Political notes from 2009: May - August

Hollywood systematically makes lousy movies

Richard Stallman — 04 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

04 July 2009 (Hollywood systematically makes lousy movies)

How Hollywood systematically makes lousy movies.

I learned about another systematic cause in a book called "Save the Cat", whose purpose is to explain how to write scripts and sell them to Hollywood. However, without quite intending to, it also explains how the system demands stories that can be fully explained in a few words.

When the movie companies demand more power to control our computers, saying it is needed to keep them going, this is what they want to keep going.

Israel has kept Cynthia McKinney and others in prison

Richard Stallman — 04 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

04 July 2009 (Israel has kept Cynthia McKinney and others in prison)

Israel has kept Cynthia McKinney and others from the Gaza aid boat in prison after they refused to sign a statement which would have put them in the wrong.

Pharma's phony 'gift' to Health Care Reform

Richard Stallman — 04 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

04 July 2009 (Pharma's phony 'gift' to Health Care Reform)

Pharma's phony 'gift' to Health Care Reform

Gay rights in India

Richard Stallman — 04 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

04 July 2009 (Gay rights in India)

An Indian court has ruled that homosexual sex is not a crime.

Crew of Gaza aid boat are in prison

Richard Stallman — 04 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

04 July 2009 (Crew of Gaza aid boat are in prison)

After Israel seized the Gaza aid boat, the crew and escorts are now in prison in Israel. At least one may face long term imprisonment.

Wild sheep on a Scottish island are evolving

Richard Stallman — 04 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

04 July 2009 (Wild sheep on a Scottish island are evolving)

Wild sheep on a Scottish island are evolving to smaller size, apparently due to warming climate.

Honduras' government has declared an emergency

Richard Stallman — 04 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

04 July 2009 (Honduras' government has declared an emergency)

Honduras' government has declared an emergency and suspended basic human rights.

One of the articles I previously read said that the "unanimous" vote that named Micheletti president was made "unanimous" by excluding Cesar Ham's party. I would guess that this party is too small to have changed the outcome, but claiming it was "unanimous" based on exclusion of those who would have voted against is dishonest.

More lies by the coup-established rulers are explained here, including the phony resignation letter from Zelaya.

The right wing are condemning Zelaya for having an association with Chavez and say that he has promised to take control of Honduras for Chavez.

Those accusations seem absurd to me, but it seems that the ballots for the non-binding poll were printed in Venezuela after Honduran government agencies refused to do it.

It seems to me that Zelaya ought to have confronted that disobedience by replacing officials rather than by inviting foreign help. However, the mere fact of getting such help does not prove anything was wrong.

It doesn't prove the contrary either. Zelaya said, in exile. that if the constitution were changed to allow a president to be reelected, that would only apply to his successor, not to him. But this may not have been clear all along.

Obama has been weak in opposing the coup in Honduras

Richard Stallman — 04 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

04 July 2009 (Obama has been weak in opposing the coup in Honduras)

Obama has been strangely weak in opposing the coup in Honduras.

Publicly funded health care

Richard Stallman — 03 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

03 July 2009 (Publicly funded health care)

Change Congress is shaming senators into supporting publicly funded health care even though the insurance companies paid them to oppose it.

The Taliban captured a US soldier

Richard Stallman — 03 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

03 July 2009 (The Taliban captured a US soldier)

The Taliban captured a US soldier in Afghanistan.

It seems misleading to call it "kidnapping" when soldiers capture prisoners from an enemy army, so I won't use that term.

The real issue here is whether the Taliban will treat their prisoner humanely according to the Geneva Conventions. For years, US military officers warned Bush that torturing prisoners could result in retaliation against future captured US soldiers. The US must now shamefully recognize that it has not acted correctly itself and therefore is in a weak position to criticize the Taliban if it does not.

Coup in Honduras

Richard Stallman — 03 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

03 July 2009 (Coup in Honduras)

Conservatives pretend to support democracy, but they make an exception for the coup in Honduras.

Israeli is stealing from fishermen

Richard Stallman — 03 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

03 July 2009 (Israeli is stealing from fishermen)

Israeli is stealing boats and nets from Gazan fishermen. On one occasion Israeli navy shot at fishermen and ordered them to jump into the sea.

The fossil fuel lobby undermined the climate bill

Richard Stallman — 03 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

03 July 2009 (The fossil fuel lobby undermined the climate bill)

The fossil fuel lobby undermined the climate bill by harping on what protecting the environment will cost. This question is ignored when the right wing wants something more expensive, such as a war.

What is the cost of cities that are uninhabited, because of unbearable heat, lack of food, a lack of drinking water underground, or a layer of sea water above it?

Faisal Al-Ani was confused but not violent

Richard Stallman — 03 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

03 July 2009 (Faisal Al-Ani was confused but not violent)

Faisal Al-Ani was confused but not violent, until the police attacked him. He died from the way they treated him, and then they lied to cover it up.

Exxon still funds global warming deniers

Richard Stallman — 03 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

03 July 2009 (Exxon still funds global warming deniers)

Exxon still funds front groups to deny global warming.

Remember, the "xx" is pronounced like a hard "ch" in German or "j" in Spanish.

Iranian candidates have denounced the government

Richard Stallman — 03 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

03 July 2009 (Iranian candidates have denounced the government)

The "defeated" Iranian candidates have denounced the government as illegitimate.

Those who steal elections do not have legitimate governments. This applies in Iran just as it does in the US and Mexico.

As for the demand for the EU to apologize so as to restart nuclear negotiations, this demand shows that Iran has no interested in an agreement, so the negotiations are futile. If Iran is ever interested in an agreement, it will come to the table to discuss one.

It is not a good thing for Iran to have nuclear weapons, but it's not a disaster either. (The the same can be said for several other countries that have them.)

Drug legalization

Richard Stallman — 03 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

03 July 2009 (Drug legalization)

George Monbiot: No one dares study the possible effects of drug legalization.

There is a point that Monbiot did not consider, about decriminalization of use while providing a legal supply to addicts. If most of the total amount of the drug is used by addicts (since one addict uses far more per year than one occasional user), this will probably make the total size of the black market shrink considerably and reduce profits. Many drug sellers will leave the business. Those remaining will have little incentive to give free samples to try to get customers addicted. The result could be a decrease in occasional use of the drug, as well as a decrease in the indirect harms of smuggling it.

EPA employees' report about global warming

Richard Stallman — 03 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

03 July 2009 (EPA employees' report about global warming)

Two EPA employees whose field is not climatology wrote a report saying that there is no global warming danger, and the EPA suppressed it.

Their report is ignorant nonsense.

I can see why the EPA would refuse to be associated with this, but gagging them was wrong. They should be allowed to state their views, then used as an example to refute, and disciplined for plagiarism if they did copied without citation from Mr Gregory.

UK protestors blocked a coal train

Richard Stallman — 03 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

03 July 2009 (UK protestors blocked a coal train)

UK protestors that blocked a coal train say they were trying to preventing the deaths that result from coal-based power generation.

Among the forms of polution that coal plants emit is radioactive fallout. The radioisotopes are present in the coal, but harmless as long as they are inside it; burning the coal spews them into the air.

Krugman about climate danger deniers

Richard Stallman — 03 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

03 July 2009 (Krugman about climate danger deniers)

Krugman: climate danger deniers are committing treason against Earth.

Bush forces soldiers are resisting the war

Richard Stallman — 03 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

03 July 2009 (Bush forces soldiers are resisting the war)

An increasing number of Bush forces soldiers are resisting the war that they too consider unjust.

Israel committed war crimes

Richard Stallman — 03 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

03 July 2009 (Israel committed war crimes)

Amnesty International concludes Israel committed war crimes in attacking Gaza.

The climate bill has divided the environmental movement

Richard Stallman — 01 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

01 July 2009 (The climate bill has divided the environmental movement)

The climate bill, so weak that it is more like an excuse for giveways than a reduction in emission, has divided the environmental movement.

Environmental groups generally achieve more by criticizing bad laws than by signing their name to slightly better laws. That is what they should all do now. If not enough Americans understand the danger we are putting the world in, how do we change that? Endorsing non-solutions does not do it.

Engineers are more likely to become right-wing extremists

Richard Stallman — 01 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

01 July 2009 (Engineers are more likely to become right-wing extremists)

Engineers' intolerance for ambiguity makes them more likely to become right-wing extremists (though it is only a tiny fraction of engineers who do so).

Israel says it will demolish 6,000 Palestinian homes

Richard Stallman — 01 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

01 July 2009 (Israel says it will demolish 6,000 Palestinian homes)

Instead of demolishing 20,000 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, Israel now says it will only demolish 6,000.

But these demolitions are continue.

It is a step in the right direction, but it removes just part of one of the many forms of suffering imposed on Palestinians. And Israel could reverse this step at any time too.

Atheist summer camp

Richard Stallman — 01 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

01 July 2009 (Atheist summer camp)

The UK now has an Atheist summer camp.

The Bush regime tortured prisoners to death

Richard Stallman — 01 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

01 July 2009 (The Bush regime tortured prisoners to death)

The Bush regime tortured prisoners to death in Bagram.

Obama condemns Bush regime torture, but wants to continue taking prisoners around the world and holding them in Bagram without trial, based on evidence that often amounts to rumor, and sometimes is extracted by torture.

Neocons want an excuse to invade Iran

Richard Stallman — 01 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

01 July 2009 (Neocons want an excuse to invade Iran)

Neocons hope the Iranian regime's suppression of political opposition can give them an excuse to invade.

Invading Iran to establish freedom and democracy would be a good thing if (1) Iranians want this sort of help and (2) we could trust the leaders of the invasion to support and establish freedom and democracy.

Obama is not a full supporter of human rights, but maybe we could trust him to set up a real democracy. However, Iranians do not want their country to be invaded, and I expect they would loyally support their government if it were. That's what they did in the 80s when the US supported Saddam Hussein's invasion of Iran.

The neocons don't have as much influence as they used to. Still, the world is fortunate that the US army is too overloaded to invade any but weak countries at present.

Palestinian villages were attacked

Richard Stallman — 01 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

01 July 2009 (Palestinian villages were attacked)

Israeli "settlers" attacked Palestinian villages with guns. The army came and attacked the Palestinians too.

Multinational oil companies are moving in Iraq

Richard Stallman — 01 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

01 July 2009 (Multinational oil companies are moving in Iraq)

As the Bush forces move gradually out of Iraq, the multinational oil companies are moving in.

Bush did not exactly win his war, but the people he worked for did win it.

Reporter banned from embedding in Iraq

Richard Stallman — 1 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

1 July 2009 (Reporter banned from embedding in Iraq)

The Bush forces barred a reporter from being "embedded" because his reporting was not sufficiently favorable.

China may scrap Green Dam

Richard Stallman — 1 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

1 July 2009 (China may scrap Green Dam)

China has backed down on the Green Dam internet filtering program, apparently in response to a lot of opposition. Users would not have been required to run the Green Dam program on their own PCs, but users of cybercafes might well have found they had no way to avoid it. Thus, it would have censored some Chinese users, while leaving many others unaffected. However, the program has managed to crystalize opposition to all the censorship in China.

Urgent: Help free the Spirit of Humanity

Richard Stallman — 1 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

1 July 2009 (Urgent: Help free the Spirit of Humanity)

US citizens: Israel seized the Gaza aid ship "Spirit of Humanity". Call your congressmen and senators demanding they put pressure on Israel to release the ship and let it dock in Gaza.

You can also call these numbers to put pressure directly on the Israeli government.

The Israeli Ministry of Justice
tel: +972 2646 6666 or +972 2646 6340
fax: +972 2646 6357

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
tel: +972 2530 3111
fax: +972 2530 3367

UK says that national ID cards will be optional

Richard Stallman — 1 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

1 July 2009 (UK says that national ID cards will be optional)

The UK says that national ID cards will be optional, except if you want a passport.

Cesar Ham was not killed

Richard Stallman — 01 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

01 July 2009 (Cesar Ham was not killed)

A correction: Cesar Ham was not killed. Rather, he has gone into hiding under threat of arrest for supporting the holding of Zelaya's planned advisory referendum.

It appears that the advisory referendum was specifically about whether to hold a later plebiscite to authorize a constitutional convention. It is generally reported that Zelaya's aim was to change the constitution so he could run for office again, and maybe that was what he hoped such a convention would do.
See also here.

Ezra Nawi faces another prison term

Richard Stallman — 01 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

01 July 2009 (Ezra Nawi faces another prison term)

Ezra Nawi, an Israeli who helps Palestinians' nonviolent resistance to the "settlers" that try to drive them off their land, faces another prison term, apparently framed by biased police.

Keep in mind that the "settlement" whose inhabitants call Nawi a "troublemaker" was illegal from the beginning, and that the overall purpose of these settlements was to create excuses for annexation.

4000 square miles around New Orleans will be submerged

Richard Stallman — 01 Jul 2009 00:00 UT

01 July 2009 (4000 square miles around New Orleans will be submerged)

A study predicts 4000 square miles around New Orleans will be submerged by the end of the century, due to global warming combined with dams that reduce sediment.

This appears to use a cautious prediction for how much sea level will rise. If Greenland really starts melting, it could be a lot worse.