teenagers-data">from some kinds of targeted advertising</a>.
  That's a step in a good direction, but everyone deserves privacy.
Everyone on the net deserves to be protected from targeted advertising,
and from being profiled at all.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Wildlife_extinction,_Madagascar)
title: Wildlife extinction, Madagascar
uri: Wildlife-extinction-Madagascar
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Wildlife_extinction,_Madagascar)
content:
 
<p>

*Madagascar's unique wildlife faces 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/10/madagascar-unique-wildlife-extinction-aoe">imminent wave of extinction [in
the next 20 years]</a>,
 say scientists.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Extreme_weather,_US,_2022_cost)
title: Extreme weather, US, 2022 cost
uri: Extreme-weather-US-2022-cost
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Extreme_weather,_US,_2022_cost)
content:
 
<p>

*Extreme weather left 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/10/extreme-weather-climate-crisis-us-deaths-financial-damage">474 people dead and cost $165bn in the US last year</a>.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Covid_vaccine,_$3%2Fdose)
title: Covid vaccine, $3/dose
uri: Covid-vaccine-3-dose
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#12_January_2023_(Covid_vaccine,_$3%2Fdose)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/bernie-sanders-moderna">Sanders condemned Moderna for increasing the price of Covid-19 vaccine
to as much as $13</a>0.
  It costs $3 to produce a dose.

<p>
Corporations are not people; they have no inherent rights, not even
the eight to continue operating.  And certainly not the right to charge
for a medicine whatever price maximizes its profits.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#13_January_2023_(Weapons_yielded,_Tigray)
title: Weapons yielded, Tigray
uri: Weapons-yielded-Tigray
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#13_January_2023_(Weapons_yielded,_Tigray)
content:
 
<p>

*<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/11/tigray-rebels-start-handing-over-weapons-to-ethiopian-army">Tigray rebels start handing over weapons to Ethiopian army</a>.*
<p>
Perhaps this will lead to peace.

<p>
 


title: Homeless harassment, San Francisco
uri: Homeless-harassment-San-Francisco
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#13_January_2023_(Homeless_harassment,_San_Francisco)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#13_January_2023_(Homeless_harassment,_San_Francisco)

content:
 
<p>

San Francisco continues harassing homeless people &mdash; for instance,
stealing their few possessions &mdash; to try to chase them away.  
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/11/san-francisco-business-owner-homeless-water-attack">City
employees do this, and vigilantes sometimes follow</a>
 their lead.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#13_January_2023_(Right-wing,_Brazil)
title: Right-wing, Brazil
uri: Right-wing-Brazil
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#13_January_2023_(Right-wing,_Brazil)
content:
 
<p>

Lula has defeated the coup, and may defeat those who wish to
destabilize Brazil, but the long term political 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/09/bolsonaro-insurrection-lula-brazil-right-coup">challenge of
right-wing politics remains</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#13_January_2023_(Brazil_coup_attempt,_Facebook)
title: Brazil coup attempt, Facebook
uri: Brazil-coup-attempt-Facebook
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#13_January_2023_(Brazil_coup_attempt,_Facebook)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/social-media-brazil-attack">Facebook executives were warned that Bolsonarists were using that
platform</a>
 to build support for a coup.
<p>
The promotion algorithm magnified their reach.  As usual, it helps
whoever advocates the most shocking violence.

<p>
 


title: Discharge petition, thwart McCarthy
uri: Discharge-petition-thwart-McCarthy
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#13_January_2023_(Discharge_petition,_thwart_McCarthy)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#13_January_2023_(Discharge_petition,_thwart_McCarthy)

content:
 
<p>

Democrats in the House could thwart 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/01/09/house-rules-debt-discharge-petition/">McCarthy's vow to use the debt
ceiling to hold the US government to ransom</a>
 by signing a discharge
petition.
  They would need at least five Republicans to sign it with them.
<p>
I think there is another way.  Robert Reich recommended that 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/05/house-democrats-moderate-republicans-unite-speaker">Democrats
should unite with the slightly-less-extremist Republicans</a>
  to elect one of those as speaker.
<p>
It has been reported that any member of the House can now demand a new
election for speaker, per the new rules McCarthy imposed at the demand
of the hyperextremists.  If Democrats make a deal with the Republican
slightly-less-extremists to support one of those as speaker, perse
would win.  They could make a deal beforehand to raise (or eliminate)
the debt ceiling and to leave Social Security and Medicare untouched.
<p>
Reich referred to those Republican as "moderates", but I don't think
that term fits them.  Just as "moderate" Democrats are actually
plutocratist, not moderate at all, so are "moderate" Republicans.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#13_January_2023_(Political_destruction,_Brazil)
title: Political destruction, Brazil
uri: 2023-01-14-Political-destruction-Brazil
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#13_January_2023_(Political_destruction,_Brazil)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/09/brazil-failed-coup-wreckage">The Bolsonaro mob vented their hatred of democrac</a>
y on Brazil's
equivalents of the White House, the Capitol, and the Supreme Court.
They destroyed even abstract art as if it expressed support for
democracy, and wrote graffiti on the walls calling for military
dictatorship.
<p>
People have a right to say they would prefer a military dictatorship,
but taking or planning violent action in the name of establishing one
is an unforgivable crime.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#13_January_2023_(Debt_relief_blocked,_Sri_Lanka)
title: Debt relief blocked, Sri Lanka
uri: Debt-relief-blocked-Sri-Lanka
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#13_January_2023_(Debt_relief_blocked,_Sri_Lanka)
content:
 
<p>

Governments are in favor of debt forgiveness for Sri Lanka,
but 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jan/08/hedge-funds-holding-up-vital-debt-relief-for-crisis-hit-sri-lanka-warn-economists">private lenders (hedge funds) are blocking the deal</a>.

<p>
 


title: Federal appointments, Repubican denials
uri: Federal-appointments-Repubican-denials
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#13_January_2023_(Federal_appointments,_Repubican_denials)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#13_January_2023_(Federal_appointments,_Repubican_denials)

content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/09/politics/biden-judges-south/index.html">Republican senators are blocking most of Biden's appointments to federal
judgeships in the US south</a>.
<p>
This is partly because of a rule that the Senate won't vote on a
nominee unless the senators of per home state approve of per.  ISTR
that the Republicans abolished that rule when the corrupter became
president,<!-- [pol note if any] -->
  so they could quickly fill the backlog of vacancies that
they had created by blocking all of Obama's nominations for years.
<p>
So why is that rule operating now?  Did Democats restore it?

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#13_January_2023_(Great_Salt_Lake_dust)
title: Great Salt Lake dust
uri: Great-Salt-Lake-dust
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#13_January_2023_(Great_Salt_Lake_dust)
content:
 
<p>

How the 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/10/utah-great-salt-lake-collapse-imminent">drying up of the Great Salt Lake endangers human health</a>.
  Some say that the already-dry parts of the lakebed are already giving off
toxic dust.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#13_January_2023_(Polluting_cos,_Australia)
title: Polluting cos, Australia
uri: Polluting-cos-Australia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#13_January_2023_(Polluting_cos,_Australia)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/10/australias-big-polluters-must-cut-emissions-by-nearly-5-a-year-but-can-use-offsets-to-get-there">Australia proposes to make major polluting businesses invest to reduce
heir emissions</a>
intensity &mdash; the amount of greenhouse gas emissions per
unit of production &mdash; to meet annual targets.
<p>
  However, it will continue the <a href="/archives/2021-sep-dec.html#15_November_2021_(Carbon_offset_trees)">use of "carbon offsets"</a>,
which tend to range from delusional optimism
  to <a href="/archives/2022-jul-oct.html#13_August_2022_(Accounting_tricks)">outright fraud</a>.

<p>
 


title: Office of Congressional Ethics, closed
uri: Office-of-Congressional-Ethics-closed
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#13_January_2023_(Office_of_Congressional_Ethics,_closed)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#13_January_2023_(Office_of_Congressional_Ethics,_closed)

content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/house-gop-guts-ethics-office">Congressional Republicans changed the rules</a>
 of the Office of
Congressional Ethics to make it unable to operate.
<p>
This is to protect various Republicans such as from any follow-up on
the ethics complaints they would have faced.
<p>
Alas for poor Rep. Santos, it will not protect him from possible
extradition to Brazil for the fraud charges he ducked out on a few
years ago.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#13_January_2023_(Urgent:_Arctic_drilling)
title: Urgent: Arctic drilling
uri: Urgent-Arctic-drilling
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#13_January_2023_(Urgent:_Arctic_drilling)
content:
 
<p>

US citizens: 
<a href="https://environmentamerica.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=52534">call on ConocoPhillips to stop its proposed Arctic
drilling</a>
 project before it's too late.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#13_January_2023_(Urgent:_Child_tax_credit)
title: Urgent: Child tax credit
uri: Urgent-Child-tax-credit
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#13_January_2023_(Urgent:_Child_tax_credit)
content:
 
<p>

US citizens: 
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-president-biden-to-keep-fighting-for-the-expanded-child-tax-credit/?nowrapper=true">call on Biden to keep fighting for the expanded Child Tax
Credit</a>.
<p>
Here's the text I used for the letter.
<p>
<blockquote>
I know it won't be easy to get the House to pass expansion of the
Child Tax Credit, but it is vital that you and the Democrats be no
less stubborn than Republican terrorist politicians.
</blockquote>

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Plastic pusher, General Mills
uri: Urgent-Plastic-pusher-General-Mills
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#14_January_2023_(Urgent:_Plastic_pusher,_General_Mills)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#14_January_2023_(Urgent:_Plastic_pusher,_General_Mills)

content:
 
<p>

Everyone: 
<a href="https://environmental-action.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=52350">call on General Mills to eliminate unnecessary, single-use
plastic packaging</a>.

If you have disabled the page's JavaScript, you may get a blank screen
after signing. that does not mean anything is wrong.  Your signsature has
probably been sent in properly.  The blank screen has text that is rendered
invisible by CSS; if you disable the CSS in the page, the text will appear.
<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#14_January_2023_(Urgent:_NRA_promotion,_schools)
title: Urgent: NRA promotion, schools
uri: Urgent-NRA-promotion-schools
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#14_January_2023_(Urgent:_NRA_promotion,_schools)
content:
 
<p>

US citizens:
<a href="https://act.winwithoutwar.org/act/tell-congress-ban-jrotc-instructors-promoting-nra-our-schools">call on Congress to ban JROTC instructors from promoting
the NRA</a>
in our schools.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#14_January_2023_(Urgent:_Plastic_pusher,_Sysco)
title: Urgent: Plastic pusher, Sysco
uri: Urgent-Plastic-pusher-Sysco
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#14_January_2023_(Urgent:_Plastic_pusher,_Sysco)
content:
 
<p>

Everyone:
<a href="https://environmentamerica.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=53132">call on major food distributor Sysco to cut out
single-use plastic packaging</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#14_January_2023_(Public_lands,_oil_drilling)
title: Public lands, oil drilling
uri: Public-lands-oil-drilling
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#14_January_2023_(Public_lands,_oil_drilling)
content:
 
<p>

Biden's secretary of the interior may be a member of an indigenous group,
but
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/biden-oil-drilling-public-lands">she (clearly with Biden's approval) is yielding to the planet roasters
more than she is resisting</a>
them.
<p>
Let's not judge people by their ethnicity.

<p>
 


title: Environmentalists murdered, Honduras
uri: Environmentalists-murdered-Honduras
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#14_January_2023_(Environmentalists_murdered,_Honduras)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#14_January_2023_(Environmentalists_murdered,_Honduras)

content:
 
<p>

*Honduran
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/11/honduras-environmental-defenders-shot-dead-guapinol-mine">environmental defenders shot dead</a>
in broad daylight.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#14_January_2023_(Russian_conscript_injustice)
title: Russian conscript injustice
uri: Russian-conscript-injustice
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#14_January_2023_(Russian_conscript_injustice)
content:
 
<p>

A video shows a Russian conscript
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/11/russian-conscript-sentenced-to-years-in-prison-after-rebelling-against-superiors">accuse his commander of disobeying
Putin's orders to supply and train conscripts</a>,
and shoving him.
<p>
The conscript was convicted of "doing physical harm" to the commander,
which appears to be somewhat of an exaggeration.  However, what must
have hurt the commander most was this criticism.  It is almost
impossible to believe that the criticism was not true.  Is Putin
honest enough with himself to recognize that?

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#14_January_2023_(Housing_shortage,_zoning)
title: Housing shortage, zoning
uri: Housing-shortage-zoning
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#14_January_2023_(Housing_shortage,_zoning)
content:
 
<p>

Zoning laws play a big role in
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/jan/11/people-think-apartments-are-for-losers-the-homes-that-could-help-solve-las-housing-crisis">the housing shortage in Los Angeles</a>.
  Indeed, this is generally true.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#14_January_2023_((Satire)_Aggressive_plants,_tamed)
title: (Satire) Aggressive plants, tamed
uri: (Satire)-Aggressive-plants-tamed
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#14_January_2023_((Satire)_Aggressive_plants,_tamed)
content:
 
<p>

(satire)
<a href="https://www.theonion.com/study-finds-early-humans-selectively-bred-corn-to-be-le-1849518789">*Study Finds Early Humans Selectively Bred Corn To Be Less
Aggressive</a>.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#14_January_2023_(Gov't_incentives,_UK_gas)
title: Gov't incentives, UK gas
uri: Gov-t-incentives-UK-gas
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#14_January_2023_(Gov't_incentives,_UK_gas)
content:
 
<p>

UK businesses claim that reducing the subsidy they get for gas
would make it difficult for them
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jan/10/fears-plans-to-cut-energy-support-for-uk-firms-will-threaten-decarbonisation-fossil-fuel-emissions">to invest in using less gas</a>.
<p>
That smells to me like bullshit.  Cut subsidy for business, or raise
taxes, and they will claim that they need that money to (1) invest in
decarbonizing and (2) invest in innovation.  Or whatever thing they
now want businesses to invest in.  But when they get that money,
they are likely to do something else with it.
<p>
Instead of subsidizing their fossil fuel bills, and hoping they will
use that to invest in energy efficiency, how about offering businesses
loans specifically to invest in energy efficiency?

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#14_January_2023_(Student_debt_relief,_stymied)
title: Student debt relief, stymied
uri: Student-debt-relief-stymied
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#14_January_2023_(Student_debt_relief,_stymied)
content:
 
<p>

Blocked by lawsuits from forgiving student debt,
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/10/politics/student-loans-affordable-payments/index.html">Biden is trying
another approach: to reduce the amount of payments</a>
for the loans.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#14_January_2023_(Flood_measures,_CA)
title: Flood measures, CA
uri: Flood-measures-CA
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#14_January_2023_(Flood_measures,_CA)
content:
 
<p>

To get enough water in the future, California will need to
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/10/us/california-flooding-drought-dilemma-climate/index.html">eliminate
housing from floodplains, and permit rivers to flood them again</a>
by
removing levies.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#14_January_2023_(Lula_pursuing_Bolsonarists)
title: Lula pursuing Bolsonarists
uri: Lula-pursuing-Bolsonarists
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#14_January_2023_(Lula_pursuing_Bolsonarists)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/10/americas/brazil-brasilia-police-congress-attack-intl-latam/index.html">Lula accuses Brazilian thugs of colluding</a>
with the Bolsonarists who
attacked the centers of government.
  For instance, evidence shows that someone opened the door for them
in two of the three buildings.
<p>
He has called for the arrest of two of Bolsonaro's officials who were
in charge of security in Brazilia.  They are
<a href="Https://www.commondreams.org/news/brazil-arrest-warrants-bolsonaro-aides">accused of sabotaging
security so as to facilitate</a>
the insurrection.
  One of went to Florida shortly before the insurrection and is
staying very close to where Bolsonaro is staying.  By coincidence?

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#14_January_2023_(Journalism_as_spying,_UK)
title: Journalism as spying, UK
uri: Journalism-as-spying-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#14_January_2023_(Journalism_as_spying,_UK)
content:
 
<p>

The UK's "national security"
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/jan/11/national-security-bill-may-have-chilling-effect-on-investigative-journalism-in-uk">bill would define "spying" to include
normal journalism</a>.
Specifically, journalism would be a crime if it published anything
that "may materially assist a foreign intelligence service."  The article
gives examples.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Cryptocurrency_generation,_oil)
title: Cryptocurrency generation, oil
uri: Cryptocurrency-generation-oil
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Cryptocurrency_generation,_oil)
content:
 
<p>

New York State is being sued for allowing
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/crypto-mining-ny">cryptocurrency miners to run
a gas-fired electric generator to power the computing</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Legislature_dress_code,_Missouri)
title: Legislature dress code, Missouri
uri: Legislature-dress-code-Missouri
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Legislature_dress_code,_Missouri)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/missouri-house-women-arms">Missouri's state legislature has imposed a dress code on all members</a>.
Bare shoulders and arms are forbidden: everyone must wear a coat or a
jacket.

However, some details are different for men and women legislators.
Men are required to wear a tie, and are forbidden to wear a dress or
skirt.  I would resign from the house rather than wear a tie!  Women,
more fortunate, are not required to wear one.
<p>
Any dress code treats people badly.  They should get rid of it.  But
it is amusing to imagine what they might do if a trans person or
nonbinary is elected to the legislature.  What to wear???
<p>
Maybe the motive for the code is to exclude working-class people from
the legislature.


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Rewards_of_criminal_risk)
title: Rewards of criminal risk
uri: Rewards-of-criminal-risk
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Rewards_of_criminal_risk)
content:
 
<p>

The
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/14/george-santos-politician-americans-deserve">US political system rewards brash liars</a>,
such as Santos &mdash; and the
corrupter.

I disagree with the claim that that is what "Americans" deserve.
People tend to get the politicians their _behavior_ deserves, but no
people deserve to be ruled by corruption and lies.

<p>
 


title: Environmentalists jailed, El Salvador
uri: Environmentalists-jailed-El-Salvador
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Environmentalists_jailed,_El_Salvador)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Environmentalists_jailed,_El_Salvador)

content:
 
<p>

El Salvador's right-wing government doesn't prosecute the many murders
committed by the army during the civil war, decades ago, but it has
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/14/el-salvador-environmental-defenders-arrested-mining-ban">jailed environmentalist leaders accused of killing an army informant</a>
during that war.
<p>
People fear this represents the government's intention to repeal
the ban on toxic mining that those leaders brought about.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Public_spending,_Labour)
title: Public spending, Labour
uri: Public-spending-Labour
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Public_spending,_Labour)
content:
 
<p>

*<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/13/labour-lost-if-it-doesnt-defend-public-spending">Labour’s lost if it doesn’t defend public spending</a>.*
<p>
It might avoid losing an election but it will have got lost in planning
what to do afterward.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Special_Counsel,_Biden_documents)
title: Special Counsel, Biden documents
uri: Special-Counsel-Biden-documents
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Special_Counsel,_Biden_documents)
content:
 
<p>

*<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/biden-special-counsel">Garland Appoints Special Counsel Over Classified Biden Documents</a>.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Voter_suppression,_Milwaukee)
title: Voter suppression, Milwaukee
uri: Voter-suppression-Milwaukee
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Voter_suppression,_Milwaukee)
content:
 
<p>


A Republican official in Wisconsin boasted about the
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/12/wisconsin-republican-brags-low-democratic-turnout">effectiveness of
Republican voter suppression in Milwaukee</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Peru's_problems)
title: Peru's problems
uri: Peru-s-problems
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Peru's_problems)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/12/the-guardian-view-on-perus-political-violence-stop-the-killings">A summary of Peru's problems.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(US_inflation,_slowing)
title: US inflation, slowing
uri: US-inflation-slowing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(US_inflation,_slowing)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/01/12/inflation-cpi-report-larry-summers/">US inflation is slowing without the high level of unemployment</a>
that
some economists predicted would be required to reduce inflation.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Ocean_noise_pollution)
title: Ocean noise pollution
uri: Ocean-noise-pollution
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Ocean_noise_pollution)
content:
 
<p>

* The
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/12/dolphins-shout-compensate-human-made-background-noise">findings revealed that a noisy environment makes it harder for
dolphins to communicate and cooperate</a>
on tasks.*

  Human activities, including shipping, sonar and sonic blasts,
nowadays make dolphins' environments much nosier than they used to be.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Climate_Summit,_Oil_influencer)
title: Climate Summit, Oil influencer
uri: Climate-Summit-Oil-influencer
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Climate_Summit,_Oil_influencer)
content:
 
<p>

*"You Couldn't Make It Up":
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/sultan-al-jaber-cop28">Head of UAE Oil Company Appointed Chair of UN
Climate Summit</a>.*

Climate defenders already concluded that these conferences had been
captured by <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#planet">planet roasters</a> who had rendered them useless for their
purpose.  With this final step, they have advanced from undermining
the conferences to mocking them with unveiled derision.


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Striking_nurses,_NY_success)
title: Striking nurses, NY success
uri: Striking-nurses-NY-success
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Striking_nurses,_NY_success)
content:
 
<p>

*<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/12/nurses-strike-victory-new-york-city-hospitals">Nurses claim victory after three-day strike</a>
at two New York City hospitals.*

A crucial demand in this strike was that the hospitals hire more nurses
so that the nurses will not be overloaded.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Death_sentences,_SCOTUS)
title: Death sentences, SCOTUS
uri: Death-sentences-SCOTUS
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Death_sentences,_SCOTUS)
content:
 
<p>

The right-wing
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/12/us-supreme-court-death-row-executions">Supreme Court majority flatly refuses to reconsider
death sentences</a>,
regardless of what the constitutional issue at stake
may be.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Adjustment_disorder)
title: Adjustment disorder
uri: Adjustment-disorder
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Adjustment_disorder)
content:
 
<p>

A fair fraction of people
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/12/homeless-mental-health-illness-prison-incarcerate">respond to being in jail</a>
by feeling that
life has become unbearable.  Is this a psychological disorder, or is
it a kind of normal?

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Mining_pollution,_Indonesia)
title: Mining pollution, Indonesia
uri: Mining-pollution-Indonesia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Mining_pollution,_Indonesia)
content:
 
<p>

A zinc
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/jan/12/indonesia-government-safety-earthquakes-flooding-zinc-mine">mine on the great Sumatran fault could pollute a large area</a>
in the case of an earthquake.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(NYSE_hosts_Israeli_occupiers)
title: NYSE hosts Israeli occupiers
uri: NYSE-hosts-Israeli-occupiers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(NYSE_hosts_Israeli_occupiers)
content:
 
<p>

*New Stock Listings Open the Door to
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/01/11/nyse-israel-palpestine-stock/">American Investment in the
Israeli Occupation [of Palestine]</a>.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Defense_budget)
title: Defense budget
uri: Defense-budget
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Defense_budget)
content:
 
<p>

*Washington is shrieking at the
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/11/republican-defense-budget-cut-is-it-bad">prospect of a defense budget cut</a>.
But
would it really be so bad?*
<p>
A clock that runs backwards is right four times a day.  Maybe Republicans
are right a few times a year, and this could be one of them.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Republican_House,_disaster)
title: Republican House, disaster
uri: Republican-House-disaster
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Republican_House,_disaster)
content:
 
<p>

*The rest of 2023 is going to look a lot like the first
few days of
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/11/republicans-congress-house-of-representatives-agenda">the Republican majority in the House: an abject disaster</a>.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Abortion_rights,_TX)
title: Abortion rights, TX
uri: Abortion-rights-TX
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#15_January_2023_(Abortion_rights,_TX)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/11/texas-abortion-san-antonio-ballot-measure">San Antonio voters aim to pass an initiative</a>
to prohibit the San Antonio
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#thug">thug</a> department from taking any action against "abortion crimes".
<p>
Wouldn't anyone performing an abortion in San Antonio still be at risk of
arrest by Texas state <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a>?

<p>
 


title: Water supply of London area privatized
uri: Water-supply-of-London-area-privatized
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Water_supply_of_London_area_privatized)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Water_supply_of_London_area_privatized)

content:
 
<p>

The water supply of the London area was privatized, supposedly so that
the company would invest in improving the water supply there.  The
trouble is, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/11/thames-water-criticised-lack-investment-sewage-treatment-works">it makes more money by not investing</a> and leaving the
quality unacceptable.
<p>
This is because homes and offices have no alternative choice besides
that one.  Water supply is a natural monopoly, and therefore it should
be closely regulated.

<!--
[Waiting for more about second site]

Biden's persnal lawyers found some secret documents while closing out
an office he had until 2016 in an organization connected with the
University of Pennsylvania.  They reported this and gave them to the
National Archives.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/09/us-justice-department-investigating-documents-biden

This raises the question of why the documents were in his possession after
his term as vice president ended and why he brought them there.  However,
it is clear he was not trying to conceal them, and it is plausible he
did not remember that they existed.

Republicans will surely try to create a false equivalence; here is the
refutation.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/11/trump-biden-classified-documents-serious-mar-a-lago

His lawyers found a few more secret documents in his home in Delaware,

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/12/biden-more-classified-documents-found-garage-delaware

  and handed those to the Justice Department.

The contrast between Biden's conduct and the <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#bullshitter">bullshitter</a>'s conduct
is clear.

 -->

 


title: Germany demands medical care for Alexei Navalny
uri: Germany-demands-medical-care-for-Alexei-Navalny
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Germany_demands_medical_care_for_Alexei_Navalny)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Germany_demands_medical_care_for_Alexei_Navalny)

content:
 
<p>

  *Germany <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/14/germany-demands-medical-care-for-kremlin-critic-alexei-navalny">demands medical care</a> for Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.*
<p>
Putin has greatly increased his crimes since the time when he <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2020-sep-dec.html#16_December_2020_(Poisoning_of_Navalny)">poisoned
    Navalny</a>, but we should not forget Navalny's heroism.

 


title: Wrecker's 2017 tax cuts were giveaway to corporations
uri: Wrecker-s-2017-tax-cuts-were-giveaway-to-corporations
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Wrecker's_2017_tax_cuts_were_giveaway_to_corporations)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Wrecker's_2017_tax_cuts_were_giveaway_to_corporations)

content:
 
<p>

  The wrecker's 2017 tax cuts were a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/gao-report-trump-tax-cuts">big giveaway</a> to rich corporations.
<p>
This was anticipated, but now the figures demonstrate it was true.
<p>
*NEWS: GAO Study Finds 34% of Large,
Profitable Corporations <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/news-gao-study-finds-34-of-large-profitable-corporations-pay-zero-in-federal-income-taxes">Pay Zero in Federal Income Taxes</a>.*

 


title: Thugs tased Keenan Anderson to death
uri: Thugs-tased-Keenan-Anderson-to-death
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Thugs_tased_Keenan_Anderson_to_death)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Thugs_tased_Keenan_Anderson_to_death)

content:
 
<p>

  Los Angeles thugs <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/they-re-trying-to-george-floyd-me-cousin-of-black-lives-matter-co-founder-killed-by-lapd">repeatedly tased Keenan Anderson to death</a> while
holding him helpless on the ground.
Anderson had warned passers-by
that the <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> were trying to kill him.  It appears he was right.

 


title: Right-wing extremist in Alabama found excuse to prosecute women for taking abortion drugs
uri: Right-wing-extremist-in-Alabama-found-excuse-to-prosecute-women-for-ta
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Right-wing_extremist_in_Alabama_found_excuse_to_prosecute_women_for_taking_abortion_drugs)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Right-wing_extremist_in_Alabama_found_excuse_to_prosecute_women_for_taking_abortion_drugs)

content:
 
<p>

A right-wing extremist official in Alabama thinks he has found an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/13/alabama-attorney-general-anti-abortion-movement">excuse
    to prosecute women for taking abortion drugs</a>.

 


title: Insurers fight to protect their Medicare Fraud
uri: Insurers-fight-to-protect-their-Medicare-Fraud
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Insurers_fight_to_protect_their_Medicare_Fraud)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Insurers_fight_to_protect_their_Medicare_Fraud)

content:
 
<p>

  *Insurers Are <a href="https://www.levernews.com/r/6dc44330?m=a1296444-4385-46f7-b56f-c5acabd34844">Fighting To Protect Their Medicare Fraud</a>.*
  
 


title: Business lobbying blocked bills to regulate PFAs
uri: Business-lobbying-blocked-bills-to-regulate-PFAs
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Business_lobbying_blocked_bills_to_regulate_PFAs)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Business_lobbying_blocked_bills_to_regulate_PFAs)

content:
 
<p>

  Business lobbying <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/13/pfas-toxic-forever-chemicals-republican-house">blocked bills</a> in Congress intended to regulate PFAs.

 


title: Capturing Soledar would be of little practical significance
uri: Capturing-Soledar-would-be-of-little-practical-significance
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Capturing_Soledar_would_be_of_little_practical_significance)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Capturing_Soledar_would_be_of_little_practical_significance)

content:
 
<p>

  Capturing Soledar would be of <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/11/europe/soledar-ukraine-russia-explainer-intl/index.html">little practical significance</a> to the
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#putinforces">Putin forces</a>.
  It would not even guarantee they could take Bakhmut; and capturing Bakhmut
would likewise be of little practical significance.
<p>
The concentration of so many Putinite mercenaries there seems to
indicate the lack of capacity to try to do anything strategically
significant &mdash; at least for now.

 


title: What remains of the Voting Rights Act
uri: What-remains-of-the-Voting-Rights-Act
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(What_remains_of_the_Voting_Rights_Act)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(What_remains_of_the_Voting_Rights_Act)

content:
 
<p>

  After a series of blows to the Voting Rights Act, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/04/politics/supreme-court-voting-rights-what-matters/index.html">what remains</a>, and
what have right-wing judges destroyed?

 


title: Staff working for TikTok tracked other staff giving interviews to reporters
uri: Staff-working-for-TikTok-tracked-other-staff-giving-interviews-to-repo
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Staff_working_for_TikTok_tracked_other_staff_giving_interviews_to_reporters)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Staff_working_for_TikTok_tracked_other_staff_giving_interviews_to_reporters)

content:
 
<p>

Staff effectively working for TikTok <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/dec/22/tiktok-bytedance-workers-fired-data-access-journalists">used TikTok location data to track
    reporters</a> to try to find staff who were giving interviews to those reporters.
<p>
I don't care whether those staff had asked permission.  I don't care
whether TikTok (or its Chinese owners) are sincere in saying they
won't do this again.  The problem is that they do collect the data,
and are in a position to use it to track people if they decide to.
<p>
The problem is that the system is designed to require users to trust
the good will of the company's staff and management.  Such a system
must be <a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html">designed differently</a> so that users' trust not to track people
is not an issue.
<p>
The fact that some Chinese staff could track the locations of US
reporters and their US sources makes the problem additionally grave,
but that is not a fundamental change.  Enabling the US staff to track
the locations of people in the US is dangerous too.

 


title: World on verge of "new industrial age"
uri: World-on-verge-of-new-industrial-age
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(World_on_verge_of_new_industrial_age)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(World_on_verge_of_new_industrial_age)

content:
 
<p>

  *World On Verge of <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/clean-energy">"New Industrial Age"</a> as Clean Energy Jobs Boom: IEA.*
<p>
The projections in the article sound very good, but I wonder how they
compare with what is needed to keep <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#global%20heating">global heating</a> to a level of 1.5°C.

 


title: Stop "caving to fossil fuel industry"
uri: Stop-caving-to-fossil-fuel-industry
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Stop_caving_to_fossil_fuel_industry)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Stop_caving_to_fossil_fuel_industry)

content:
 
<p>

  *<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022-among-hottest-years-ever">Stop "Caving to Fossil Fuel Industry,"</a> Experts Say as 2022 Confirmed
 Among Hottest Years on Record.*

 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Espionage_Act_absurdly_overbroad)
title: Espionage Act absurdly overbroad
uri: Espionage-Act-absurdly-overbroad
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Espionage_Act_absurdly_overbroad)
content:
 
<p>

  The Espionage Act is so <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/12/yes-joe-biden-may-have-broken-the-espionage-act-but-the-law-is-the-problem">absurdly overbroad</a> that even the actions of
people such as Julian Assange and Joe Biden may technically have
violated it.
  We need to change that law.

 


title: Draft decree intended to overturn Brazil election results
uri: Draft-decree-intended-to-overturn-Brazil-election-results
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Draft_decree_intended_to_overturn_Brazil_election_results)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Draft_decree_intended_to_overturn_Brazil_election_results)

content:
 
<p>

  *Brazil police find <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/13/americas/brazil-federal-police-election-result-bolsonaro-intl-hnk/index.html">draft decree</a> intended to overturn election result in
former Bolsonaro minister’s home.*
  Bolsonaro had not signed the decree; it is not clear whether he ever
saw it.
<p>
The ex-minister was Anderson Torres.  Bolsonaro put Torres in charge
of security in Brasilia shortly before his presidential term ended,
and it appears that Torres used that authority to help the
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#11_January_2023_(Brazil_coup)">insurrection</a>.
<p>
Torres went to Florida in time to be missing in action at the
time of the insurrection.  However, he returned to Brazil
as he said he would, and was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/14/key-bolsonaro-ally-arrested-on-return-to-brazil-over-alleged-coup-attempt-anderson-torres">arrested on arrival</a>.

 


title: Four months after floods in Pakistan
uri: Four-months-after-floods-in-Pakistan
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Four_months_after_floods_in_Pakistan)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Four_months_after_floods_in_Pakistan)

content:
 
<p>

Four months after the floods in late August, parts of Pakistan remain
flooded.  Of the 33 million who were flooded out of their homes, <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/01/1132207">8
    million are still homeless</a>.

 


title: Navalny has opposed Putin's war from Prison
uri: Navalny-has-opposed-Putin-s-war-from-Prison
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Navalny_has_opposed_Putin's_war_from_Prison)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Navalny_has_opposed_Putin's_war_from_Prison)

content:
 
<p>

  *Defiant Navalny has <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/12/europe/alexey-navalny-ukraine-russia-putin-intl-cmd/index.html">opposed Putin’s war in Ukraine from prison</a>. His
team fear for his safety.*

 


title: UK may replace ankle-mounted GPS trackers
uri: UK-may-replace-ankle-mounted-GPS-trackers
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(UK_may_replace_ankle-mounted_GPS_trackers)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(UK_may_replace_ankle-mounted_GPS_trackers)

content:
 
<p>

The UK may replace ankle-mounted GPS trackers with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/13/potential-deportees-fingerprint-scanners-gps-tracking-home-office-plans">portable
    fingerprint readers</a> that the person is required to carry at all times.
<p>
I think the two systems are equally intrusive, more or less, but they
need to be compared with being in an immigration prison.  Overall, I
am more frightened by spread of "voluntarity" GPS tracking that is
imposed implicitly, by apps and web sites used via snoop-phones, and
that hardly anyone has the stubbornness to refuse.
<p>
I think it should be illegal for those devices to track the user
except under special conditions &mdash; and the snoop-phone should <em>never</em>
be allowed to send a GPS location <em>directly</em> except in an emergency
call.  Other than that, the user should be able to send the current
location by requesting to display it, then <em>cutting</em> and pasting that
<em>location</em> into an app.  This gives the user the opportunity to decide
what location to tell to the app.  This flexibility is what shields
users from tracking.

 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Supreme_Court_Historical_Society)
title: Supreme Court Historical Society
uri: Supreme-Court-Historical-Society
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Supreme_Court_Historical_Society)
content:
 
<p>

An NGO, the Supreme Court Historical Society, raises money mainly from
from companies that have a stake in coming Supreme Court cases, and
gives their executives and stockholders access for <a href="https://act.demandprogress.org/go/52599?t=1008&akid=30215%2E96703%2EZ8JLs0">one-on-one
    conversations</a> with the justices of the court.
<p>
That is an avenue for unjust influence.

 


title: Right-wing campaign to restrict abortion rights
uri: Right-wing-campaign-to-restrict-abortion-rights
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Right-wing_campaign_to_restrict_abortion_rights)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Right-wing_campaign_to_restrict_abortion_rights)

content:
 
<p>

A right-wing campaign to restrict abortion rights <a href="media/b1885fe9.ProLife_Coalition_Letter.pdf" data-original-source="http://thf_media.s3.amazonaws.com/2023/ProLife_Coalition_Letter.pdf">suggests direction
    for Republican extremists to attack next</a>.

 


title: Censorship of political dissent in Salafi Arabia
uri: Censorship-of-political-dissent-in-Salafi-Arabia
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Censorship_of_political_dissent_in_Salafi_Arabia)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Censorship_of_political_dissent_in_Salafi_Arabia)

content:
 
<p>

In Salafi Arabia, censorship of political dissent <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/15/saudi-arabian-academic-on-death-row-for-using-twitter-and-whatsapp">operates by
    execution</a>.

 


title: Israelis marched in central Tel Aviv
uri: Israelis-marched-in-central-Tel-Aviv
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Israelis_marched_in_central_Tel_Aviv)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Israelis_marched_in_central_Tel_Aviv)

content:
 
<p>

  *Tens of thousands of Israelis <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/israelis-protest-netanyahu">marched in central Tel Aviv</a> and in two
other major cities on Saturday night, protesting far rightwing PM
Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to overhaul the legal system and weaken the
Supreme Court &mdash; undermining democratic rule just weeks after his
election.*

 


title: Some teenagers started a "Luddite Club"
uri: Some-teenagers-started-a-Luddite-Club
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Some_teenagers_started_a_Luddite_Club)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Some_teenagers_started_a_Luddite_Club)

content:
 
<p>

  Some teenagers have started a <a href="https://mailchi.mp/nader/teenage-iphone-rebellion-in-brooklyn-fjyobt81qw?e=555e9be067">"Luddite Club"</a> to reject anti-social media
and (at least part of the time) snoop-phones.
<p>
They see one side of the injustice.  It would be great to clue them in
to the other unjust aspect of snoop-phones.

 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Unofficial_war_crimes_tribunal)
title: Unofficial war crimes tribunal
uri: Unofficial-war-crimes-tribunal
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Unofficial_war_crimes_tribunal)
content:
 
<p>

An unofficial war crimes tribunal heard the case against <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#dubya">Dubya</a>,
Cheney, Rumsfeld and their associates, following serious procedure,
and <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/bush-putin-war-crimes">found them guilty</a> of launching a war of aggression against Iraq.
<p>
This tribunal has no power to punish those convicted, but it suggests that
an official tribunal would likewise convict them. 

 


title: Protests against dictator of Tunisia
uri: Protests-against-dictator-of-Tunisia
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Protests_against_dictator_of_Tunisia)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Protests_against_dictator_of_Tunisia)

content:
 
<p>

  There were <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/14/thousands-protest-against-tunisian-president-kais-saied-seizure-of-near-total-power">protests against the dictator of Tunisia</a>, who has eliminated
Parliament from government.

 


title: Medicare Advantage is a money-making scam
uri: Medicare-Advantage-is-a-money-making-scam
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Medicare_Advantage_is_a_money-making_scam)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Medicare_Advantage_is_a_money-making_scam)

content:
 
<p>

  Wendell Potter: *<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/is-medicare-advantage-a-scam">Medicare Advantage is a money-making scam</a>. I should
know. I helped to sell it.*
<p>
Potter resigned from promoting "Medicare Advantage" and turned to
exposing it instead.

 


title: Tories allow thugs to "stop protests before they start"
uri: Tories-allow-thugs-to-stop-protests-before-they-start
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Tories_allow_thugs_to_stop_protests_before_they_start)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#16_January_2023_(Tories_allow_thugs_to_stop_protests_before_they_start)

content:
 
<p>

The Tories have decided to allow thugs to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/15/police-to-get-new-powers-to-shut-down-protests-before-disruption-begins">"stop protests before they
    start"</a> by arresting protesters preemptively.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#17_January_2023_(Urgent:_Debt_ceiling,_a_bill)
title: Urgent: Debt ceiling, a bill
uri: Urgent-Debt-ceiling-a-bill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#17_January_2023_(Urgent:_Debt_ceiling,_a_bill)
content:
 
<p>

US citizens:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/tell-president-biden-demand-a-clean-debt-ceiling-increase?nowrapper=true&referrer=group-social-security-works&source=group-social-security-works">call on Biden to demand a clean bill to increase the
debt ceiling</a>.
<p>
The US will hit the debt ceiling limit this week, but it can cope for some
months before the drastic consequences occur.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Price gouging, pandemic vaccine
uri: Urgent-Price-gouging-pandemic-vaccine
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#17_January_2023_(Urgent:_Price_gouging,_pandemic_vaccine)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#17_January_2023_(Urgent:_Price_gouging,_pandemic_vaccine)

content:
 
<p>

US citizens:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-hhs-secretary-becerra-stop-modernas-covid-vaccine-price-gouging-now/?nowrapper=true">call on HHS Secretary Becerra to stop Moderna's COVID
 vaccine price gouging now</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#17_January_2023_(Urgent:_Stop_offshore_drilling)
title: Urgent: Stop offshore drilling
uri: Urgent-Stop-offshore-drilling
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#17_January_2023_(Urgent:_Stop_offshore_drilling)
content:
 
<p>

US citizens:
<a href="https://act.350.org/sign/biden-offshore-drilling-petition/?source=em20230113-1-30-subs-us&akid=233354%2E1151744%2EoN3LJc">call on Biden to put an end to offshore drilling for
oil and gas</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#17_January_2023_(Urgent:_Tax_evasion,_IRS)
title: Urgent: Tax evasion, IRS
uri: Urgent-Tax-evasion-IRS
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#17_January_2023_(Urgent:_Tax_evasion,_IRS)
content:
 
<p>

US citizens:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/tell-the-senate-reject-house-republicans-plan-to-defund-the-irs-and-protect-wealthy-and-corporate-tax-cheats?nowrapper=true&referrer=group-americans-for-tax-fairness&source=group-americans-for-tax-fairness">call on the Senate to reject House Republicans’ plan to defund the IRS</a>
and protect rich tax evaders.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#17_January_2023_(Urgent:_Mining,_drilling,_CO)
title: Urgent: Mining, drilling, CO
uri: Urgent-Mining-drilling-CO
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#17_January_2023_(Urgent:_Mining,_drilling,_CO)
content:
 
<p>

US citizens:
<a href="https://environmentamerica.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=53134">call on the Bureau of Land Management to protect
Thompson Divide</a>
(in Colorado) from mining and drilling.

 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Urgent:_Julian_Assange_rally)
title: Urgent: Julian Assange rally
uri: Urgent-Julian-Assange-rally
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Urgent:_Julian_Assange_rally)
content:
 
<p>

Next rally for Julian Assange will be *Saturday, January 21,
11:30-12:30, at Park St Station.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Fossil_fuels_investors)
title: Fossil fuels investors
uri: Fossil-fuels-investors
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Fossil_fuels_investors)
content:
 
<p>

A report claims that
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jan/12/climate-regulations-could-trigger-banking-crisis-worse-than-2008">banks must prepare now for fossil fuel assets to
crash</a>
in value.  That means governments must require banks to do this.
<p>
The article seems to call for going further than that &mdash; for giving
those investors special privilege by protecting them from losing
money.  That would make the rest of us reward the fossil fuel
companies with more money for decades of lies and cheating.  An
acceptable solution has to make the cheaters pay.
<p>
I don't recognize the groups that are behind this report.  It may be
true, or it may be an attempt to spare fossil fuel interests from
losing any of their billions.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Right_to_repair,_John_Deere)
title: Right to repair, John Deere
uri: Right-to-repair-John-Deere
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Right_to_repair,_John_Deere)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/right-to-repair-advocates-question-john-deeres-new-promises/">John Deere, Inc., is trying to deflect</a>
real right-to-repair by making
small concessions and exaggerating their significance.

I decided not to post about the initial announcement, since it would
predictably be one-sided.  I figured we would get a clear picture
soon, and we have.
<p>
John Deere made it explicitly clear that the aim is to stop states from
passing the laws that do the whole job right to repair.
<p>
As for what American farmers _deserve_, that goes far beyond right to
repair.  They deserve tractors whose software is free, libre -- all of
it.  Tractors which will not communicate anything with anyone except
as the tractor's driver decides, and will not obey remote commands
unless the tractor's driver allows it.
<p>
The right to repair is the first battle, and a big one.  Please help
farmers win it -- and please explain to them the rest of our fight.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(A_call_for_new_taxes)
title: A call for new taxes
uri: A-call-for-new-taxes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(A_call_for_new_taxes)
content:
 
<p>

*Call for new taxes on super-rich after
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2023/jan/16/oxfam-calls-for-new-taxes-on-super-rich-pocket-dollar-26tn-start-of-pandemic-davos">1% pocket two-thirds of all
 new wealth</a>.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Gas_stoves,_toxic)
title: Gas stoves, toxic
uri: Gas-stoves-toxic
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Gas_stoves,_toxic)
content:
 
<p>

More information about
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/15/gas-stoves-pollution-alternatives">toxins that come from gas stoves</a>.
<p>
It seems that generation of oxides of nitrogen occurs only when
there's a flame on the stove, and the other pollutants enter as part
of the gas being used, which leaks at a small rate all the time.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Economic_hit_men)
title: Economic hit men
uri: Economic-hit-men
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Economic_hit_men)
content:
 
<p>

GJohn Perkins compares
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/china-is-intensifying-the-death-economy">American economic hit men with China's economic
hit men</a>.
  China presents itself as rescuing poor countries from the former but
it offers basically the same sort of trap for those countries.
<p>
Perkins is the author of _Confessions of an Economic Hit Man_
.
<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(New_pun:_Pirate_school)
title: New pun: Pirate school
uri: New-pun-Pirate-school
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(New_pun:_Pirate_school)
content:
 
<p>

  <a href="/puns.html#pirate">Pirate school pun:</a>
  
  <blockquote>
    Q: What do pirate kids study in pirate school?</br>
      A: Baking &mdash; so they can qualify for pie rating.
  </blockquote>
  
<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Climate_protesters,_UK)
title: Climate protesters, UK
uri: Climate-protesters-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Climate_protesters,_UK)
content:
 
<p>

*Hundreds of thousands of young climate activists have said they will
continue
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/16/climate-activists-vow-to-take-to-the-streets-to-stop-fossil-fuel-extraction">“protesting in the streets in huge numbers” against fossil
fuels</a>.*

*The UK government
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/16/measures-climate-activists-police-protests-just-stop-oil">plans to give police even more power to lock us up</a>.
But it won’t stop us: this is about humanity’s future.*
<p>
The UK government is criminalizing, one by one, all methods of protest
that might effectively draw attention to a cause.  But the young
people who know that global heating is likely to kill them before they
get old realize that surrendering to the authoritarian state is not a
sane option.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Tanks_for_Ukraine)
title: Tanks for Ukraine
uri: Tanks-for-Ukraine
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Tanks_for_Ukraine)
content:
 
<p>

14 of the most modern tanks would do Ukraine some good, but that is
not enough to win.  Estimates are that
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/16/ukraine-will-need-more-tanks-if-it-is-to-make-breakthrough">victory would require on the
order of 100 tanks</a>.
<p>
Tanks are far from invulnerable in battle, even though rifle fire
bounces off them.  14 tanks, even if they are superior to the enemy's
tanks, will not last long if they fight day after day.  If in a large
battle the Putin forces lose 50 tanks and Ukraine loses 10, we would
say that the battle went Ukraine's way, but at the strategic level it
would be a defeat for Ukraine.  It would put an end to Ukraine's
attacking with tanks.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(COP28_in_petro-state)
title: COP28 in petro-state
uri: COP28-in-petro-state
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(COP28_in_petro-state)
content:
 
<p>

*It beggars belief that the UN thought it a good idea to allow an
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/16/fossil-fuel-destroyed-cops-un-compromised-cop28">authoritarian petro-state to host an already compromised COP28</a>.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Pandemic_vaccines,_Twitter)
title: Pandemic vaccines, Twitter
uri: Pandemic-vaccines-Twitter
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Pandemic_vaccines,_Twitter)
content:
 
<p>

Vaccine manufacturers lobbied Twitter to censor
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/01/16/twitter-covid-vaccine-pharma/">activists that demanded
global permission to make Covid-19 vaccines</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Global_heating,_El_Niño)
title: Global heating, El Niño
uri: Global-heating-El-Niño
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Global_heating,_El_Niño)
content:
 
<p>

*Warning of
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/16/return-of-el-nino-will-cause-off-the-chart-temperature-rise-climate-crisis">unprecedented heatwaves as El Niño set to return</a>
in 2023.*
<p>
As a result, in the next few years we could experience a sample of a
world with 1.5°C of global heating.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Taboo_terms,_field_work)
title: Taboo terms, "field work"
uri: Taboo-terms-field-work
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Taboo_terms,_field_work)
content:
 
<p>

The @irony{Office of Hypersenstivity} at the
<a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/01/14/1148470571/usc-office-removes-field-from-curriculum-racist">University of Southern
California has ruled the term "field work" taboo</a>.
 Reportedly this
decision stems from a concern to protect people, on seeing or hearing
the term "field work", from being reminded of the slaves in the 1800s
that worked in farm fields.
<p>
Nowadays some slaves are forced to work in nail salons, so there is a
proposal to make the word "nail" taboo.  The proposal is that nails,
when used in construction, be referred to as "hammer targets" to avoid
reminding anyone of nail salons.  One complicating factor is that
other slaves are forced to work in construction and may use nails; no
one knows what to do about that.
<p>
Enslavement is a grave crime, whether the slaves are forced to work on
<a href="/archives/2010-nov-feb.html#19 January 2011 (New forms of slavery)">farms</a>, in <a href="/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#12_September_2017_(Licensing_manicurists)">nail salons</a>
, in <a href="/archives/2014-nov-feb.html#22_December_2014_(Urgent:_End_slave_labor_in_Qatar)">construction</a>,
   or anything else.  Our governments should do more to prevent it.
But that's no reason to mess up the English
language.


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(National_protests,_Israel)
title: National protests, Israel
uri: National-protests-Israel
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(National_protests,_Israel)
content:
 
<p>

Over 80,000 Israelis protested against recent attacks against
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/14/world/tel-aviv-protest-netanyahu/index.html">democracy and human rights by Israel's extremist right-wing</a>
government.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Ocean_heating,_glaciers)
title: Ocean heating, glaciers
uri: Ocean-heating-glaciers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Ocean_heating,_glaciers)
content:
 
<p>

How fast will
<a href="https://whowhatwhy.org/science/environment/how-we-came-to-know-and-fear-the-doomsday-glacier/">hotter ocean water melt the Thwaites Glacier</a>
and raise
sea level?

   We still don't know, but hotter ocean water can melt several meters
in a century.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(National_healthcare,_UK)
title: National healthcare, UK
uri: 2023-01-19-National-healthcare-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(National_healthcare,_UK)
content:
 
<p>

Britons must stop fearing to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/15/lest-we-forget-our-nhs-crisis-is-the-deadly-legacy-of-george-osbornes-austerity">slam the Tories for ruining the NHS</a>
because of their anti-state ideology.

<p>
The idea of "shrinking the state" is absurd, because <a href="/articles/why-we-need-a-state.html">we need the state</a>
to do many vital jobs.

  In practice, governments that say they will "shrink the state" are
practicing "squeeze-up" economics: squeeze the people at the bottom of
the economy, so that money flows out at the top to the rich.


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Insurrection,_Brazil)
title: Insurrection, Brazil
uri: Insurrection-Brazil
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Insurrection,_Brazil)
content:
 
<p>

The danger of
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/15/the-guardian-view-on-brazil-and-the-bolsonaristas-its-not-over-yet">Brazil's insurrectionists is not over</a>
yet.

<p>
 


title: Glossary update: hypo-, hyper-extremist
uri: Glossary-update-hypo-hyper-extremist
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Glossary_update:_hypo-,_hyper-extremist)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Glossary_update:_hypo-,_hyper-extremist)

content:
 
<p>

<ul>
  <li>
    <a href="/glossary.html#Hyperextremist">Hyperextremist</a>:
    Extremist even by comparison with most extremists.
<p>
  For instance, while most Republican congresscritters are extremists,
  the 20 or so who threatened to wreck the US's credit status if they
  don't get their demands, thus doing something morally equivalent to
  terrorism, are extremist even by comparison with the rest.  I call
  them "hyperextremists."
<p>
  <li>
  <a href="/glossary.html#Hypoextremist">Hypoextremist</a>:
  Extremist, though a little less so than most extremists.
<p>
  All Republican now in the House of Representatives are extremists,
  but a fraction may be a iittle less rabidly so than the rest.
  Rather than exaggerate by calling them "moderate," I use the term
  "hypoextremist" for them.

</ul>
<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Political_censorship,_UK)
title: Political censorship, UK
uri: Political-censorship-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Political_censorship,_UK)
content:
 
<p>

The UK's new "protect children by repressing everyone" bill would
require online platforms from showing anyone anything that presents
the practice of
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jan/17/donelan-confirms-stiffer-online-safety-measures-after-backbench-pressure">crossing the sea around the UK in a small boat</a>
in a
favorable light.
<p>
This is blatant political censorship: opposing Tory politics will be
prohibited.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Debt_ceiling,_US)
title: Debt ceiling, US
uri: Debt-ceiling-US
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Debt_ceiling,_US)
content:
 
<p>

Robert Reich describes what happened on
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/gop-debt-ceiling-scam">previous occasions when
Republicans tried to threaten to make the US default</a>
as extortion
against a Democratic president.

*[Ro] Khanna Warns House
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/khanna-gop-economy-social-security">GOP Wants to 'Hijack the Entire US Economy'
to Cut Social Security</a>.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Healthcare_privatization,_Madrid)
title: Healthcare privatization, Madrid
uri: Healthcare-privatization-Madrid
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Healthcare_privatization,_Madrid)
content:
 
<p>

*Tens of Thousands March in Madrid to
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/health-care-protest-madrid">'Stop Privatization' of
Healthcare System</a>.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_((Satire)_Andrew_Tate's_troubles)
title: (Satire) Andrew Tate's troubles
uri: (Satire)-Andrew-Tate-s-troubles
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_((Satire)_Andrew_Tate's_troubles)
content:
 
<p>

(satire) *Andrew Tate
<a href="https://www.theonion.com/andrew-tate-defense-team-assembled-from-dozens-of-lawye-1849986437">Defense Team Assembled From Dozens Of Lawyers
Trafficked From Eastern Europe</a>.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Criminal_officials,_UK)
title: Criminal officials, UK
uri: Criminal-officials-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Criminal_officials,_UK)
content:
 
<p>

An elite London
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/16/the-met-police-rapist-david-carrick-failed-yet-again">thug has confessed to 24 rapes, plus other crimes</a>,
along a 20-year career.  Required occassional background
investigations found nothing wrong.
<p>
The author, who insists that UK thug departments must change their
misogynistic attitudes and culture, is in a position to know.
<p>
The thug
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/16/metropolitan-police-officer-david-carrick-revealed-as-serial-rapist">told his victims that it was futile to report him</a>
because his
fellow thugs would take his side and disbelieve them.  Sad to say, it
seems that that was true.  He also threatened to murder at least one
of them.
<p>
Each victim who complained subsequently withdraw the complaint under
pressure of his threats.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Media_spoof,_Cambodia,_Adidas)
title: Media spoof, Cambodia, Adidas
uri: Media-spoof-Cambodia-Adidas
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Media_spoof,_Cambodia,_Adidas)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2023/jan/16/berlin-fashion-spoof-causes-chaos-as-adidas-denies-involvement">The Yes Men target Adidas</a>.
<p>
As far as I can tell, companies like Adidas and Nike are supported by
fans who are trapped.  They yearn to show off how much money they have
spent on merchandise of one company, so it can milk them over and
over.  How foolish!

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Economic_justice)
title: Economic justice
uri: Economic-justice
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Economic_justice)
content:
 
<p>

*Economic Justice Coalition Launches
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/full-employment-for-all">'Full Employment for All'
Campaign</a>
on MLK Day.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Labor_strike,_teachers,_UK)
title: Labor strike, teachers, UK
uri: Labor-strike-teachers-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Labor_strike,_teachers,_UK)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/16/neu-teachers-strike-schools-england-wales">Teachers in British state schools will go on strike</a>.
<p>
The government's crush-the-poor policy is driving nearly everyone to strike,
who has a union.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Imperial_dominance)
title: Imperial dominance
uri: Imperial-dominance
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Imperial_dominance)
content:
 
<p>

Thinking about the
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/us-imperial-dominance">US military dominance in the light of the Athenian
empire</a>.
<p>
I would not use the term "American empire" to describe this,
because it is rather the empire of the rich, and the US is only
part of its power.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Extreme_wealth_inequality)
title: Extreme wealth inequality
uri: Extreme-wealth-inequality
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Extreme_wealth_inequality)
content:
 
<p>

*<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/new-oxfam-report-on-inequality-and-extreme-wealth-proves-the-need-to-tax-the-rich">New Oxfam Report on Inequality and Extreme Wealth</a>
Proves the Need to
Tax the Rich.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Iranian_policies,_open_criticism)
title: Iranian policies, open criticism
uri: Iranian-policies-open-criticism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#18_January_2023_(Iranian_policies,_open_criticism)
content:
 
<p>

*<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/16/senior-iranian-ex-diplomats-expressing-open-criticism-of-regime">Former [Iranian] envoys warn against policies</a>
including supply of drones to
   Russia and failure to revive nuclear deal.*

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Bee killers, Bayer-Monsanto
uri: Urgent-Bee-killers-Bayer-Monsanto
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Urgent:_Bee_killers,_Bayer-Monsanto)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Urgent:_Bee_killers,_Bayer-Monsanto)

content:
 
<p>

Everyone:
<a href="https://environmentamerica.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=52868">call on Bayer-Monsanto to stop manufacturing
neonicotinoid pesticides</a>.


<p>
 


title: Urgent: Plastic pusher, Whole Foods
uri: Urgent-Plastic-pusher-Whole-Foods
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Urgent:_Plastic_pusher,_Whole_Foods)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Urgent:_Plastic_pusher,_Whole_Foods)

content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://environmental-action.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=53124">Everyone: call on Whole Foods to eliminate plastic packaging</a>.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Thank Ag's defending the CFPB
uri: Urgent-Thank-Ag-s-defending-the-CFPB
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Urgent:_Thank_AGs_defending_the_CFPB)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Urgent:_Thank_AGs_defending_the_CFPB)

content:
 
<p>

US citizens: thank the Attorneys General who are
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/thank-the-attorneys-general-who-are-standing-up-for-the-cfpb-at-scotus?nowrapper=true&referrer=&source=email-sign-on-protect-the-consumer-financial-protection-bureau">defending
the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the Supreme Court</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Bee_killers,_Bayer-Monsanto)
title: Bee killers, Bayer-Monsanto
uri: Bee-killers-Bayer-Monsanto
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Bee_killers,_Bayer-Monsanto)
content:
 
<p>

Everyone:
<a href="https://environmentamerica.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=52868">call on Bayer-Monsanto to stop manufacturing
neonicotinoid pesticides</a>.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Billionaire's Minimum Income Tax
uri: Urgent-Billionaire-s-Minimum-Income-Tax
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Urgent:_Billionaire's_Minimum_Income_Tax)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Urgent:_Billionaire's_Minimum_Income_Tax)

content:
 
<p>

US citizens: phone your congresscritter and ask per to pass
the Billionaire's Minimum Income Tax. 
<p>The White House comments lines are 
<a href="tel:+12024561111">+1-202-456-1111</a>
and (TTY/TDD) +1-202-456-6213.</p>
If you phone, please spread the word!<p>
<p>
It would ensure that every household worth over $100 million is paying
an effective tax rate of at least 20% on their total income each year.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Right-wing_deregulation)
title: Right-wing deregulation
uri: Right-wing-deregulation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Right-wing_deregulation)
content:
 
<p>

Right-wing politicians demand deregulation of many industrial
activities, including
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/18/grenfell-tower-tories-eu-regulations">contruction, to "eliminate red tape."  However,
the regulations were adopted to save the people's lives</a>,
and
deregulation often leads to deadly accidents.
  Building codes in the UK, and especially in London, are an excellent,
terrible example.
<p>
The end result is that deregulation benefits businesses (that do or
invest in the activities that have been deregulated), while the harm
tends to fall on poor people, such as the <a href="/archives/2021-mar-jun.html#27_May_2021_(Cancer_Alley_chemical_plant)">residents of danger-prone
    buildings, the inhabitants of "cancer alley</a>",
and the drivers that work for <a href="/uber.html">Uber</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Carbon_offsets,_a_discussion)
title: Carbon offsets, a discussion
uri: Carbon-offsets-a-discussion
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Carbon_offsets,_a_discussion)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/18/greenwashing-or-net-zero-necessity-climate-scientists-on-carbon-offsetting-aoe">Scientists discuss the delusional effect of carbon offsets</a>.
<p>
Some scientists sat it might be safe and beneficial for companies
to buy carbon offsets <em>in addition to</em>
 meeting mandatory targets for
reducing their own emissions.

<p>
 


title: Political terror, NM House candidate
uri: Political-terror-NM-House-candidate
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Political_terror,_NM_House_candidate)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Political_terror,_NM_House_candidate)

content:
 
<p>

A Republican election denialist, who was defeated in the election in
November,
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/solomon-pena-republican-shootings">organized a campaign of drive-by shootings at the homes</a>
of
the region's main Democratic officials.
<p>
By luck, nobody in the homes was hit.  That Republican probably won't
be allowed another chance.

<p>
 


title: Protestors hunted, captured, China
uri: Protestors-hunted-captured-China
content: <p> <p>
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Protestors_hunted,_captured,_China)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Protestors_hunted,_captured,_China)


title: Protest-vigil attendees hunted, captured, China
uri: Protest-vigil-attendees-hunted-captured-China
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Protest-vigil_attendees_hunted,_captured,_China)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Protest-vigil_attendees_hunted,_captured,_China)

content:
 
<p>

Not-quite-protester Cao Zhixin:
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/17/chinese-woman-says-she-is-detained-in-secret-location-after-protest">*When you see this video I have been
taken away by the police for a while, like my other friends.</a>*

<p>
 


title: Online tech execs' liable when too-young viewers are harmed, UK
uri: Online-tech-execs-liable-when-too-young-viewers-are-harmed-UK
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Online_tech_execs'_liable_when_too-young_viewers_are_harmed,_UK)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Online_tech_execs'_liable_when_too-young_viewers_are_harmed,_UK)

content:
 
<p>

The
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jan/17/age-checks-trolls-and-deepfakes-whats-in-the-online-safety-bill">UK's new online identification requirement will effectively
require all discussion platforms and search engines to verify the age of each user</a>.
 The obvious way to do that is a repressive and
tyrannical way: by making each user show government photo ID.
<p>
I reject commercial communications platforms, because they already
deny users' freedom in various ways &msdash; instance, by demanding to
identify the user and/or running their code in the user's computer.
However, there are commercial search engines that currently do nothing
wrong to the user.  Will this law make them all engage in repression?
Does the age verification requirement apply to search engines?
<p>
GNU Taler can be used to give people a way to verify their ages to
a web site without giving the site any way to identify them.  But this
is not entirely finished yet.
<p>
The _goals_ of this bill mostly seem valid to me; indeed, they may not
go far enough.  For instance, TikTok's practices seem to reduce
teenagers' attention spans; should those practices be banned?  I am
not sure.  However, the internet is a threat to democracy if tracks
what people do and where they go.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Fossil_fuels_investors)
title: Fossil fuels investors
uri: 2023-01-20-Fossil-fuels-investors
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Fossil_fuels_investors)
content:
 
<p>

*The world's leading financial institutions &mdash; including major Wall
Street banks such as
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/wall-street-fossil-fuels">Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America &mdash;
are still pumping money into fossil fuel</a>
expansion.*

If you have accounts there, you can move your money to a smaller bank
which can't do harm like that.  I did.

You can also urge your city to do likewise.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Gov't-owned_housing,_UK)
title: Gov't-owned housing, UK
uri: Gov-t-owned-housing-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Gov't-owned_housing,_UK)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/jan/16/leasehold-nightmare-why-owning-a-council-flat-could-land-you-with-a-wipeout-bill">Local governments in the UK have apartments that they can rent out or
sell</a>,
People who bought them now face bills for major renovations that
are far more than they can possibly afford.

<p>
 


title: Online tech execs liable when too-young viewers are harmed, UK
uri: 2023-01-20-Online-tech-execs-liable-when-too-young-viewers-are-harmed-UK
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Online_tech_execs_liable_when_too-young_viewers_are_harmed,_UK)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Online_tech_execs_liable_when_too-young_viewers_are_harmed,_UK)

content:
 
<p>

The
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jan/17/age-checks-trolls-and-deepfakes-whats-in-the-online-safety-bill">UK's new online identification requirement will effectively
require all discussion platforms and search engines to verify the age of each user</a>.
 The obvious way to do that is a repressive and
tyrannical way: by making each user show government photo ID.
<p>
I reject commercial communications platforms, because they already
deny users' freedom in various ways &mdash; instance, by demanding to
identify the user and/or running their code in the user's computer.
However, there are commercial search engines that currently do nothing
wrong to the user.  Will this law make them all engage in repression?
Does the age verification requirement apply to search engines?
<p>
GNU Taler can be used to give people a way to verify their ages to
a web site without giving the site any way to identify them.  But this
is not entirely finished yet.
<p>
  The <em>goals</em> of this bill mostly seem valid to me; indeed, they may not
go far enough.  For instance, TikTok's practices seem to reduce
teenagers' attention spans; should those practices be banned?  I am
not sure.  However, the internet is a threat to democracy if tracks
what people do and where they go.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Bee killers, Bayer-Monsanto
uri: 2023-01-20-Urgent-Bee-killers-Bayer-Monsanto
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#19_January_2023_(Urgent:_Bee_killers,_Bayer-Monsanto)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#19_January_2023_(Urgent:_Bee_killers,_Bayer-Monsanto)

content:
 
<p>

Everyone:
<a href="https://environmentamerica.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=52868">call on Bayer-Monsanto to stop manufacturing
neonicotinoid pesticides</a>.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Plastic pusher, Whole Foods
uri: 2023-01-20-Urgent-Plastic-pusher-Whole-Foods
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#19_January_2023_(Urgent:_Plastic_pusher,_Whole_Foods)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#19_January_2023_(Urgent:_Plastic_pusher,_Whole_Foods)

content:
 
<p>

Everyone:
<a href="https://environmental-action.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=53124">call on Whole Foods to eliminate plastic packaging</a>.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Thank Ag's defending the CFPB
uri: 2023-01-20-Urgent-Thank-Ag-s-defending-the-CFPB
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#19_January_2023_(Urgent:_Thank_AGs_defending_the_CFPB)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#19_January_2023_(Urgent:_Thank_AGs_defending_the_CFPB)

content:
 
<p>

US citizens: thank the Attorneys General who are
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/thank-the-attorneys-general-who-are-standing-up-for-the-cfpb-at-scotus?nowrapper=true&referrer=&source=email-sign-on-protect-the-consumer-financial-protection-bureau">defending
the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the Supreme Court</a>.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Billionaire's Minimum Income Tax
uri: 2023-01-20-Urgent-Billionaire-s-Minimum-Income-Tax
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#19_January_2023_(Urgent:_Billionaire's_Minimum_Income_Tax)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#19_January_2023_(Urgent:_Billionaire's_Minimum_Income_Tax)

content:
 
<p>

US citizens: phone your congresscritter and ask per to pass
the Billionaire's Minimum Income Tax. 
<p>The White House comments lines are 
<a href="tel:+12024561111">+1-202-456-1111</a>
and (TTY/TDD) +1-202-456-6213.</p>
If you phone, please spread the word!<p>
<p>
It would ensure that every household worth over $100 million is paying
an effective tax rate of at least 20% on their total income each year.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#19_January_2023_(Right-wing_deregulation)
title: Right-wing deregulation
uri: 2023-01-20-Right-wing-deregulation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#19_January_2023_(Right-wing_deregulation)
content:
 
<p>

Right-wing politicians demand deregulation of many industrial
activities, including
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/18/grenfell-tower-tories-eu-regulations">construction, to "eliminate red tape."  However,
the regulations were adopted to save the people's lives</a>,
and
deregulation often leads to deadly accidents.
  Building codes in the UK, and especially in London, are an excellent,
terrible example.
<p>
The end result is that deregulation benefits businesses (that do or
invest in the activities that have been deregulated), while the harm
tends to fall on poor people, such as the <a href="/archives/2021-mar-jun.html#27_May_2021_(Cancer_Alley_chemical_plant)">residents of danger-prone
    buildings, the inhabitants of "cancer alley</a>",
and the drivers that work for <a href="/uber.html">Uber</a>.

<p>
 


title: Political terror, NM House candidate
uri: 2023-01-20-Political-terror-NM-House-candidate
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#19_January_2023_(Political_terror,_NM_House_candidate)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#19_January_2023_(Political_terror,_NM_House_candidate)

content:
 
<p>

A Republican election denialist, who was defeated in the election in
November,
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/solomon-pena-republican-shootings">organized a campaign of drive-by shootings at the homes</a>
of
the region's main Democratic officials.
<p>
By luck, nobody in the homes was hit.  That Republican probably won't
be allowed another chance.

<p>
 


title: Protest-vigil attendees hunted, captured, China
uri: 2023-01-20-Protest-vigil-attendees-hunted-captured-China
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#19_January_2023_(Protest-vigil_attendees_hunted,_captured,_China)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#19_January_2023_(Protest-vigil_attendees_hunted,_captured,_China)

content:
 
<p>

Not-quite-protester Cao Zhixin:
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/17/chinese-woman-says-she-is-detained-in-secret-location-after-protest">*When you see this video I have been
taken away by the police for a while, like my other friends.</a>*

<p>
 


title: Online tech execs liable when too-young viewers are harmed, UK
uri: 2023-01-20-Online-tech-execs-liable-when-too-young-viewers-are-harmed-UK
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#19_January_2023_(Online_tech_execs_liable_when_too-young_viewers_are_harmed,_UK)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#19_January_2023_(Online_tech_execs_liable_when_too-young_viewers_are_harmed,_UK)

content:
 
<p>

The
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jan/17/age-checks-trolls-and-deepfakes-whats-in-the-online-safety-bill">UK's new online identification requirement will effectively
require all discussion platforms and search engines to verify the age of each user</a>.
 The obvious way to do that is a repressive and
tyrannical way: by making each user show government photo ID.
<p>
I reject commercial communications platforms, because they already
deny users' freedom in various ways &mdash; instance, by demanding to
identify the user and/or running their code in the user's computer.
However, there are commercial search engines that currently do nothing
wrong to the user.  Will this law make them all engage in repression?
Does the age verification requirement apply to search engines?
<p>
GNU Taler can be used to give people a way to verify their ages to
a web site without giving the site any way to identify them.  But this
is not entirely finished yet.
<p>
  The <em>goals</em> of this bill mostly seem valid to me; indeed, they may not
go far enough.  For instance, TikTok's practices seem to reduce
teenagers' attention spans; should those practices be banned?  I am
not sure.  However, the internet is a threat to democracy if tracks
what people do and where they go.

<p>
 


title: Gov't infiltration, domestic protesters, UK
uri: Gov-t-infiltration-domestic-protesters-UK
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Gov't_infiltration,_domestic_protesters,_UK)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Gov't_infiltration,_domestic_protesters,_UK)

content:
 
<p>

The UK had plainclothes thugs infiltrate anti-apartheid protesters in
the 1970s,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/17/anti-apartheid-campaigners-convictions-quashed-london-after-51-years">to snoop on their protest planning and their discussions
with their lawyers</a>
about defending them in trial.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_((Satire)_Reckless_investments)
title: (Satire) Reckless investments
uri: (Satire)-Reckless-investments
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_((Satire)_Reckless_investments)
content:
 
<p>

(satire) *Debt-Ridden 4th-Grader Shouldn't Have
<a href="https://www.theonion.com/debt-ridden-4th-grader-shouldn-t-have-recklessly-invest-1848768727">Recklessly Invested In
Lunch</a>.*

<p>
 


title: US freshwater fish, forever chemicals
uri: US-freshwater-fish-forever-chemicals
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(US_freshwater_fish,_forever_chemicals)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(US_freshwater_fish,_forever_chemicals)

content:
 
<p>

*Wild caught,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/18/freshwater-fish-contaminated-forever-chemicals">freshwater fish in the United States are far more
contaminated with toxic PFAS</a>
“forever chemicals” than those
commercially caught in oceans,*
<p>
This makes sense.  The PFAs in a lake is basically stuck there, while those
released into the ocean can diffuse through the whole volume of the ocean.
<p>
What is clear is that we must stop filling the water with these toxins.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Tepco_execs_not_liable,_Fukushima)
title: Tepco execs not liable, Fukushima
uri: Tepco-execs-not-liable-Fukushima
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Tepco_execs_not_liable,_Fukushima)
content:
 
<p>

*Fukushima:
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/18/fukushima-court-upholds-acquittals-of-three-tepco-executives-over-disaster">court upholds acquittals of three Tepco executives over disaster</a>.*
<p>
That is the right outcome.  The Fukushima nuclear plant disaster could
have been averted my designing the nuclear plant differently, and that
gives us in our hindsight grounds to conclude that the actual design
was excessively risky.  But that doesn't mean people should be
convicted of a crime for not recognizing this in advance.
<p>
Perhaps Tepco, the company, should face civil liability for the
economic damage to surrounding businesses.  These executives can't
possibly pay that much, but maybe Tepco can do so over many years.


<p>
 


title: Historical repression: the slave society, Ethiopia
uri: Historical-repression-the-slave-society-Ethiopia
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Historical_repression:_the_slave_society,_Ethiopia)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Historical_repression:_the_slave_society,_Ethiopia)

content:
 
<p>

Ethiopia works hard to forget about
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/jan/18/ethiopia-slaves-in-denial-about-injustices-of-the-past">the past practice of slavery,
which was abolished there</a>
only in 1942.

  The subject is embarrassing so people are encouraged to forget about it.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Leonard_Peltier,_clemency)
title: Leonard Peltier, clemency
uri: Leonard-Peltier-clemency
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Leonard_Peltier,_clemency)
content:
 
<p>

*<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/18/leonard-peltier-clemency-fbi-agent-coleen-rowley">FBI's opposition to releasing Leonard Peltier driven by vendetta</a>,
 says ex-agent.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Fossil_fuel_cos,_CEO_liability)
title: Fossil fuel cos, CEO liability
uri: Fossil-fuel-cos-CEO-liability
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Fossil_fuel_cos,_CEO_liability)
content:
 
<p>

There is some sign that
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/18/study-pregnant-climate-disaster-children-behavior">climate disasters cause harm to fetuses and
newborns</a>.
<p>
There are states and countries that make it a crime to cause harm
to a fetus.  Could fossil fuel CEOs be prosecuted under these laws?
I hate to suggest it, because the main use of those laws is
to prosecute women who may have tried to give themselves abortions.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Voter_suppression,_Ohio)
title: Voter suppression, Ohio
uri: Voter-suppression-Ohio
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Voter_suppression,_Ohio)
content:
 
<p>

Ohio has imposed new systems of
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/18/activists-sue-ohio-republican-voting-access-restrictions">voter suppression; activists are suing</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Gas_stove,_induction_stove)
title: Gas stove, induction stove
uri: Gas-stove-induction-stove
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Gas_stove,_induction_stove)
content:
 
<p>

Arguing that the best way to replace US gas stoves with more efficient
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/18/how-did-gas-stoves-ignite-a-culture-war-in-the-us">electric induction stoves, over the long term, is with incentives and
financial help</a>.

  This way avoids prohibitions.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Tax_the_rich,_say_the_rich)
title: Tax the rich, say the rich
uri: Tax-the-rich-say-the-rich
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Tax_the_rich,_say_the_rich)
content:
 
<p>

*200+
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/tax-the-rich-davos">Millionaires to World Leaders at Davos: "Tax the Ultra-Rich</a>
and
Do It Now."*

<p>
 


title: When young viewers harmed online, tech execs liable
uri: When-young-viewers-harmed-online-tech-execs-liable
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#19_January_2023_(When_young_viewers_harmed_online,_tech_execs_liable)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#19_January_2023_(When_young_viewers_harmed_online,_tech_execs_liable)

content:
 
<p>

The
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jan/17/age-checks-trolls-and-deepfakes-whats-in-the-online-safety-bill">UK's new online identification requirement will effectively
require all discussion platforms and search engines to verify the age of each user</a>.
 The obvious way to do that is a repressive and
tyrannical way: by making each user show government photo ID.
<p>
I reject commercial communications platforms, because they already
deny users' freedom in various ways &mdash; instance, by demanding to
identify the user and/or running their code in the user's computer.
However, there are commercial search engines that currently do nothing
wrong to the user.  Will this law make them all engage in repression?
Does the age verification requirement apply to search engines?
<p>
GNU Taler can be used to give people a way to verify their ages to
a web site without giving the site any way to identify them.  But this
is not entirely finished yet.
<p>
  The <em>goals</em> of this bill mostly seem valid to me; indeed, they may not
go far enough.  For instance, TikTok's practices seem to reduce
teenagers' attention spans; should those practices be banned?  I am
not sure.  However, the internet is a threat to democracy if tracks
what people do and where they go.

<p>
 


title: Volunteer contribution platforms threatened by UK proposed "child protection" law
uri: Volunteer-contribution-platforms-threatened-by-UK-proposed-child-prot
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Volunteer_contribution_platforms_threatened_by_UK_proposed_child_protection_law)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Volunteer_contribution_platforms_threatened_by_UK_proposed_child_protection_law)

content:
 
<p>

  Wikipedia and other volunteer contribution platforms are <a href="https://cepa.org/article/uk-threatens-internet-platforms/">threatened by</a>
the UK's proposed "child protection" law.

 


title: Iceberg floating away from Thwaites glacier
uri: Iceberg-floating-away-from-Thwaites-glacier
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Iceberg_floating_away_from_Thwaites_glacier)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Iceberg_floating_away_from_Thwaites_glacier)

content:
 
<p>

An enormous iceberg which cracked apart from the Thwaites glacier 20
years ago has started <a href="https://labo.obs-mip.fr/multitemp/iceberg-b-22a-on-the-go/">floating away from the glacier</a>.  This is
important because it will enable the glacier to start sliding into the
ocean and melting faster.

 


title: Maria Ressa acquitted of tax evasion
uri: Maria-Ressa-acquitted-of-tax-evasion
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Maria_Ressa_acquitted_of_tax_evasion)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Maria_Ressa_acquitted_of_tax_evasion)

content:
 
<p>

  Maria Ressa has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/18/maria-ressa-acquitted-tax-evasion-charges-philippine-nobel-prize-winner-rappler-news">acquitted of politically-motivated charges of tax evasion</a> but still faces the <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2022-may-aug.html#11_July_2022_(Maria_Ressa_convicted_of_libel)">politically-motivated prison sentence for libel</a>.

 


title: (satire) Gas stoves may take place of matriarch
uri: (satire)-Gas-stoves-may-take-place-of-matriarch
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_((satire)_Gas_stoves_may_take_place_of_matriarch)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_((satire)_Gas_stoves_may_take_place_of_matriarch)

content:
 
<p>

(satire) <a href="https://www.theonion.com/experts-warn-gas-stoves-may-slowly-ingratiate-selves-in-1849995603">*Experts Warn Gas Stoves May Slowly Ingratiate
    Selves In Family To Kill And Take Place Of Matriarch.*</a>

 


title: (satire) Replacing CEOs with prison labor
uri: (satire)-Replacing-CEOs-with-prison-labor
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_((satire)_Replacing_CEOs_with_prison_labor)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_((satire)_Replacing_CEOs_with_prison_labor)

content:
 
<p>

  (satire) <a href="https://www.theonion.com/more-companies-cutting-costs-by-replacing-ceos-with-pri-1849995209">*More Companies Cutting Costs By Replacing CEOs With Prison Labor.*</a>

 


title: Carbon offsets for sale concluded to be bogus
uri: Carbon-offsets-for-sale-concluded-to-be-bogus
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Carbon_offsets_for_sale_concluded_to_be_bogus)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Carbon_offsets_for_sale_concluded_to_be_bogus)

content:
 
<p>

A study concluded that over 90% of carbon offsets for sale under the
Verra standard were <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/18/revealed-forest-carbon-offsets-biggest-provider-worthless-verra-aoe">likely to be bogus</a>.  It has been a tempting avenue
for fraud.
<p>
I don't trust these offsets.  When a business makes statements
about greenhouse gas emissions that are based on offsets, I don't take
them seriously.

 


title: DeMentis wants to prohibit companies from requiring Covid-19 vaccination
uri: DeMentis-wants-to-prohibit-companies-from-requiring-Covid-19-vaccinati
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(DeMentis_wants_to_prohibit_companies_from_requiring_Covid-19_vaccination)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(DeMentis_wants_to_prohibit_companies_from_requiring_Covid-19_vaccination)

content:
 
<p>

Governor DeMentis and the Florida Republicans plan to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/18/politics/desantis-covid-policy-florida/index.html">permanently
    prohibit companies from requiring Covid-19 vaccination</a>, or requiring
wearing and prohibit medical boards from disqualifying doctors for
spreading Covid-19 disinformation.

 


title: Tories neglected their commitments to protect wildlife in Britain
uri: Tories-neglected-their-commitments-to-protect-wildlife-in-Britain
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Tories_neglected_their_commitments_to_protect_wildlife_in_Britain)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Tories_neglected_their_commitments_to_protect_wildlife_in_Britain)

content:
 
<p>

A government monitoring committee finds that Tories have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/19/uk-watchdog-failing-to-keep-environment-promises-england-improvement-plan-wildlife-delcine">neglected
    their long-term commitments</a> on policies to protect wildlife in
Britain.
<p>
This seems to be the standard Tory approach to any scandalous problem:
to proclaim themselves scandalized, discuss measures to reduce the
problems, then are slow in carrying out the promises.  Months or years later they forget or cancel the plans, still unimplemented.
<p>
A few years ago, British deportation of people who were lawfully
brought from the Caribbean as children, but cannot now prove that was
lawful for want of necessary old documents, caused a scandal and the Tories
promised to correct this and compensate them.  But <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/06/suella-bravermann-plans-to-ditch-key-windrush-pledges">now they plan to quit early</a>.

 


title: Fiji's army insists on ruling the country
uri: Fiji-s-army-insists-on-ruling-the-country
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Fiji's_army_insists_on_ruling_the_country)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Fiji's_army_insists_on_ruling_the_country)

content:
 
<p>

  Fiji's army <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/19/fijis-government-may-have-changed-but-the-military-is-making-it-clear-it-will-not-go-quietly">insists on ruling the country</a>, never mind what government
is elected.

 


title: British climate defenders painted government building black
uri: British-climate-defenders-painted-government-building-black
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(British_climate_defenders_painted_government_building_black)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(British_climate_defenders_painted_government_building_black)

content:
 
<p>

  British climate defenders <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/extinction-rebellion-2659274684">painted a government building black</a> in honor
of the government's plans to open a new coal mine.
  That building holds the office of the minister who approved a new
coal mine.

 


title: Chile rejected ex-president's plan to start new copper mine
uri: Chile-rejected-ex-president-s-plan-to-start-new-copper-mine
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Chile_rejected_ex-president's_plan_to_start_new_copper_mine)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Chile_rejected_ex-president's_plan_to_start_new_copper_mine)

content:
 
<p>

  Chile has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/18/chile-rejects-dominga-iron-copper-mine-planned-near-penguin-reserve">rejected</a> ex-president Piñera's personal plan to start a new
copper mine that would endanger marine wildlife nearby.

 


title: Rapist thugs in Britain have made British women afraid to deal with cops
uri: Rapist-thugs-in-Britain-have-made-British-women-afraid-to-deal-with-co
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Rapist_thugs_in_Britain_have_made_British_women_afraid_to_deal_with_cops)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Rapist_thugs_in_Britain_have_made_British_women_afraid_to_deal_with_cops)

content:
 
<p>

Many rapist thugs in Britain have made British women <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/18/women-britain-trust-met-police-david-carrick-sarah-everard">afraid to deal
    with cops</a>.  It has become clear that there are groups of misogynistic
thugs which protect thugs who commit misogynistic acts.
<p>
The article proposes reforms to put an end to that.  I wish the author
had not dismissed the campaign to "defund the police" by taking it to
mean, literally, "abolish cops."  The <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2020-mar-jun.html#23_June_2020_(What_Defund_the_Police_really_means)">intended meaning</a> was to respond
to incidents of psychological breakdown by sending people trained in
how to respond to that.

 


title: Some Billionaires seek to push workers down to penury
uri: Some-Billionaires-seek-to-push-workers-down-to-penury
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Some_Billionaires_seek_to_push_workers_down_to_penury)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Some_Billionaires_seek_to_push_workers_down_to_penury)

content:
 
<p>

Billionaires strive to undermine democracy to pass laws to transfer
more wealth to them.  But desire for even more wealth is not their
only reason.  Some also make a political calculation that if workers
are in penury they will be unable to organize to resist.  So they seek
to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/oligarchs-against-democracy">push workers down to penury</a>.
<p>
That ideology appeared by the late 1700s and it is still influential
today among billionaire right-wingers.

 


title: Extreme heat could put 40% of land vertebrates in peril
uri: Extreme-heat-could-put-40-of-land-vertebrates-in-peril
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Extreme_heat_could_put_40%25_of_land_vertebrates_in_peril)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Extreme_heat_could_put_40%25_of_land_vertebrates_in_peril)

content:
 
<p>

  *Extreme heat could put <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/18/extreme-heat-could-put-40-percent-land-vertebrates-peril-end-of-century-aoe">40% of land vertebrates in peril</a> by end of century.*

 


title: Tax wealthy at least 75%, says Oxfam
uri: Tax-wealthy-at-least-75-says-Oxfam
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Tax_wealthy_at_least_75%25,_says_Oxfam)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Tax_wealthy_at_least_75%25,_says_Oxfam)

content:
 
<p>

  *<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/tax-wealthy-at-least-75">Tax the Wealthy At Least 75%</a>, Says Oxfam. Do It Now.*

<p>
 


title: UN Secretary-General said expanding fossil fuel is insanity
uri: UN-Secretary-General-said-expanding-fossil-fuel-is-insanity
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(UN_Secretary-General_said_expanding_fossil_fuel_is_insanity)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(UN_Secretary-General_said_expanding_fossil_fuel_is_insanity)

content:
 
<p>

UN Secretary-General Guterres told the Davor gathering that expanding
fossil fuel is insanity and <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/un-chief-fossil-fuel-expansion">must be stopped</a>.

 


title: Tory government tearing up freedoms
uri: Tory-government-tearing-up-freedoms
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Tory_government_tearing_up_freedoms)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Tory_government_tearing_up_freedoms)

content:
 
<p>

*This [Tory] government knows it’s on borrowed time &mdash; that’s why it’s
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/18/freedoms-controlling-coercive-behaviour">tearing up our freedoms</a>.*

 


title: Company CEOs in fear their companies will fail
uri: Company-CEOs-in-fear-their-companies-will-fail
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Company_CEOs_in_fear_their_companies_will_fail)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Company_CEOs_in_fear_their_companies_will_fail)

content:
 
<p>

  Around 40% of global company CEOs say they <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jan/16/almost-two-in-five-ceos-fear-their-global-firms-will-be-unviable-within-10-years">fear their companies will fail</a>, 10
years from now, because of macroeconomic trends.

 


title: Sinema and Manchin supporting Republicans by defending filibuster
uri: Sinema-and-Manchin-supporting-Republicans-by-defending-filibuster
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Sinema_and_Manchin_supporting_Republicans_by_defending_filibuster)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Sinema_and_Manchin_supporting_Republicans_by_defending_filibuster)

content:
 
<p>

Sinema and Manchin proudly boasted of supporting Republicans in the Senate
by <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/sinema-and-manchin">defending the filibuster</a>.

 


title: People in US delaying medical care because of high cost
uri: People-in-US-delaying-medical-care-because-of-high-cost
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(People_in_US_delaying_medical_care_because_of_high_cost)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(People_in_US_delaying_medical_care_because_of_high_cost)

content:
 
<p>

*Nearly 40% of people in the United States said they or a family
member delayed medical care last year due to the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/record-number-postponed-healthcare-usa-2022">prohibitively high
    cost of treatment</a> under the nation's for-profit healthcare model,*

 


title: Issue of war, dehumanization and militarism
uri: Issue-of-war-dehumanization-and-militarism
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Issue_of_war,_dehumanization_and_militarism)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Issue_of_war,_dehumanization_and_militarism)

content:
 
<p>

Many are angry at Prince Henry of Britain for saying something that
raised an issue that goes beyond his family, not only for Britain but
even more for the US.  It is <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/prince-harry-in-afghanistan">the issue of war and dehumanization, and
    militarism</a>.
<p>
When my father fought in France, did he dehumanize Hitler's soldiers?
I never asked him that, but he knew they dehumanized and hated him,
They did not know his name, but if he had been a civilian they would
have sought to murder him, as they did to so many others.
<p>
What would it take to wean the US off of militarism?  Nowadays, the
<a href="https://tomdispatch.com/give-peace-a-chance/">efforts to try</a> are not very impressive.
<p>
The opposite of militarism is not pacifism.  Occasionally there is
a war that must be fought; defending Ukraine is one example,
and potentially defending Taiwan would be another.  But these wars
are exceptions among US military campaigns.

 


title: Canadian company suing US over Keystone XL pipeline
uri: Canadian-company-suing-US-over-Keystone-XL-pipeline
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Canadian_company_suing_US_over_Keystone_XL_pipeline)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Canadian_company_suing_US_over_Keystone_XL_pipeline)

content:
 
<p>

A Canadian company has sued the US <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/u-s-government-seeks-to-dismiss-keystone-xl-pipeline-case-while-taxpayers-have-already-spent-250000-to-nafta-arbitration-tribunal">demanding that the US construct the
    Keystone XL pipeline</a> or pay 15 billion dollars.
<p>
The lawsuit is under the original NAFTA treaty, which has an <a href="/business-supremacy-treaties.html">ISDS
clause ("I sue democratic states")
  It is peculiar that this lawsuit is proceeding, given that 
NAFTA was replaced by a newer treaty which does not have an ISDS clause.
The article notes this peculiarity but does not explain how that is possible.

 


title: Harvard's Kennedy School of Government approved fellowship for Kenneth Roth
uri: Harvard-s-Kennedy-School-of-Government-approved-fellowship-for-Kenneth
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Harvard's_Kennedy_School_of_Government_approved_fellowship_for_Kenneth_Roth)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Harvard's_Kennedy_School_of_Government_approved_fellowship_for_Kenneth_Roth)

content:
 
<p>

Harvard's Kennedy School of Government reversed itself and <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/roth-harvard-reversal">approved
    the fellowship for Kenneth Roth</a>, former head of Human Rights Watch.

 


title: Crime to keep silent about something that would lead partner to reject you
uri: Crime-to-keep-silent-about-something-that-would-lead-partner-to-reject
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Crime_to_keep_silent_about_something_that_would_lead_partner_to_reject_you)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Crime_to_keep_silent_about_something_that_would_lead_partner_to_reject_you)

content:
 
<p>

  The UK is considering making it a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/18/legal-experts-call-for-new-uk-offence-of-inducing-sexual-activity-by-deception">crime to keep silent</a> about something
that might lead a potential sex partner (which includes any potential
sweetheart or spouse) to reject you.
<p>
To criminalize the failure to inform someone of something &mdash; whatever
that something might be &mdash; invites injustice.  To avoid that
consequence, the requirement must be narrowly limited to a few special
cases, each clearly justified <em>and easy to recognize</em>.
<p>
Under this law, anyone who has a characteristic for which people are
stigmatized or simply rejected will have to tell all potential lovers.
Don't try to live it down &mdash; ever.
<p>
Consider the risk you'd take by passing as white and getting involved
with someone who might have hesitated (and perhaps said no) rather
than agree to an interracial relationship.  Whether that hesitation is
due to being racist, or to fear of others' racism <a href="#societys-child">(*)</a>, or even to fear
of future systemic racism, the effect is the same.
<!--
[make * link to footnote below]
 -->
<p>
You could try to argue that you did not know for a fact that that
point was important to per, but those who want to make an example of
you will respond, "Lots of people feel that way, so you should have
known to expect it.  Guilty!"
<p id="societys-child">* Writing this reminded me of the song, Society's Child.
Please do NOT access it through a <a href="/spotify.html">streaming dis-service</a>.
   Use invidio.us!
</p>

 


title: Interviews with Peruvians about the political situation there
uri: Interviews-with-Peruvians-about-the-political-situation-there
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Interviews_with_Peruvians_about_the_political_situation_there)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Interviews_with_Peruvians_about_the_political_situation_there)

content:
 
<p>

  <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/20/we-feel-betrayed-peruvians-on-anti-government-protests">Interviews with Peruvians</a> about the political situation there.
<p>
I am curious about the background of the current president, Boluarte.
Why was she made vice president?  Who chose her for that position,
and on what basis?

 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Musk_suspected_of_insider_trading)
title: Musk suspected of insider trading
uri: Musk-suspected-of-insider-trading
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Musk_suspected_of_insider_trading)
content:
 
<p>

  Musk is <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/securities-law-expert-musk">suspected of stock trading based on insider information</a>.

 


title: Jewish National Fund suing Palestinian organizations
uri: Jewish-National-Fund-suing-Palestinian-organizations
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Jewish_National_Fund_suing_Palestinian_organizations)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Jewish_National_Fund_suing_Palestinian_organizations)

content:
 
<p>

The Jewish National Fund is suing Palestinian organizations in the US,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/20/zionist-group-anti-terrorism-laws-palestinian-activists-jnf-bds">alleging that their boycott/divestment/sanctions campaign is "terrorism"</a>.
<p>
The trial court dismissed the suit, finding the accusation
"threadbare".  That is an understatement &mdash; the accusation is
blackwhiting.  Boycotting institutions and companies is a standard
tool of democratic political action.  It is not, repeat not,
terrorism.

 


title: Colombia announces halt of fossil fuel exploration
uri: Colombia-announces-halt-of-fossil-fuel-exploration
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Colombia_announces_halt_of_fossil_fuel_exploration)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Colombia_announces_halt_of_fossil_fuel_exploration)

content:
 
<p>

  *Colombia announces <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/20/colombia-stop-new-oil-gas-exploration-davos">halt on fossil fuel exploration</a> for a greener economy.*

 


title: Wagner Group designated as "transnational criminal organization"
uri: Wagner-Group-designated-as-transnational-criminal-organization
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Wagner_Group_designated_as_transnational_criminal_organization)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Wagner_Group_designated_as_transnational_criminal_organization)

content:
 
<p>

*US to designate Russia's Wagner Group as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/20/us-russia-wagner-group-transnational-criminal-organization">"transnational criminal
    organization."</a>*
<p>
It may well fit that description, but no entity should be officially
designated as "criminal" without a suitable kind of trial.

 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Peruvians_protesting_in_Lima)
title: Peruvians protesting in Lima
uri: Peruvians-protesting-in-Lima
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Peruvians_protesting_in_Lima)
content:
 
<p>

Thousands of Peruvians opposed to current President Boluarte and
supporting arrested President Castillo are <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/protests-lima-peru-2659287802">protesting in Lima</a>.

 


title: Biden accused of hypocrisy for trying to extradite Assange
uri: Biden-accused-of-hypocrisy-for-trying-to-extradite-Assange
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Biden_accused_of_hypocrisy_for_trying_to_extradite_Assange)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Biden_accused_of_hypocrisy_for_trying_to_extradite_Assange)

content:
 
<p>

  Biden has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/jan/20/joe-biden-julian-assange-extradition-tribunal">accused of hypocrisy</a> for trying to extradite Julian Assange
while criticizing other countries for imprisoning journalists and editors.
<p>
The article's original line, "Joe Biden has been accused of hypocrisy
for demanding the release of journalists detained around the world
while the US president continues seeking the extradition of the
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange," implies that Biden's wrong is to
criticize the other countries.  I rewrote the line to indicate that
what's wrong is to try to imprison Assange.

 


title: Biden administration defending bad policies instituted by the wrecker
uri: Biden-administration-defending-bad-policies-instituted-by-the-wrecker
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Biden_administration_defending_bad_policies_instituted_by_the_wrecker)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Biden_administration_defending_bad_policies_instituted_by_the_wrecker)

content:
 
<p>

The Biden administration is still sending government lawyers to
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/biden-doj-trump-era-legal-positions">defend various bad policies</a> instituted by the wrecker.

 


title: Think tank recommends Labour move to the right on "social issues"
uri: Think-tank-recommends-Labour-move-to-the-right-on-social-issues
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Think_tank_recommends_Labour_move_to_the_right_on_social_issues)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Think_tank_recommends_Labour_move_to_the_right_on_social_issues)

content:
 
<p>

A think tank recommends that the British Labour party <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/20/keir-starmer-labour-could-win-big-with-shift-to-right-on-social-issues-says-thinktank">move to the
    right</a> on "social issues".
  Starmer has <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#11_January_2023_(Labour_as_a_centrist_party)">moved it quite a ways</a> to the right on economic issues.
<p>
If he follows this advice, the result will be "Tory lite" across the
board.

 


title: Republicans propose bill to limit federally-funded food aid
uri: Republicans-propose-bill-to-limit-federally-funded-food-aid
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Republicans_propose_bill_to_limit_federally-funded_food_aid)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Republicans_propose_bill_to_limit_federally-funded_food_aid)

content:
 
<p>

Republicans, who control Iowa's legislature, have proposed a bill to
put <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/iowa-gop-food-restrictions">drastic limits on federally-funded food aid</a>.

 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Arizona_voting_rights)
title: Arizona voting rights
uri: Arizona-voting-rights
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Arizona_voting_rights)
content:
 
<p>
*Arizona's new attorney general to use election fraud unit to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/21/arizona-election-unit-voting-rights-attorney-general">boost
voting rights</a>.*
<p>
Once Republicans in Arizona can't stop Democrats from voting, they may
never win again.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Tories_and_Russian_spies)
title: Tories and Russian spies
uri: Tories-and-Russian-spies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Tories_and_Russian_spies)
content:
 
<p>
*MI5 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/21/mi5-refused-to-investigate-russian-spys-links-to-tories-says-whistleblower">refused to investigate "Russian spy"'s links to Tories</a>, says
[Tory] whistleblower.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(EPA's_plan)
title: EPA's plan
uri: EPA-s-plan
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(EPA's_plan)
content:
 
<p>
*EPA Plan for [PFAs] Chemical Discharges "<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/epa-pfas-forever-chemical-discharges">Lacks the Urgency</a>" Needed,
Watchdog Says.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Working_for_major_corporations)
title: Working for major corporations
uri: Working-for-major-corporations
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Working_for_major_corporations)
content:
 
<p>
*If You Work for a Major Corporation, Your Boss Has Probably Already
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/how-much-more-my-boss-makes">Made More</a> in 2023 Than You Will [in the whole year].*

<p>
 


title: Railway workers continue fighting for sick leave
uri: Railway-workers-continue-fighting-for-sick-leave
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Railway_workers_continue_fighting_for_sick_leave)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Railway_workers_continue_fighting_for_sick_leave)

content:
 
<p>
*Ditched by Biden, Railway Workers Continue <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/railway-workers-battle-for-sick-leave">Battle for Sick Leave and
Safer Conditions</a>.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Amazon's_OSHA_fines)
title: Amazon's OSHA fines
uri: Amazon-s-OSHA-fines
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Amazon's_OSHA_fines)
content:
 
<p>
*OSHA Fines Amazon "Roughly 0.000013%" of Annual Revenue for <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/amazon-osha-violations">Worker Safety Hazards</a>*
for "work processes that were designed for speed but not safety" and
"resulted in serious worker injuries."

<p>
 


title: Elite will throw humanity "under the bus"
uri: Elite-will-throw-humanity-under-the-bus
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Elite_will_throw_humanity_under_the_bus)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Elite_will_throw_humanity_under_the_bus)

content:
 
<p>
*Greta Thunberg Warns Davos Elite Will <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/davos-greta-thunberg">Throw Humanity "Under the Bus"</a>
for Profits.*
<p>
They've done it plenty so far.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Poverty)
title: Poverty
uri: 2023-01-22-Poverty
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Poverty)
content:
 
<p>
*Poverty is a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/19/poverty-is-a-big-killer-in-the-uk-where-is-the-political-will-to-defeat-it">big killer in the UK [and in the US]</a>. Where is the
political will to defeat it?*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Star_visibility)
title: Star visibility
uri: Star-visibility
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Star_visibility)
content:
 
<p>
Artificial light is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/19/light-pollution-rapidly-reducing-stars-visible-naked-eye-study-finds">rapidly reducing the number of stars that are visible</a>
in many parts of the world.

<p>
 


title: Overturning ruing that corporations have "human rights"
uri: Overturning-ruing-that-corporations-have-human-rights
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Overturning_ruing_that_corporations_have_human_rights)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Overturning_ruing_that_corporations_have_human_rights)

content:
 
<p>
House Democrats have reintroduced a constitutional amendment to
overturn the Corporations United decision, which ruled that
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/overturn-citizens-united">corporations have the "human right" to donate to political campaigns</a>.
The plaintiff's ostensible name was "Citizens United",
but "Corporations United" describes it better.

<p>
 


title: Claims George Santos has not made yet
uri: Claims-George-Santos-has-not-made-yet
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Claims_George_Santos_has_not_made_yet)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Claims_George_Santos_has_not_made_yet)

content:
 
<p>
Claims that Rep. George Santos has <em>not</em> made, this far.
This reached me via a mailing list.

<ol>

<li>
That he was the product of virgin birth.

<li>
That he was subjected to medical dissection torture in a UFO.

<li>
That he's "able to leap tall buildings in a single bound."

<li>
That he lived next door to The Addams Family.

<li>
That he has green blood.

<li>
That he has been *both* a vampire *and* a werewolf.

<li>
That he can hold his breath for over three hours.

<li>
That he used to go by the alias "Hoppity Hooper".

<li>
That he was a member of "Spinal Tap".

</ol>

<p>
 


title: Union membership increase not keeping up with jobs
uri: Union-membership-increase-not-keeping-up-with-jobs
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Union_membership_increase_not_keeping_up_with_jobs)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Union_membership_increase_not_keeping_up_with_jobs)

content:
 
<p>
The increase of the absolute number of union members in the US <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/union-membership-labor-law-2022">has not
kept up</a> with the increase in the number of jobs.

<p>
 


title: Advanced placement African American Studies banned in Florida high schools
uri: Advanced-placement-African-American-Studies-banned-in-Florida-high-sch
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Advanced_placement_African_American_Studies_banned_in_Florida_high_schools)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Advanced_placement_African_American_Studies_banned_in_Florida_high_schools)

content:
 
<p>
DeMentis has arbitrarily <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/19/ron-desantis-bans-african-american-studies-florida-schools">prohibited teaching advanced placement
African American Studies in Florida high schools</a>.
<p>
I hope there will be a lawsuit against this.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(E-voting_and_incorrect_counts)
title: E-voting and incorrect counts
uri: E-voting-and-incorrect-counts
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(E-voting_and_incorrect_counts)
content:
 
<p>
A human error caused a batch of votes in a school board election to be
entered twice in the totals.  <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/18/politics/new-jersey-school-board-voting-machine/index.html">A recent software "upgrade" broke the
code</a> that was supposed to warn if anyone made such a mistake.
<p>
The error was detected later and corrected, but more important than
that one election is what this tells us about <em>all</em> elections that use
those machines: the manufacturer could rig an election by installing a
bent "upgrade".
<p>
I see no reason to think the manufacturer tried intentionally to do
anything wrong in this instance.  The bug had an effect this time only
because of a human error, and the human had no reason to try such an
error intentionally since it was probably going to be detected.
<p>
However, another manufacturer (or some employee) could intentionally
"upgrade" the software wrong, some other time.
<p>
The article doesn't say which jobs those machines actually do.  How
significant this potential vulnerability is depends on that question.

<p>
 


title: Biden and record low corporate prosecutions
uri: Biden-and-record-low-corporate-prosecutions
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Biden_and_record_low_corporate_prosecutions)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#21_January_2023_(Biden_and_record_low_corporate_prosecutions)

content:
 
<p>
*Analysis Shows <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/corporate-prosecutions-biden">Corporate Prosecutions Hit Record Low in 2022 Under Biden</a>.*

 


title: Netanyahu ally not allowed to serve as cabinet minister
uri: Netanyahu-ally-not-allowed-to-serve-as-cabinet-minister
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#22_January_2023_(Netanyahu_ally_not_allowed_to_serve_as_cabinet_minister)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#22_January_2023_(Netanyahu_ally_not_allowed_to_serve_as_cabinet_minister)

content:
 
<p>
  *Israel's top court ruled 10-1 on Wednesday that Aryeh Deri, leader
  of the Shas party and a key ally of Prime Minister Benjamin
  Netanyahu,
  should <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/18/middleeast/israel-aryeh-deri-netanyahu-high-court-intl/index.html">not
  be allowed to serve as a cabinet minister</a> because of a February
  2022 conviction for tax fraud.*
<p>
  This could make that authoritarian coalition fall apart.  Or perhaps
  Netanyahu and Shas could settle on some other person to appoint.
  However, if Deri is motivated by personal ambition, giving that
  ministry to anyone else would not satisfy him.

<p>
 


title: US non-vaccinated children rate rising
uri: US-non-vaccinated-children-rate-rising
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#22_January_2023_(US_non-vaccinated_children_rate_rising)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#22_January_2023_(US_non-vaccinated_children_rate_rising)

content:
 
<p>
  The rate
  of <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/18/health/vaccine-childhood-pediatrics-immunizations-measles-polio-health-wellness/index.html">non-vaccination
  among US children is rising</a>, and even though it is still small,
  it means more people are in danger of polio and other diseases.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#22_January_2023_(Direct_air_capture_of_CO2)
title: Direct air capture of CO2
uri: Direct-air-capture-of-CO2
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#22_January_2023_(Direct_air_capture_of_CO2)
content:
 
<p>
  Direct air capture of CO2 could
  actually <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/would-direct-air-capture-actually-reduce-climate-pollution">increase
  the level of greenhouse gas emissions</a>, if renewable generation
  is insufficient and fossil fuels are still used to generate the
  electricity to run the capture.
<p>
  If someday there is excess renewable energy capacity to power capture
  machines, then they could actually reduce the CO2 concentration, it
  seems to me.
<p>
  However, the article's main point is valid: this method is worse
  than useless for the next few years, and it is probably a PR scheme
  meant to let out the pressure to reduce emissions.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#23_January_2023_(Protest_category_moral_legitimacy)
title: Protest category moral legitimacy
uri: Protest-category-moral-legitimacy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#23_January_2023_(Protest_category_moral_legitimacy)
content:
 
<p>

A general
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/17/police-powers-stop-protest-law-culture-wars-freedom-order">discussion of the moral issues of which kinds of protest are
legitimate</a>,
then applied to the case of protesting by blocking highways.
<p>
This discussion makes sense, in its narrow framework.  However,
treating the Just Stop Oil protests in isolation, ignoring the
deadly threat they confront, leads to wrong conclusions.
<p>
Global heating and the resulting climate breakdown are already
causing millions of deaths.  This year, <a href="
/archives/2022-mar-jun.html#18_March_2022_(Displaced_people)">200 million deaths</a>
   are predicted.  The UK government has pledged to help stop global
heating but is not taking much action.  Can you seriously argue that
blocking highways in desperation to pressure the state to carry out
its mission is morally wrong?
<p>
Blocking highways seems to be a self-defeating method, but that is a
different kind of issue.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#23_January_2023_(Urgent:_power_plant_gas_emissions)
title: Urgent: power plant gas emissions
uri: Urgent-power-plant-gas-emissions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#23_January_2023_(Urgent:_power_plant_gas_emissions)
content:
 
<p>

US citizens:
<a href="https://act.evergreenaction.com/go/4415?t=1002&akid=13225%2E263952%2EY7kdmL">call on the EPA to stop dragging its feet on rules</a>
to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions by power plants.
<p>
If you have disabled the page's JavaScript, you may get a blank
response after signing.  That does not mean anything is wrong;your
signsature has probably been sent in properly.  The blank screen has
text that is rendered invisible by CSS; if your browser gives you a
way to disable the CSS in the page (as Icecat does), that should make
the text appear.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#23_January_2023_(Piracy,_Nigeria)
title: Piracy, Nigeria
uri: Piracy-Nigeria
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#23_January_2023_(Piracy,_Nigeria)
content:
 
<p>

Local
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/jan/17/nigeria-pirates-switch-targets-from-ships-to-shore">pirates in Nigeria kidnap people from boats and steal</a>
their
engines, cargo and fish.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#23_January_2023_(Tasered_to_death)
title: Tasered to death
uri: Tasered-to-death
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#23_January_2023_(Tasered_to_death)
content:
 
<p>

Sadistic LA thugs
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/further/somebody-is-trying-to-kill-me-still">tased Keenan Anderson repeatedly for 42 seconds
while he was already helplessly on the ground</a>.
 It is not unusual for
such treatment to kill someone, and it killed him.
<p>
After killing him, the thug
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/01/17/keenan-anderson-toxicology-lapd/">department claimed his death was his fault</a>.
<p>
The author of the first article appears to make a foolish scientific
error.  It is irrelevant to understanding the issue politically or
morally, but it is important to learn to avoid.  It seems that the
author misunderstood the difference between power and energy, and
assumed that the wattage of successive taser shots should be added to
get a "combined wattage".  That is a mistake; adding them is
appropriate only if they happen simultaneously.
<p>
If I could find out the wattage that a taser delivers while operating,
I could tell for certain whether this mistake was made.


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#23_January_2023_(NATO_politics,_Turkey)
title: NATO politics, Turkey
uri: NATO-politics-Turkey
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#23_January_2023_(NATO_politics,_Turkey)
content:
 
<p>

Erdoğan is using the issue of bringing
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/21/turkey-condemns-burning-of-quran-during-far-right-protest-in-sweden">Sweden and Finland into NATO</a>
to attack freedom of expression in those countries.
<p>
I disapprove of burning books, as a general matter, but if there are
millions of copies of a book then burning one that you own is no great
loss.  Perhaps it should be a crime to intentionally destroy a rare
book &mdash; if you don't want it, you must sell it to someone who does
or give it to a museum.
<p>
It is outrageous to demand that some religion's "sacred" book receive
a higher legal status that any other book &mdash; such as, for instance, my
own book, <em>Free Software, Free Society</em>
.  I think the moral ideas in
that book are wise, but you have the right to buy a copy and burn it
if you think the opposite.
<p>
The Turkish government argues that burning a Qur'an was a hate crime.
This shows that the concept of "hate crimes" as it is understood in
some European countries is a threat to human rights.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#23_January_2023_(High_officials,_Brazilian_army)
title: High officials, Brazilian army
uri: High-officials-Brazilian-army
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#23_January_2023_(High_officials,_Brazilian_army)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/21/lula-sacks-head-of-brazilian-army-for-protecting-8-january-insurgents">Lula has fired 80 high officials of the Brazilian army</a>,
including its
commander, for aiding the attack on the government or shielding the
attackers.
<p>
The commander was appointed by Bolsonaro shortly before the latter's term
ended.  It is entirely plausible that Bolsonaro did this to support the
insurrection, and entirely plausible that he prepared and organized
the insurrection.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#23_January_2023_(Republican_states'_drag_shows)
title: Republican states' drag shows
uri: Republican-states-drag-shows
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#23_January_2023_(Republican_states'_drag_shows)
content:
 
<p>

*<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/21/anti-drag-show-laws-bans-republican-states">Republican legislators introduce new laws to crack down on drag show</a>s.*
<p>
The article says that most of these bills go much further than what
you would think that means: they "define a drag performer as someone
performing while using dress, makeup and mannerisms associated with a
gender other than the one assigned to [per] at birth."  This means
that _any_ performance by a trans person would be banned.  Even a talk
about any subject could be a "performance".
<p>
This is typical of the dishonesty of right-wing extremists, whose
repressive laws are often described as prohibiting something very
specific but create the opportunity to prohibit a lot more.  Consider
critical race theory &mdash; a field of research for historians, some of
whom promote teaching methods that face criticism in academia.
Republicans have passed laws that purport to prohibit teaching
critical race theory in primary and secondary school, which never
happens, but actually prohibit nearly any teaching about systemic
racism.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#23_January_2023_(Protester_killed,_Georgia)
title: Protester killed, Georgia
uri: Protester-killed-Georgia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#23_January_2023_(Protester_killed,_Georgia)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/21/protester-killed-georgia-cop-city-police-shooting">Georgia thugs killed protester Manuel Esteban Paez Terán</a>,
who had
participated for more than a year in a nonviolent encampment protest
that aims to block construction of a large thug training facility in a
forest that had been slated to become a park.
  The thugs say they killed him after he shot a thug, but you can't
trust what thugs say about such things.  They present no evidence that
he shot at all.  But they have systematically begun to charge
protestors with "terrorism".


<p>
 


title: Censorship, documentaries in Israel
uri: Censorship-documentaries-in-Israel
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#23_January_2023_(Censorship,_documentaries_in_Israel)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#23_January_2023_(Censorship,_documentaries_in_Israel)

content:
 
<p>

Israel subsidizes making movies.  The goverment dislikes two
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/21/attack-on-freedom-israel-moves-to-claw-back-state-funds-from-critical-films">documentaries about Israel's occupation policies, so now the
government demands that money back</a>,
explicitly adopting a policy of
ideological bias.
<p>
The US government carries censorship of movies about war through a policy
whereby the US military cooperates with making films, but only when it
approves of the message of the film.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(unions_public_opinion)
title: On the complex relationship between unions and public opinion
uri: On-the-complex-relationship-between-unions-and-public-opinion
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(unions_public_opinion)
content:
 
<p>
On the complex relationship between unions and 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/17/strikes-about-winning-disputes-not-courting-public-opinion">public opinion.</a>
<p>
In the long term, unions need public support to block right-wing
governments from legislating to impede organizing and striking.
People will give this support through the occasional inconvenient
strike if they recognize that in the long term it makes a better life
for <Em>all</Em> the non-rich.  Thus, unions must make sure that the labor
movement keeps that aim in mind.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(dust_cooling_climate)
title: Increase in dust in the air, since 1800, may have cancelled out some of global heating.
uri: Increase-in-dust-in-the-air-since-1800-may-have-cancelled-out-some-o
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(dust_cooling_climate)
content:
 
<p>
Increase in dust in the air, since 1800, may have cancelled out 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/17/atmospheric-dust-cooling-climate-change">some of
global heating.</a>
<p>
Up to 8% of it.
<p>
However, since the 1980s, the amount of dust has been decreasing.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(tesla_self_driving_video)
title: *Tesla video [in 2016] promoting self-driving was staged, senior engineer testifies.*
uri: Tesla-video-in-2016-promoting-self-driving-was-staged-senior-engi
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(tesla_self_driving_video)
content:
 
<p>
*Tesla video [in 2016] promoting self-driving was staged, 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jan/17/tesla-self-driving-video-staged-testimony-senior-engineer">senior
 engineer testifies.*</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(american_mass_layoffs)
title: The American Shame of Mass Layoffs
uri: The-American-Shame-of-Mass-Layoffs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(american_mass_layoffs)
content:
 
<p>
When companies are compelled to reduce staff, some countries laws'
pressure the companies to do it in a gradual way that doesn't cause a
trauma to workers, rather than using the 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/american-mass-layoffs">mass layoffs typical in the
US.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(peru_police_violent_raid)
title: Police violently raid Lima university and shut Machu Picchu amid Peru unrest
uri: Police-violently-raid-Lima-university-and-shut-Machu-Picchu-amid-Peru
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(peru_police_violent_raid)
content:
 
<p>
Peruvian thugs raided San Marcos University and forced students out of
their dorm at gunpoint and with violence.  The thugs gave them no
explanation, and 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/22/peru-police-make-violent-raid-on-limas-san-marcos-university">reportedly then began to search the students' rooms.</a>
<p>
Some years ago, San Marcos University had a student group, San Marcux,
which taught students how to spread the free software ideas.  They
invited me to speak on some occasions.  That was years ago.  I wonder
what is happening there now.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(victim_blaming_myths)
title: Police investigating rape claims in England believe victim-blaming myths, study finds
uri: Police-investigating-rape-claims-in-England-believe-victim-blaming-myt
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(victim_blaming_myths)
content:
 
<p>
*Police investigating rape claims in England believe 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/20/police-investigating-claims-in-england-believe-victim-blaming-myths-study-finds">victim-blaming myths,
study finds.*</a>
<p>
They tend to assume that false accusations are far more frequent than
they really are.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_((Satire)_dobbs_decision)
title: (Satire) Alito, Thomas Share Laugh After Discovering They Both Leaked Dobbs Decision
uri: (Satire)-Alito-Thomas-Share-Laugh-After-Discovering-They-Both-Leaked
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_((Satire)_dobbs_decision)
content:
 
<p>
(satire) *Alito, Thomas Share Laugh After Discovering They Both Leaked
Dobbs Decision.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(macron_pension_france_protests)
title: Mass Protests Across France Condemn Macron Attack on Pension System
uri: Mass-Protests-Across-France-Condemn-Macron-Attack-on-Pension-System
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(macron_pension_france_protests)
content:
 
<p>
French president Macron has sparked a general strike by proposing to raise
the 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/protests-france-macron-pensions">retirement age for the non-rich.</a>
<p>
I can imagine situations of great adversity where a democratic country
would act justly by increasing the age for retirement pensions.  But
since that adversity would be fiscal in nature, it is a moral
obligation to demand sacrifices first of the rich.  Macron fails to
understand this, because he believes in plutocracy.
<p>
His main opponents, even more right-wing, are likewise plutocratist
but their stated ideology is to demonize some disprivileged groups.
Right-wingers generally seek to divide people, so they use scapegoats.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(ministers_ban_videos)
title: A ban on ‘positive’ videos won’t stop the Channel crossings, but it may well cause more tragedies
uri: A-ban-on-positive-videos-won-t-stop-the-Channel-crossings-but
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(ministers_ban_videos)
content:
 
<p>
The Tories plan to start criminalizing the presentation of unwelcome
attitudes and opinions, using one special case &mdash; video that shows
illegal immigrants and their boats in "a positive light" &mdash; to destroy
freedom of expression.  They will label such 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/19/ministers-ban-videos-channel-crossings-small-boats">videos as "abetting" a
crime.</a>
<p>
Imagine what other attitudes and opinions they might prohibit
by applying that approach to other areas of life.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(trump_e_jean_carroll)
title: Trump mistook rape accuser E Jean Carroll for ex-wife, deposition shows
uri: Trump-mistook-rape-accuser-E-Jean-Carroll-for-ex-wife-deposition-show
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(trump_e_jean_carroll)
content:
 
<p>
The bullshitter mistook E Jean Carroll for his 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/19/trump-e-jean-carroll-wife-deposition"> former wife, Marla Maples.</a>
<p>
Perhaps that explains why he thought he could have sex with the former ;-}.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(davos_masters_of_the_universe)
title: The worst thing about Davos? The Masters of the Universe think they are do-gooders
uri: The-worst-thing-about-Davos-The-Masters-of-the-Universe-think-they-ar
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(davos_masters_of_the_universe)
content:
 
<p>
*The worst thing about Davos? The Masters of the 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/19/davos-masters-of-the-universe">Universe think they
are do-gooders.*</a>

 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(spoof_ads_bmw_toyota_green)
title: Spoof billboard ads take aim at BMW and Toyota over ‘going green’ claims
uri: Spoof-billboard-ads-take-aim-at-BMW-and-Toyota-over-going-green
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(spoof_ads_bmw_toyota_green)
content:
 
<p>
Spoof ads for BMW and Toyota in the UK mocked the companies for their
pollution and their 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/19/spoof-billboard-ads-take-aim-at-bmw-and-toyota-over-going-green-claims">anti-climate lobbying.</a>
<p>
How long, I wonder, before the Tories make it a crime to portray
a global corporation's 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/19/ministers-ban-videos-channel-crossings-small-boats">products "in a negative light"?</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(south_korea_nuclear_arms)
title: Why are South Koreans losing faith in America’s nuclear umbrella?
uri: Why-are-South-Koreans-losing-faith-in-America-s-nuclear-umbrella
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(south_korea_nuclear_arms)
content:
 
<p>
Many South Koreans want to develop nuclear weapons for South Korea for
deterrence against North Korea.  But they would not be 
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/21/asia/us-nuclear-umbrella-south-korea-analysis-intl-hnk-dst/index.html">guaranteed to
deter Dictator Kim.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(getty_images_lawsuit_ai)
title: Getty Images suing the makers of popular AI art tool for allegedly stealing photos
uri: Getty-Images-suing-the-makers-of-popular-AI-art-tool-for-allegedly-ste
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(getty_images_lawsuit_ai)
content:
 
<p>
A completely bullshit headline claims that Getty Images has sued
the maker of 
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/17/tech/getty-images-stability-ai-lawsuit/index.html">Stable Diffusion for "stealing photos".</a>
<p>
The text of the article reveals that that headline is total confusion.
The case is not about theft at all; it is an allegation of copyright
infringement.  Both factually and legally, those two are totally
different.
<p>
If someone had stolen photos from Getty, <a href="http://questioncopyright.org/files/minute_memes/cint/CINT_Nik_Theora_720.ogv">
Getty would not have them any more.</a>
<p>
So let's turn to the issue that this situation really concerns: does
the output of a machine learning system infringe the copyright on
items in the training set that contribute to that output?
<p>
There are possible cases where it clearly would infringe.  If a
substantial part of the output is very similar to one item in the
training set, no stretch is required to conclude that it copies from
that item.
<p>
However, people don't use machine learning system intending to get a
part or a slightly modified version of some existing work.  The aim is
to mix, seamlessly, little bits of many training items.  The items
that play a role are more like artistic influences than like samples.
<p>
To find these to be copyright infringement would be disastrous to the
creativity that copyright is nominally intended to promote.
<p>
The main purposes of copyright today is to keep some big companies
rolling in dough, and any effect on artists is for politicians merely
an excuse.  For us, however, the question of what copyright law should
say is mainly <a
href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/copyright-vs-community.html"> how to
promote the arts without interfering with users' freedom</a>.
<p>
I do not use Stable Diffusion, ChatGPT, or anything like them that
exists now, because they don't respect the user's freedom.
<p>
It is a nonfree program that users can't even <Em>run</Em>, because users
can't get the program's source code, or even its compiled executable.
All you could possibly do with it is to identify yourself to the
owner's server and send it some input data for your dossier.  Then it
sends back the output, over the net.
<p>
This is a manner of making a program available for usage that tramples
users' freedom even worse than ordinary proprietary software.  We call
it <a
href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.html">
SaaSS</a> (Service as a Software Substitute) and I reject it, just as
I reject nonfree executable software or source code under a nonfree
license &mdash; for my freedom's sake.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(inquiry_into_officers_carrick)
title: Clamour for inquiry into officers who let David Carrick remain in Met
uri: Clamour-for-inquiry-into-officers-who-let-David-Carrick-remain-in-Met
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(inquiry_into_officers_carrick)
content:
 
<p>
A call to investigate the London thugs who on various occasions had to
judge whether rapist David Carrick could remain on the force, and
disregarded complaints against him, thus allowing 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/17/clamour-for-inquiry-into-officers-who-let-david-carrick-remain-in-met-police">him to continue his
series of rapes.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(Urgent:_Confirm_FCC_commissioner)
title: Urgent: Confirm FCC commissioner
uri: Urgent-Confirm-FCC-commissioner
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(Urgent:_Confirm_FCC_commissioner)
content:
 
<p>

US citizens:
<a href="https://act.freepress.net/sign/senate_confirm_gigi&rd=1&t=1007">call on the Senate to confirm Gigi Sohn as FCC
commissioner</a>.
<p>
The Obama-era FCC version of network neutrality is insufficient
because it doesn't <em>stop</em> web sites from tracking users.  It only
prohibits <em>some</em> of the unjust ways to use that data.
<p>
What we need is to
<a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html">prohibit web sites from sneakily snooping</a>.
  Whatever info they want about you, they should ask for
openly, and you should be able to give whatever answer
you wish.
<p>
Nonetheless, restoring the FCC policy that the corrupter eliminated
would be a step forward.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(Democracy_in_crisis,_Turkey)
title: Democracy in crisis, Turkey
uri: Democracy-in-crisis-Turkey
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(Democracy_in_crisis,_Turkey)
content:
 
<p>

*<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/01/22/turkey-election-erdogan/">Turkey’s Next Elections Could Be the Country’s Last</a>
Real Democratic Vote.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(Digitally_monitored,_truckers)
title: Digitally monitored, truckers
uri: Digitally-monitored-truckers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(Digitally_monitored,_truckers)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/22/karen-levy-the-more-workers-are-monitored-the-less-likely-they-are-to-think-outside-the-box">Truck drivers are now subject to extreme digital monitoring</a>,
and the rigid enforcement can give them reasons to drive faster.
<p>
In general, monitoring workers closely makes them anxious and uncomfortable.
Some will quit.
<p>
Where unions are strong enough, they may be able to pressure employers
to reduce monitoring.  But not many workplaces are like that nowadays.
I think we need strict laws to limit monitoring of workers.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(Housing_as_corporate_investment)
title: Housing as corporate investment
uri: Housing-as-corporate-investment
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(Housing_as_corporate_investment)
content:
 
<p>

*<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/housing-for-people-not-corporations">We Need Housing for People to Live In, Not for Corporations to Invest In</a>.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(Joseph_Stiglitz_on_tax_rates)
title: Joseph Stiglitz on tax rates
uri: Joseph-Stiglitz-on-tax-rates
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(Joseph_Stiglitz_on_tax_rates)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2023/jan/22/joseph-stiglitz-economist-income-tax-high-earners-70-per-cent-inequality">Joseph Stiglitz says to tax high earners at 70%</a>
to tackle widening inequality,
and put a wealth tax of 2-3% per year on fortunes.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(Israeli_democracy_protests)
title: Israeli democracy protests
uri: Israeli-democracy-protests
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(Israeli_democracy_protests)
content:
 
<p>

100,000 people protested in Israel against
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/22/huge-crowds-protest-in-israel-over-rightwing-governments-judicial-reforms">right-wing plans to
undermine the supreme court's</a>
check on actions of ministers.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(Bolsonaro_genocide)
title: Bolsonaro genocide
uri: Bolsonaro-genocide
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(Bolsonaro_genocide)
content:
 
<p>

*<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/22/lula-accuses-jair-bolsonaro-genocide-yanomami-indigenous-amazon">Lula accuses Bolsonaro of genocide</a>
against Yanomami in Amazon.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(US_interest_rates,_division)
title: US interest rates, division
uri: US-interest-rates-division
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(US_interest_rates,_division)
content:
 
<p>

*Why the Fed wants to crush workers,* and
<a href="https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/19/creditors-vs-workers/">why the interest rate
increases benefit creditors</a>
&mdash; that is, the super-rich and the banks.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(Infotech_to_round_up_ralliers)
title: Infotech to round up ralliers
uri: Infotech-to-round-up-ralliers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(Infotech_to_round_up_ralliers)
content:
 
<p>

There were
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/22/womens-march-2023-roe-v-wade-abortion-rights">200 rallies on Sunday in favor of abortion rights</a>,
around
the US.  Bad technology prevented me from being one of them.

I saw notice of the event a few days before it, and I wanted to post
to encourage people to participate &mdash; and to participate personally,
if I was up to the walking and standing required.
<p>
Sad to say, the URL for finding information about the rallies was a
web page that depended almost totally on nonfree JavaScript code.
Without running that code, no useful information was visible in the
page.  As a matter of conscience, I will
<a href="fsf.org/tedx">not accept nonfree software</a>
   as normal or legitimate, so I will not suggest to the public to
run a nonfree program.  I had no other solution.  Thus, I could not
post about these rallies.
<p>
I implore groups that organize rallies to make the small effort needed
to post the information in a simple HTML page accessible from the Free
World &mdash; not _instead of_ what they now do, but _in addition_.  The
page could contain an itemized list, with a section for each state and
items within a section sorted by city.  That would be easy to
generate, and easy for users to download and search.  If organizations
do this, they will enable people to find their rallies from within the
Free World.
<p>
I used to know a volunteer who would set up to scrape the inaccessble
pages and put the results in a non-JavaScript page.  Then I could link
to that scraper page to post directions to find a rally.  Alas, I lost
touch with per last year.
<p>
If you'd like to volunteer to do this for me, a few times a year,
and you know how to do it, please send me email at gnu.org.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(Protests,_police_brutality,_Paris)
title: Protests, police brutality, Paris
uri: Protests-police-brutality-Paris
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(Protests,_police_brutality,_Paris)
content:
 
<p>

A
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/23/france-protests-retirement-age-pension-reform-man-loses-testicle-clashes-with-police">French thug attacked a man who was taking video of a protest</a>,
knocking him down to the ground; then another thug clubbed him in the balls.
  This damaged one of his testicles and he needed it amputated.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(Whistleblower_prejudice,_US)
title: Whistleblower prejudice, US
uri: Whistleblower-prejudice-US
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#24_January_2023_(Whistleblower_prejudice,_US)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="http://click1.e.reason.com/ysbvwvwrrqmnwkygnfwbknpqygnvsmwzkqypqpmfvkbkb_ntdyjkydjnqprfkkwrww.html">The US government seems to base its treatment of people who reveal
secrets to the press on how politically important those people are</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(FISA_Court_powerless)
title: FISA Court powerless
uri: FISA-Court-powerless
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(FISA_Court_powerless)
content:
 
<p>

*Reps.
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/01/23/surveillance-adam-schiff-jim-jordan-freedom-caucus/">Adam Schiff and Jim Jordan Killed [US intelligence agencies']
Mass Surveillance Reform in 2020</a>.
 Will They Do It Again?*
<p>
The <a href="/archives/2013-jul-oct.html#17_August_2013_(FISA_court_says_it_can_not_control_NSA)">FISA court admitted that it could not carry out its responsibilities</a>:
that the intelligence agencies it was supposed to regulate had made it
powerless.
<p>
Adam Schiff's campaign defeated a progressive primary opponent in 2020 
by spreading false accusations about him.  The accusations received
so much press attention that the victim had no chance to inform
all the voters who had been misled.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Journalist_killed,_Cameroon)
title: Journalist killed, Cameroon
uri: Journalist-killed-Cameroon
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Journalist_killed,_Cameroon)
content:
 
<p>

*Prominent Cameroon
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/23/cameroon-journalist-martinez-zogo-found-dead-after-abduction">journalist [Martinez Zogo] found dead</a>
after
 abduction.*
<p>
It seems he had made an accusation of corruption linked to the corrupt
repressive "president" of Cameroon.
<p>
The article reports that Zogo tried to protect himself from kidnaping
by taking refuge in a thug center.  That makes me very curious:
how did the thugs respond to that?

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Biden_elevates_Jeff_Zients)
title: Biden elevates Jeff Zients
uri: Biden-elevates-Jeff-Zients
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Biden_elevates_Jeff_Zients)
content:
 
<p>

Biden's choice for a
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/progressives-jeff-zients">new chief of staff is not merely a plutocratist</a>;
he is a plutocrat and apparently a fraudster.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Land_use_laws,_AU)
title: Land use laws, AU
uri: Land-use-laws-AU
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Land_use_laws,_AU)
content:
 
<p>

Australia has a system intended to prevent habitat-destroying changes
in land use, but empirically
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/24/system-to-protect-threatened-species-from-development-more-or-less-worthless-study-finds">it has done little good</a>.
  Ministers were too quick to decide that plans were "non-significant"
and bypass careful environmental review for them.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Christian_nationalism,_US)
title: Christian nationalism, US
uri: Christian-nationalism-US
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Christian_nationalism,_US)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/christian-nationalism-separation-of-church-and-state">The US Constitution mandates separation of church and state</a>
to protect
against movements to impose a specific religion on everyone.
  In other words, to protect against today's Christian nationalism.


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Another_Gaza:_Palestine)
title: Another Gaza: Palestine
uri: Another-Gaza-Palestine
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Another_Gaza:_Palestine)
content:
 
<p>

Israel has put special
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/human-rights-watch">restrictions on foreign citizens' entry into
occupied Palestinian territory</a>.
According to Human Rights Watch,
these rules unjustly cut off contact between the Palestinians who live
there and everyone else.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Renewable_energy_V._big_tech)
title: Renewable energy V. big tech
uri: Renewable-energy-V-big-tech
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Renewable_energy_V._big_tech)
content:
 
<p>

Collecting the evidence that new energy technologies such as
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/23/no-miracles-needed-prof-mark-jacobson-on-how-wind-sun-and-water-can-power-the-world">nuclear
fission, nuclear fusion, and carbon capture and storage, are a distraction and a big waste</a>
of money (or worse).  We should rather
deploy the mature renewable energy generation technologies as fast as
we can.

The only difficult new technologies needed are to make airplanes and
ships use electricity.  (Perhaps with green hydrogen as an
intermediate form of energy.)


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(New_pun:_Homeopathy)
title: New pun: Homeopathy
uri: New-pun-Homeopathy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(New_pun:_Homeopathy)
content:
 
<p>
  <a href="/puns.html#dilutions">Homeopathy pun</a>:
<p>
  Homeopathy is quackery with dilutions of grandeur.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Urgent:_Tax_extreme_wealth)
title: Urgent: Tax extreme wealth
uri: Urgent-Tax-extreme-wealth
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Urgent:_Tax_extreme_wealth)
content:
 
<p>

US citizens:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/tell-world-leaders-at-davos-tax-extreme-wealth?nowrapper=true&referrer=&source=email-breaking-more-than-200-millionaires-demand-a-tax-on-the-ultra-wealthy">call on World Leaders at Davos to Tax Extreme Wealth</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Urgent:_Prosecute_the_corrupter)
title: Urgent: Prosecute the corrupter
uri: Urgent-Prosecute-the-corrupter
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Urgent:_Prosecute_the_corrupter)
content:
 
<p>

US citizens:
<a href="https://act.pfaw.org/sign/doj-prosecute-trump/?utm_source=aa&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dojprosecutetrump&t=1008">call on the Department of Justice to prosecute the corrupter</a>.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Cut Pentagon, preserve social spending
uri: Urgent-Cut-Pentagon-preserve-social-spending
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Urgent:_Cut_Pentagon,_preserve_social_spending)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Urgent:_Cut_Pentagon,_preserve_social_spending)

content:
 
<p>

US citizens:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/tell-congress-cut-pentagon-spending-and-keep-social-programs?nowrapper=true&referrer=group-coalition-on-human-needs&source=group-coalition-on-human-needs">call on Congress to cut Pentagon spending and preserve
social programs</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Debt_crises_stabilization)
title: Debt crises stabilization
uri: Debt-crises-stabilization
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Debt_crises_stabilization)
content:
 
<p>

Ellen Brown looks at various ways to change the US banking and
monetary system that would stabilize it and eliminate the
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/new-approach-to-us-debt-crisis">problems
caused by the current handling of national debt</a>.
<p>
Most of then would require legislation, but the "trillion-dollar
platinum coin" may actually be feasible without Congress.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Chinese_psyche)
title: Chinese psyche
uri: Chinese-psyche
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Chinese_psyche)
content:
 
<p>

On Mao's Cultural Revolution, and how the
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/19/tragedy-pushed-to-the-shadows-truth-about-china-cultural-revolution">years of suffering affected
Chinese people's psyche and thinking</a>,
including that of the father
of Distator Xi, and the totally contrary thinking of the dictator himself.
<p>
If I understand the article right, the women in the Educated Youth
Friendship Group are hardly "fond" of the lives they led during the
Cultural Revolution.  On the contrary, it says they are pretending
together to live the "normal" adolescence that the Cultural Revolution
denied them in real life.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Republican_veracity_recently)
title: Republican veracity recently
uri: Republican-veracity-recently
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Republican_veracity_recently)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/22/george-santos-lies-republican-party-future">How the Republican Party has sunk</a>:
from Honest Abe to Ever-Lie Santos.
<p>
The bullshitter lied about many things, but not the basics of his life
story.  When he lied, Republicans coped with those lies by insisting
that the lies were true.
<p>
That won't work when Santos falsifies the events of his own life.  To
support him, Republicans in Congress have to deny blatant facts.
Thus, their continued support for him demonstrates that no lie is too
low for a Republican in Congress.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Leadership_protests,_Bangladesh)
title: Leadership protests, Bangladesh
uri: Leadership-protests-Bangladesh
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Leadership_protests,_Bangladesh)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/22/bangladesh-opposition-crackdown-thousands-arrested">Protesters called for Bangladesh's prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, to
resign</a>.
 After years of state violence against journalists and opposition,
they don't believe she will run an honest election.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Two-tier_healthcare,_UK)
title: Two-tier healthcare, UK
uri: Two-tier-healthcare-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Two-tier_healthcare,_UK)
content:
 
<p>

*Gordon Brown warns of
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/23/gordon-brown-warns-tories-two-tier-healthcare-system-charges-undermine-nhs">Tories "testing the water" for two-tier healthcare</a>.*

He also warns that
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/23/nhs-tories-privately-funded-healthcare">this would destroy the NHS</a>.
  I warned of this years ago -- that the Tories seemed to intend to
destroy the NHS.
<p>
I wish he were wrong, and I were wrong too.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Ukraine_pulls_from_Soledar)
title: Ukraine pulls from Soledar
uri: Ukraine-pulls-from-Soledar
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Ukraine_pulls_from_Soledar)
content:
 
<p>
Ukraine has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/25/ukraine-germany-leopard-tanks-more-heavy-armour">pulled its forces out of Soledar</a>.
<p>
There is nothing particularly important about Soledar, nor Bakhmut,
nor the towns behind them.  The rational thing for Ukraine to do is to
retreat slowly and steadily, so as to maximize the cost to Wagner
while limiting Ukrainian casualties.

<p>
 


title: Virginia teacher shot by six-year-old
uri: Virginia-teacher-shot-by-six-year-old
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Virginia_teacher_shot_by_six-year-old)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Virginia_teacher_shot_by_six-year-old)

content:
 
<p>
*Concerned teachers and employees warned administrators at a
Virginia elementary school three times that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/25/virginia-school-teacher-newport-news-shooting">a six-year-old boy had
a gun</a> and was threatening other students in the hours before he shot
and wounded a teacher, "but the administration could not be bothered"*.

<p>
 


title: Azerbaijan's "environmental activists"
uri: Azerbaijan-s-environmental-activists
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Azerbaijan's_environmental_activists)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Azerbaijan's_environmental_activists)

content:
 
<p>
Azerbaijan is sending <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/01/20/deconstructed-armenia-azerbaijan-nagorno-karabakh/">soldiers that pretend to be "environmental
activists"</a> to blockade the road between Nagorno-Karabakh and the main
territory of Armenia.
(The idea that "environmental activists" can take any sort of
initiative in an oil-funded dictatorship is bullshit.)  Russian
peacekeepers that under the treaty that ended the last war there are
not authorized to fight a war, so they cannot in practice make those
"activists" leave.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Ranked_Choice_Voting)
title: Ranked Choice Voting
uri: Ranked-Choice-Voting
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Ranked_Choice_Voting)
content:
 
<p>
Robert Reich explains <a href="https://invidio.us/watch?v=7P6aYbUo19U">the benefits of Ranked Choice Voting</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Ibogaine)
title: Ibogaine
uri: Ibogaine
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Ibogaine)
content:
 
<p>
*The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/23/ibogaine-iboga-drug-addiction-psychedelic-gabon">psychedelic ibogaine</a> can treat addiction.*  It can also be damaging,
even fatal, when used without proper precautions.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Nationalist_population_approaches)
title: Nationalist population approaches
uri: Nationalist-population-approaches
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Nationalist_population_approaches)
content:
 
<p>
Politicians in many countries adopt a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/24/japan-birthrate-population-pm-solution-already-rejected-by-young">nationalist approach towards
present and projected population decline</a>: they exaggerate how
difficult it will be to cope with a decrease, and presume that the
solution is to persuade young people to have more children.
They don't recognize the future danger of a larger (or even
unchanged) population, and disregard immigration as a way of reducing
future decrease.
<p>
It is true that Japanese culture is very unfriendly to immigrants,
but the state could do things to reduce that and help immigrants
surmount the obstacle.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Electric_cars_and_social_problems)
title: Electric cars and social problems
uri: Electric-cars-and-social-problems
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Electric_cars_and_social_problems)
content:
 
<p>
The planned increase in electric cars would require so much lithium
that mining it is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/24/us-electric-vehicles-lithium-consequences-research">expected to cause great social problems</a>.
However, investing to encourage walking and use of other kinds of
transport could avoid the problem by reducing the number of cars
needed.
<p>
I don't know whether this research takes account of the need
for lithium for power storage to have power available for
times with little wind and little sun.  Or for the possibility
of using people's cars' batteries for that purpose.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Tory_repression)
title: Tory repression
uri: Tory-repression
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Tory_repression)
content:
 
<p>
Tory harshness to the weak has inspired anger since before they got
into power in 2010.  But they and the press have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/24/dont-keep-calm-and-carry-on-how-britain-got-a-furious-new-attitude">carefully controlled
whether people were allowed to express anger, and at whom</a>.  Repression
of protesters has been harsh all along.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(AI_eliminating_jobs)
title: AI eliminating jobs
uri: AI-eliminating-jobs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(AI_eliminating_jobs)
content:
 
<p>
AI is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/24/chatgpt-artificial-intelligence-jobs-economy">eliminating jobs</a> in a number of areas.  It may soon eliminate
jobs faster that the economy can come up with new kinds of work for
people to do.

<p>
 


title: Manchin agrees to progressive proposal
uri: Manchin-agrees-to-progressive-proposal
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Manchin_agrees_to_progressive_proposal)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Manchin_agrees_to_progressive_proposal)

content:
 
<p>
Manchin has agreed to <a href="https://www.levernews.com/r/aa8d8f2d?m=a1296444-4385-46f7-b56f-c5acabd34844">a progressive proposal</a>: to lift or eliminate the
limit on the amount of a worker's income that is subject to Social
Security tax.
<p>
This would fix a future insufficiency in Social Security funds, which
certainly has to be fixed sooner or later, though not urgently.
Of course, "moderate" politicians (<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#plutocratist">plutocratists</a>) want to fix it
by cutting benefits, and they'd prefer to do this as soon as possible.
<p>
The hyper-rich get most of their income through paths other than
wages, and not covered by payroll taxes.  Thus, even after this
change, they will still get a tax break that they do not deserve.
(The same thing happens with income tax, though the details are
different.)  Nonetheless, the change will be a step forward.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Pence's_classified_documents)
title: Pence's classified documents
uri: Pence-s-classified-documents
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Pence's_classified_documents)
content:
 
<p>
*Classified documents <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/24/mike-pence-classified-documents-discovered-home-indiana">discovered at Mike Pence's home</a> in Indiana.*
<p>
The Republicans that (following the <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#bullshitter">bullshitter</a>) hate Pence will say,
"Pence is just as horrible as Biden."  Those that support Pence will
have to find an excuse to argue that it was ok for Pence to neglect
secret documents at home but not ok for Biden to do so.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Thugs_are_enemies)
title: Thugs are enemies
uri: Thugs-are-enemies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Thugs_are_enemies)
content:
 
<p>
Tory plans to authorize uniformed <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> to attack protests can create
a dynamic in which protesters know that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/19/conflict-violence-anti-protest-law">the thugs are their enemies</a>,
and expect a fight from the beginning.  That will means a lot of
fights.
<p>
It may also drive those who don't want a fight to give up on protesting
and wait despondently for <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#global%20heating">global heating</a> to kill them.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Wagner_army)
title: Wagner army
uri: Wagner-army
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Wagner_army)
content:
 
<p>
The Wagner army of ex-convicts has <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/23/europe/russia-wagner-tactics-report-ukraine-intl/index.html">become effective</a> at taking small
areas of territory, at the cost of very high casualties.
<p>
Wagner doesn't care about the casualties, because its soldiers came
from prison, released to be cannon fodder.  Russians don't care how
many ex-convicts get killed this way.
<p>
I wonder, how many convicts does Russia have that Putin could send to
Wagner?  How long before he uses them up?
<p>
Putin could force any Russians into Wagner, including those who are
not convicts.  But if he does that, Russians will care whether they
live or die.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Verbal_circumlocutions)
title: Verbal circumlocutions
uri: Verbal-circumlocutions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Verbal_circumlocutions)
content:
 
<p>
We observe nowadays a tendency to invent verbal circumlocutions, and
pressure people to use these circumlocutions instead of the simpler
everyday words.  In particular, every noun that describes a category of
persons is liable to get this treatment.  The circumlocution typically
consists of some adjective followed by "person".
<p>
The newest target is the word "mummy".  <a href="https://www.cnn.com/style/article/mummies-museums-name-change-intl-scli-scn/index.html">The campaign</a> pressures us to
say "mummified person" instead.
<p>
I object to that, and not only because there is no good reason for the
inconvenience of the change.  A corpse (mummified or not) is not any
type of person; it is not a person.  Death ends a person's existence;
a corpse is what a person's body becomes after the person dies.  I
will continue to use the noun, "mummy."
<p>
Speaking of which, I have a hunch that sooner or later a similar
demand will target the word "corpse".
<p>
I think persons deserve certain respect, but that is no reason to
pressure people to perform a ceremony to demonstrate it, every time we
use a noun which refers to a set of persons.  Doing so a nuisance.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Professors_as_gig_workers)
title: Professors as gig workers
uri: Professors-as-gig-workers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#27_January_2023_(Professors_as_gig_workers)
content:
 
<p>
Adjunct professors at Oxford University will sue the university for
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/jan/23/academics-sue-oxford-university-teaching-contracts-gig-economy-lecturers">treating them like gig workers</a>.
<p>
I hope they win.  Nobody who works a substantial amount of time
for a platform should be treated as a gig worker.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Public_land_and_oil_price_gouging)
title: Public land and oil price gouging
uri: Public-land-and-oil-price-gouging
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Public_land_and_oil_price_gouging)
content:
 
<p>
*New GOP Majority Aims to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/new-gop-majority-aims-to-give-away-public-lands-further-enable-big-oils-price-gouging">Give Away Public Lands & Further Enable Big
Oil's Price Gouging</a>.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(National_medical_system)
title: National medical system
uri: 2023-01-28-National-medical-system
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(National_medical_system)
content:
 
<p>
57% of Americans want a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/government-run-healthcare">national medical system</a>.  70% of Democrats support it.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Biden_should_step_down)
title: Biden should step down
uri: Biden-should-step-down
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Biden_should_step_down)
content:
 
<p>
Arguing that Biden's retention of a few secret documents
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/is-biden-best-choice-for-2024">has diminished his chances of victory in 2024</a>, so he
should step down for someone else.
<p>
Who could that be, though?  Sanders is the only person that occurs to
me, the only one I am confident would struggle persistently for most of
the causes I believe in.  But he too is old now.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Pentagon)
title: Pentagon
uri: 2023-01-28-Pentagon
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Pentagon)
content:
 
<p>
*Pentagon No Match for Biggest China Threat: <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/china-coal-pentagon-climate-change">Massive Carbon Emissions</a>.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Assassination_in_Germany_stopped)
title: Assassination in Germany stopped
uri: Assassination-in-Germany-stopped
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Assassination_in_Germany_stopped)
content:
 
<p>
A second far-right plan to assassinate a German minister has been
caught and stopped.
<p>
Their stated goal is to restore the German empire under the Prussian
dynasty, but perhaps omitting the limited democracy it implemented in
its last few decades.
<p>
They hate the minister of health for ordering measures to stop the
spread of Covid-19 and protect the people in general.  Ironically, I
expect Bismarck would not have hesitated to use quarantine and
mandatory vaccination, and anything else necessary, in a totally
authoritarian way, to protect the strength of the reich.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Environmental_activists_murdered)
title: Environmental activists murdered
uri: Environmental-activists-murdered
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Environmental_activists_murdered)
content:
 
<p>
Brazil has accused a businessman of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/23/brazil-police-rubens-villar-coelho-murder-dom-phillips-bruno-pereira-colombia">ordering the murder</a> of two
environmental activists last year.
<p>
Several countries in Latin America are ineffective in preventing or
prosecuting the murder of environmental activists.  Under Bolsonaro's
encouragement, Brazil was extremely ineffective.
<p>
Capitalizing the adjective "indigenous" is a way of symbolically
placing indigenous people above other people -- in effect, designating
them as the higher group.  I think it is wrong to put any ethnic group
over the others.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Right_to_repair_in_New_York)
title: Right to repair in New York
uri: Right-to-repair-in-New-York
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Right_to_repair_in_New_York)
content:
 
<p>
New York State has adopted a <a href="https://action.storyofstuff.org/go/78352?t=1011&akid=375089%2E1041074%2EcLh9pX">right-to-repair law</a>, though Governor
Hochul imposed limits on the products it applies to.
<p>
Even for those products, the law is only a step towards giving users
control over the devices they "own".  The law won't stop manufacturers
from designing devices so that they control what users can do with
them and restrict what users can change.

<p>
 


title: Uber bullied to eliminate workers' rights protections
uri: Uber-bullied-to-eliminate-workers-rights-protections
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Uber_bullied_to_eliminate_workers'_rights_protections)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Uber_bullied_to_eliminate_workers'_rights_protections)

content:
 
<p>
GUber has bullied and seduced its way to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/23/african-leaders-who-dilute-workers-rights-for-ubers-digital-empire-harm-africa">eliminate protections for
workers' rights</a> in several African countries, shifting governments
toward neoliberalism and allowing businesses (including foreign businesses)
to exploit as they wish.

<p>
 


title: Australia and publicly expressing ideas
uri: Australia-and-publicly-expressing-ideas
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Australia_and_publicly_expressing_ideas)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Australia_and_publicly_expressing_ideas)

content:
 
<p>
Parts of Australia <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/23/queensland-cracks-down-on-hate-crimes-in-wake-of-recent-nazi-propaganda">make it a crime</a> to publicly express certain ideas.
<p>
I think the world would be a better place if it did not contain
Nazism.  Also if it did not contain hatred against religions, or
religions for that matter.
<p>
However, censorship can threaten any idea, and can oppress everyone.
Once one idea is censored, censorship tends to spread to ban other
ideas as well.
<p>
Since the rich tend to control governments, they are likely to turn
the gun of censorship on opposition to the power of the rich.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(BBC_documentary_banned)
title: BBC documentary banned
uri: BBC-documentary-banned
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(BBC_documentary_banned)
content:
 
<p>
Modi's government has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/23/india-emergency-laws-to-ban-bbc-narendra-modi-documentary">banned a BBC documentary</a> about Modi's connections
with the 2002 sectarian pogrom in Gujarat, when Modi was the head of
that state's government.
<p>
I read <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2004-mar-jun.html#22%20April%202004%20(Gujarat%20Massacre)">articles about this</a> at the time.
<p>
The Hindu-nationalist right-wing in India has made it a strategy for
decades to stir up violence between Hindus and Muslims, just as the
American right-wing has done (with more success since 2001).

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Hunger_strike)
title: Hunger strike
uri: 2023-01-28-Hunger-strike
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Hunger_strike)
content:
 
<p>
Dozens of prisoners in Texas are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/19/texas-prisoners-hunger-strike-protest-solitary-confinement">on hunger strike</a> to protest against
protracted solitary confinement, in some cases lasting for decades.
<p>
The policy is that if a prisoner shows certain signs, that the state
interprets as indicating a gang member, they put per in isolation
permanently.  Isolation is almost total -- for instance, one phone
call per month, and exercise outdoors alone two days a month.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Shell's_worthless_carbon_credits)
title: Shell's worthless carbon credits
uri: Shell-s-worthless-carbon-credits
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Shell's_worthless_carbon_credits)
content:
 
<p>
*Shell to spend $450m on carbon offsetting as fears grow that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/19/shell-to-spend-450m-on-carbon-offsetting-fears-grow-credits-worthless-aoe">[such carbon]
credits may be worthless</a>.*


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Bill_Maher_interview)
title: Bill Maher interview
uri: Bill-Maher-interview
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Bill_Maher_interview)
content:
 
<p>
In this <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/30/magazine/bill-maher-interview.html">interview with Bill Maher, I found some noteworthy points:

<ul>

<li>
I define political correctness as the elevation of sensitivity over
truth.

<li>
Liberals protect people, and P.C. people protect feelings.

<li>
When I was growing up, the most liberal thing you could do is not see
color. Well, thatâ€™s wrong now. You see color, always, so you can
register your white privilege. But I grew up in the Martin Luther King
era: Judge by the content of their character, not the color of their
skin. I still think thatâ€™s the best way to do it.

<li>
Religions always talk about the one true religion. Now on the left we
have the one true opinion. If you go against that, you do so at your
peril. Thatâ€™s why the air on the left is becoming stale. I railed for
years against the Fox News bubble, and that is as strong as ever, but
I didnâ€™t think it would get this bad on the left.

</ul>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Restaurant_workers'_wages)
title: Restaurant workers' wages
uri: Restaurant-workers-wages
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Restaurant_workers'_wages)
content:
 
<p>
*How Restaurant Workers <a href="https://click.actionnetwork.org/ss/c/atcYNHk4Eh2YdGnwBh-YDGlyFEPfIQqTPhAJ7ICxnKEkIYZdGime4nXpeUM38PzgHb60HH0HuXN6NGKQ_yFCp4b9Z-qtyYbepkP3aFLrrp6IaYR_aoHSpPcvMfwG7fCFRKi8Y478rhL8rEo5lGjN-lrYjcw7xXqMA8G0LAHomv1HedMyoQuY4zOEXcN7wjkxf_P_i2MoGM9z67z0TEWxz8ZA2LhCjNJ1W04ywYojGYxj7OLnI4zK0SfBJ5VkLD9KM0mWXV3AVfIwwjKq6P9flwFqnSgis9Sh3mg8u78EVD47x1z7OnJ2DkwSOTvjRC31wYe2t5abTCTJMBq6FIfPw8UBpKFzxcsxXr6JnTyYmnY/3t2/31k80421Q1yUzlz8aBd0XQ/h6/WPsP5xut84-z20-ssihBm7P-J_GDcjpuII9W5pJToio">Help Pay for Lobbying to Keep Their Wages
Low.*

<p>
 


title: Tories' "hostile environment" policy
uri: Tories-hostile-environment-policy
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Tories'_hostile_environment_policy)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#26_January_2023_(Tories'_hostile_environment_policy)

content:
 
<p>
The Tories plan to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/22/new-hostile-environment-policies-immigration-home-office">tighten their "hostile environment" policy</a>, which
is meant to make life in the UK unlivable for anyone who doesn't have
official permission to be there.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Obesity_in_girls)
title: Obesity in girls
uri: Obesity-in-girls
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Obesity_in_girls)
content:
 
<p>
The UK's <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/26/uk-sugar-tax-prevents-5000-cases-of-obesity-in-year-6-girls-annually">conditional tax on overly sweetened drinks</a> brings about a
significant (though not revolutionary) reduction of obesity in girls.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Tyre_Nichols)
title: Tyre Nichols
uri: Tyre-Nichols
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Tyre_Nichols)
content:
 
<p>
All the Memphis thugs involved in <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/tyre-nichols-murder">killing Tyre Nichols</a> have been charged
with second-degree murder.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Tenant_protection)
title: Tenant protection
uri: Tenant-protection
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Tenant_protection)
content:
 
<p>
Biden has proposed a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/25/homes/biden-tenant-protection-renters/index.html">collection of measures</a> intended to help people
who rent their homes and have trouble affording the expense.
<p>
I am not able to evaluate it, but I suspect (as do others) that it is
not enough to solve the problem.  I think we need to build a lot more
housing, dense enough to make mass transit efficient.  That will take
years, so it is better if we get started now and push it hard.
<p>
Reportedly some big corporations that have bought up millions of
rental units are content with the proposal -- which suggests
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/biden-renter-protections">it is insufficient</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Sadiiq_Long)
title: Sadiiq Long
uri: Sadiiq-Long
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Sadiiq_Long)
content:
 
<p>
Sadiiq Long, US citizen is <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/01/26/terror-watchlist-police-harassment/">harassed frequently by local thugs</a> because
they see, when they check his license plate, that he is on the US
"terrorist watch list."  The US government won't tell him why, and
offers no way to get taken off the list, so he is suing the local
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#thug">thug</a> department for harassing him based on that listing.
<p>
The harassment varies and is sometimes very frightening; he could
easily envision being shot next time.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(European_germs)
title: European germs
uri: European-germs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(European_germs)
content:
 
<p>
The death of most indigenous Americans, due to the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379118307261">importation of
European germs</a>, cause their farm fields to grow trees.  The result
was significant global cooling starting in the late 1500s.
<p>
The cooling was reversed by population growth some two centuries later.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Ukraine_uranium_shells)
title: Ukraine uranium shells
uri: Ukraine-uranium-shells
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Ukraine_uranium_shells)
content:
 
<p>
Along with the Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles, the US
may supply Ukraine with <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/01/26/ukraine-uranium-bradley-fighting-vehicle/">shells made from toxic depleted uranium</a>.
When one of those shells explodes, it spreads dust of depleted
uranium, which when inhaled or swallowed by humans leads to cancer,
birth defects, and other severe medical problems.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Chevron_stock_buybacks)
title: Chevron stock buybacks
uri: Chevron-stock-buybacks
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Chevron_stock_buybacks)
content:
 
<p>
Chevron, a Big Oil company, is spending $75 billion on <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/chevron-stock-buyback">stock buybacks</a>.
<p>
This demonstrates that Chevron has no valid use for all those profits,
so we should increase the taxes the company pays and spend the funds on
something useful.
<p>
However, I do not believe we should deduce that gasoline should have a
lower price.  If we tax Chevron that much more, we can instead use
those funds to aid poor people.  The poor people who need to drive
will benefit just the same -- but those poor people who can avoid
driving will benefit <i>even more</i>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Miscarriage)
title: Miscarriage
uri: 2023-01-28-Miscarriage
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Miscarriage)
content:
 
<p>
A woman in Idaho started to miscarry, but the ban on abortion
<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/idaho-woman-shares-19-day-miscarriage-tiktok-states/story?id=96363578">prohibited physicians from treating her</a> until her problem put her at
risk of death.
<p>
We should not focus too much on these harmful and unjust side effects
of the ban, because they could become a distraction from the harmful
and unjust goal of the ban: <i>prohibiting abortion itself</i>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Threats_to_press)
title: Threats to press
uri: Threats-to-press
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Threats_to_press)
content:
 
<p>
Reporters without Borders warns Americans of the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/trump-politico-reporter-jail-truth-social-b2266340.html">threat to freedom of
the press</a> posed by right-wing authoritarians, in particular the corrupter.

<p>
 


uri: Urgent-Ban-the-use-of-facial-recognition-and-other-biometric-technolo
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Urgent:_Ban_the_use_of_facial_recognition_and_other_biometric_technology_in_places_of_public_accommodation)

title:
 Urgent: Ban the use of facial recognition and other biometric technology in places of public accommodation 

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Urgent:_Ban_the_use_of_facial_recognition_and_other_biometric_technology_in_places_of_public_accommodation)

content:
 
<p>
Everyone: call on legislatures at all levels to <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/venue-owners-are-using-facial-recognition-to-keep-foes-out-of-shows?nowrapper=true">ban the use of
facial recognition and other biometric technology in places of public
accommodation</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Fast_food_wages)
title: Fast food wages
uri: Fast-food-wages
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Fast_food_wages)
content:
 
<p>
A new California law that <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/25/business/california-fast-food-law-workers/index.html">requires a decent minimum wage</a> for fast food
workers is has fast-food chains protesting, "We will go broke!"
Chipotle, Starbucks, Chick-fil-A, McDonald's, In-N-Out Burger and
(effectively) KFC gave a million dollar each to advance an initiative
petition to repeal the law.
<p>
Treat that "fast food" as it deserves -- by fasting from it!

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Pharmaceutical_profits)
title: Pharmaceutical profits
uri: Pharmaceutical-profits
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Pharmaceutical_profits)
content:
 
<p>
US pharmaceutical companies have <a href="https://www.levernews.com/how-big-pharma-actually-spends-its-massive-profits/">spent more on stock buybacks and
dividends than drug research and development</a> over the past decade.

<p>
 


title: Cambodian "president" puts insulters on trial
uri: Cambodian-president-puts-insulters-on-trial
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Cambodian_president_puts_insulters_on_trial)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Cambodian_president_puts_insulters_on_trial)

content:
 
<p>
Hun Sen, "president" of Cambodia, regularly <a href="https://globalvoices.org/2023/01/25/cambodias-prime-minister-hun-sen-orders-police-to-find-facebook-beach-insulter/">puts Cambodians on trial</a> for
posting words that insult him.
<p>
Cambodia isn't the only country that fails to recognize that freedom
of speech includes the freedom to insult people -- even to insult the
highest officials.  France has prosecuted people for insulting
President Sarkozy -- for instance, one defendant had said "Sarkozy, I
see you" when the topic was an injustice.  Some of these defendants
were acquitted for various reasons, but the fact that the prosecution
were not dismissed outright in the name of freedom of speech shows that
respect for freedom of speech is lacking there.
<p>
I used to refer to Sarkozy as "Sarc&ocirc;m&euml;", which means "cancer".
Fortunately for me, I was never prosecuted.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Parental_rights)
title: Parental rights
uri: Parental-rights
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Parental_rights)
content:
 
<p>
The term "<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/25/opinions/children-gender-identity-parental-rights-filipovic/index.html">parental rights</a>" is typically used in US discourse to justify
denying children, and adolescents too, thing they have a right to.
And even things, such as abortions, that are necessary to avoid a
terrible and irreversible change.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Superintendent_fired)
title: Superintendent fired
uri: Superintendent-fired
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Superintendent_fired)
content:
 
<p>
Three time, school staff warned the school administration that a
6-year-old pupil was carrying a gun.  The administration did not take
it away from him, and eventually he fired it at a teacher.
<p>
Now <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/25/us/newport-news-virginia-school-board-superintendent-vote/index.html">the superintendent of the school district has been fired</a>.
<p>
I've read that someone on the staff searched his bag at some point,
but did not find the gun.  Perhaps the student had put it in his pocket
by then. So perhaps the administration did make some effort.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Australia_ID_checks)
title: Australia ID checks
uri: Australia-ID-checks
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#28_January_2023_(Australia_ID_checks)
content:
 
<p>
Australia is considering measures to reduce mistreatment and violence
by users of dating apps against people they meet through the apps.
One measure being considered is to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/25/dating-app-background-and-id-checks-being-considered-in-bid-to-fight-abuse">require checking users' ID and
"background"</a>.
(I am not sure what "background" would include.  Criminal record?)
<p>
The violence is a serious problem, and it is necessary to do something
to reduce it.  However, the proposed requirements would be enough to
convince me to reject the apps.
<p>
On the other hand, the fact that they are nonfree programs that
require a nonfree snoop-phone operating system is also enough to
convince me to reject them.  Naturally, both are <a href="https://www.gnu.org/malware/">malware</a>
too.  The apps collect lots of personal data, which no data base
should have; that alone is enough to convince me to reject them.
<p>
They have other problems, too.  I don't entirely understand them
because I have never experienced them -- I've never used programs like
these.  But I've read articles in which people who do use them report
that the apps are generally horrible in social terms.  Their culture
encourages people to look for shallow sex; if what you seek is a love
relationship, "Lots of luck!"
<p>
It would not surprise me if the violence and outright nastiness are
simply the long tail of what the apps more generally encourage.  A few
people try to get away with violence; most people won't do that, but
they do engage in shallowness and unkindness, which is "how everyone
acts here," and besides, "what other option is there?"
<p>
I think that the real solution for this problem is a bigger change
than the one that is proposed: to get rid of these apps and encourage
other ways that enable people to meet and get to know each other.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#29_January_2023_(Urgent:_Democracy_in_Israel)
title: Urgent: Democracy in Israel
uri: Urgent-Democracy-in-Israel
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#29_January_2023_(Urgent:_Democracy_in_Israel)
content:
 
<p>

US citizens:
<a href="https://act.jstreet.org/sign/tell-president-biden-stand-netanyahus-extreme-agenda/?t=1006%2EdiOpVe">call on Biden to push back on the Israeli government's
antidemocratic measures</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#29_January_2023_(Urgent:_Stop_SCAM_PAC_Act)
title: Urgent: Stop SCAM PAC Act
uri: Urgent-Stop-SCAM-PAC-Act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#29_January_2023_(Urgent:_Stop_SCAM_PAC_Act)
content:
 
<p>

US citizens:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/tell-congress-pass-the-stop-scam-pacs-act?nowrapper=true&referrer=group-courage-campaign&source=direct_link">call on Congress to pass the Stop SCAM PACs Act</a>.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Facebook, Twitter, fact-checking
uri: Urgent-Facebook-Twitter-fact-checking
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#29_January_2023_(Urgent:_Facebook,_Twitter,_fact-checking)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#29_January_2023_(Urgent:_Facebook,_Twitter,_fact-checking)

content:
 
<p>

US citizens:
<a href="https://civicshout.com/p/twitter-facebook-must-combat-disinformation?link_id=2&can_id=8b24519448cbedadde1c8a966f94caad&source=email-donald-trump-petitioning-facebook-4&email_referrer=email_1793693&email_subject=petition-trump-returning-to-twitter-facebook">call on Facebook and Twitter to fact-check
disinformation from the wrecker</a>
if they allow him to post at all.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#29_January_2023_(Big_pharma,_pricing)
title: Big pharma, pricing
uri: Big-pharma-pricing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#29_January_2023_(Big_pharma,_pricing)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.levernews.com/r/e9b2d560?m=a1296444-4385-46f7-b56f-c5acabd34844">Pfizer recently raised the prices of 100 drugs in the US.</a>
 To wipe the
bad taste of this from Americans' minds, its PR operation publicizes
that it will provide the drug at lower price to some patients in poor
countries,
and that it is <a href="/archives/2021-jul-oct.html#5_August_2021_(Vaccine_prices_hike)">still limiting world-wide production</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#29_January_2023_(Carbon_offsets,_AU)
title: Carbon offsets, AU
uri: Carbon-offsets-AU
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#29_January_2023_(Carbon_offsets,_AU)
content:
 
<p>

A climate defender urged Australian local councils to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/24/australia-councils-sydney-melbourne-brisbane-buy-overseas-emissions-offsets">cut their own
emissions, rather than spend millions on overseas carbon offsets</a>.*
<p>
Aside from a few peculiar exceptions, Australia's government seems to
be very serious about reducing emissions.  I hope it adopts a strict
policy to limit the sale and purchase of carbon offsets, wildlife offsets,
and any other sort of offset.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#29_January_2023_(Military_crimes,_Myanmar)
title: Military crimes, Myanmar
uri: Military-crimes-Myanmar
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#29_January_2023_(Military_crimes,_Myanmar)
content:
 
<p>

*Rohingya and Myanmar
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/24/rohingya-and-myanmar-coup-survivors-launch-legal-complaint-in-germany-against-junta">coup survivors launch legal complaint in Germany</a>
against junta.* Their accusations include war crimes, crimes against
humanity, and genocide 
   (against the Rohingya, I presume).
<p>
I can imagine a verdict of guilty, but in practice, what could the court
do to a foreign government?  There are already sanctions against it,
but since the Burmese state has China's backing, I don't think more
western sanctions would make much difference.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#29_January_2023_(Urgent:_Ban_Roundup)
title: Urgent: Ban Roundup
uri: Urgent-Ban-Roundup
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#29_January_2023_(Urgent:_Ban_Roundup)
content:
 
<p>

US residents:
<a href="https://environmental-action.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=53211">call on the EPA to ban Roundup</a>.
<p>
If you have disabled the page's JavaScript, you may get a blank
response after signing.  That does not mean anything is wrong;your
signsature has probably been sent in properly.  The blank screen has
text that is rendered invisible by CSS; if your browser gives you a
way to disable the CSS in the page (as Icecat does), that should make
the text appear.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#29_January_2023_(From_deforestation_to_drought)
title: From deforestation to drought
uri: From-deforestation-to-drought
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#29_January_2023_(From_deforestation_to_drought)
content:
 
<p>

*Human activity and drought
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/26/human-activity-and-drought-degrading-more-than-a-third-of-amazon-rainforest">"degrading more than a third of Amazon
 rainforest</a>."*

Drought in Amazonia is <a href="/archives/2015-nov-feb.html#24_November_2015_(Deforestation_in_the_Amazon)">largely caused by cutting down forests</a>
in
Amazonia and <a href="/archives/2009-mar-jun.html#02_March_2015_(Drought_in_Sao_Paulo)">to the east of there</a>
(along the Atlantic).


<!-- waiting on rms to see if we work this polnote in:
<li><a name="30_November_2013_(Increased_drought_and_fire_in_the_western_US)"
/>30 November 2013 (<a class="titlelink"
href="#30_November_2013_(Increased_drought_and_fire_in_the_western_US)">Increased
drought and fire in the western US</a>)
<p>
Research suggests that deforestation in Amazonia will contribute cause
<a href="https://phys.org/news/2013-11-tree-falls-brazilhellip-amazon-deforestation.html">increased
drought and fire in the western US.</a>
-->


<p>
 


title: The reasons for defining antisemitism
uri: The-reasons-for-defining-antisemitism
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(The_reasons_for_defining_antisemitism)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(The_reasons_for_defining_antisemitism)

content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/25/melbourne-university-first-in-australia-to-take-up-controversial-definition-of-antisemitism">The University of Melbourne has decided to adopt the IHRA's biased "definition"
of antisemitism</a>
as part of academic rules intended to prohibit antisemitism.
This tends to be used to prohibit criticism of Israel's treatment of Arabs.
<p>
<a href="/archives/2021-jan-may-html#2_March_2021_(Definition_of_antisemitism)">The IHRA criterion was designed for statistical studies</a>
&mdash; to look at
a large corpus of statements and come up with figures such as the
frequency of antisemitism is in that corpus.
                                 For that purpose, infrequent
misclassification of edge cases is tolerable &mdash; it won't make the
figures useless as long as those edge cases are rare in comparison to
to real antisemitism.  However, in a rule to be imposed on individuals
and organizations, each misclassification is an injustice.
<p>
If the University or Melbourne goes ahead to develop criteria for
<a href="/antiglossary.html#islamophobia">recognizing prejudice against Muslims</a>
, I hope it will not refer to
this prejudice as a "phobia".  That is a fundamental conceptual error.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Africa,_a_status)
title: Africa, a status
uri: Africa-a-status
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Africa,_a_status)
content:
 
<p>

*<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/jan/26/africa-less-safe-secure-and-democratic-in-past-decade-ibrahim-index">Africa has become ‘less safe, secure and democratic’ in past decade</a>,
report finds.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Covid-19_as_empathy_test)
title: Covid-19 as empathy test
uri: Covid-19-as-empathy-test
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Covid-19_as_empathy_test)
content:
 
<p>

George Monbiot: *We are all playing Covid roulette.&hellip; You could
see Covid-19 as an empathy test.
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/26/covid-roulette-clean-air-ventilation-long-covid">Who was prepared to suffer disruption
and inconvenience for the sake of others</a>
[survival and health], and
who was not?*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Social_media,_moderators)
title: Social media, moderators
uri: Social-media-moderators
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Social_media,_moderators)
content:
 
<p>

The question of
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/metas-decision-on-trump-is-a-huge-distraction-from-thoughtful-debate-about-content-moderation-and-how-to-address-the-harms-of-big-tech">how to moderate the corrupter's own postings</a>
on
specific platforms are a side issue of bigger and more important
decisions about the policy for regulating platforms.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Journalism_as_crime,_Russia)
title: Journalism as crime, Russia
uri: Journalism-as-crime-Russia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Journalism_as_crime,_Russia)
content:
 
<p>

Russia has
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/jan/26/russia-outlaws-meduza-in-attempt-to-stamp-out-independent-news">criminalized any kind of cooperation with the reporters of
the news site</a>
Meduza &mdash; including giving an interview.

<p>
 


title: Arizona voting audit, some dark money
uri: Arizona-voting-audit-some-dark-money
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Arizona_voting_audit,_some_dark_money)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Arizona_voting_audit,_some_dark_money)

content:
 
<p>
The wrecker
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/27/trump-secretly-donated-1m-arizona-election-audit">secretly gave a million dollars for the bogus private "audit"</a>
of Arizona's votes.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Putin's_war,_a_dilemna)
title: Putin's war, a dilemna
uri: Putin-s-war-a-dilemna
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Putin's_war,_a_dilemna)
content:
 
<p>
Some US and European
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/nato-tanks-warplanes-to-ukraine">officials are talking about aiming for regime
change in Russia</a>,
even setting the goal of splintering Russia into
several countries.  This is dangerous.
<p>
In addition, it will tend to prolong the war even beyond recovering
Ukraine's territory.
<p>
I said in March that <a href="/archives/2022-mar-jun.html#29_April_2022_(Weakening_the_Putin_forces)">we should assure Putin that driving him out
      of power in Russia is not one of the west's aims</a>.
   to give him the chance to decide to end the war with no victory.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Identifying_real_estate,_UK)
title: Identifying real estate, UK
uri: Identifying-real-estate-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Identifying_real_estate,_UK)
content:
 
<p>

*<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/27/tory-donors-own-uk-properties-via-more-than-150-offshore-firms">[Rich] Tory donors own UK properties via more than 150 offshore firms</a>.*
<p>
Those companies' purpose was to hide the ownership of those properties.
It is being <a href="/archives/2022-mar-jun.html#1_March_2022_(Russian_oligarchs)">revealed now because the UK has required</a>
the true owners
to identify themselves.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Free_Russian_radio,_EU)
title: Free Russian radio, EU
uri: Free-Russian-radio-EU
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Free_Russian_radio,_EU)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/27/senior-eu-official-calls-for-a-radio-free-russia-to-help-exiled-media">Proposing a "Radio Free Russia"</a>
for transmitting the work of exiled
Russian journalists to Russia.

<p>
 


title: Immigrant and government, no love, UK
uri: Immigrant-and-government-no-love-UK
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Immigrant_and_government,_no_love,_UK)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Immigrant_and_government,_no_love,_UK)

content:
 
<p>

*In abandoning a commitment to create the post of a migrants’
commissioner to identify problems with the immigration system as
well as a pledge to increase the powers of the independent chief
inspector of borders and immigration, [Minister] Braverman is
making it very clear that
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/27/justice-suella-braverman-windrush-scandal-broken-pledges">the government does not care about
immigrants</a>
&mdash; past, present, or future.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Nuclear_power_plants,_dismantling)
title: Nuclear power plants, dismantling
uri: Nuclear-power-plants-dismantling
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Nuclear_power_plants,_dismantling)
content:
 
<p>

Antinuclear activists warn that the release of tritium-containing
water from the retired Indian Point nuclear reactors, and 
demolition of their structure, will release radioactive materials
and they may be damaging.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/indian-point-wastewater

I can't say that is impossible, but the arguments presented in this
article by Caldecott and other opponents are based on an error.
<p>
It is true that no amount of radiation exposure is so small as to be
absolutely harmless.  It does not follow that any increment in
radiation or radioactive material, not matter how small, is cause for
great alarm.  Radiation is everywhere, and radionuclides are
everywhere.  Adding a tiny fraction of the amount already present has
an effect which is nonzero, but the resulting increment in danger may
be so small as to be insignificant as regards public health.
<p>
Will the tritium releases of the operations now planned cause a
significant increment in danger?  I don't know the answer; I don't
know how to calculate it.  But that is the proper basis for judging
these issues.
<p>
The release of tritiated water is one issue, and dust from the
demolition is another issue.  It could be that one is dangerous and
the other is not.  Each one ought to be studied and calculated.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Depleted_uranium,_battlefields)
title: Depleted uranium, battlefields
uri: Depleted-uranium-battlefields
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Depleted_uranium,_battlefields)
content:
 
<p>

A Russian official pointed out that
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/depleted-uranium">depleted uranium munitions,
and the depleted uranium armor</a>
in newer model Abrams tanks,
will cause lasting danger in Ukraine.
<p>
I can't estimate whether depleted uranium munitions will injure as
many Ukrainians as the Putin forces' weapons.  But comparing the two
is irrelevant, because they are independent problems.
<p>
I expect that the US government will use the fact that this comes from
hypocritical Putin to pretend that the danger is just one of Putin's
lies.  He can't believe anything on his say-so lie, but this time what
he said was accurate.
<p>
Putin does not care about Ukrainian lives.  He might care about
hypothetical Russians who might someday live on conquered Ukrainian
territory.  But what Putin thinks is a side issue.  If future
Ukrainian lives matter <em>to us</em>, we should push for the US to protect
Ukraine from depleted uranium, regardless of what Putin thinks.
<p>
I saw a headline today that the US plans to give Ukraine the new
Abrams tanks with depleted uranium in the armor.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Women_in_politics,_New_Zealand)
title: Women in politics, New Zealand
uri: Women-in-politics-New-Zealand
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Women_in_politics,_New_Zealand)
content:
 
<p>

Hate-spreading
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/28/abuse-death-threats-and-riots-new-zealand-reckons-with-a-toxic-political-discourse">right-wing fantasists are driving women out of New
Zealand politics</a>
through intimidation.

<p>
 


title: Big Pharma, over-pricing solutions
uri: Big-Pharma-over-pricing-solutions
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Big_Pharma,_over-pricing_solutions)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Big_Pharma,_over-pricing_solutions)

content:
 
<p>

Ralph Nader challenges Bernie Sanders to
<a href="https://mailchi.mp/nader/drug-price-showdown-time-for-chairman-bernie-sanders-ovjz4lvmow?e=555e9be067">move beyond denouncing Big Pharma
and take some action</a>
independently of them.
<p>
That's a bit unfair, because taking action usually requires passing laws,
and the plutocratists in the Senate are on Big Pharma's side, so they
will block that.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Free_software,_a_neo-Luddism)
title: Free software, a neo-Luddism
uri: Free-software-a-neo-Luddism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Free_software,_a_neo-Luddism)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://theconversation.com/im-a-luddite-you-should-be-one-too-163172">Arguments for the Luddite cause</a>.
<p>
A world in which software is free will be a big step forward for people's
control over the digital technology we use.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Congress members into Wall Street
uri: Urgent-Congress-members-into-Wall-Street
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Urgent:_Congress_members_into_Wall_Street)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Urgent:_Congress_members_into_Wall_Street)

content:
 
<p>

US citizens:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/ban-members-of-congress-from-buying-and-selling-individual-stocks-2?nowrapper=true&referrer=group-patriotic-millionaires&source=direct_link">call on Congress to ban members of Congress from buying
 and selling individual stocks</a>.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Ban members of Congress from buying and selling individual stocks
uri: Urgent-Ban-members-of-Congress-from-buying-and-selling-individual-sto
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Urgent:_Ban_members_of_Congress_from_buying_and_selling_individual_stocks)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Urgent:_Ban_members_of_Congress_from_buying_and_selling_individual_stocks)

content:
 
<p>

US citizens: call on Congress to <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/ban-members-of-congress-from-buying-and-selling-individual-stocks-2">ban members of Congress from buying
    and selling individual stocks</a>.

The Capitol Switchboard numbers are
<a href="tel:+12022243121">+1-202-224-3121</a>,
<a href="tel:+18888186641">+1-888-818-6641</a> and
<a href="tel:+18883553588">+1-888-355-3588</a>.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!<p>

 


title: Hotline for Putin forces to call and arrange surrender
uri: Hotline-for-Putin-forces-to-call-and-arrange-surrender
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Hotline_for_Putin_forces_to_call_and_arrange_surrender)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Hotline_for_Putin_forces_to_call_and_arrange_surrender)

content:
 
<p>

  Ukraine has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/26/ukraine-hotline-encouraging-russians-to-surrender">set up a hotline</a> for Putin forces soldiers to call to
discuss how to arrange to surrender.

 


title: "Moderate" Democrats are joining Republicans
uri: Moderate-Democrats-are-joining-Republicans
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Moderate_Democrats_are_joining_Republicans)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Moderate_Democrats_are_joining_Republicans)

content:
 
<p>

  Plutocratist "moderate" Democrats are <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/01/25/jeff-yass-megadonor-moderate-pac/">joining with Republicans</a> (also
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#plutocratist">plutocratist</a>) to defeat progressive Democrats in Democratic primaries.

 


title: Biden on oil and gas drilling permits
uri: Biden-on-oil-and-gas-drilling-permits
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Biden_on_oil_and_gas_drilling_permits)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Biden_on_oil_and_gas_drilling_permits)

content:
 
<p>
  
  *Biden <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/biden-trump-drilling-public-lands">Outpaces [the wrecker]</a> on Oil and
 Gas [drilling] Permits.*

 


title: Proposal to subcontract NHS medicine to private clinics
uri: Proposal-to-subcontract-NHS-medicine-to-private-clinics
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Proposal_to_subcontract_NHS_medicine_to_private_clinics)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Proposal_to_subcontract_NHS_medicine_to_private_clinics)

content:
 
<p>

  Starmer proposes to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/25/keir-starmers-private-prescription-for-the-nhs-is-dangerous">subcontract NHS medicine</a> to private clinics.
<p>
That is a recipe for a brain drain from NHS clinics to private clinics.

Union Pacific spending on stock buybacks
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(*While_blocking_paid_sick_leave,)
title: *While blocking paid sick leave,
uri: While-blocking-paid-sick-leave
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(*While_blocking_paid_sick_leave,)
content:
 
<p>

  Union Pacific [railroad] <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/union-pacific-stock-buybacks">spent more on stock buybacks</a> than [on] workers.*

 


title: (satire) Anonymous return of classified documents
uri: (satire)-Anonymous-return-of-classified-documents
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_((satire)_Anonymous_return_of_classified_documents)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_((satire)_Anonymous_return_of_classified_documents)

content:
 
<p>

(satire) <a href="https://www.theonion.com/drop-box-outside-national-archives-allows-ex-presidents-1850041510">*Drop Box Outside National Archives Allows Ex-Presidents To
    Anonymously Return Classified Documents.*</a>

 


title: London thug taking photos of corpses
uri: London-thug-taking-photos-of-corpses
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(London_thug_taking_photos_of_corpses)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(London_thug_taking_photos_of_corpses)

content:
 
<p>

Two sides of corpse fetishism: a London thug was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/27/met-police-officer-sacked-for-requesting-photo-of-dead-man">fired for taking photos
    of two corpses</a>.
<p>
I don't understand why he wanted the photos, nor do I understand why
the department did not want him to have them.

 


title: Prisoners in Australia's Guantanamo commit suicide
uri: Prisoners-in-Australia-s-Guantanamo-commit-suicide
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Prisoners_in_Australia's_Guantanamo_commit_suicide)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Prisoners_in_Australia's_Guantanamo_commit_suicide)

content:
 
<p>

In Australia's Guantanamo, the security is not as tight as in the
American Guantanamo; some prisoners <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/29/iraqi-man-dies-in-suspected-suicide-at-villawood-immigration-detention-centre">succeed in escape via suicide</a>.

 


title: Memphis thug department disbanded "scorpion" unit
uri: Memphis-thug-department-disbanded-scorpion-unit
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Memphis_thug_department_disbanded_scorpion_unit)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Memphis_thug_department_disbanded_scorpion_unit)

content:
 
<p>

  The Memphis thug department has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/28/memphis-police-scorpion-unit-disbanded">disbanded the "scorpion" unit</a>, some
of whose members killed Tyre Nichols.
<p>
For a thug department to give any group of <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> a name which refers to
a venomous and deadly animal seems misguided.

 


title: Fundamental threat to freedom of speech and free press
uri: Fundamental-threat-to-freedom-of-speech-and-free-press
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Fundamental_threat_to_freedom_of_speech_and_free_press)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Fundamental_threat_to_freedom_of_speech_and_free_press)

content:
 
<p>

  *The Assange prosecution poses a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/julian-assange-belmarsh-tribunal">fundamental threat</a> to the freedom of speech and a free press.*

 


title: Campaign to eliminate nouns that designate subsets of humanity
uri: Campaign-to-eliminate-nouns-that-designate-subsets-of-humanity
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Campaign_to_eliminate_nouns_that_designate_subsets_of_humanity)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Campaign_to_eliminate_nouns_that_designate_subsets_of_humanity)

content:
 
<p>

Associated Press Stylebook endorsed the pressure campaign to eliminate
all nouns that designate subsets of humanity, citing a peculiar excuse
&mdash; the need for an article before those nouns.  It <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/jan/28/ap-issues-clarification-over-its-advice-not-to-use-term-the-french">brought ridicule on
    itself</a>.
<p>
However, I don't think they have retreated from this pressure campaign.
<p>
Whether you say "the French", or "French people", they are not all
alike.  They differ from each other.  That is no justification for the
pressure campaign.

 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(CO2_pipeline)
title: CO2 pipeline
uri: CO2-pipeline
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(CO2_pipeline)
content:
 
<p>

Big Oil wants to build a 2000-mile pipeline to transport CO2 to a place where
it can be buried.  The landowners whose land they would need to cross are 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/midwest-carbon-express-opposition">fighting to block it</a>.
<p>
I oppose this pipeline because it carbon storage is unproved and
switching to renewable generation is surely cheaper and better for
decarbonization.  However, I am disappointed that the authors are so
obsessed with race that they perceive a need to apologize for
supporting, this time, a group of environmental defenders who happen
to be white.

 


title: Murders carried out by uniformed thugs
uri: Murders-carried-out-by-uniformed-thugs
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Murders_carried_out_by_uniformed_thugs)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Murders_carried_out_by_uniformed_thugs)

content:
 
<p>

The main causes of murders carried out by uniformed <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> is the
general <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/28/the-killing-of-tyre-nichols-was-heinous-and-shocking-it-was-also-not-an-aberration">violent attitude of most US thug departments</a>.
<p>
That violent attitude is directed mainly at blacks, so <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> (even
black <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a>) are more likely to kill blacks than whites.  This is
ironic but it's the natural consequence of the violent approach that
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> learn to consider normal.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Julian_Assange_rally)
title: Julian Assange rally
uri: Julian-Assange-rally
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Julian_Assange_rally)
content:
 
<p>
The next rally for Julian Assange will be at the Park Street Station
on Feb 11th from 11:30 to 12:30.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Solar_and_wind_cheaper_than_coal)
title: Solar and wind cheaper than coal
uri: Solar-and-wind-cheaper-than-coal
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Solar_and_wind_cheaper_than_coal)
content:
 
<p>
*It is cheaper [in the US] to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/30/us-coal-more-expensive-than-renewable-energy-study">build solar panels or cluster of wind
turbines and connect them to the grid</a> than to keep operating coal
plants.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Protesters_sentenced_to_death)
title: Protesters sentenced to death
uri: Protesters-sentenced-to-death
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Protesters_sentenced_to_death)
content:
 
<p>
*Iranian protesters sentenced to death <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/30/iranian-protesters-tortured-amnesty-report">were tortured</a>, says Amnesty report.*
<p>
In the 1980s, Iran's new (at that time) Islamic Republic
used to treat trials as a pointless inconvenience.  That tendency
is still present.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Jamón_ibérico)
title: Jamón ibérico
uri: Jamón-ibérico
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Jamón_ibérico)
content:
 
<p>
Global heating threatens the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/30/spains-prized-jamon-iberico-under-threat-from-climate-crisis">production of jamón ibérico</a>.
The oak forests are producing fewer of the acorns that the pigs eat.
<p>
Eventually that forest may disappear, and its ecosystem.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Iraq_marshlands_drying)
title: Iraq marshlands drying
uri: Iraq-marshlands-drying
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Iraq_marshlands_drying)
content:
 
<p>
Iraq's ancient marshlands, where the Tigris and Euphrates enter the
Persian Gulf, are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/29/death-in-the-marshes-environmental-calamity-hits-iraqs-unique-wetlands">drying out and dying</a> due to global heating with help from other causes.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Challenge abortion bans that violate federal law
uri: Urgent-Challenge-abortion-bans-that-violate-federal-law
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Urgent:_Challenge_abortion_bans_that_violate_federal_law)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Urgent:_Challenge_abortion_bans_that_violate_federal_law)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens: call on the Justice Department to <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-the-petition-to-the-justice-department-challenge-all-state-abortion-bans-that-violate-federal-law?nowrapper=true&referrer=group-healthcarevoices&source=2023DOJStop_HCV">challenge all state
abortion bans that violate federal law</a>.

Urgent: Keep Ilhan Omar on the House Foreign Affairs Committee
US citizens: call on Congress to <a href="https://act.winwithoutwar.org/go/34272?c0=support-rep-omars-seat-hfac.P0wVuq&source=em20230126_2&t=1006&akid=8575%2E223515%2EoeZZIu">keep Ilhan Omar on the House Foreign
Affairs Committee</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Tory_and_NHS)
title: Tory and NHS
uri: Tory-and-NHS
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Tory_and_NHS)
content:
 
<p>
Years of Tory attacks against the NHS have made it very <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/29/nhs-workers-reveal-extent-of-workplace-pressures">difficult for
doctors to work there</a>.  Around 40% are planning to quit within the
next 5 years.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(UK_anti-protest_bill)
title: UK anti-protest bill
uri: UK-anti-protest-bill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(UK_anti-protest_bill)
content:
 
<p>
Hong Kong exiles in the UK called on the Tories <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/29/hongkongers-in-uk-ask-suella-braverman-to-ditch-repressive-anti-protest-bill">not to follow China's example</a>
by criminalizing peaceful protest.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Homeless_man_attacked_by_thugs)
title: Homeless man attacked by thugs
uri: Homeless-man-attacked-by-thugs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Homeless_man_attacked_by_thugs)
content:
 
<p>
Two Florida thugs <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/29/florida-officers-kidnap-assault-homeless-man">grabbed a homeless man (whom they may have recognized),
handcuffed him, took him to an isolated place, and beat him unconscious</a>.
<p>
There is no indication of a plausible motive for this attack.
<p>
The thugs have been arrested.  Hooray!

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Santos's_fund-raising_fraud)
title: Santos's fund-raising fraud
uri: Santos-s-fund-raising-fraud
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Santos's_fund-raising_fraud)
content:
 
<p>
Rep. Santos's fund-raising reports mention fund-raising supporters who
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/george-santos-donors-fec-doj">don't seem to exist, nor do their addresses exist</a>.
There seems to be a criminal investigation into this.
<p>
The Republican Party has gone out of its way to demonstrate
that it will tolerate any sort of crimes among its elected officials
and supporters.  But it may be powerless to stop Santos from bring convicted and imprisoned.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Tunisian_protest)
title: Tunisian protest
uri: Tunisian-protest
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Tunisian_protest)
content:
 
<p>
Tunisians <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/30/tunisian-election-records-11-turnout-in-rejection-of-presidents-reforms">protested the president's diminution of the power of the voters</a>
by boycotting recent parliamentary elections.

<p>
 


title: Central banks handled inflation wrong
uri: Central-banks-handled-inflation-wrong
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Central_banks_handled_inflation_wrong)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Central_banks_handled_inflation_wrong)

content:
 
<p>
Stiglitz: economic developments confirm that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jan/27/how-should-you-fight-inflation-spoiler-alert-not-with-interest-rate-rises">central banks have
handled inflation wrong</a>, based on a misguided model of what was
causing it.  The increases in interest rates were unnecessary
treatment for the wrong disease.

<p>
 


title: Georgia seeks to define "Cop City" protests as terrorism
uri: Georgia-seeks-to-define-Cop-City-protests-as-terrorism
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Georgia_seeks_to_define_Cop_City_protests_as_terrorism)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Georgia_seeks_to_define_Cop_City_protests_as_terrorism)

content:
 
<p>
*Georgia is seeking to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/28/georgia-cop-city-atlanta-protests">define "Cop City" protests as terrorism</a>, experts say.*
In fact, these protests are generally peaceful.
<p>
Breaking windows as a protest is not peaceful, but it is not terrorism
either.  To <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2015-jan-apr.html#20_March_2015_(US_National_Defense_University)">stretch the definition of "terrorism"</a>
is <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2012-mar-jun.html#08_June_2012_(FBI_labels_dissidents_as_terrorists)">the everpresent
danger from officials that incline towards repression</a>, as US officials
often do.
<p>
Officials in <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2015-may-aug.html#27_June_2015_(Australia's_definition_of_terrorism)">other countries</a> do it too.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Ban facial recognition and other biometric technology in places of public accommodation
uri: Urgent-Ban-facial-recognition-and-other-biometric-technology-in-place
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Urgent:_Ban_facial_recognition_and_other_biometric_technology_in_places_of_public_accommodation)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Urgent:_Ban_facial_recognition_and_other_biometric_technology_in_places_of_public_accommodation)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens: call for a <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/venue-owners-are-using-facial-recognition-to-keep-foes-out-of-shows?nowrapper=true">ban on the use of facial recognition and other
biometric technology in places of public accommodation</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(US_suffers_from_secrecy)
title: US suffers from secrecy
uri: US-suffers-from-secrecy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(US_suffers_from_secrecy)
content:
 
<p>
The US government suffers, in general, from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/28/biden-pence-trump-documents-crisis-overclassification-jameel-jaffer">too much secrecy, plus a
double standard for enforcement of secrecy rules</a> (important officials
are treated with leniency).
<p>
The problem of oversecrecy was recognized decades ago, but it got much
worse through overreaction to the Sep 2001 attacks.  In general, the US
reaction to those attacks has been quite harmful (<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2005-nov-feb.html#07%20November%202005%20(A%20list%20of%20lies)">most notably,
attacking Iraq based on lies</a>).
<p>
Whether to mark something as secret depends on a judgment call by some
official.  The structure of this tends to push officials towards
oversecrecy.  If they don't mark something secret, and later on it
appears that publishing it may have caused some bad consequences,
people will blame them.  If they do mark something secret, and later
on it appears that concealing it caused some bad consequences, no one
will blame them.  For their career safety, they mark it secret by
default.  Systematically, the result is oversecrecy.

 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#1_February_2023_(Pebble_Mine_rejected)
title: Pebble Mine rejected
uri: Pebble-Mine-rejected
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#1_February_2023_(Pebble_Mine_rejected)
content:
 
<p>
The EPA <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/epa-issues-landmark-clean-water-act-decision-protecting-bristol-bay-watershed-from-pebble-mine">rejected the Pebble Mine</a> and thus protected Bristol Bay, Alaska.

<p>
 


title: Breaking up military-industrial complex
uri: Breaking-up-military-industrial-complex
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#1_February_2023_(Breaking_up_military-industrial_complex)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#1_February_2023_(Breaking_up_military-industrial_complex)

content:
 
<p>
A former member of the US military-industrial complex
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/the-truth-about-the-military-industrial-complex">calls for help in breaking it up</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#1_February_2023_(Jailed_for_dancing)
title: Jailed for dancing
uri: Jailed-for-dancing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#1_February_2023_(Jailed_for_dancing)
content:
 
<p>
*Iranian couple <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/31/iranian-couple-filmed-dancing-in-tehran-are-jailed-for-10-years">filmed dancing in Tehran</a> are jailed for 10 years.*

<p>
 


title: Flaw with the term "gender-affirming surgery"
uri: Flaw-with-the-term-gender-affirming-surgery
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#1_February_2023_(Flaw_with_the_term_gender-affirming_surgery)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#1_February_2023_(Flaw_with_the_term_gender-affirming_surgery)

content:
 
<p>
The term "gender-affirming surgery" has a serious flaw as a way of
defining a category of surgical operations: it is subjective, not
objective.  Specifically, it is stated in terms of what someone
(presumably the patient) <em>thinks</em> about the operation, not in terms of
what the operation concretely <em>does</em>.
<p>
One patient might say, "I see this operation as affirming my gender,
so I want to have it."  Another patient might say, of the same
operation, "This would go against gender, so I don't want it."
<p>
We need an objective way to define and refer to this class of
operations, one independent of whether a given patient wants such an
operation or not.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#1_February_2023_(Israel_attacks_Iran)
title: Israel attacks Iran
uri: Israel-attacks-Iran
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#1_February_2023_(Israel_attacks_Iran)
content:
 
<p>
Drones were used to attack some sort of building or base in Iran.
US officials said that <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/israel-iran-attack-war">Israel carried out the attack</a>.
<p>
We don't know what that target is, or what it does, or what purpose it
serves.  However, this is likely to provoke war with Iran.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#1_February_2023_(Replacing_concrete_and_steel)
title: Replacing concrete and steel
uri: Replacing-concrete-and-steel
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#1_February_2023_(Replacing_concrete_and_steel)
content:
 
<p>
Replacing concrete and steel in construction with sophisticated spiral
plywood can <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/jan/30/caress-lift-eco-office-block-miracle-wood-timber-black-white">reduce CO2 emissions by 40%</a>, because the carbon in the wood
never gets converted to CO2.
<p>
It can even be fireproof in temperatures that would melt steel.

<p>
 


title: Dementia home care in UK systematically skimping
uri: Dementia-home-care-in-UK-systematically-skimping
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#1_February_2023_(Dementia_home_care_in_UK_systematically_skimping)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#1_February_2023_(Dementia_home_care_in_UK_systematically_skimping)

content:
 
<p>
Agencies that send workers to visit demented people at home
in the UK have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/30/dementia-home-care-agency-half-hour-visits-lasted-little-three-minutes">systematically skimping</a>.
<p>
The term "agency" might suggest that this is a state agency, but I
suspect that it refers in this case to a profit making business.
Can anyone tell me for a fact whether that is so?
<p>
If this is a business, I suspect it is making money hand over fist,
paying its workers a pittance and charging patients' families for work
not done.  But I find it hard to believe that the workers initiated
the practice and hide the fraud from their employer.  I can't help
suspecting that the business taught its workers to engage in fraud,
and that the state knows about it but looks the other way.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#1_February_2023_(Contraception_vending_machines)
title: Contraception vending machines
uri: Contraception-vending-machines
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#1_February_2023_(Contraception_vending_machines)
content:
 
<p>
Some US universities have set up <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/30/george-washington-university-emergency-contraception-vending-machine">vending machines to sell emergency
contraception</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#1_February_2023_((Satire)_ChatGPT_bar_exam)
title: (Satire) ChatGPT bar exam
uri: (Satire)-ChatGPT-bar-exam
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#1_February_2023_((Satire)_ChatGPT_bar_exam)
content:
 
<p>
(satire) *ChatGPT <a href="https://www.theonion.com/chatgpt-forced-to-take-bar-exam-even-though-dream-was-t-1850036337">Forced To Take Bar Exam</a> Even Though
Dream Was To Be AI Art Bot.*
<p>
  If an Onion page appears blank, try disabling Javascript entirely or
  telling LibreJS to blacklist all scripts in the page, then
  right-click and select item "Reveal hidden HTML". Or use a browser
  such as lynx that doesn't implement Javascript and CSS.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#1_February_2023_(Criminalizing_anything_irregular)
title: Criminalizing anything irregular
uri: Criminalizing-anything-irregular
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#1_February_2023_(Criminalizing_anything_irregular)
content:
 
<p>
The US has a leaning towards <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/28/us/new-jersey-high-school-adult-woman-student-trnd/index.html">criminalizing anything irregular</a>.
A 29-year-old woman faces criminal charges for claiming to be a teenager
so as to enroll in a public school, and presenting a false birth certificate
to make that possible.
<p>
I can't understand this response -- wouldn't it be sufficient to
disenroll her?  None of the articles I have seen makes any attempt to
justify or explain the harshness.  Perhaps the reason is taboo.

<p>
 


title: US utilities shut off power to millions
uri: US-utilities-shut-off-power-to-millions
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#1_February_2023_(US_utilities_shut_off_power_to_millions)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#1_February_2023_(US_utilities_shut_off_power_to_millions)

content:
 
<p>
*US utilities <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/29/us-utilities-shut-off-power-to-millions-amid-record-profits">shut off power to millions amid record corporate profits</a>.*
<p>
It's the government's responsibility to prevent such harm.  There are
various ways to do it.  One way would be to increase the taxes those
utilities (and other corporations) actually pay, and give some of that
money to poor Americans.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#1_February_2023_(Queensland_stop-and-search)
title: Queensland stop-and-search
uri: Queensland-stop-and-search
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#1_February_2023_(Queensland_stop-and-search)
content:
 
<p>
Queensland proposes to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/30/racial-profiling-fears-raised-as-queensland-seeks-to-expand-police-search-powers">legalize stop-and-search</a> with no specific suspicion.
<p>
In the US and in the UK, this is an invitation to <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jan-apr.html#19_January_2019_(US_stop-and-search_racial_profiling)">racial</a> <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2018-sep-dec.html#18_October_2018_(Racial_profiling_for_drug_searches)">profiling</a>.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Keep Ilhan Omar on the House Foreign Affairs Committee
uri: Urgent-Keep-Ilhan-Omar-on-the-House-Foreign-Affairs-Committee
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Urgent:_Keep_Ilhan_Omar_on_the_House_Foreign_Affairs_Committee)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#31_January_2023_(Urgent:_Keep_Ilhan_Omar_on_the_House_Foreign_Affairs_Committee)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens: call on Congress to <a href="https://act.winwithoutwar.org/go/34272?c0=support-rep-omars-seat-hfac.P0wVuq&source=em20230126_2&t=1006&akid=8575%2E223515%2EoeZZIu">keep Ilhan Omar on the House Foreign
Affairs Committee</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(US's_jurisdiction_over_Haiti)
title: US's jurisdiction over Haiti
uri: US-s-jurisdiction-over-Haiti
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(US's_jurisdiction_over_Haiti)
content:
 
<p>
Suspects in the murder of Jovenel Moïse, the imposed president of Haiti,
were <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/01/key-suspects-in-killing-of-haiti-president-jovenel-moise-sent-to-us-for-trial">sent to the US for trial</a>.
<p>
Can anyone explain to me how it is that the US has jurisdiction
over a murder in Haiti?

<p>
 


title: UK foreign property owner requirements
uri: UK-foreign-property-owner-requirements
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(UK_foreign_property_owner_requirements)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(UK_foreign_property_owner_requirements)

content:
 
<p>
Despite the UK's new requirement for foreign entities that own UK
property to state who the real owners are, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/30/offshore-companies-with-uk-property-not-stating-beneficial-owners">loopholes allow some of
those owners to continue to hide their identity</a>.

<p>
 


title: German government sides with coal mine
uri: German-government-sides-with-coal-mine
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(German_government_sides_with_coal_mine)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(German_government_sides_with_coal_mine)

content:
 
<p>
The German government, including the Green Party, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/the-battle-of-lutzerath">chose the side of
building a new coal mine</a>.  It needed thousands of uniformed thugs
to defeat the 35,000 protesters who tried to block the conversion
of a village into a coal mine.
<p>
Destroying a town for public purposes is sometimes legitimate.  (All
the inhabitants of that town were compensated and given time to move.)
Four towns were inundated to make the Quabbin reservoir which brings
rain water to the Boston metro area.  But building additional fossil
fuel facilities steers our future towards climate breakdown.

<p>
 


title: Thugs called over children walking to store
uri: Thugs-called-over-children-walking-to-store
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(Thugs_called_over_children_walking_to_store)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(Thugs_called_over_children_walking_to_store)

content:
 
<p>
Parents in a small town in Connecticut let their children, ages 7 and
9, walk a mile to a store.  <a href="https://www.freerangekids.com/who-decides-when-kids-are-old-enough-to-walk-to-dunkin-donuts/">Someone freaked out and called the thug
department</a>.  The parents now face criminal charges.

<p>
 


title: The black thugs that helped kill Tyre Nichols
uri: The-black-thugs-that-helped-kill-Tyre-Nichols
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(The_black_thugs_that_helped_kill_Tyre_Nichols)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(The_black_thugs_that_helped_kill_Tyre_Nichols)

content:
 
<p>
Memphis <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/31/tyre-nichols-death-white-officer-preston-hemphill">published the names of the black thugs that helped to kill
Tyre Nichols</a>, but concealed until this week the name of the white thug
who was involved, and what role he played.
<p>
This could represent bigotry.

The report seem also seems to try to cover up some aspects of the
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a>' violence.
<p>
Speaking of bigotry, the article displays symbolic bigotry by
capitalizing "black" but not "white".  (To avoid endorsing bigotry,
capitalize both words or neither one.)  Normally I do not link to
articles that do this, but I make exceptions for some articles that I
consider particularly important, such as the first one.
<p>
It should not be surprising that blacks <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/29/opinions/tyre-nichols-tapes-opinion-column-galant/index.html">can absorb from white society
the widespread ideas of bigotry</a> against blacks.
<p>
Ideas for what could <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/30/politics/police-reform-tyre-nichols-what-matters/index.html">make for a real change in the violence of thugs
against blacks</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(UK_voter_IDs)
title: UK voter IDs
uri: UK-voter-IDs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(UK_voter_IDs)
content:
 
<p>
Supposedly UK voters can cope with the new voter-ID law by applying
for special government identification, but <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/31/only-10000-people-in-uk-have-applied-for-government-issued-voter-id">only .5% of the people who
would need one in order to vote have applied</a>.

<p>
 


title: Huntington Park thugs kill amputee
uri: Huntington-Park-thugs-kill-amputee
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(Huntington_Park_thugs_kill_amputee)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(Huntington_Park_thugs_kill_amputee)

content:
 
<p>
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#thug">Thugs</a> in Huntington Park, California, ran towards Anthony Lowe with
guns drawn.  He dropped off his wheelchair and tried to pull his body
away from them, but he could not move very fast that way; then they
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/31/anthony-lowe-police-killing-amputee-huntington-park">shot him dead</a>.
<p>
It appears they did not run their body cameras.  That in itself
is suspect.  I've proposed automatic systems that will activate
body cameras at the sound of a shot (or a taser) and will save
the previous five minutes of video as well as subsequent video.

<p>
 


title: Rwandan journalist's suspicious death
uri: Rwandan-journalist-s-suspicious-death
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(Rwandan_journalist's_suspicious_death)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(Rwandan_journalist's_suspicious_death)

content:
 
<p>
*"Suspicious death" of Rwandan journalist <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/jan/31/suspicious-death-rwandan-journalist-john-williams-ntwali-prompts-calls-for-investigation">prompts calls for investigation</a>.*

<p>
 


title: Urgent: stop corporate profiteering off of COVID vaccines
uri: Urgent-stop-corporate-profiteering-off-of-COVID-vaccines
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(Urgent:_stop_corporate_profiteering_off_of_COVID_vaccines)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(Urgent:_stop_corporate_profiteering_off_of_COVID_vaccines)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens: call on Congress to <a href="https://act.demandprogress.org/sign/moderna-vaccine-price-hikes/?t=1001&akid=30298%2E96703%2ErYWP7K">stop corporate profiteering off of
COVID vaccines, by guaranteeing free access to all Americans</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(Burmese_military_bombing_villages)
title: Burmese military bombing villages
uri: Burmese-military-bombing-villages
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(Burmese_military_bombing_villages)
content:
 
<p>
The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/31/monster-from-the-sky-two-years-on-from-coup-myanmar-junta-increases-airstrikes-on-civilians">Burmese military rulers repeatedly bomb villages of civilians</a>.
<p>
*[Burma] junta <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/01/myanmars-air-force-targeted-by-sanctions-two-years-on-from-military-coup-protest-strike">hit by western sanctions</a> as "silent strikes" mark coup
anniversary.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(US_dairy_policies)
title: US dairy policies
uri: US-dairy-policies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(US_dairy_policies)
content:
 
<p>
*US dairy policies drive small farms to '<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/31/us-dairy-policies-hurt-small-farms-monopolies-get-rich">get big or get out</a>' as
monopolies get rich.*
<p>
Industrial concentration is the cause of a range of injustices and suffering.
We need <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2020-sep-dec.html#4_October_2020_(We_should_break_up_monopolies_in_lots_of_fields)">policies to break up those monopolies</a>; any policy which does the opposite simply must be changed.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(Twisty_asylum_restriction_maze)
title: Twisty asylum restriction maze
uri: Twisty-asylum-restriction-maze
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(Twisty_asylum_restriction_maze)
content:
 
<p>
A twisty maze of regulations and restrictions -- in the US, in Mexico,
and in other countries -- <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/31/us-mexico-border-aylum-seekers-biden-rule-change">make it very difficult for anyone to
exercise the right to request asylum</a> in the US, even to follow the
long and slow procedure the US imposes for doing so.
<p>
The "Title 42" system of making asylum-requester stay in Mexico runs
into a problem since Mexico won't let them stay there.
<p>
An additional aspect of oppression in this system is the US requirement
to use a snoop-phone app, "CBP One".  Those programs are <a href="https://gnu.org/malware/">nonfree and
typically malware</a>.
So are the operating systems of the snoop-phones themselves.
<p>
For governments to make them the only way to communicate with a
government agency for some purpose is in itself unjust.  So, for the
same reason, are "web apps" that send substantial Javascript programs
that users have to run in their own computers.  Knowing the US
government, I expect it abuses that power grossly when it gets the
chance.
<p>
I'm sure most of the people compelled to run "CBP One" hardly care
about that injustice, given the painfulness of their situations in
general.  But unlike those. this one tends to spread to non-refugees
-- to everyone.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(Olympics)
title: Olympics
uri: 2023-02-02-Olympics
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(Olympics)
content:
 
<p>
Olympic games tend to spread <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/31/france-paris-olympics-ai-video-surveillance-law">permanent increases in surveillance and
repression</a> wherever they go.  The next victim will be Paris.
<p>
I've urged the citizens of cities in more-or-less-free countries to
defeat those cities' Olympic bids.  In addition to <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jul-oct.html#3_August_2016_(Olympics)">repression</a>
and <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2012-mar-jun.html#14_March_2012_(Olympic_Burden)">surveillance</a>,
they <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-may-aug.html#15_June_2016_(Olympic_Games_security_measures)">tend to crush poor people</a>
and <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-mar-jun.html#25_May_2017_(Neighborhood_evicted_for_Rio_Olympics)">especially homeless people</a>,
and <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2012-may-aug.html#12_July_2012_(Olympic_Games)">transfer a lot of public money to big companies</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(National_debt)
title: National debt
uri: 2023-02-02-National-debt
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(National_debt)
content:
 
<p>
Robert Reich: the growing national debt is mainly due <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/tax-the-rich-debt-ceiling">letting the rich
pay too little tax</a>.

<p>
 


title: UK libel law used to suppress truth
uri: UK-libel-law-used-to-suppress-truth
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(UK_libel_law_used_to_suppress_truth)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#2_February_2023_(UK_libel_law_used_to_suppress_truth)

content:
 
<p>
British libel law still <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2023/jan/31/russia-ukraine-war-reveals-englands-draconian-libel-laws-says-lawyer">lends itself to use by rich people to suppress
truthful journalism</a>.  The fact that Russian oligarchs who are personally
under UK sanctions are doing so is especially embarrassing, but it is just as bad when British plutocrats do it.
<p>
The Tories are planning to make this even worse.  They are working to
change thousands of laws all at once -- laws imposed by the EU to
protect human rights and regulations to protect people's health.
This includes changes that would make libel suits an even easier
way for rich people to bury the truth.

<p>
 


title: ‘As terrifying as it is absurd’: Greens lash facial recognition plan for all NSW pubs and clubs
uri: As-terrifying-as-it-is-absurd-Greens-lash-facial-recognition-pl
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_(aus_pubs_facial_recognition_gambling)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_(aus_pubs_facial_recognition_gambling)

content:
 
<p>
Australian pubs are starting to use facial recognition in areas with
gambling machines, to keep people out who have requested 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/19/as-terrifying-as-it-is-absurd-greens-lash-facial-recognition-plan-for-all-nsw-pubs-and-clubs">not to be
allowed to gamble.</a>
<p>
The basic idea sounds harmless in principle.  It would seem that if
you have not added yourself to the list of people to exclude, this
system won't affect you.  But is that really true?
<p>
I wonder who else will have access to the face scans of people who
visit the club?  Will those scans go into a system connected to the
internet?
<p>
Will state agencies be able to add faces to the list of people to
exclude?  Will state agencies be able to collect the face scans of
everyone that enters?

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_(tyre_nichols_memphis)
title: What $28 Million Bought the Memphis Police Department
uri: What-28-Million-Bought-the-Memphis-Police-Department
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_(tyre_nichols_memphis)
content:
 
<p>
Extra funds for thug departments to "crack down on crime" are often
used to create special units of thugs.  The recently-disbanded
Scorpion group in Memphis was an example.
<p>
This article describes some aspects of these groups that tend to make
them 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/01/31/tyre-nichols-memphis-police/">arm the public.</a>
<p>
They don't all murder people, but they also have a tendency to be
sent to areas inhabited by disprivileged demographic groups and have
the effect of causing suffering there.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_(bernie_sanders_super_pacs)
title: Bernie Sanders to DNC: Ban Super PAC Money in Democratic Primary Races
uri: Bernie-Sanders-to-DNC-Ban-Super-PAC-Money-in-Democratic-Primary-Races
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_(bernie_sanders_super_pacs)
content:
 
<p>
*Bernie Sanders to DNC: Ban Super PAC Money in 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/bernie-sanders-super-pacs">Democratic Primary Races.*</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_(jane_roberts_scotus)
uri: Jane-Roberts-Becomes-the-Latest-SCOTUS-Spouse-to-Raise-Questions-about
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_(jane_roberts_scotus)
title:
 Jane Roberts Becomes the Latest SCOTUS Spouse to Raise Questions about Potential Conflicts of Interest 

content:
 
<p>
*Jane Roberts Becomes the Latest [Supreme Court] Spouse to Raise Questions
about Potential 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/jane-roberts-becomes-the-latest-scotus-spouse-to-raise-questions-about-potential-conflicts-of-interest">Conflicts of Interest.*</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_(alaska_oil_drilling_biden)
title: Outrage as US government advances $8bn Alaska oil drilling plan
uri: Outrage-as-US-government-advances-8bn-Alaska-oil-drilling-plan
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_(alaska_oil_drilling_biden)
content:
 
<p>
The US government approved a somewhat reduced version of the "Willow
project" for oil drilling in 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/01/alaska-oil-drilling-biden-conocophillips-willow-project">northern Alaska.</a>
<p>
Reducing the size of the project may reduce the danger it adds, but surely
it will still increase the danger of climate breakdown.  It appears that
the Interior department, and Biden, do not appreciate how much danger we
are all in.
<p>
A study based on neural network modeling suggests that even with
substantial emissions cuts we might have 2°C of global 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/ai-climate-warming-paris">heating in 50
years.</a>
<p>
*Where the study departs from many current projections is in its estimates of when the world will cross the 2°C threshold.*
<p>
Considering the magnitude of the disaster we are skirting, it behooves
us to be conservative &mdash; in the normal sense of the word, not the
misleading synonym for "right wing".  We need to cut more, and faster,
to reduce the risk of climate breakdown.

<p>
 


uri: (satire)-Ticketmaster-To-Require-Purchase-Of-Round-Trip-Concert-Ticket
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_((Satire)_ticket_master_roundtrip_ticket)

title:
 (satire) Ticketmaster To Require Purchase Of Round-Trip Concert Tickets For Exiting Venue After Show 

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_((Satire)_ticket_master_roundtrip_ticket)

content:
 
<p>
(satire) *Ticketmaster To Require Purchase Of Round-Trip Concert
Tickets For 
<a href="https://www.theonion.com/ticketmaster-to-require-purchase-of-round-trip-concert-1850041955">Exiting Venue After Show.*</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_(met_spying_inquiry)
title: Met officers did not examine if spying was justified, inquiry finds
uri: Met-officers-did-not-examine-if-spying-was-justified-inquiry-finds
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_(met_spying_inquiry)
content:
 
<p>
When the London thug department infiltrated many left-wing political groups.
the high officers who supervised that group never investigated whether
whether that surveillance was justified, 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/31/met-officers-did-not-examine-if-spying-was-justified-inquiry-finds">or whether it was lawful.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_((Satire)_ceo_chatgpt)
title: (satire) CEOs Explain How They Will Use ChatGPT
uri: (satire)-CEOs-Explain-How-They-Will-Use-ChatGPT
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_((Satire)_ceo_chatgpt)
content:
 
<p>
(satire) *CEOs Explain How 
<a href="https://www.theonion.com/ceos-explain-how-they-will-use-chatgpt-1850048994">They Will Use ChatGPT.*</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_(canada_uyghur_refugees)
title: Canada votes to take in 10,000 Uyghur refugees amid Chinese pressure to force their return
uri: Canada-votes-to-take-in-10-000-Uyghur-refugees-amid-Chinese-pressure-t
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_(canada_uyghur_refugees)
content:
 
<p>
*Canada votes to take in 10,000 Uyghur refugees amid Chinese pressure to 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/02/canada-votes-to-take-in-10000-uyghur-refugees-amid-chinese-pressure-to-force-their-return">force
their return.*</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_()
title: Shell's oil drilling in the Niger delta in Nigeria has polluted the water with oil.
uri: Shell-s-oil-drilling-in-the-Niger-delta-in-Nigeria-has-polluted-the-wa
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_()
content:
 
<p>
Shell's oil drilling in the Niger delta in Nigeria has polluted the water
with oil.  People get sick, and the fish they used to eat have all died.
<p>
Now the people who live there are 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/02/01/shell-oil-niger-delta-nigeria-lawsuit/">suing Shell in the UK.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_(colombia_reparations)
title: Colombia to pay reparations for role in extermination of left wing party
uri: Colombia-to-pay-reparations-for-role-in-extermination-of-left-wing-par
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_(colombia_reparations)
content:
 
<p>
*Colombia to pay reparations for role in extermination of 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/01/colombia-reparations-systemic-violence-leftwing-patriotic-union">left wing party.*</a>
<p>
The party was formed by former guerrillas who made a peace agreement with
the government.  Then the government organized killing them.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_(democrats_2003_iraq_invasion)
title: The Debate Democratic Party Should Have Had About the Iraq War 20 Years Ago
uri: The-Debate-Democratic-Party-Should-Have-Had-About-the-Iraq-War-20-Year
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_(democrats_2003_iraq_invasion)
content:
 
<p>
A few Democrats tried to convince the Democratic Party in 2003 to take a stand
against 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/democrats-and-the-2003-us-invasion-of-iraq">attacking Iraq.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_(us_russia_nuclear_arms_treaty)
title: US says Russia is violating key nuclear arms control agreement
uri: US-says-Russia-is-violating-key-nuclear-arms-control-agreement
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_(us_russia_nuclear_arms_treaty)
content:
 
<p>
Russia is refusing to comply with requirements of the New Start treaty
that 
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/31/politics/us-russia-nuclear-arms-control-treaty">limits nuclear missiles.</a>

<p>
 


title: Long-term exposure to dirtier air can increase your risk of depression or anxiety, study finds
uri: Long-term-exposure-to-dirtier-air-can-increase-your-risk-of-depression
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_(pollution_depression_anxiety_study)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_(pollution_depression_anxiety_study)

content:
 
<p>
*Long-term exposure to dirtier air can increase your risk of
depression or anxiety, 
<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230201225220/https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/01/health/pollution-depression-anxiety/index.html">study finds.*</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_(shell_renwable)
title: Shell’s actual spending on renewables is fraction of what it claims, group alleges
uri: Shell-s-actual-spending-on-renewables-is-fraction-of-what-it-claims
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#3_February_2023_(shell_renwable)
content:
 
<p>
*Shell’s actual spending on renewables is 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/feb/01/shell-renwable-energy-spending-sec-global-witness">fraction of what it claims,*</a>
<p>
according to Global Witness.  This is an instance of greenwashing.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Government_ineptitude,_UK)
title: Government ineptitude, UK
uri: Government-ineptitude-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Government_ineptitude,_UK)
content:
 
<p>

*Sunak’s warm words on nature sound good, but can they
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/31/sunak-nature-save-nightingales-swifts-environment-plan">save our last [UK]
nightingales and swifts</a>?*
<p>
Tories often talk about doing something that will help the non-rich,
but they often cancel the plans before carrying them out.  Just
recently they are planning to cancel the commitment to compensate the
people who immigrated lawfully from the Caribbean as children but were
<a href="/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#20_January_2023_(Tories_neglected_their_commitments_to_protect_wildlife_in_Britain">threatened recently with deportation</a>
because they did not have the
documents to prove what happened decades ago.
<p>
<a href="/archives/2022-jan-apr.html#14_April_2022_(London_apartment_fire_and_recommendations_for_building_codes)">Tories also promised to restore building codes that would have
  prevented a deadly fire</a>, but now they talk about deregulation.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Medicare_duress)
title: Medicare duress
uri: Medicare-duress
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Medicare_duress)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/democrats-bill-medicare-advantage">The first step against "Medicare Advantage" is a bill to change its
name</a>
so it won't be called "Medicare".
<p>
Alas,
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/aco-reach-medicare-privatization">this bill won't stop the privatization of Medicare</a>
itself,
started by the wrecker and perversely continued by Biden.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Deadly_immigration_policy)
title: Deadly immigration policy
uri: Deadly-immigration-policy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Deadly_immigration_policy)
content:
 
<p>

The US "remain in Mexico"
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/asylum-seekers-mexico-dead">policy has brought migrants to a mass grave
in Tapachula</a>,
at the southern end of Mexico, 
   one of the cities where Mexico forces them to go and stay.
<p>
The cemetery workers don't know how many bodies are buried there
without identification.

<p>
 


title: Scientific caution avoids side effects
uri: Scientific-caution-avoids-side-effects
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Scientific_caution_avoids_side_effects)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Scientific_caution_avoids_side_effects)

content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/29/plant-toxin-new-weapon-antibiotic-war-against-bacteria-albicidin">Scientists were reluctant to try albicidin as a medical antibiotic</a>
because they could not predict what bad side effects it might have.
<p>
That problem somehow did not prevent the discovery, testing and
adoption of penicillin.  Given the urgent need for new antibiotics,
perhaps medicine has become hypercautious.
<p>
If they test albicidin with due care but not hypercaution, they can
find out whether it safe for humans, then use it for treatment if it
is safe.  They might find a great new antibiotic quickly, or they
might find it is unusable.  This is worth a try, isn't it?
<p>
I suspect something nastier underlies the hypercaution: perhaps pharma
companies are not interested in using albicidin because they cannot
patent it.  If they develop "better" versions, they will patent those
and make a lot more money, at a byproduct making them too expensive in
most of the world.  I suppose they don't want those expensive products
to have to compete with generic albicidin.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Social_diversity_and_equality)
title: Social diversity and equality
uri: Social-diversity-and-equality
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Social_diversity_and_equality)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/29/focusing-on-diversity-means-we-miss-the-big-picture-its-class-that-shapes-our-lives">More diversity is no substitute for more equality</a>:
if the rich become more diverse, and the poor become more diverse,
that doesn't help the poor.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Tory_ineptitude)
title: Tory ineptitude
uri: Tory-ineptitude
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Tory_ineptitude)
content:
 
<p>
  
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/29/the-observer-view-on-the-uks-toxic-stance-on-sugar-farming">Tories promised a few years ago to mostly eliminate the use of neonicotinoids</a>,
but each year they declare an exception.
<p>
It's typical Tory, to adopt a plan to fix a major problem and then not
really do it.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Pharmacy_owners'_financial_threat)
title: Pharmacy owners' financial threat
uri: Pharmacy-owners-financial-threat
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Pharmacy_owners'_financial_threat)
content:
 
<p>

Republican-dominated states are threatening to
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/attorney-general-abortion-pill">sue pharmacy chains
claiming that mailing abortion drugs to people in those states would be a crime</a>
under those states' laws.  This is an attempt
to intimidate them into never trying to do so.
<p>
The US government claims that those threats are invalid, and
eventually a court will decide.  But the Republicans can hope by this
threat to cause lasting life difficulties for tens of thousands of
women, even if they later lose the lawsuit.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Chechnya_and_Ukraine_together)
title: Chechnya and Ukraine together
uri: Chechnya-and-Ukraine-together
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Chechnya_and_Ukraine_together)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/30/chechen-dzhokhar-dudayev-battalion-kyiv-ukraine-putin-ramzan-kadyrov">Chechen militia battalions, composed of volunteers, fight for Ukraine</a>,
hoping to bring about indirectly the removal of Putin's control over
Chechnya.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Chechnya_and_Ukraine,_together)
title: Chechnya and Ukraine, together
uri: 2023-02-04-Chechnya-and-Ukraine-together
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Chechnya_and_Ukraine,_together)
content:
 
<p>

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/30/chechen-dzhokhar-dudayev-battalion-kyiv-ukraine-putin-ramzan-kadyrov">Chechen militia batallions, composed of volunteers, fight for Ukraine</a>,
hoping to bring about indirectly the removal of Putin's control over
Chechnya.

<p>
 


title: Democrat proposal to prohibit "latinx"
uri: Democrat-proposal-to-prohibit-latinx
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Democrat_proposal_to_prohibit_latinx)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Democrat_proposal_to_prohibit_latinx)

content:
 
<p>
Democratic Connecticut legislators propose to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/02/latinx-ban-connectict-hispanic-lawmakers-democrats">prohibit the pseudo-word
"Latinx"</a> in state publications, saying that most Latins find it offensive.
<p>
I too find it offensive -- because it is an excrescence on the English
language and/or the Spanish language.  It does not fit the
pronunciation rules of either language.  Basically, the word "Latinx"
stinx.
<p>
In English, let's use the noun "Latin" (plural, "Latins").  In
Spanish, <a href="/articles/castellano-sin-genero.html">I recommend "latini"</a>, which uses "-I" as the gender-neutral
suffix.  The suffix "-i" is better
because it causes fewer ambiguities than "-e".  For instance, "-i"
avoids creating a painful ambiguity for "le".

<p>
 


title: Ukrainian prisoners of war tortured
uri: Ukrainian-prisoners-of-war-tortured
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Ukrainian_prisoners_of_war_tortured)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Ukrainian_prisoners_of_war_tortured)

content:
 
<p>
*Former Russian soldier reveals he <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/02/former-russian-soldier-reveals-witnessed-torture-ukrainian-prisoners-war">witnessed torture</a> of Ukrainian prisoners of
war.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Bolsonaro's_power_plot)
title: Bolsonaro's power plot
uri: Bolsonaro-s-power-plot
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Bolsonaro's_power_plot)
content:
 
<p>
*Bolsonaro attended meeting about <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/02/bolsonaro-allegedly-attended-meetings-coup-plot-senator">plot to keep him in power</a>, senator says/*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Guantanamo_prison_freed)
title: Guantanamo prison freed
uri: Guantanamo-prison-freed
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Guantanamo_prison_freed)
content:
 
<p>
The US has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/02/guantanamo-detainee-majid-khan-released-belize-cia-torture">freed a "high-value" prisoner from Guantanamo prison</a>,
someone who was tortured by the CIA.  He plead guilty to crimes and got
a 10-year sentence that has now ended, and he has been released to
Belize.
<p>
This overcome one obstacle that stood in the way of closing the prison,
but it still won't be easy.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Memphis_thugs_trained_by_Israel)
title: Memphis thugs trained by Israel
uri: Memphis-thugs-trained-by-Israel
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Memphis_thugs_trained_by_Israel)
content:
 
<p>
Memphis thugs <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/02/02/memphis-police-israel/">took training from Israeli thugs</a>,
who are likely to have taught how to apply the practices they apply
to Palestinians.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Spy_balloon)
title: Spy balloon
uri: Spy-balloon
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Spy_balloon)
content:
 
<p>
*Pentagon says it is monitoring Chinese spy balloon spotted flying
over US.*
<p>
<ul>

<p>
<li>If it can't get any information that China's satellites cannot get,
why did China bother to send it?  I suspect it is doing something useful
against the US.

<p>
<li>I wonder if there is any way to snag that balloon and bring it
down to the ground, so as to study it.  That would be better in two
ways than shooting it and destroying it.

</ul>

<p>
 


title: Manchin and republicans undermining environmental review
uri: Manchin-and-republicans-undermining-environmental-review
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Manchin_and_republicans_undermining_environmental_review)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Manchin_and_republicans_undermining_environmental_review)

content:
 
<p>

Senator Manchin, together with Republicans, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/manchin-dirty-deal-house-republicans">intend to try once again
to undermine the environmental review</a> now required for large and
potentially dangerous industrial projects.

<p>
 


title: British Columbia and opioid crisis
uri: British-Columbia-and-opioid-crisis
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(British_Columbia_and_opioid_crisis)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(British_Columbia_and_opioid_crisis)

content:
 
<p>
*British Columbia now allows <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/feb/03/gets-police-out-of-the-lives-of-drug-users-decriminalization-move-takes-effect-in-canadian-province">possession of 2.5g of illegal drugs</a> in
measure to mitigate opioid crisis.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(MDMA_and_psilocybin)
title: MDMA and psilocybin
uri: MDMA-and-psilocybin
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(MDMA_and_psilocybin)
content:
 
<p>
*Australia to allow prescription of MDMA and psilocybin for
treatment-resistant mental illnesses.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Traffic_stops)
title: Traffic stops
uri: 2023-02-05-Traffic-stops
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Traffic_stops)
content:
 
<p>
The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/03/us-police-traffic-stops-tyre-nichols">history of the "traffic stop" in the US</a>, and how it inevitably
became a vehicle for racism and violence.
<p>
The article recommends that traffic enforcement be done by unarmed
personnel.
<p>
The article linked to just above displays symbolic bigotry by
capitalizing "black" but not "white".  (To avoid endorsing bigotry,
capitalize both words or neither one.)  I denounce bigotry, and
normally I will not link to articles that promote it.  But I make
exceptions for some articles that I consider particularly important.
Most often they give important information about racism or the fight
against racism.

<p>
 


title: UK discrimination for attending state schools
uri: UK-discrimination-for-attending-state-schools
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(UK_discrimination_for_attending_state_schools)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(UK_discrimination_for_attending_state_schools)

content:
 
<p>
Calling for the UK to ban work discrimination against workers for
having <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/feb/01/how-to-dislodge-the-posh-clique-that-rules-britain">attended state schools</a> ("public schools", as we call them in the US).

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Thugs_misrepresenting_the_truth)
title: Thugs misrepresenting the truth
uri: Thugs-misrepresenting-the-truth
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Thugs_misrepresenting_the_truth)
content:
 
<p>
The video of thugs attacking Tyre Nichols shows that <a href="The video of thugs attacking Tyre Nichols shows that their reports
misrepresented the truth.">their reports
misrepresented the truth</a>.
<p>
It is not at all unusual for official <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> to cover up the truth of
their crimes, even going so far as to lie on the witness stand.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Siddique_Kappan)
title: Siddique Kappan
uri: Siddique-Kappan
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Siddique_Kappan)
content:
 
<p>
Indian journalist Siddique Kappan was preparing to cover the case of a Dalit
who was gang-raped and died, when the officials of Uttar Pradesh arrested him,
accused him of one unrelated crime after another (including "terrorism"),
and tortured him repeatedly.
<p>
He was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/02/indian-journalist-freed-bail-siddique-kappan-jailed-two-years-without-trial">released on bail after two years, but the charges are still pending</a>.
<p>
In India, <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2022-mar-jun.html#30_June_2022_(Mhammed_Zubair_arrested_in_India)">this</a> <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jan-apr.html#20_April_2020_(Indias_Journalists_in_danger_of_prosecution)">practice</a> is spelled "BJP".

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Protest_against_Shell)
title: Protest against Shell
uri: Protest-against-Shell
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Protest_against_Shell)
content:
 
<p>
Greenpeace activists protested outside Shell's headquarters, demanding
that the company <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/shell-uk-headquarters-targeted-by-greenpeace-activists-as-it-reveals-record-ps32-2bn-profits">take responsibility for the damage</a> that fossil-fueled
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#global%20heating">global heating</a> is causing.
<p>
Shell's profits last year were twice the estimated cost to repair
the damage caused by the <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2010-jul-oct.html#15%20August%202010%20(Floods%20destroy%20a%20billion%20dollars%20worth%20of%20crops)">enormous flood in Pakistan</a>,
which was caused by <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#global%20heating">global heating</a>.
<p>
The fashion of focusing on which people are suffering how much _just
now_ from <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#global%20heating">global heating</a> is a distraction.  Every region is likely to
face enormous suffering within a few decades.  We need unite to put
an end to <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#global%20heating">global heating</a>.  Then, when things are stable and emissions
are much reduced, we can worry about ending poverty world-wide.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Battle_over_budget)
title: Battle over budget
uri: Battle-over-budget
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#4_February_2023_(Battle_over_budget)
content:
 
<p>
*<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/budget-for-a-more-prosperous-us">Battle Over Budget a Great Moment</a> [for Biden] to Envision a Better,
More Equally Prosperous Nation.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#5_February_2023_(New_LNG_plant_greenwashing,_TX)
title: New LNG plant greenwashing, TX
uri: New-LNG-plant-greenwashing-TX
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#5_February_2023_(New_LNG_plant_greenwashing,_TX)
content:
 
<p>

*Carbon capture project [in Texas]
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/03/carbon-capture-gas-exports-rio-grande-lng-nextdecade">is ‘Band-Aid’ to greenwash $10bn
LNG plant</a>,
locals say.*
<p>
Many climate defenders and scientists say that too; I am glad the word
is spreading.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#5_February_2023_(Truth_to_wealth,_Norway)
title: Truth to wealth, Norway
uri: Truth-to-wealth-Norway
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#5_February_2023_(Truth_to_wealth,_Norway)
content:
 
<p>

*Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s single largest investor,
has warned company directors it will vote against their re-election
to the board if they don’t
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/feb/03/worlds-biggest-investment-fund-warns-directors-to-tackle-climate-crisis-or-face-sack">up their game on tackling the climate
crisis, human rights abuses and boardroom diversity</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#5_February_2023_(Antisemitism_in_US_Republicans)
title: Antisemitism in US Republicans
uri: Antisemitism-in-US-Republicans
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#5_February_2023_(Antisemitism_in_US_Republicans)
content:
 
<p>

*<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/feb/03/ilhan-omar-removal-republicans-antisemitism">Republicans have a serious antisemitism</a>
problem. It isn't Ilhan Omar.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#5_February_2023_(Gun_laws_easy,_US)
title: Gun laws easy, US
uri: Gun-laws-easy-US
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#5_February_2023_(Gun_laws_easy,_US)
content:
 
<p>

A single state of the US
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/03/california-gun-laws-federal-support">cannot effectively regulate what sorts of
guns</a>
are available.  It is easy to bring a gun from another state.

<p>
 


