Richard Stallman

This is the Mastodon account for Richard Stallman.

I founded GNU & the Free Software Foundation (npub167r…p2re) and with them launched the Free Software Movement. Please join or donate to the FSF: https://www.fsf.org

I use this account to mirror the political notes from my web site, stallman.org.

Read my linking policy: https://stallman.org/linkpolicy.html

The views expressed here, as in stallman.org, are my personal views, not those of the Free Software Foundation or the GNU Project. #FSF #GNU #FreeSoftware

Website: https://stallman.org
Email: [email protected]

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Last Notes

2024-09-12 13:59:11

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/elections/2024/09/06/florida-abortion-amendment-petition-signature-fraud-voters/
*DeSantis' election police questioned people who signed abortion petitions.* This seems to be an attempt at intimidation.

2024-09-12 08:22:37

https://stallman.org/glossary.html#plutocratist
https://www.commondreams.org/news/france-protests-2669146782
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/sep/08/keir-starmer-michel-barnier-brexit-eu-uk
The French president, Macron, who is on the plutocratist right-wing, appointed a plutocratist right-wing prime minister, Bernier. There have been massive protests. Bernier and Starmer seem to get along very well.

2024-09-12 08:06:33

[2/2] … mockery is as nothing compared to the atrocities committed against those same women (and almost all of Gaza). Those women (and their families) have been driven from their homes. Some have been killed, and more are being killed. Those soldiers have probably participated in the real atrocities. A person who would get more outraged about making fun of women's underwear than about these violent atrocities would seem to lack a sense of proportion.

2024-09-12 08:06:32

[1/2] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/sep/06/israeli-podcasters-laughing-gaza-genocide-two-nice-jewish-boys
Arwa Mahdawi argues that it is now demonstrated that no amount or gravity of Israeli atrocities against Palestinians will make Biden act to restrain those atrocities. Sad to say, it looks like that is true. However, I can't understand the fuss about Israeli soldiers who put on the underwear of Gazan women. They meant that as mockery, which is not nice, but …

2024-09-12 07:48:01

https://www.theguardian.com/media/article/2024/sep/08/tech-firms-face-harsh-fines-and-lawsuits-from-parents-under-sa-plan-to-ban-children-from-social-media
South Australia is considering a bill to require social media platforms to check the ages of users, which would have the effect of requiring them to demand that each user identify perself.

2024-09-12 07:26:52

[3/3] … design patents and publicity rights. If you assume that any one of them is similar to any other, you're headed for error. Instead, do as I do: I think about just one law, I call it by its distinguishing name, and I never imagine that what I learn or conclude about it applies to any other law.

2024-09-12 07:26:51

[2/3] … leads you to suppose you could generalize about those laws and reach one single conclusion that would apply to all of them. That is a path to confusion, because these laws are dissimilar in almost every point. If you want to think clearly, treat copyright as one issue, patents as another unrelated issue, trade secrets as another issue unrelated to those, trademarks as yet another issue unrelated to the other three, and likewise for plant variety monopolies, IC mask monopolies, …

2024-09-12 07:26:49

[1/3] https://pluralistic.net/2024/07/29/faithful-user-agents/#hard-cases-make-bad-copyright-law
https://gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.html
Digital game publishers are trying to twist copyright law to construe ad-blocking as copyright infringement. That would magically make them illegal without consulting the people's thoughts on the matter. The article linked to above makes the deep mistake of using the term "IP" to refer both to copyright and to other disparate laws. That usage might …

2024-09-12 06:57:09

[2/2] … the overall goal, which is to move from civilization-endangering fossil fuels to renewable generation. All the arguments that planet roasters make for letting them extract more and more are based on burying this point. One of the things that disappoints me about The Guardian is that it continues to publish articles with this slant.

2024-09-12 06:57:08

[1/2] https://stallman.org/glossary.html#planet
https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/sep/02/north-sea-firms-windfall-tax-jobs-tax-receipts-risk
https://stallman.org/glossary.html#planet
The planet roasters of the North Sea have warned that the proposed increase in the windfall profits tax levied on them would result in decreased amounts of drilling, and decreased extraction rate, over the coming decade. The author of that article seems not to understand that that is part of …

2024-09-12 06:30:46

[3/3] … why that term is better. Analyzing this situation as an instance of a "collective action problem." I think that one of government's missions is to fix these problems for the people. To do that, we need to elect representatives and officials who won't hesitate to say that some profitable business is a parasite and advocate laws to nullify its business model.

2024-09-12 06:30:45

[2/3] … by doing this, but that is a secondary issue. What's important is that if more universities cancel these contracts, the result could be to wipe out the journal publishers or make them desperate enough to agree to be bought out for an affordable sum. After buying them out, the new copyright holder could make all the online copies libre. Please join me in shunning the term "open access" and using the term "free scientific publishing" instead. The article linked just above explains …

2024-09-12 06:30:44

[1/3] https://sparcopen.org/our-work/big-deal-knowledge-base/unbundling-profiles/mit-libraries/
https://stallman.org/articles/free-scientific-publishing.html
https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/16/the-public-sphere/#not-the-elsevier
MIT canceled its contract for reading Elsevier journals several years ago and has suffered no great inconvenience as a result. This is great news, because it suggests that more universities can cancel their contracts too. MIT saved a substantial amount of money …

2024-09-12 06:14:31

https://act.winwithoutwar.org/act/ethics-act?akid=10023.223515.WK8eEC&c0=ethics-act.3cXhB0&rd=1&source=em20240903_1&t=1006
https://stallman.orgtel:+12022243121
US citizens: call on Congress to pass the ETHICS act so that they can't profit by buying and selling stocks that their votes will affect If you phone, please spread the word! Main Switchboard: +1-202-224-3121

2024-09-10 17:01:46

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/sep/06/upbeat-greens-target-labour-timidity-and-call-for-wealth-tax-to-raise-revenue
*Greens to push Labour for wealth tax to fund [Britain's] public services.*

2024-09-10 16:37:25

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/02/north-korean-table-tennis-selfie-paris-olympics-south-korea-punishment
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Minutes_Hate
Two North Korean athletes face punishment for allowing themselves to be photographed at the Olympic Games together with South Korean athletes, after both pairs had received medals. If the North Korean pair do not show sufficient contrition, they may be chosen as targets for the next Two Minute Hate.

2024-09-10 16:07:57

[2/2] … What it shows is that the red tape is necessary because the regulations are necessary. (Similar lessons taught the need for these regulations in the first place.) The corporations add employees culpable should be prosecuted, but only the people can democratically reject the politicians that propose to "cut red tape" that is necessary for public safety.

2024-09-10 16:07:55

[1/2] https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/sep/05/grenfell-tower-the-fire-the-findings-whos-to-blame-and-what-happens-next
The inquiry into the London tall building fire found that the system of construction regulations had been thoroughly corrupted. Companies sold flammable building materials, contemptuously violating safety standards and ignoring objections, and regulatory bodies had been nullified by a government whose priority was "efficiency" through "cutting red tape". …

2024-09-10 15:42:15

https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2024/09/04/the-rise-of-pro-labor-conservatism/
Some Republicans are giving lip service to supporting the interests of workers. Alas, it can't be more than lip service as long as they are dependent on support from barons of business.

2024-09-10 15:14:07

[2/2] … against the apartheid system and its cruel expressions, and some have been killed doing so. One I recall was Rachel Corrie, killed in 2003 as she refused to leave a Palestinian house that the Israeli army intended to demolish.

2024-09-10 15:14:05

[1/2] https://theintercept.com/2024/09/06/american-shot-israel-military-eygi-west-bank/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Corrie
Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, an American, went to Nablus to join nonviolent protests against an fairly new Israeli colony (nominally unauthorized) near the town of Beita. Israelis fired guns to crush the protest and she was killed. Some witnesses say a sniper shot her in the head. If so, that was murder. Many Americans have gone to Israel and Palestine to protest …

2024-09-10 14:54:45

[3/3] … of carrying out a sustained disinformation campaign targeted at American voters and meant to influence the outcome of November’s presidential elections.* This includes paying Americans to spread Putin's message. Others then repeat the disinformation without knowing Putin's role in convincing them to do so.

2024-09-10 14:54:43

[2/3] … about these matters only what I read in the news. But I got the feeling before and during the corrupter's term as president that he was making decisions to help Putin. On the day that that article was published, I ran into Phil Zimmerman (author of PGP) and in conversation with him referred to the corrupter as "the Manchurian candidate". Zimmermann said he believed the corrupter was indeed the Manchurian candidate, in league with Putin. *The Biden administration has accused Russia …

2024-09-10 14:54:42

[1/3] https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/aug/21/trump-putin-hr-mcmaster-memoir
https://stallman.org/glossary.html#corrupter
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manchurian_Candidate
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/04/russia-accused-of-trying-to-influence-us-voters-through-online-campaign
HR McMaster, the corrupter's national security adviser for over a year, says he thinks Putin developed a hold over the corrupter by flattering him. Unlike McMaster, I know …

2024-09-10 14:38:04

[2/2] … means "upload videos", I fear that blocking this will do more to hamper the fight against crime (and particularly crime by agents of the state) than to hamper crime.

2024-09-10 14:38:03

[1/2] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/sep/06/telegram-to-drop-people-nearby-feature-and-improve-moderation
The charges against Pavel Durov are about chat groups, not encrypted conversations. It is a relief that this is not an effort to ban end-to-end encryption. However, I am somewhat concerned about the announced changes. Those who will be affected by them will include political dissidents as well as criminals. The phrase "upload media" is very vague, but if it …

2024-09-10 14:15:22

[2/2] … are per personal matter, and don't affect the public. I care whether the US president stands for justice, rights of real persons (not fictitious ones), and helping the disadvantaged (which in many societies tends to include women).

2024-09-10 14:15:21

[1/2] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/article/2024/sep/04/kamala-harris-hillary-clinton-feminist-messaging-democratic-donald-trump
Harris downplays identity politics - instead of asking us to vote for the "first female president", she calls for defending women's rights. In other words, she is concerned with the substance of feminism, not the identity aspect. That is admirable. I don't directly care whether the US president is male, female, both, or neither. Those things …

2024-09-10 13:49:10

[2/2] … do.” “I know more about drones than anybody.” “Nobody knows much more about technology … than I do.” “Nobody in the history of this country has ever known so much about infrastructure as Donald Trump.” “I know that H-1B [visa], I know the H-2B. Nobody knows it better than me.” “I know more about ISIS than the generals do, believe me.” “I know a lot. I know more than I’m ever gonna tell you.”

2024-09-10 13:49:09

[1/2] https://stallman.org/glossary.html#bullshitter
https://mailchi.mp/nader/his-delusions-lead-to-trumpian-dangers-s2khxb540v?e=555e9be067
Wrecking America: How Trump’s Lawbreaking and Lies Betray All, by Mark Green and Ralph Nader, show the bullshitter's delusions and how they add up to denial of reality. For example: “Nobody knows more about taxes than I do, and income than I do.” “Nobody knows more about construction than I do.” “Nobody knows more about campaign finance than I …

2024-09-09 16:11:59

https://act.weareultraviolet.org/sign/MAGA_RAGA_Ken_Paxton_Raids/
US citizens: call on T-Mobile, GM, CVS, and Elevance to stop funding Republican harassment using fake criminal accusations to attack voting rights.

2024-09-09 15:56:12

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/04/phoenix-arizona-100-degrees-heat
https://stallman.org/archives/2021-jul-oct.html#12_August_2021_(Major_climate_changes)
Phoenix has suffered 100 consecutive days of temperatures above 100°F. That's not as bad as it will be in coming decades.

2024-09-09 15:26:30

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/sep/04/europe-farming-lobbies-recognise-need-eat-less-meat-report
*Europe’s food and farming lobbies have recognized the need to eat less meat after hammering out a shared vision for the future of agriculture with green groups and other stakeholders.* I expect they are proposing less change than is really needed, but if they mean this sincerely, it will be a step forward towards survival.

2024-09-09 15:01:46

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/1/lack-of-food-and-water-ambulances-blocked-as-israel-lays-siege-to-jenin
*Israel lays siege to Jenin as it stops food and water, blocks ambulances.* These are massacre tactics. Israel is extending its system of atrocities in Gaza to the West Bank.

2024-09-09 14:43:54

[2/2] … electricity. That by itself can't enable eliminating all greenhouse gas emissions, but it can eliminate most of them. Explaining why nuclear power plants are not the solution.

2024-09-09 14:43:53

[1/2] https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/06/with-great-power/#comes-great-responsibility
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/sep/04/mv-ramana-why-nuclear-power-not-solution-energy-needs
Major advances in battery technology promise to eliminate any practical limit on how much electrical energy the world can store. With enough renewable generation capacity, and these new kinds of batteries, we will not need any fossil fuel or nuclear power for activities that can run on …

2024-09-09 14:27:30

https://act.winwithoutwar.org/act/senate-2025-ndaa
https://stallman.orgtel:+12022243121
US citizens: call on the Senate to keep MAGA bigotry out of the National Defense Authorization Act. If you phone, please spread the word! Main Switchboard: +1-202-224-3121

2024-09-09 06:15:20

https://www.crikey.com.au/2024/09/03/ai-worse-summarising-information-humans-government-trial/k
*[Large language models (please don't call them "AI") are] worse than humans in every way at summarizing documents and might actually create additional work for people, [an Australian] government trial of the technology has found.*

2024-09-09 05:54:04

[2/2] … fiction convention was as much as I could handle then. However, most people learn to deal with the non-academic and non-computing aspects of life much younger than I did.

2024-09-09 05:54:02

[1/2] https://www.freerangekids.com/kirstie-allsopp-did-not-neglect-her-son-period/
*Kirstie Allsopp let her 15-year-old son go on a 3-week train trip around Europe with his 16-year-old buddy — and found herself under investigation by child protective services.* Here is Lenore Skenazy's response. When I was 15, I was not ready for an adventure like that, and I would have been too terrified to try it. Even at 25 I would have found it too daunting — sharing a ride to a science …

2024-09-09 05:30:00

[2/2] … This problem includes privatized medical non-care in US prisons.

2024-09-09 05:29:59

[1/2] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/05/naphcare-healthcare-jails
https://stallman.org/glossary.html#perse
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-sep-dec.html#29_October_2020_(Private_prison_medical_care)
Prisons are famous for refusing prisoners the medical care they need. The medics deny the problem and accused the prisoner of making it up. It happens over and over that the prisoner is telling the truth and that the problem is not recognized as real until perse dies. …

2024-09-08 09:16:00

[2/2] … "pro-Palestine". We should campaign for peace between those two nations and the safety of all.

2024-09-08 09:15:59

[1/2] https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-now-to-tell-university-administrators-and-boards-end-the-repressive-tactics-against-gaza-solidarity-encampments?nowrapper=true&referrer=&source=email-university-repression-of-pro-palestine-protests-is-starting-again
US citizens: call on University administrators and boards to end repressive tactics against protests in support of Palestinians' rights. I agree with the recommendation that we should not label ourselves or others as "pro-Israel" or …

2024-09-08 08:54:29

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/05/fake-electors-republicans
*State Republican parties [are nominating] [presidential] electors who were on fake slate in 2020.* I hope there is a way to bar them from having any role in the coming election.

2024-09-08 08:28:59

https://stallman.org/glossary.html#wrecker
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/03/trump-maga-allies-election-conspiracy-theories
*[The wrecker] and allies plant seeds for "chaos and discord" if he loses, experts warn.*

2024-09-08 08:07:21

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/sep/02/jeremy-corbyn-alliance-independent-pro-gaza-mps
Jeremy Corbyn and four other independent MPs, all rejected by Labour, have formed an alliance.

2024-09-08 07:46:14

https://thehill.com/policy/technology/4859664-elon-musk-fake-image-kamala-harris/
https://stallman.org/glossary.html#plutocratist
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal
*Musk posts fake image of Harris in communist garb.* It is the usual right-wing superexaggeration which equates any progressive policy to "communism". Plutocratists said the same thing about the New Deal. It shows that Musk has broken off his relationship with reality.

2024-09-08 07:25:59

https://stallman.org/glossary.html#bullshitter
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/02/trump-hypocrisy-harris-pence
The bullshitter tends to get everything backwards. Is this right wing tactics (whatever you are doing, accuse the other side of doing it) or mere failing memory?

2024-09-08 07:08:30

https://theintercept.com/2024/08/23/dnc-democrats-death-penalty-executions/
Kamala Harris used to advocate abolishing the death penalty for federal crimes, but she doesn't talk about it any more.

2024-09-08 06:38:28

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/02/how-chinas-internet-police-went-from-targeting-bloggers-to-their-followers
*How China's internet police went from targeting bloggers to their followers.*

2024-09-08 06:14:00

https://invidio.us/watch?v=J7ZdU-1fF8g
https://actionnetwork.org/forms/biden-harris-antitrust-agenda?nowrapper=true&referrer=group-hd&source=group-hd
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal
US citizens: Show your support to Lina Khan and Jonathan Kanter for fighting and blocking monopolies. Imagine if we had a president and congress that supported all of FDR's New Deal, not just a few parts.

2024-09-08 05:50:47

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/03/edmundo-gonzalez-venezuela-election-opposition-leader-prosecutors-arrest-warrant
Maduro has ordered the imprisonment of opposition candidate González. There will no doubt be a trial first, but its outcome is not in doubt.

2024-09-08 05:29:56

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/02/republicans-voting-against-trump-for-harris
https://stallman.org/glossary.html#trump
Many Republicans are organizing to defeat the fascist, saying they'd rather have a democracy-supporting president that has policies they disagree with than someone who intends to set up a dictatorship.

2024-09-07 07:05:23

[3/3] … nationalization ensures that any additional funds put in will not be frittered away on private investors' profits, the government can put in what is needed and really get publish benefit for it.

2024-09-07 07:05:21

[2/3] … increase water bills, saying that otherwise it will fail. Privatization schemes are generally a way to transfer public money to private profit, and water supply privatization is no exception. If the company is indeed moribund, that is great news, because it means that nationalization will cost the government very little in so-called "compensation". (Really, these companies' past and present owners should pay compensation for the wealth they have extracted from the public.) Once …

2024-09-07 07:05:20

[1/3] https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/aug/28/thames-water-says-without-steep-bill-increase-its-neither-financeable-nor-investible
https://stallman.org/archives/2012-mar-jun.html#7_May_2012_(UK's_Loony_Experiment)
https://stallman.org/archives/2006-mar-jun.html#30%20May%202006%20(Private%20water%20supply%20companies)
Thames Water, one of the privatized water companies that Tories created to extract money from the public water supply, is pressuring for permission to …

2024-09-07 06:45:33

[2/2] … countries have banned or restricted arms sales to Israel?*

2024-09-07 06:45:32

[1/2] https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/sep/02/uk-suspends-30-arms-export-licences-to-israel-after-review
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/03/which-countries-banned-or-restricted-arms-sales-to-israel-gaza-war
*UK suspends 30 arms export licenses to Israel after review. Foreign Office says review found "clear risk" that UK arms may be used in violation of humanitarian law.* This will increase pressure on the US to do likewise, as it ought to. *Which …

2024-09-07 06:28:21

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/sep/03/scottish-government-raids-460m-green-energy-fund-for-public-sector-pay-rises
https://stallman.org/glossary.html#climate
*Scottish government raids £460m green energy fund for public sector pay rises.* When funds for curbing climate mayhem are are treated as available for any pressing short-term need, climate mayhem is likely to proceed uncurbed.

2024-09-07 06:12:22

[3/3] … way to a nonviolent protest were preemptively stopped specifically to sabotage the protest. Of course, the repression that the UK aim at nonviolent protesters has been greatly increased since then. I expect any new UK systems of transportation to be designed for increased surveillance - until climate mayhem makes those systems cease to function at all.

2024-09-07 06:12:21

[2/3] … and more drivers to get rid of those. But eventually it will be necessary to tax the use of the EVs somehow. I think that will be reasonable to do at that time, provided the system to collect the tax does not track where each car goes. For instance, it could be based on a secure odometer that will be checked from time to time. In fact, the UK already tracks every car, and the potential oppression of this tracking system was already realized many years ago when protesters on the …

2024-09-07 06:12:19

[1/3] https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/sep/03/uk-electric-car-drivers-per-mile-vehicle-taxes-campaign-for-better-transport
https://stallman.org/archives/2020-may-aug.html#7_May_2020_(Please_trust_our_contact-tracing_app)
https://stallman.org/glossary.html#climate
The UK is again considering taxing electric cars based on the distance they travel. In the short term, the right thing to do is not to tax the EVs, but rather to increase the petrol tax - that will pressure more …

2024-09-07 05:46:24

[2/2] … boss, DeMentis, above per department's mission. Is perse a Republican, by any chance?

2024-09-07 05:46:23

[1/2] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/03/florida-park-whistleblower-fired
https://stallman.org/glossary.html#dementis
https://stallman.org/glossary.html#perse
*Florida’s department of environmental protection has fired a whistleblower who exposed and sank governor [DeMentis]'s secretive plan to pave over environmentally sensitive state parks and build lucrative hotels, golf courses and pickleball courts.* One must suspect the head of that department of placing per …

2024-09-07 05:24:07

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/sep/03/germany-far-right-afd
The German neo-Nazi party won the election in one state. One writer argues, *There’s only one way to keep Germany’s far-right AfD at bay. Address the concerns it exploits.*

2024-09-07 05:08:49

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/29/south-korea-court-climate-law-violates-rights-future-generations
https://stallman.org/glossary.html#global%20heating
*South Korea’s constitutional court has ruled that part of the country’s climate law does not conform with protecting the constitutional rights of future generations [from global heating].*

2024-09-07 04:43:52

https://actionnetwork.org/forms/demand-news-networks-expose-project-2025s-nightmare-tax-scheme-now
Everyone: call on news networks to expose Project 2025's nightmare tax scheme.

2024-09-05 15:29:36

https://theintercept.com/2024/08/28/trump-campaign-election-media-coverage-journalists/
https://stallman.org/glossary.html#bully
*Why the Media Won't Report the Truth About [the bully/corrupter].*

2024-09-05 15:13:48

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/01/hidden-story-ancient-india-west-maths-astronomy-historians
The Indian invention of positional numeration, and zero, transformed mathematics world-wide, but in the west we have incorrectly attributed it to Arabs. It should be noted that the ancient Maya used a similar system to write numbers, except with base 20, even earlier.

2024-09-05 14:55:02

[3/3] … constitute tax evasion -- punishable by imprisonment.

2024-09-05 14:55:00

[2/3] … they emit into the air (and the amount of greenhouse effect of each one). Measuring these better can't hurt, but using them to calibrate an emissions trading program is misguided. We have seen that emissions trading is ineffective for reducing emissions, because it is too easy to game the system or cheat. By going in that direction, the EU is caving into business at the outset. By imposing a tax on emissions, a government offers no easy way to game the system, and cheating would …

2024-09-05 14:54:58

[1/3] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/28/revealed-us-airlines-lobbied-eu-over-its-plan-to-monitor-plane-emissions
https://stallman.org/archives/2012-sep-dec.html#21_November_2012_(EUs_greenhouse_emissions_cap-and-trade_system_gamed)
https://stallman.org/archives/2011-sep-dec.html#25_October_2011_(Cap-And-Trade_California)
US air carriers lobbied quietly and secretly against an EU plan to require carriers to better measure the amounts of various pollution substances …

2024-09-05 14:29:33

[2/2] … built, if it was clear that would be needed, but it wasn't. Maybe the federal government should prepare for stronger hurricanes, since that seems to be what is coming. That could help for some decades. But if we don't curb global heating, any levee will eventually fail, because sea-level rise will overcome it.

2024-09-05 14:29:31

[1/2] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/28/louisiana-bayou-levee-gulf
https://stallman.org/glossary.html#global%20heating
A local man saved Lafourche Parish from Hurricane Ida by building a 18-foot levee instead of the wider 13-foot levee that the US government was going to build. Each choice of design would have represented a bet about what future storms would be like. Hurricane Ida's waves were 17 feet tall. I expect that a broader 18-foot levee could have been …

2024-09-05 14:10:44

[3/3] … tried to evade legal responsibility by ceasing to operate in Brazil and not appointing any legal representative. Each company doing business in Brazil is required to have a representative, whom I believe has the job of receiving summonses to the company. Must seems to have thought to make legal action against ex-Twitter impossible by not appointing one.

2024-09-05 14:10:42

[2/3] … this site) I loathe those views. However, the state should not hold out its neck for an enormous business to cut, and businesses are not entitled to human rights. Aside from the owner's vicious politics, ex-Twitter is unjust to each and every user by requiring per to run nonfree software to access it. The article says that many users have switched to Bluesky. Is it possible to use Bluesky without running any nonfree software? Strictly speaking, the ban is because ex-Twitter …

2024-09-05 14:10:40

[1/3] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/aug/31/x-offline-brazil-elon-musk
https://stallman.org/glossary.html#extwitter
Brazil has banned ex-Twitter for spreading propaganda in favor of the extreme right-wing ex-president Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro launched an attack against the main government buildings in Brazilia after Lula was elected president again. I recognize people's right to advocate right-wing political views, even though (as you can see from years of postings in …

2024-09-05 13:52:29

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/article/2024/aug/31/hurricane-dorian-survivors-impact-bahamas
The shantytown of Mudd, in the Bahamas, was flattened or washed away by the most powerful hurricane ever seen there. Five years later, the survivors can't even find land to build a permanent shantytown on. They are like homeless people in the US, building encampments that get washed away by the cruelty of the state.

2024-09-05 13:23:52

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/28/cannot-afford-charge-wheelchair-energy-price-rise-disabled-people
A multiply handicapped Briton gets so little support that he can't afford the cost of charging his wheelchair and running the lift to get in and out of his home.

2024-09-05 13:07:15

https://stallman.org/glossary.html#dementis
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/31/ron-desantis-state-parks-florida-republicans-great-outdoors-initiative
Governor DeMentis made a proposal to pave over large parts of Florida state parks, and it has provoked ridicule from prominent Republicans.

2024-09-05 12:39:32

[2/2] … browser such as lynx that doesn't implement Javascript and CSS.

2024-09-05 12:39:30

[1/2] https://theonion.com/trump-calls-out-arlington-national-cemetery-for-hazard-filled-fairways/
(satire) *Bemoaning the terrible course conditions he encountered while visiting the military burial site, Donald Trump called out Arlington National Cemetery on Thursday for its hazard-filled fairways.* 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 …

2024-09-05 12:09:31

https://stallman.org/archives/#29_March_2022_(Billionaire_minimum_incom_tax)
https://stallman.orgtel:+12022243121
US citizens: phone your congresscritter and senators to support the Billionaire Minimum Income Tax. You can be sure that billionaires are phoning those same elected officials on the other side. If you phone, please spread the word! Main Switchboard: +1-202-224-3121

2024-09-05 11:46:21

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/aug/30/uk-mps-urged-to-give-up-freebies-from-tobacco-alcohol-and-junk-food-firms
*UK MPs urged to give up freebies from tobacco, alcohol and junk food firms.* It is illegal for a member of the US Congress to accept such gifts. The UK should have a comparable prohibition.

2024-09-05 11:21:46

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/29/ed-milibands-withdrawal-of-legal-backing-puts-uk-oil-projects-in-doubt
The UK is moving towards cancelling some recently issued oil licenses, based on questioning their validity. Finally a step in the right direction.

2024-09-05 10:59:57

[5/5] … without opening your computer to unjust (and potentially malicious) software.

2024-09-05 10:59:55

[4/5] … the page that works without JavaScript. Edit the subject and body of your letter. Finally, click on the "SEND LETTER" button, and you're done. This method seems to work for letter campaigns that send the letters to a fixed list of recipients, the same recipients for every sender. Editing and revisiting the URL is the only additional step needed to bypass the nonfree JavaScript code. I'm sure you'll agree it is a small effort compared with the benefit of supporting the campaign …

2024-09-05 10:59:53

[3/5] … letter. Then click the "START WRITING" button. That will take you to a page that can't function without nonfree JavaScript code. (To ensure it doesn't function perversely by running that nonfree code, you should enable LibreJS or disable JavaScript.) You can finish sending without that code By editing its URL in the browser's address bar, as follows: First, go to the end. Then insert `&nowrapper=true'. Then tell the browser to visit that URL. This should give you a version of …

2024-09-05 10:59:51

[2/5] … using the LibreJS plugin. I have done the first step for you: I added `?nowrapper=true' to the end of the campaign URL before posting it above. That should bring you to a page that starts with, "Letter campaigns will not work without JavaScript!" They indeed won't work without some manual help, but the following simple method seems adequate for some of them. To start, in the personal information in the box on the right side of the page. That's how you say who's sending the …

2024-09-05 10:59:49

[1/5] https://actionnetwork.org/letters/kroger-surveillance-pricing?nowrapper=true
Tell Kroger's to stop trying to identify all its customers through facial recognition. I edited my letter to say that trying to identify each customers is unjust even aside from the use of that information for precision gouging. Here's how to make the actionnetwork.org letter campaign linked above function without running the site's nonfree JavaScript code. I presume you have deactivated JavaScript or are …

2024-09-05 10:40:40

[2/2] … good thing. However. the bullshitter's statement that he supports that measure should not alter our disgust for him. We know that he will change his opinions from one day to the next, for no reason except political manipulation. That today he has a new opinion that agrees with us should not mislead us about what he is at heart.

2024-09-05 10:40:39

[1/2] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/31/donald-trump-recreational-marijuana-florida
https://stallman.org/glossary.html#bullshitter
The bullshitter said he is in favor of legalizing marijuana. What should we think of that? I have advocated legalization of marijuana for many years, so in general I am glad when others advocate it too. I hope the referendum to legalize marijuana in Florida wins. If the bullshitter influences some people to vote for it, that will be a …

2024-09-05 10:15:18

https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/aug/20/house-democrats-osha-inquiry-tip-offs
Some US employers are getting warnings in advance when an OSHA inspection is coming. Congress is investigating.

2024-09-05 09:46:58

https://substack.perfectunion.us/p/tim-walz-and-jd-vance-got-very-different
Vance talks a lot of adoration for unions, but his votes have been to weaken and undermine them.

2024-09-05 09:28:25

[5/5] … software.

2024-09-05 09:28:23

[4/5] … letter. Finally, click on the "SEND LETTER" button, and you're done. This method seems to work for letter campaigns that send the letters to a fixed list of recipients, the same recipients for every sender. Editing and revisiting the URL is the only additional step needed to bypass the nonfree JavaScript code. I'm sure you'll agree it is a small effort compared with the benefit of supporting the campaign without opening your computer to unjust (and potentially malicious) …

2024-09-05 09:28:21

[3/5] … a page that can't function without nonfree JavaScript code. (To ensure it doesn't function perversely by running that nonfree code, you can enable LibreJS or disable JavaScript.) You can finish sending without that code By editing its URL in the browser's address bar, as follows: First, go to the end and insert `&nowrapper=true'. Then tell the browser to visit that URL. This should give you a version of the page that works without JavaScript. Enter the subject and body of your …

2024-09-05 09:28:19

[2/5] … added `?nowrapper=true' to the end of the campaign URL before posting it above. That should bring you to a page that starts with, "Letter campaigns will not work without JavaScript!" They indeed won't work without some manual help, but the following simple method seems adequate for some of them. To start, in the personal information in the box on the right side of the page. That's how you say who's sending the letter. Then click the "START WRITING" button. That will take you to …

2024-09-05 09:28:17

[1/5] https://actionnetwork.org/letters/expose-trumps-connection-to-project-2025-at-the-next-debate/?nowrapper=true
Everyone: call on ABC to expose the right-wing extremist's connection to Project 2025 in the coming presidential debate. Here's how to make the actionnetwork.org letter campaign linked above function without running the site's nonfree JavaScript code. First, make sure you have deactivated JavaScript's or are using the LibreJS plug-in. I have done the first step for you: I …