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This is the personal web site of Richard Stallman.
The views expressed here are my personal views, not those of
the Free Software Foundation or
the GNU Project.
For the sake of separation, this site has always been
hosted elsewhere and managed separately.
If you want to send me GPG-encrypted mail, do not trust key servers! Some of them have phony keys under my name and email address, made by someone else as a trick. See gpg.html for my real key.
Canadians: I suggest you seek election advice at a local chapter of a group that pushes to curb global heating and has the courage to say, "Canada should stop exporting fossil fuel." It will at least use the right goals to suggest who to vote for in your area.
Join a Friday climate strike.That page is made by scraping Fridays for Future so you can get the information without running any Javascript code. I would be very glad if they made the information on their own site accessible from the Free World; then we could simply refer people to their site and do without the scraping etc.
The largest part of the site is the political notes, and they are typically updated every day.
I'm looking for people to![[America Means Civil Liberties / Patriotism Means Protecting
Them / www.aclu.org/safefree ]](flag_set_vectorized.png)
[ No upcoming talks. ]
The Capitol Switchboard numbers are +1-202-224-3121, +1-888-818-6641 and +1-888-355-3588.
If you phone, please spread the word!
The White House comments lines are +1-202-456-1111 and (TTY/TDD) +1-202-456-6213.
If you phone, please spread the word!
Here is what I gave as my personalized message:
I urge you to support the Location Shield Act — but, as described in the articles I have seen, it has loopholes that may make it fail to achieve its laudable purpose.It would block the most obvious and usual way for states persecuting abortion patients (and those who help them) to get the data, but there are various others ways which they will not take long to think of. For instance, companies could be "persuaded" to "give away" the data. (States have ways to persuade them — think of what Governor DeMentis has tried with Disney. Most companies won't resist as Disney has.) States could also get the data by subpoena.
I suggest forbidding requiring entities that collect location data in Massachusetts to distribute that data to any entity under any basis, outside of a small list of exceptions such as subpoenas from federal courts or certain specially authorized Massachusetts courts.
This may call for requiring those entities to keep the data inside Massachusetts, stored in ways that Massachusetts law can reliably govern.
Those entities often store their personal data — including location data — on computers belonging to cloudy businesses which don't deal directly with those entities' clients: for instance, Amazon AWS. Persecuting states could get the data by subpoena directly from those businesses. That requirement proposed above about where and how to store the location data could address this loophole too.
The full solution to the danger of massive surveillance of people's movements is to prohibit collection of location data. Massive surveillance, of which tracking people's movements is an example, is the foundation of tyranny. Phones should not track people, and when a business asks where you are, it should have to be content with whatever answer you choose give it. You do not owe a business a truthful answer to whatever question it may ask you!
Buses, trains, taxis, cars, and payments systems often track people's movements. We should put a stop to that too. My associates are working on a software system for paying stores and internet subscriptions without identifying yourself — see taler.net for more information.
Ending massive surveillance is a big job and will take time, but a strengthened Location Shield Act could be an exemplary first step.
*UK mental health charities handed sensitive data to Facebook [with a tracking pixel].*
Let's start the attack on massive surveillance by making it illegal for a server to include a tracking pixel.
There should be a law requiring online services, if they close a user's account, to permit the user to continue to download whatever information perse had left in the account.
To be sure, it is foolish to rely on an online service to hold any data for you; you should store it locally, and use online services only as backups (encrypted). Preferably more than one online service in parallel, for redundancy. But we should not allow online services to cite this as an excuse for arbitrarily causing people great avoidable harm.
It should be a crime to knowingly approach a person while maskless inside a building or vehicle.
The extreme of this is represented by the Amazon warehouse, where a worker's every move is controlled by the computer system. This is one of many reasons to refuse to buy from Amazon.
Unfortunately, surveillance of workers is not limited to Amazon. I think states should pass laws to limit surveillance of workers. It should cover independent contractors as well as employees.
The law should completely forbid demanding that workers run any specific software on their own computers (keep in mind that portable phones are computers); the employer who wants that must furnish the computer at no charge.
Here are some quotations that I particularly like.
You can now read the political notes on Mastodon.
Ralph Nader's suggestions to progressive activist groups.
US maternal deaths doubled from 1999 to 2019 — and that period does not count whatever effect Covid-19 had.
The cause is not clear, but since black mothers die at a much higher rate, it probably has to do with racism and to right-wing policies.
Bernie Sanders calls for massive government investment in education to fill America's shortage of all sorts of medical personnel.
*U.S. public pension funds would be $21 billion richer had they divested from fossil fuels a decade ago.*
*Improving soil could keep world within 1.5C heating target, research suggests.*
*True patriotism is the opposite of Trump's White Christian Nationalism.*
The foolish response to sea-level rise: two people are trying to preserve a small island they own by building sea walls.
This is futile because sea-level rise is accelerating. If they heroically manage to keep up with it this decade, they won't keep up next decade. By the end of this century, all their work will have been erased.
What a shame they aren't putting all that effort into an effort that may not be futile — that may actually win a victory.
We can't save everything, and scattering our efforts makes them futile. We must concentrate on defeating the planet roasters who are deliberately accelerating the problem.
*US expected to provide cluster bombs to Ukraine.*
The US and Ukraine surely know this — so why do they consider using cluster bombs? What advantage do they think those have, to outweigh what is bad about them?
The foolish response to sea-level rise: two people are trying to preserve a small island they own by building sea walls.
This is futile because sea-level rise is accelerating. If they heroically manage to keep up with it this decade, they won't keep up next decade. By the end of this century, all their work will have been erased.
What a shame they aren't putting all that effort into an effort that may not be futile — that may actually win a victory.
We can't save everything, and scattering our efforts makes them futile. We must concentrate on defeating the planet roasters who are deliberately accelerating the problem.
Many US employers forbid workers to sit (ever) while on the job, This is worse than uncomfortable; it builds up injuries.
The experience of many other countries shows that businesses can function just fine while permitting staff to sit occasionally. But suppose that were not true — would that justify the policy? Should the employer's interests entirely override the well-being of the workers?
Of course not.
"Right to sit" laws ought to exist, but that is a very narrow remedy, for this specific method of mistreating workers. What we really need are "right to strong unions" laws, that will help workers deal with many kinds of wrongs by employers, including this kind.
Former Israeli elected officials are being investigated for "sedition" after calling for nonviolent protests.
The protests were to be against right-wing plans for a fascist judiciary.
Israel is being taken over by fascism. Where can Israelis who want to live in a democracy with human rights move to?
Hong Kong has established a bounty of over $100,000 for the arrest of any of the exiles accused of violating the "national security" censorship law.
The natural response is for other countries to make it a crime to try to capture those freedom defenders, and offer a similar bounty for the arrest of anyone involved in trying to arrest them.
Hong Kong has arrested former protest leaders. One was arrested at the airport, leading me to wonder if he was trying to flee to a safe haven.
The Hong Kong "national security" law applies to "crimes" "committed" before that law was passed. In US legal terms, it is an "ex-post-facto" law. The US Constitution bans ex-post-facto criminalization. Many other countries do likewise -- because it is evident that such a law amounts to, "If we don't like you, we will put you in prison."
That's Hong Kong for you — and that's China for you.
I wonder if there is a way to arrange for Hong Kongers to flee without permission, as people fled from East Berlin.
Radical thoughts stated by the founders of the US Constitution.
Ironically amazing is Jefferson's ringing condemnation of slavery as evil — ironic given that he owned slaves and never freed them.
In the Declaration of Independence, he wrote a paragraph to condemn King George for the slave trade.
*Most [UK] doctors think ministers want to destroy the NHS, BMA boss says.*
I believe the same. It is a good thing that the NHS doctors recognize this, because they are the ones that have to fight it.
Australia is planning to demand that multi-national companies give economic data about their operations in other countries. Some Swiss conglomerates are making vague threats that they "won't invest so much in Australia."
Australia should tell them not to slam the door on the way out.
No country desperately needs investment to be made in ways that tend to subjugate the country to foreign plutocrats. The proposed Australian law will take the world one step closer to a progressive tax on corporations that would tend to pressure them to split up.
Bernie Sanders: Congress must act to overcome the planet roasters.
*Why are people dying at sea? They are fleeing disasters that we once called ‘biblical’, and now call normal.*
I rarely see an article which depicts how horrible is the fate that human activity is imposing on humans and nature. This is one.
I have to point out that the other jaw of the vise is over-reproduction. Having a few children is not much compared with what any plutocrat does, but it is harm you can avoid.
*Brazil: Amazon deforestation drops 34% in first six months under Lula.*
US citizens: call on Congress to pass the Judicial Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act.
The Capitol Switchboard numbers are +1-202-224-3121, +1-888-818-6641 and +1-888-355-3588.
If you phone, please spread the word!
A list of very important Labour Party policies that Starmer has discarded.
The four factors of the apocalypse:
global heating, global hating,
global eating, global mating.
Copy this button (courtesy of R.Siddharth) to express your rejection of Facebook.
Non-oppressive Commercial E-books
Facebook's face recognition demonstrates a threat to everyone's privacy. I therefore ask people not to put photos of me on Facebook; you can do likewise.
Of course, Facebook is bad for many other reasons as well.
I'd like to make a list of countries that do not require a national identity card, and have no plans to adopt one. If you live in or have confirmed knowledge of such a country, please send email to rms at gnu.org.
Here's my list of countries with no national ID cards and no plans for one: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK. Australia's previous government tried to institute national ID cards, but the Labor government dropped the plan.
India has mostly finished imposing a national biometric ID number in a grand act of oppression.
Switzerland has national ID cards which are optional, but they or some other government ID card are needed for some purposes.
Iceland doesn't have ID cards as such, but they have ID numbers that citizens are forced to use frequently. For example, the national ID number is often required to rent a video or use a gym.
Denmark issues non-photo ID cards with a "person number", and many services use this card to identify people.
Norway will impose a national biometric ID card.
Ireland - national ID card by stealth.
ACLU: the five dangers of national ID cards.
Wikipedia has a list of identity card policies by country.
Stay away from certain countries because of their bad immigration policies.
Avoid flight connections in these airports because of their treatment of passengers.
People often ask how I manage to continue devoting myself to progressive activism (such as the free software movement) for years without burning out. The best way I can answer is by recommending a book, The Lifelong Activist by Hillary Rettig.
I disagree with the book on one theoretical point in the last part of the book: we shouldn't think of political activism as being marketing and sales, because those terms refer to business, and politics is something much more important than mere business. However, this doesn't diminish the value of the book's practical advice about borrowing techniques from marketing and sales.
Disclosure: I am friends with the author.
Personal Declaration of Richard Stallman and Euclides Mance on Solidarity Economy and Free Software.
I have reposted some of Rick Falkvinge's articles. As posted on his site, you can't see them in a browser without running some nonfree Javascript code which is apparently non-free. These versions show the same text, without the obstacle.
These are my political articles that are not related to the GNU operating system or free software. For GNU-related articles, see the GNU philosophy directory. You can also order copies of my book, Free Software, Free Society, 3rd edition', signed or not signed.
"Those who profess to favor freedom, yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."Frederick Douglass, American Abolitionist, Letter to an associate, 1849
Here are notes about various issues I care about, usually with links to
more information. The current notes are
here. For all previous
notes, see this page.
See this page for information on efforts to maintain links in the political notes.
Political notes about the 2001 G8 summit in Genoa, Italy are being archived on their own page.
Richard Stallman's bio and publicity photos, and other things of interest to the press, have been moved to a separate page.
The Free Software Song, by Richard M. Stallman. You can listen to a performance of the song: Free Software Song performed by Thor Here is a variant of this song called "The Free Firmware Song".
A song parody, Colors of the Lisp, by Jefferson Carpenter.
Earth under attack from planet Koch.
On doxing, and how to spell it.
A Spanish cartoon: La Ruleta
Española. 
Here I am wearing my "power tie".
Wine snobs get their comeuppance.
Here I am struggling to open a bottle of water.
My application to an join Marian Henley's ex-boyfriends list.
My funny poetry and song parodies.
My Puns in English (Little Leaguer, August 2019).
My Puns in Spanish (New pun: Apostasía April 2019)
My Puns in French (New pun: Microsoft à l'école July 2019)
My Puns in Italian (New pun: Quale pesce fa starnutire? New 10/2018)
My Puns in German (New 02/2016)
Linguistic Swifties (Now with: Wintu, Penutian, Cochiti, Taos, and Towa.)
--Saint
IGNUcius-- The Church of Emacs will soon
be officially listed by at least one person as his religion for
census purposes.
There are no godfathers in the Church of Emacs, since there are no gods, but you can be someone's editorfather.
Stallman Does Dallas: "I have to warn you that Texans have been known to have an adverse reaction to my personality…"
The Dalai Lama today announced the official release of Yellow Hat GNU/Linux.
I found a funny song about the Mickey Mouse Copyright Act (officially the Sonny Bono Copyright Act) which extended copyright retroactively by 20 years on works made as early as the 1920s.
If you are a geek and read Spanish, you will love Raulito el Friki, who said "Hello, world!" immediately after he was born. Here's an archive of this now-defunct comic strip.
Sleeping with Stallman at MIT.
ESR's favorite programming language: Objectivist C.
No Kludges in Cluj (June 2014)
Made for You (December 2012) (local copy) Esperanto translation
A science fiction story: Jinnetic Engineering (in Portuguese, Farsi, Spanish, Armenian, Russian, French, and Italian).My book of essays about the philosophy of Software Freedom, is available from the GNU Press.
Avec des chapeaux French song parody.
My radio program of Music from Georgia, originally broadcast on WUOG in Athens, Georgia on Oct 13, 2014.
Quantum Theory and Abortion Rights
A proposal for gender neutrality in Spanish, suitable for both speech and writing.
On Hacking: In June 2000, while visiting Korea, I did a fun hack that clearly illustrates the original and true meaning of the word "hacker".
Predicting the attack on Pearl Harbor
I would like to thank:
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