Home page

[3 January 2026] EU: New Rules on Asylum

Amnesty International rebuked the EU for strict new asylum policies that can arbitrarily send a refugee to an unrelated country with which person has no connections.

They define many countries as "safe" including Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, Kosovo, India, Morocco and Tunisia. India denies the citizenship of Muslims, Morocco and Tunisia are more or less Islamist, Bangladesh is wracked by Islamist mobs, and Egypt imprisons dissidents.


[25 June 2025] Indian deportation thugs forcing Muslim Indians into Bangladesh

Indian deportation thugs are grabbing Muslim Indians and forcing them across the border with Bangladesh. Bangladeshi border guards reject many of them, saying they are Indians not Bangladeshis, and force them back to India, sometimes by arduous (and unguarded?) routes.

A few years ago, India passed a law allowing it to claim that people were immigrants if they didn't have documents to prove their forebears were Indian citizens. Another law allowed such people to claim Indian citizenship, but not if they are Muslims.

Put them together and they combine as a recipe for labeling a Muslim Indian who was born and raised in India as an unauthorized immigrant, so as to expel per.


[19 May 2025] India punished journalist Raphael Satter

India punished journalist Raphael Satter for his writings by canceling his Indian residence permit, which he had by right due to being married to an Indian.


[16 March 2024] Muslims as outcasts, India

Several years ago, India passed a couple of laws that add up to an excuse to strip Muslims of Indian citizenship if they can't prove their ancestors have been in India for a long time. Protests convinced the government to delay putting the law into effect, but it is about to do so now.

The result will be to exile millions of Muslim Indians to Bangladesh or Pakistan, where they are not likely to survive very long.


[19 January 2021] Killer venerated

*Mahatma Gandhi's killer venerated as Hindu nationalism resurges in India.*

"Hindu nationalism" despises non-Hindus (especially Muslims, but Christians too, and maybe Buddhists) and seeks to oppress them within India or expel them. That's why Modi's supporters adopted two citizenship laws which, together, make an excuse to deny the citizenship of non-Hindus and expel them.

Paradoxically they also want India to control areas inhabited mainly by Muslims, such as Kashmir, whether they want to be part of India or not. (India promised Kashmiris a referendum about independence, but never carried it out.)

Those who condemn Gandhi for supporting partition between India and Pakistan apparently wish that Pakistan and Bangladesh were part of India today, so that they could oppress or expel Muslims there too.

This looks like the return of the sort of territorial expansionism that mostly disappeared after World War II, together with religious hatred.


[28 May 2020] Rearrested after release

Thugs arrested two protesters against India's discriminatory citizenship act, but a court released them because the charges were not warranted by a peaceful protest. Then thugs arrested them again and charged them with rioting and murder.

(I wonder whose death is being called murder.)

This article says that that is the beginning of a repeatedly traveled road to empower violent mobs to dominate society by force and tear up the constitution of India.


[6 February 2020] False arrest and torture of activists

*‘I’ll destroy your family’: India’s activists tell of false arrest and torture in [prison].*


[5 February 2020] Repression of dissent

India's repression of dissent knows no bounds. The leaders of a primary school face various criminal charges for a school play that included "slurs" against Modi and criticized the discriminatory immigration law.

A Hinduismist fanatic shot marchers who were peacefully protesting against that law. He chose the date and time to honor the 1948 murder of Gandhi by another Hinduismist.

I predict that Modi's supporters will praise the shooter try to get charges against him dropped, just as Israel's right-wing extremists lionize the fanatic that assassinated Prime Minister Rabin in 1995.


[25 January 2020] Modi is afraid

*'Modi is afraid': women take lead in India's citizenship protests.*


[8 January 2020] Protests against discrimination

100,000 people protested in Hyderabad against the discriminatory citizenship law, which combined with the register of citizens amounts to an excuse to expel Muslims who lack documentation about their parents' citizenship before 1970 or so.


[26 December 2019] Discrimination against Muslims

The anti-Muslim discrimination of India's new immigration bill, plus the planned expulsion of those who can't prove citizenship back almost 50 years, add up to discriminatory expulsion of lots of Muslims.


[21 December 2019] Keeping protesting

Indians have not been cowed by a ban on protests, and they have continued protests in many cities to hamper protests against the discriminatory immigration law.

This is despite the shutdown of down internet and phone service in Delhi and other places.


[19 December 2019] Repression in India

Indian thugs displayed a level of repression shocking even in India when they attacked student protesters and bystanders.

The new citizenship bill discriminates in favor of non-Muslim refugees from three countries, but does not take any existing rights away from anyone. Thus, it is biased but not repressive.

By contrast, what India has done to deny citizenship to residents of Assam threatens to expel people who have lived all their lives in India, and what it has done to Kashmir is comparable to China in Xinjiang.

However, they all spring from the same source: the repressive spirit of religious prejudice that Modi's party is based on.


[12 December 2019] Everyone oppression

India has passed a law offering citizenship to non-Muslims who moved to India before 2015 from three nearby countries: Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

The idea seems to be that non-Muslims in those countries are likely to be oppressed, and should be treated as refugees. That is probably valid. Meanwhile, India oppresses the minority Muslims.


[17 November 2019] Citizenship of journalist Aatish Taseer

More Than 250 Authors Urge India's Prime Minister to Reinstate Overseas Citizenship of British Journalist Aatish Taseer.


[11 November 2019] Journalist exiled for criticizing Modi

India has exiled journalist Aatish Taseer for criticizing Modi, citing an excuse that was never held against him before.


[11 August 2017] India flood relief

2 million Chakmas, Buddhist refugees from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), have been denied citizenship in India and are treated as outcasts.


[04 December 2014] UK university speech censorship)

The UK plan to censor speeches in universities means the end of intellectual freedom, in a sad contrast with the tradition of liberty.

  • 04 December 2014 (Record pace of evictions in UK)

    Evictions in the UK are hitting a record pace. Traps placed in welfare benefits by the Tories are almost certain to cause an eviction when they go off.

    The main problem is that the wealthy are using a larger fraction of the UK's total housing space than before. This can be reversed at least partially by raising taxes on large houses and apartments, which will move the middle class and somewhat wealthy towards somewhat smaller spaces, making more buildings available for poor people to live in.

  • 04 December 2014 (Baby coral research)

    Baby coral animals may be able to adapt to higher acidity.

  • 04 December 2014 (Urgent: Support US fast food workers)

    Everyone: support US fast food workers on strike for $15 an hour.

  • 04 December 2014 (Threats sent by Japanese corporation)

    Japanese corporation Sumitomo tried to get a license to mine in the Solomon Islands by telling the Japanese ambassador to threaten to cut aid for a hospital.

    The ambassador didn't dare say no, but fortunately he avoided carrying out the order.

  • 04 December 2014 ("Complimentary medicines")

    Common "complementary medicines" claimed to assist cancer chemotherapy are likely to undermine its effectiveness.

  • 04 December 2014 (Carbon footprint of meat production)

    Eating Less Meat Essential to Curb Climate Change, Says Report.

    Most people don't realize how big a footprint meat production has. Especially beef.

    Fixing this problem does not require "telling people what to eat"; making greenhouse-emitting activities pay for the damage they do would be enough.

  • 04 December 2014 (Harmful chemicals in Antarctic waters)

    Soap, Sunscreen And Steroids Found in Antarctic Waters And Wildlife.

    Some of these chemicals can be harmful to wildlife in minute quantities because they mimic hormones.

  • 04 December 2014 (Luxembourg's tax-dodging scheme)

    Important EU countries are pushing to end Luxembourg's tax-dodging scheme.

  • 04 December 2014 (Raped women threatened and imprisoned)

    When thugs disbelieve a woman who makes an accusation of rape, they often threaten her until she falsely confesses to lying. Then she gets prosecuted and may be caught in prison until the rapist is caught raping someone else.

  • 04 December 2014 (Antisemitism Is Racism)

    Antisemitism Is Racism. We Need to Acknowledge That.

  • 04 December 2014 ("Peace and calm" from rifle manufacturer)

    The rifle manufacturer Kalashnikov, whose weapons are used in wars around the world, now advertises itself as "promoting peace and calm".

    Reminds me of how the US renamed the War Department as the "Defense Department".

  • 04 December 2014 (Censorship in Bangladesh)

    A journalist in Bangladesh has been fined for questioning the government's claims about the number of political murders in Bangladesh's war of independence.

    Ironically, he was instrumental in calling attention to these murders.

    Such vile censorship is not unique to Bangladesh. France has two laws each explicitly prohibiting disagreement with the official views on a particular question. One was adopted just a few years ago.

  • 04 December 2014 (Threats from fracking)

    Fracking threatens to exacerbate water shortages in Mexico, earthquakes in China and Indonesia, and wipe out indigenous peoples in some other countries.

    All this while encouraging people to keep burning fossil fuel.

  • 04 December 2014 (Militarization of US police)

    Obama isn't proposing to stop militarizing US police, only to monitor the process more.

  • 04 December 2014 (Lima climate talks)

    The US is dragging its feet in Lima climate talks, acting as if we could take our time curbing global heading slowly.

  • 04 December 2014 (Money for war but no help for refugees)

    The US spent a lot of money for war but won't help Syrian refugees.

    I think the US should offer funds for permanent resettlement of these refugees, not just to keep them alive in refugee camps, because that way the problem will be solved.

  • 04 December 2014 (Australian immigration TV show)

    Australian immigration seems to have pressured Monica Jones to agree to be filmed for a TV program, on pain of receiving harsh treatment.

  • 03 December 2014 (Guaranteed harms of fracking)

    Clinton's criticism of fracking presumes that there are some places where the risks are acceptable.

    Clearly she is considering only the local risk of polluting water and not the guaranteed harms of (1) using scarce water and (2) contributing to global heating.

  • 03 December 2014 (Austerity)

    The Labour Party would have used a little less austerity than the Tories applied, but both would have spread poverty.

  • 03 December 2014 (Militarization of US thugs)

    Obama plans to somewhat limit the militarization of US thugs.

    Why is this program "popular in Congress"? Probably because of the money of the companies that make the equipment, which have arranged to divide the work around nearly all congressional districts.

    We must reject the idea that an elected official's proper job includes pulling jobs to their districts from other parts of the US, or getting the government to do misguided spending in their districts.

  • 03 December 2014 (Line between death threats and jokes)

    Where to draw the line between online death threats and jokes or self-expression?

    A just criterion can't rest on the subjective understanding of either party. It has to be based on what is reasonable in the situation.

    In addition we must stop publicly posting our private musings. Web sites such as Facebook that encourage that practice are harmful.

  • 03 December 2014 ("Ghost soldiers" on Iraqi army payroll)

    The Iraqi army, trained by the US, had 50,000 "ghost soldiers" on its payroll who were not really acting as soldiers.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

    This alone does not explain PISSI's triumph. The 10,000 real soldiers in Mosul greatly outnumbered PISSI, and could easily have held the city — if they were inclined to fight.

  • 03 December 2014 (Spanish gov't wants crimes forgotten)

    The Spanish right-wing government cut off funds for finding and identifying the graves of people massacred by its predecessor, the dictator Franco, during the Spanish civil war.

    Franco was a general, and tried to stage a military coup, but ran into resistance from the people so that it took him three years to conquer all of Spain.

    Friends in Spain told me a few years ago that Franco's supporters still occupied positions of power. It is no surprise, therefore, that right-wing politicians want to Franco's crimes to be forgotten.

  • 03 December 2014 (Human rights activist sentenced to prison)

    A Bahraini human rights campaigner was sentenced to prison for attacking two thugs. That's what the thugs generally say; more likely they attacked her.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

    The effect is to keep her in permanent exile.

  • 03 December 2014 (Tax-evading landlord evicting residents)

    London residents facing eviction by a new tax-evading landlord protested at the company's office.

  • 03 December 2014 (New Pun)

    No stallions for the cast!.

  • 03 December 2014 (Urgent: Incentives for renewable energy)

    US citizens: call on Congress to renew incentives for renewable energy and energy efficiency.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 03 December 2014 (Urgent: Nuclear diplomacy with Iran)

    US citizens: call on your congresscritter and senators not to wipe out nuclear diplomacy with Iran.

  • 03 December 2014 (Syrian censorship)

    Studying Syrian censorship through leaked logs.

  • 03 December 2014 (Thugs attack HK protesters)

    Thousands of Hong Kong democracy protesters occupied a street, and were attacked by thugs with dogs and pepper spray.

    It seems to be a very strong form of pepper spray.

  • 03 December 2014 (Putin exerting control over publishing)

    Putin is exerting control over publishing in Russia, not just "news".

    In general I object to using the word "content" to describe publications, because it disparages them. However, it may be a fitting word for the publications of Putin's flunkies.

  • 03 December 2014 (High price of HIV drugs)

    Millions with HIV die because they can't afford the drugs to keep them alive.

    The World Trade Organization and its TRIPES (*) agreement is partly responsible for the high price of these patented drugs. The leaders of that organization, as well as the politicians that signed it and ratified it, should be tried for mass murder by the International Criminal Court.

    * Trade-Restricting Impediments to Production, Education and Science.

  • 03 December 2014 (How to Police the Police)

    How to Police the Police: What Rules Should Govern Police Use of Body Cameras?

  • 03 December 2014 (Jurisdiction to seize data)

    When a US company has data in a server in Europe, which country has jurisdiction to seize the data?

  • 03 December 2014 (Protesters attacked by thugs in Egypt)

    1000 protesters tried to enter Tahrir Square and were attacked by thugs.

  • 03 December 2014 (Toxic tropical jellyfish crossing Suez Canal)

    The Suez Canal has allowed toxic tropical jellyfish to invade the Mediterranean, where they endanger people and fish. And other dangerous invaders too.

  • 03 December 2014 (UN Committee Against Torture rebukes US)

    The United Nations Committee Against Torture rebuked the US for failing to punish torturers, as well as use of solitary confinement and violence by thugs, and imprisonment of large numbers of people facing possible deportation.

  • 03 December 2014 (Birth control)

    The small health risks of some birth control methods are smaller than the health risks they prevent, and trivial compared with the health risks of pregnancy.

  • 03 December 2014 (In prison for not stopping abusive husband)

    Many US women are in prison for being unable to stop their husbands from beating their children to death.

    The legal system fails to consider that the women were terrorized by those men.

  • 03 December 2014 (Secret opportunity to indict anyone)

    The grand jury gives prosecutors a secret opportunity to indict anyone — or, as in the case of Michael Brown's killing, to avoid indicting someone. This article proposes a replacement system.

  • 03 December 2014 (UK "counter-terrorism" leaflets)

    The UK is giving out "counter-terrorism" leaflets whose only use is to make people scared and ready to give up freedoms for security against a tiny danger.

    (You know already what these campaigns are for, but the article is so funny it would be a shame not to show it to you.)

    The way for the UK (and the US) to minimize the danger of terrorism by Islamists is to wind down the many interventions in mainly Muslim countries.

  • 03 December 2014 (The neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party)

    In 1944, just after freeing Greece from the Nazis, the UK joined with Greek collaborators to massacre unarmed leftist demonstrators in order to impose a right-wing government of the former flunkies of the Nazis.

    This led to the Greek civil war an dictatorship, and to today's Greek neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party.

  • 03 December 2014 (Internet surveillance)

    It is quite likely you are already responding to fear of what internet surveillance can do to you.

  • 03 December 2014 (Galapagos Islands' endangered species)

    Scientists protecting endangered species on the Galapagos Islands have run out of money because competing local people made them close their gift shop.

    Human inhabitation of the Galapagos Islands endangers the unique species there, and so does tourism.

  • 02 December 2014 (Chicago's schools lost 100 million dollars)

    Chicago's schools lost 100 million dollars after banksters led them into a tricky financial scheme, telling them not to worry about the fine print.

    The crucial point is that banksters had shortly before procured a state law to permit this sort of scheme. That's the way they work. All the "financial deregulation" laws of the past 20 years should simply be repealed.

  • 02 December 2014 (Homelessness and destitution are becoming normal in UK)

    In the UK, homelessness and destitution are becoming normal: people are starting to accept it as a permanent state of affairs which need not be corrected.

    The same happened in the US in the 1980s; it is part of Reagan's legacy.

  • 02 December 2014 (Japanese officials pushing denialism)

    Right-wing Japanese officials are pushing denialism of forcing women from occupied peoples into prostitution, using one piece of questionable evidence as a false excuse to deny all the evidence.

  • 02 December 2014 (Germany's biggest electric company)

    Germany's biggest electric company will split off fossil fuel generators to concentrate on renewable energy.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 02 December 2014 (Thugs that get fired for misconduct)

    US thugs that get fired for misconduct typically have no difficulty getting jobs as thugs in other places in the US.

  • 02 December 2014 (Autopsy on Michael Brown)

    The person who did the autopsy on Michael Brown seems to be hardly qualified for it, and not very honest.

    Why, I wonder, did the state entrust such a sensitive job to someone like that?

  • 02 December 2014 (Imprisoned for encouraging to learn and speak Tibetan)

    Tibetan singer Kalsang Yarphel has been imprisoned for encouraging Tibetans to learn and speak Tibetan.

    Evidently China aims to erase Tibetan culture.

  • 02 December 2014 (Having a baby is substantially dangerous)

    Having a baby is substantially dangerous; occasionally the only way a woman can save herself is with a late-term abortion.

  • 02 December 2014 (Thugs have planned years in advance)

    Washington DC thugs have planned years in advance how to spend the money they expect to take from people not convicted of crimes.

  • 02 December 2014 (Research that should not be done)

    An example of research that should not be done: tracking people automatically from one camera to another.

    Note the idiotic non-response given in the article to concerns that this is dangerous. They suggest that if the video is encrypted in transmission to Big Brother it will protect you from being tracked by someone else. As if anyone were as dangerous as Big Brother!

    I've proposed making it illegal to have remotely accessible cameras pointed at public places.

  • 01 December 2014 (Urgent: Lima negotiations)

    US citizens: call on the US to stand for strong measures to curb global heating in the Lima negotiations.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

    In my message, I used the term "global heating" to underline how serious the danger is, rather than the denialists' term "climate change".

  • 01 December 2014 (Michael Brown's killer quits)

    Michael Brown's killer quit the Ferguson thug department.

  • 01 December 2014 (Black Friday buying fever)

    The buying fever on Black Friday is a disgrace to society, as well as a distraction from more important things.

    The people who do it don't understand how pathetic their obsession with appliances is.

  • 01 December 2014 (PISSI)

    According to reports smuggled out of Raqqa, PISSI lords it over the inhabitants like an occupying army, and doesn't bother defending them from Assad's bombers when they attack civilian areas.

    If this is accurate (it could be an exaggeration), it would be easy to get people's help in pushing PISSI out, if only there were a decent alternative on offer. But there isn't.

    I wonder why Assad continues making them hate him.

    Note: PISSI is the Pseudo-Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

  • 01 December 2014 (Charges against Mubarak dismissed)

    Murder and corruption charges against Mubarak and some of his henchmen were dismissed in an arbitrary way.

    With the supporters of democracy and human rights under total repression, I guess al-Sisi doesn't need to pretend to hold the previous military ruler accountable for anything.

  • 01 December 2014 (Italy trying to weaken net neutrality)

    Italy is trying to weaken EU standards for network neutrality.

  • 01 December 2014 (Brazil's Javari Valley threatened)

    Brazil's Javari Valley Threatened by Peruvian Oil, Warn Tribes.

    The Peruvian president, Ollanta Humala, gave an impression of being vaguely leftist, but this does not seem to be very much the case.

  • 01 December 2014 (The harm done by fracking)

    The harm done by fracking could be comparable to that of thalidomide, tobacco or asbestos.

  • 01 December 2014 (Legal excuse used to spy on citizens)

    The Germany spy agency came up with a tricky legal excuse to spy on the communications of some Germans.

  • 01 December 2014 (Automatic face recognition)

    Your Face Is Not a Bar Code: Arguments Against Automatic Face Recognition in Public Places.

    This article is as valid as when it was written a decade ago. However, I must disagree with one point in the article: fear of terrorists is not justifiable for Americans in general. The danger of terrorism in the US is so tiny that it is foolish to worry about it, unless you're one of the small fraction who has a job to do to prevent it.

  • 01 December 2014 ("Fusion center" monitors protesters)

    The Massachusetts "fusion center", created to try to find "terrorists", was used to monitor Black Lives Matter protesters in Boston last week.

  • 01 December 2014 (Brock proposes to work for Clinton)

    David Brock used to get Republicans elected; now he proposes to work for Ms Clinton, who is almost a Republican.

  • 01 December 2014 (Mainstream media propaganda)

    An example shows how mainstream media propaganda for Wall Street works: by grossly misrepresenting what progressives said.

    And it handles the issue of the Keystone XL pipeline by presenting a "debate" between two associates of the oil industry.

  • 01 December 2014 (Protesters shot by thugs)

    Haitian thugs shot and wounded protesters who want the US-supported sweatshop next to their town to provide them with electricity.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 01 December 2014 (Activists charged with fictitious acts)

    Chinese activists are being tried for fictitious acts of "disorder".

  • 01 December 2014 (UK women left vulnerable unless they pay)

    The UK legal system leaves many women vulnerable to their ex-abusers who are released from prison, unless they have extra money to spend.

    Of course, women in that position tend to be short of money.

  • 01 December 2014 (Racism and its effects in the US)

    The US needs to seriously address the question of racism and its effects.

    Practical racism interacts with the growing inequality of wealth. With ever more Americans poor, groups that are targets of prejudice will tend to get poor first.

  • 01 December 2014 (UN human rights report reproves the US)

    The UN human rights report reproved the US for imposing sleep deprivation on prisoners.

  • 30 November 2014 (Responding to religious fundamentalism)

    Pope Francis, visiting Turkey, calls for responding to religious fundamentalism by helping the poor and marginalized.

    It seems that he and I agree on political issues, except for those related to sex and reproduction.

  • 30 November 2014 (Threatened for studying Tibetan language)

    A Chinese official threatened Tibetan students with punishment later if they study the Tibetan language.

    Some of China's methods of spreading propaganda about Tibet.

  • 30 November 2014 (Balloon-Suspended cameras over Jerusalem)

    Israel deploys balloon-suspended cameras over Jerusalem which can track all protesters, and everyone else too.

  • 30 November 2014 (Arrested after pointing a banana at a thug)

    A man in the US was arrested after pointing a banana at a thug as if it were a weapon.

    It is foolish to pretend to threaten armed people with a gun, even if it without anything that looks much like a gun. If he had succeeded in fooling them, they couldn't be blamed for shooting him in perceived self-defense.

    However, once they knew it was a banana, they also knew it was never seriously meant as a threat. Thus, it was wrong for them to arrest and charge the man with threatening anyone. Mere folly should not be treated as a crime.

  • 30 November 2014 (Slave labor in UK)

    A study estimates that over 10,000 people in the UK are in slave labor.

    In general, the estimates for numbers of slave laborers in various countries include a lot of guesswork.

  • 30 November 2014 (Exit International)

    Exit International teaches how to commit suicide painlessly. People flock to learn this in case they will need it later.

    I think everyone should have the right to commit suicide, though it makes sense to impose a waiting period and to treat people for depression if that's the root of their wish to die.

    Death is unfair; that people must die is a fundamental injustice in the universe (though there is no one to blame for it). But when life is so horrible that even death is better, forcing the person to go on living is a kind of torture.

  • 30 November 2014 (Botched executions)

    Ohio has been embarrassed by a series of botched executions, so now Republicans plan to block even courts from investigating how they are carried out.

  • 30 November 2014 (Thug in Ferguson shot at a woman in a car)

    A thug in Ferguson shot at a woman in a car, causing her to lose an eye.

  • 30 November 2014 (Urgent: Stand with Elizabeth Warren)

    US citizens: stand with Elizabeth Warren in rejecting bankster Antonio Weiss as an official of the US Treasury.

  • 30 November 2014 (Peaceful protests closed shopping malls)

    Peaceful protests closed shopping malls around Ferguson on Fools' Friday, and other activities around the US.

  • 30 November 2014 (E-Cigarettes)

    Some e-cigarettes contain a lot of formaldehyde, which is carcinogenic.

    I suggest that they should be sold like tobacco itself: to adults but not to minors.

  • 30 November 2014 (Urgent: Reduce power plant CO2 emissions)

    US citizens: call on the EPA to push harder and faster to reduce CO2 emissions from power plants.

  • 30 November 2014 (Women fighting global heating)

    Women on Climate Change Frontline Make Big Impact on Small Grants.

  • 30 November 2014 (Olive production devastated)

    Weather has devastated olive production in many countries.

    Specific occurrences of these kinds of bad weather are random, but our global heating activities are making them more frequent.

  • 30 November 2014 (UK poultry contamination)

    Most poultry in the UK is contaminated with potentially fatal bacteria, and the UK government is failing to tackle the problem.

    Instead it is considering an industry proposal to cut inspections.

  • 30 November 2014 (Censorship threats in India)

    An Indian version of Hamlet faces censorship threats.

  • 30 November 2014 (Thugs beat up HK protest leaders)

    Thugs beat up Hong Kong protest leaders after arresting them.

  • 30 November 2014 (EU trying to limit Google search)

    The European Union is trying to impose the right to have articles dropped from searches for your name on Google world-wide.

    I don't think this particular requirement is a big deal, but it is dangerous for any country to have the power to limit search engines world wide.

  • 30 November 2014 (Totalitarianism predicted by Dostoevsky)

    Dostoevsky predicted the totalitarianism that can occur when people abandon individual morality by going to any lengths to fight for some cause.

    It is a mistake, however, to equate morality with religion.

    The problem he presents is not in having ideals, not as such, but in approaching them with the assumption that they justify any means whatsoever.

  • 30 November 2014 (Jail Term for Blasphemy)

    Pakistan's Geo News to Appeal against Owner's 26-Year Jail Term for Blasphemy.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

    Two people in the Indian film industry were sentenced to 26 years for "blasphemy" consisting of having a religious song playing during a wedding scene.

    Pakistan should beg the world forgiveness for censoring criticism of religion, but in the second case it wasn't even criticism.

    India is not very good in this department either.

  • 30 November 2014 (Railroad Privatization in UK)

    One railroad line in the UK was run by the state, and was run so well that it became an embarrassment to right-wing politicians who insist on privatization.

    Privatization of the railroads in the UK has been a rip-off. They should all be re-nationalized.

  • 30 November 2014 (Plans to protect forests and peatlands)

    Indonesia's president proposes plans to protect forests and peatlands.

  • 30 November 2014 (The Five Leaders Who Failed Ferguson)

    The Five Leaders Who Failed Ferguson.

  • 30 November 2014 (UK Tory leader lost libel suit)

    A former UK Tory leader lost his libel suit: the judge believed the thug who said the politician called him a "pleb".

    The judge said that the thug didn't have enough imagination to have made this up, but lying in court, for a thug, is not the stretch it would be for you or me.

    I can't find either of them credible enough to believe.

  • 30 November 2014 (Nuclear weapons)

    Nuclear weapons can be detonated by accidents and rebellions, making them so dangerous we need to eliminate them all.

  • 30 November 2014 (Ransoming hostages from PISSI)

    Refusing to ransoming hostages from PISSI, so that they got beheaded for propaganda instead, may have done the US and UK more harm than ransoming would have done.

  • 30 November 2014 (US public schools charge students for lunch)

    US public schools are so poorly supported that they charge students for lunch, and when students' parents have not paid, they go hungry. Some students receive lunch gratis, but they are treated as objects of scorn.

    When I was a child, the public school gave all students lunch.

    Meanwhile, it seems to me that rejecting the idea that the poor deserve to be looked down on is one important lesson for schools to teach.

  • 29 November 2014 (Indian rich)

    Indian rich fritter away millions on frivolities, displaying contempt for the rest of society.

  • 29 November 2014 (Judge rejects DNA testing)

    A judge rejected DNA testing that might support Rodney Reed's claim he is innocent of murder. The judge would rather kill a man than recognize doubt in a past verdict.

    The death penalty is inherently wrong, because it can't be undone when evidence shows the convicted person was innocent. And other reasons too.

  • 28 November 2014 (Urgent: Defend the right to protest)

    US citizens: call on Holder to give justice for Michael Brown and to defend the right to protest.

  • 28 November 2014 (Urgent: Stricter carbon emission standards)

    US citizens: call for stricter carbon emission standards for existing power plants.

  • 28 November 2014 (Urgent: Justice for Michael Brown)

    US citizens: Call on Obama to give justice for Michael Brown.

  • 28 November 2014 (Oregon referendum on labeling GMOs)

    The Oregon referendum on labeling GMOs came out so close that it requires a recount.

  • 28 November 2014 (Civil disobedience against oil pipeline)

    Canadian scientist Alfredo Frid explained why he joined in civil disobedience against an oil pipeline.

    Frid is mistaken when he accuses the Canadian of "inaction" on "climate change". The Canadian government is a strong supporter of global heating and takes many kinds of actions to speed it up, including gagging scientists and shutting down research projects that can monitor heating.

  • 28 November 2014 (Ferguson thugs clamp down hard)

    The thugs clamped down hard on protesters in Ferguson.

    One thug begged people not to burn down their city. Considered by normal standards it is foolish for people to burn down their own city, but then, if they had normal lives and considered normal standards applicable, they wouldn't want to do so.

    The killings of blacks around the US is the extreme manifestation of a racist system that needs systemic change.

    Of course, the system in the US oppresses whites plenty as well; just not as much on the average.

  • 28 November 2014 (Obama plans more US troops in Afghanistan)

    Obama is planning to send some more US troops to Afghanistan.

    The US can never actually lose the war in Afghanistan, but it can't win either, and continuing the fight means continuing the suffering of Afghans and the expense and militarization of the US.

    The resumption of night raids will increase the suffering.

    I don't think war is justified under these circumstances.

  • 28 November 2014 (Venezuelan opposition politician faces charges)

    A Venezuelan opposition politician faces charges of organizing to kill President Maduro.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

    This is not an absurd accusation, given that the opposition launched a coup attempt against Chavez a decade ago, organized by the US.

    However, it could also be stretching the facts.

  • 28 November 2014 (Records of who talks to whom)

    A UN committee's resolution against massive surveillance left out the crucial issue of recording who talks with whom.

    Records of who talks with whom are absolutely crucial. Whistleblower Donald Sachtleben is in prison because the US government exhaustively studied the phone records of dozens of journalists from the Associated Press.

    The UK asked Vodaphone for the phone records of one journalist, so Vodaphone handed over the phone records of everyone at the same newspaper.

  • 28 November 2014 (Handouts to banks)

    We Should Cash-Bomb the People — Not the Banks.

    On the other hand, if officials' goal is to help billionaires, not the rest, handouts to banks make perfect sense.

  • 28 November 2014 (20,000 missing people in Mexico)

    Mexico's Missing Students Draw Attention to 20,000 'Vanished' Others.

  • 28 November 2014 (Drop in deforestation in Brazil)

    Deforestation in Brazil has become substantially less this year.

    It is not clear why.

  • 28 November 2014 (Teenage protesters sentenced to prison)

    In Egypt 78 teenagers were sentenced to prison for protesting for Morsi.

  • 28 November 2014 (CO2 emissions from ships)

    The EU has taken a feeble first step towards controlling CO2 emissions from ships, but it won't even start until 2018.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

    Charging a fee for emissions would cover this naturally; shipping any load by air or sea should be charged for the emissions involved.

  • 28 November 2014 (Factions fighting over Libya)

    Three (or more) factions are now fighting over Libya.

    I am not sure whether there is a basis to prefer any one of them to the rest.

  • 28 November 2014 (Islamist fanatics kill polio vaccinators)

    Islamist fanatics killed two polio vaccinators in Pakistan.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

    This is an extreme example of the harm religion does to society.

  • 28 November 2014 (UK thugs distributing fear propaganda)

    UK thugs are distributing fear propaganda which will aid their campaign for further surveillance and censorship.

  • 28 November 2014 (Human overpopulation)

    Human overpopulation is leading to increasing human incursion into a national park in Mumbai.

  • 28 November 2014 (Weakening inspection rules for farm animals)

    The UK government wants to follow the US in weakening the inspection rules for farm animals.

    This would save money for companies in ordinary operation and make some rare big dangers more likely.

  • 27 November 2014 (Urgent: Fuel efficiency for trucks)

    US citizens: call on Obama to require increases in fuel efficiency for trucks.

  • 27 November 2014 (Urgent: Prevent racial profiling)

    US citizens: call for federal guidelines to prevent racial profiling by state and local thugs.

  • 27 November 2014 (Treaty to ban cluster bombs)

    Although most countries have signed the treaty to ban cluster bombs, Russia, China and the US have not, and many banks and funds have invested in their production.

  • 27 November 2014 (Cost of gene modification treatment)

    A gene modification treatment for an obscure disease costs over a million dollars per patient. What will happen to the poor?
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 27 November 2014 (UK spy agencies blame Facebook)

    The ham-fisted UK spy-on-all agencies are blaming Facebook as an excuse to get themselves off the hook for incompetence in detecting jihadists planning an attack; but the real problem is the unjust interventions that make people so angry they will kill.

    It seems incorrect to call that attack "terrorism", because it was aimed at a soldier, not at civilians.

  • 27 November 2014 (Greek "economic recovery")

    In the Greek "economic recovery", the state drains people and schools to support banks that hardly lend money.

    I'd say it's an extractivist government of occupation.

  • 27 November 2014 (Warm weather in autumn)

    Warm weather in autumn leads some frogs to breed now rather than in spring. But it is a risky bet.

  • 27 November 2014 (Turkey bans reporting on corruption)

    Turkey has banned reporting about the investigation of corruption accusations against members of the government.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

    Erdogan dismissed the prosecutors that brought the accusations long ago.

  • 27 November 2014 (Fixing the racist system in the US)

    Suggestions for fixing the racist system that leads to killing so many black people in the US.

  • 27 November 2014 (Persecution of protesters in Mexico)

    It appears Mexican thugs arrested protesters more or less at random and charged them with attempted murder.

    This is in addition to attacking other protesters.

    The conduct of the thugs so far has already demonstrated that protesters have plenty to worry about (including being murdered like the 43 students that all this started with).

  • 27 November 2014 (The current Canadian gov't)

    US Republicans enabled the current Canadian government to gain power.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 27 November 2014 (Ferguson verdict)

    Ferguson, goddamn: No indictment for Darren Wilson is no surprise. This is why we protest.

    The law may have spoken but the Ferguson verdict is not justice.

  • 27 November 2014 (Australian whistleblower not charged)

    The Australian whistleblower who leaked a report about an apparently corrupt scholarship given to Prime Minister Abbott's daughter will not face charges, but still seems to face more criticism than the parties apparently involved in the corrupt proceedings (the school and the prime minister).

  • 27 November 2014 (New scam by Facebook)

    How did Mari Sherkin end up on a dating site unwillingly? Through a new scam by Facebook: it pops up windows showing other companies' sites, which then trick Facebook useds into "agreeing" to let those companies get their personal data from Facebook.

  • 27 November 2014 (Regin)

    The extremely sophisticated cracking software referred to as "Regin", used to attack computers in many countries including Belgium, seems related to Stuxnet which ties it to the US and UK.

  • 27 November 2014 (Term limits)

    Arguing against term limits on elected officials.

    I have always opposed term limits for legislators.

  • 27 November 2014 (Global heating will endanger honeybees)

    Global heating will endanger honeybees by helping a parasite.

  • 27 November 2014 (HK thugs arrest protest leaders)

    Hong Kong thugs arrested two of the main protest leaders.

  • 27 November 2014 (Low-income housing in London)

    The new owners of low-income housing in London, who plan to evict the poor to raise the rents, will evade taxes on the increased income.

    I hope the victims organize physical resistance to the evictions, and to further use of the building by the anonymous new owners.

  • 27 November 2014 (Thugs commit 1/6 of killings in Utah)

    1/6 of all killings in Utah are committed by thugs.

  • 27 November 2014 (Russia moving to annex Abkhazia)

    Russia is moving to annex Abkhazia, a breakaway part of Georgia.

    It is not exactly comparable to the case of Crimea: the Abkhazians rebelled on their own rather than experiencing a Russian invasion. Still, to be ruled by Russia is to suffer tyranny.

  • 27 November 2014 (Disabled UK children hungry and sick)

    Welfare cuts in the UK are leaving disabled children hungry and sick, and their parents are in even worse state.

    But it's even worse in the US, where over 2 million children were homeless during 2013.

  • 27 November 2014 (Texas-approved textbooks)

    Texas approved textbooks which list Moses as one of the founding fathers of the USA. And other wacky stuff.

  • 27 November 2014 (Thugs shoot 12-year-old boy dead)

    Thugs shot a 12-year-old boy dead when he tried to pull a pellet gun on them.

    The orange "this is a toy" indicator had been removed, so it looked real. Thus, I can't criticize the thugs for this one. I would not take their word for what happened, but if the boy's family saw the video and doesn't disagree, I suppose their story is true this time.

  • 27 November 2014 (Opportunity to debate Obama's wars)

    Hagel's resignation should provide an opportunity to debate Obama's wars.

    The US mainstream media will, however, express no doubts.

  • 27 November 2014 (1.5C of global heating locked in)

    Human emissions have already locked in 1.5C of global heating, and the consequences will be disastrous. The question is how soon we stop making it worse.

  • 27 November 2014 (Senate torture investigation)

    The Senate torture investigators did not try to talk with prisoners in Guantanamo about how they were tortured.

  • 27 November 2014 (US gov't secret search engine)

    The US government has a secret search engine to search through the billions of records of Americans' and other people's communications.

    The agencies that use this data pretend that they didn't use it and it doesn't exist. They are legally required to minimize their retention of data about Americans, but they ignore that.

  • 27 November 2014 (Monsanto PR campaign)

    Monsanto asks people to calm down and have a civil conversation about GMOS, even as it sues to overturn the laws passed by Vermont and Maui.

  • 27 November 2014 (Deforestation and the spread of Ebola)

    Deforestation, "Development" Connected to Spread of Ebola in West Africa.

  • 27 November 2014 (8,000 Chinese teachers strike)

    In a Country Without Formal Unions, 8,000 Chinese Teachers Strike for Higher Pay.

  • 27 November 2014 (No shortage of US tech workers)

    The [US] Tech Worker Shortage Doesn't Really Exist.

  • 27 November 2014 (Phony "scholarly journals")

    Phony "scholarly journals" will accept any junk whatsoever for publication.

    I occasionally receive an invitation to register for a conference in some foreign country. Often the stated topic is human trafficking. I wonder whether these events really occur, people use them to take a vacation and claim it's for a conference, or whether they only commit credit card fraud.

  • 27 November 2014 (Repression of Crimean Tatars)

    Putin is carrying out stiff repression of Crimean Tatars, including murder of activists.

    The Tatars reject Russian rule of the Crimea but have not engaged in violence.

  • 27 November 2014 (Global heating denial)

    What global heating denial will look like in 100 years, assuming civilization still exists.

  • 27 November 2014 (Rasmea Odeh)

    Rasmea Odeh's lawyer calls for reconsideration of the verdict that convicted her of concealing how she had been framed and tortured in Israel in 1967.

  • 26 November 2014 (Urgent: Protect Colorado wilderness)

    US citizens: call for protecting wilderness areas in Colorado from fracking.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 26 November 2014 (Fossil fuel dangers recognized)

    Obama's "climate change" envoy recognizes that lots of fossil fuels have to be left in the ground.

    Now if Obama would only start doing so.

  • 26 November 2014 (Dismissal of "Defense" secretary)

    Obama appears to have dismissed "Defense" secretary Hagel because Hagel wasn't suited for Obama's war plans.

  • 26 November 2014 (Societies with little religion)

    Societies with little religion can be quite good to live in.

    This does not prove that Atheism, by itself, will make a society good to live in. (It did not make the Soviet Union very good.) But this does show that religion isn't necessary for a society to be good to live in.

    Please don't buy the book from Amazon.

  • 26 November 2014 (Psychological harm of religions)

    How religions cause psychological harm to some (many?) believers.

  • 26 November 2014 (Humans imitating other humans)

    Great apes imitate fellow apes when there's an advantage in it, but humans imitate other humans even for no reason.

    Human see, human do.

  • 26 November 2014 (US drone bombings)

    US targeted 24 specific men in Pakistan with multiple drone bombings each. The bombings killed only 6 of them, but killed 868 other people including about 140 children.

    Some fraction of the other people killed may have been Taliban soldiers, but clearly a large fraction were bystanders and relatives.

  • 26 November 2014 (Atlantic mackerel)

    The Atlantic mackerel catch limit has been reduced 25%. Since the fish stock is at quite a low level, I think it is nuts to allow people to catch any of them. To try to fine-tune catch levels presumes more knowledge than we really have. We should do everything possible to give the fish a chance to bounce back; if they do, then we can start catching them again, with luck much more of them than now.

  • 26 November 2014 (Traumas inflicted on Americans)

    The multiple traumas inflicted on Americans are causing a massive breakdown.

  • 26 November 2014 ("Terrorism")

    Saudi Arabia has defined criticism of the state, and any defense of Atheism, as "terrorism".

    The US took a start down that path by defining "animal rights terrorism" to include actions such as running a web site or loosing farm animals.

    I can understand prosecuting that as destruction of property, but calling it "terrorism" is another example of a lying law.

  • 26 November 2014 (The harm of religion)

    Religion does lots of harm to society.

  • 26 November 2014 (Thai editor sentenced for "defaming" king)

    A Thai editor has been sentenced to over four years in prison for "defaming" the king.

    Any law making it a crime to defame, insult or offend someone is a violation of freedom of speech.

  • 26 November 2014 (UK proposes university censorship)

    The UK proposes to make universities censor "radical" speakers.

    Initially this is to be applied to radical Islamism, but who knows when it will be extended to cover refusal to run proprietary software, support for the Green Party, or opposition to censorship.

    The UK already has a vicious regime of censorship, but that's no reason to tolerate more.

    Imposed exile without trial is also proposed, as well as an arbitrary ban on flying without trial.

  • 26 November 2014 (Breastfeeding)

    It's not clear that breastfeeding is good for babies. Perhaps it's being raised in a middle-class home (which is where mothers are likely to do this) is what's good for babies.

  • 26 November 2014 (Privatized parole supervision)

    Private companies are finding ways to squeeze money out of supervision of criminals on parole.

    These companies function by mistreating their employees, the public, the prisoners, or some combination. Sometimes the indirection means they can't in practice be held accountable for how they treat the prisoners.

    The California initiative just approved, releasing many prisoners that there is no need to keep in prison, is very good notwithstanding this problem.

  • 26 November 2014 (Women's rights in Afghanistan)

    The peace talks with the Taliban endanger the fragments of women's rights in Afghanistan.

    I supported the invasion of Afghanistan to liberate women (and to some extent men) from the oppression of the Taliban. However, the existing Afghan government has allowed a large part of the same oppression, even in the places it effectively controls. I can't say that the small freedom Afghan women have gained justifies unending war.

  • 26 November 2014 (Antibiotic resistance)

    Ebola Is Scary, But Antibiotic Resistance Should Scare Us More.

  • 26 November 2014 (Australian thugs snoop on lawyer and client)

    Australian thugs listened sneakily to a prisoner's discussion with his lawyer.

    The government refuses to tell him why he was arrested and forbids newspapers to mention his name. I wonder if he has been gagged as well — I suspect so. Is any information about this available outside Australia?

    If your relative is arrested, spread the word immediately so that the state can't put the cat back into the bag.

  • 26 November 2014 (Encouraging cooperating)

    Psychological experiments reaffirm that it is possible for social structures to encourage and reward cooperation more, and selfishness less, than the ones existing in the US and UK.

    Comparing the free software world with the proprietary software world demonstrates the same thing.

    Present-day society has been reshaped by plutocrats to weaken society's defenses that restrained them. If we recognize them as the enemy, and defeat them, reversing the changes they made is a map for undoing the harm they have done. Simply to reverse all pertinent changes since 1980 would be a big improvement overall.

    A few of the changes since 1980 may be considered improvements (for instance, equal rights for gays, most advances in medical technology, improvements in renewable energy technology, PCs before they were designed for DRM, the internet before apps, and the web before Javascript), so I would advocate aiming exactly to recreate 1980.

  • 26 November 2014 (Amnesty's Detekt program)

    Amnesty's Detekt program may give a false sense of security.

  • 26 November 2014 (Urgent: Oppose Olympic Games)

    In Massachusetts: oppose holding Olympic Games in Boston.

    The Olympic Committee is leaning towards Boston because of Boston's record of clamping down arbitrarily on millions of people, when it forced everyone to stay indoors.

    Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington DC should start organizing too.

    If people with enough democracy to reject Olympic Games do so, the games will be held in dictatorial countries. At least that way they won't lead to tyranny worse than what those countries already have.

  • 26 November 2014 (Urgent: Raise pay limit for overtime)

    US citizens: Call on Obama to raise the pay limit for workers to get overtime pay.

  • 26 November 2014 (Products connected to Koch Brothers)

    Here's a list of products made by companies largely owned by the Koch Brothers, so you can choose alternatives.

  • 26 November 2014 (World Bank's future investments)

    The World Bank says it will "focus" future investments on renewable energy, but falls short of ceasing to invest in fossil fuels.

    I am worried by the escape hatch to allow coal investments in cases of "extreme need". Billionaires can claim with a straight face that they have "extreme need" for the profits from a coal mine, and ways to convince politicians to endorse the claim.

  • 26 November 2014 (Wars not stopped by horrific pictures)

    Horrific pictures of casualties don't seem to stop war.

  • 26 November 2014 (Law makes non-Jews second-class citizens)

    Israel's cabinet approved a law to officially make non-Jews second-class citizens and remove Arabic as an official language.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

    This seems ideally calculated to provoke more Israeli Arabs into random acts of violence, but Netanyahu calls it a "deterrent" like other acts of collective punishment.

    There is no word on whether Netanyahu also plans to punish Jews collectively for acts such as firebombing Huda Hamaiel's house.

  • 26 November 2014 (Conservationists pressuring Australia's big banks)

    Conservationists are pressuring Australia's big banks not to invest in coal companies.

    If those banks are looking for long-term return, they should try to make sure that Australia isn't knocked to its knees by global heating.

  • 26 November 2014 (Hong Kong government defeated democracy protesters by)

    The Hong Kong government defeated democracy protesters by yielding nothing and waiting for the public to get tired of protests.

    Lesson: people who get tired and stop protesting don't win.

  • 26 November 2014 (Blanket Data Retention)

    Blanket Data Retention Does Not Come in "Good" And "Bad" Forms.

  • 26 November 2014 (Communication and server companies)

    Communication and server companies have an interest in letting people think they care about privacy, but not so much in effectively doing so.

    I disagree with one point: encryption is not a fraud or a sham. However, it can only protect specific limited aspects of privacy, which are not enough.

  • 26 November 2014 (The old School of the Americas)

    The old School of the Americas, under a new name, teaches fighting "terrorists" (whatever that means) and the "war on drugs".

    It's a different harm but it's still harm. Recall that the dictatorships of South America in the 70s said that the people they disappeared were "terrorists".

  • 26 November 2014 (Grand jury decided not to indict the killer of Michael Brown)

    As expected, the grand jury decided not to indict the killer of Michael Brown.

    This was predictable; hardly ever do killer thugs face justice.

    The decision led to predictable riots.

    It is wrong to vent this rage by burning down private buildings that have nothing to do with the killing. At the same time, I understand that many in Ferguson feel that rioting is their last recourse after trying everything else. I hope it leads to some good.

    Civil rights and justice groups called on Governor Nixon to appoint a special prosecutor, but he didn't. He could still do this, but he would rather provoke riots and repress them. He is directly and personally responsible for giving a killer thug immunity. We should not let him shrug it off.

  • 26 November 2014 (Protesters banned from China)

    Hundreds or perhaps thousands of Hong Kong citizens who protested for democracy have been banned from China.

    Much like the US no-fly list, they don't find this out until they try to cross the border.

  • 26 November 2014 (LEDs for street lighting)

    The EU foolishly relaxed its requirement to adopt LEDs for street lighting, inviting a giant waste of energy and money.

  • 26 November 2014 (Beyond Ferguson)

    Beyond Ferguson: we need to stop giving carte blanche to militarized thugs.

  • 25 November 2014 (Urgent: Federal Reserve governors)

    US citizens: call on Obama to appoint some Federal Reserve governors who don't represent banksters.

  • 25 November 2014 (Urgent: Charge JP Morgan now)

    US citizens: call on the Justice Department to charge JP Morgan now with the crimes that Alayne Fleischmann has witnessed.

  • 25 November 2014 (Urgent: Release Senate's torture report)

    US citizens: Call on Senator Udall to personally release the Senate's torture report while he is still a senator.

  • 25 November 2014 (Urgent: Support network neutrality)

    US citizens: support network neutrality again.

  • 25 November 2014 (Pakistani thug raids)

    Pakistan's uniformed thugs say they go on raids to kill major criminals. Others say the thugs are killing whoever is convenient in order to run up the tally.

  • 25 November 2014 (Claims of Satanic child abuse)

    Claims of Satanic child abuse are coming back. These are based on convincing people to remember things that never happened to them.

  • 25 November 2014 (Bluefin tuna fishing quotas)

    Bluefin tuna in the Atlantic have recovered to some extent from past overfishing, so governments jumped at the chance to increase fishing quotas.

    I hope eventually it will be possible to catch these tuna at a higher rate sustainably, but it is foolhardy to be hasty. The current numbers of tuna are more than in the 1950s, but they could be minuscule compared with the 1850s.

  • 25 November 2014 (Variant of RFID for sabotaging computers)

    A variant of an RFID turns out to be a prime method used by US and Russian agents (and maybe others) to sabotage computers.

  • 25 November 2014 (Crusade against "child pornography")

    A UK politician has been forced to resign from some positions because his swiped credit card number was used to buy pornography depicting children. The fact that it wasn't him is, apparently, not sufficient to protect him; being falsely accused is considered reason why he must resign.

    Isn't this nuts?

    These events illustrate that the crusade against "child pornography" endangers everyone. This result tends to happen whenever possession or purchase of some sort of publication is illegal. We must abolish such laws because they whip up witch-hunts.

  • 25 November 2014 (Syrian rebel groups joining PISSI)

    Many Syrian rebel groups are joining with PISSI, or at least making truces with PISSI, because they regard the US as an enemy for fighting PISSI.

    PISSI is the Pseudo-Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

  • 25 November 2014 (Israeli soldiers kill man walking in Gaza)

    Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian who was trying to catch birds and went too close to the Israeli border.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

    Israel has no right to kill people in Gaza for walking around in Gaza. If Israel wants a buffer zone, it should construct that buffer zone on Israel's side of the border.

  • 25 November 2014 (Kidnappings plot launched by Putin)

    Putin launched a plot to kidnap Bill Browder, after killing his lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in prison.

  • 25 November 2014 (Terrorists murder bus passengers)

    Al-Shabaab terrorists captured a bus and murdered all the passengers that were not Muslims.

  • 25 November 2014 (French thugs kill protester)

    French thugs killed an anti-dam protester with a grenade, inspiring continuing protests.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 25 November 2014 (The fiction of "recovery" in UK)

    Puncturing the fiction of a "recovery" in the UK, the number of poor people going to food banks continues to increase.

    This includes people who have work but their wages don't cover food.

  • 25 November 2014 (Japan entering recession)

    Japan is entering a recession, and as usual financial powers are pushing for spending cuts to make it worse, but the government is determined to stimulate the economy instead.

    Britain seems to be entering another recession (although working people have not started to recover from the last one), so the plutocratic government plans more budget cuts to make sure of this.

  • 25 November 2014 (Banksters taking over state pension funds)

    Banksters are taking over state pension funds in order to drain them with high fees and risky investments.

  • 24 November 2014 (Orders against reporting on sexual abuse)

    UK newspapers were ordered not to report on sexual abuse by politicians, and the records of these orders appear to have been destroyed, or else the orders were fake.

    Either way, it is very fishy.

  • 24 November 2014 (Altruism)

    Experimental subjects paid more to protect strangers from electric shocks than to protect themselves from shocks.

    The article ends with a very good refutation of one of the typical fallacious cynical attacks against altruism.

  • 24 November 2014 (Australian public broadcasting attacked)

    The Australian government is attacking public broadcasting for not being right-wing.

  • 24 November 2014 (Chilean officers sentenced for torture)

    The Chilean officers that tortured Alberto Bachelet and his daughter (now president) have been sentenced to prison.

  • 24 November 2014 (Walmart workers plan strikes)

    Walmart workers plan strikes and protests on the day that foolish Americans typically start shopping for mandatory Christmas presents.

    Since they are looking for support from the public, I suggest that people participate.

  • 24 November 2014 (Man to be executed despite botched trial)

    Robert Holsey is set to be executed, and the state of Georgia doesn't care that his defense team was nonfunctional because its leader was drunk.

    The death penalty is wrong even if the criminal has competent defense lawyers. This case points rather at the willingness of the US legal system to insist on upholding decisions that were made laughably.

  • 24 November 2014 (Nonviolent Resistance defeating Mafia)

    United nonviolent resistance is defeating the Mafia protection racket in Sicily.

  • 24 November 2014 (Gun carrying and crime)

    A new study finds that allowing people in general to carry guns leads to more crime, in the US.

  • 24 November 2014 (Occupy London protesters return)

    Occupy London protesters are returning to Parliament Square.

  • 24 November 2014 (Free scientific publication)

    The Gates Foundation has insisted on free scientific publication for research it supports.

    They use the term "open access"; I think that term is misguided because it tends to lead people in the direction of weaker positions than this. Fortunately the Gates Foundation overcame the weakness of the term itself, and took a strong stand.

    There are so many ironies in this.

    Meanwhile, France cut its research budget in order to pay publishers such as Elsevier.

  • 24 November 2014 (Obama authorizes fighting in Afghanistan)

    Obama has authorized remaining US troops in Afghanistan to continue fighting the Taliban directly, hoping people won't notice.

  • 24 November 2014 (Global heating "lake effect")

    Global heating means big snow loads from the "lake effect".

  • 24 November 2014 (Attacks on whistleblowers)

    Whistleblowers are repeatedly subject to dishonest retaliation and false accusations by those in power whose errors or crimes have been exposed.

  • 24 November 2014 (Phone companies trying to force VOIP)

    US phone companies are trying to push customers off the superior copper cables onto VOIP, by refusing to maintain the copper cables.

    The idea of requiring the VOIP replacement to be improved before forcing the changeover is not sufficient. VOIP is inherently less reliable as well as subjecting people to digital monkey-business.

  • 24 November 2014 (Algorithmic decision making)

    Algorithmic decision making is leading to many strange kinds of troubles caused by mistaken identity.

  • 24 November 2014 (Obama nominates another bankster)

    Obama proposed a bankster to be the Undersecretary for Domestic Finance, and Elizabeth Warren came out swinging against him.

  • 23 November 2014 (A carbon tax bill)

    Senators have introduced a carbon tax bill.

    This has no chance of passing, but introducing it is at least a political step.

  • 23 November 2014 (Paid global heating denialists)

    A movie exposes the methods of the paid global heating denialists.

  • 23 November 2014 (US abortion doctors on harassment and restrictions)

    US abortion doctors say the harassment and restrictions are the worst they have ever seen.

  • 23 November 2014 (The last remaining "Angola 3")

    The last remaining "Angola 3" prisoner had his conviction overturned, but the state may appeal this decision to keep him in prison more years until he dies.

    Regardless of the issues of his guilt and his trial, keeping anyone in solitary confinement for so long amounts to brainwashing.

  • 23 November 2014 (The Destructive God That Can Never Be Appeased)

    Growth: The Destructive God That Can Never Be Appeased.

  • 23 November 2014 (Six Vital Steps to Protect Earth)

    Six Vital Steps World Leaders Must Agree to Take to Protect Earth.

    Here's what the agreement needs to do and why.

  • 23 November 2014 (Urgent: US border patrol agents)

    US citizens: Call for establishment of a clear and practical way to report abuses by US border patrol agents.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 23 November 2014 (Urgent: Protect bees)

    US citizens: call on Obama to make sure the pollinator health task force takes sufficient measures to truly protect bees.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 23 November 2014 (Jewish Voice for Peace mourns)

    Jewish Voice for Peace mourns the Jewish and Palestinian casualties of individual violence in Israel and Palestine.

  • 23 November 2014 (How US mainstream media promote escalation of war)

    An example of how US mainstream media promote escalation of war against PISSI.

    Examples of how they promote the Keystone XL planet-roaster pipeline.

    When they do acknowledge the real argument against the pipeline, next they claim it's impossible to stop the extraction of tar sands oil.

    "Stop resisting, you can't win" has been used against every successful resistance movement.

  • 23 November 2014 (Useful Idiots in the Digital Age)

    Are "We the People" Useful Idiots in the Digital Age?

  • 23 November 2014 (Ceasing to feel ashamed of accusing men of rape)

    American women are ceasing to feel ashamed of accusing men of raping them.

    The idea of being ashamed of being assaulted in any fashion makes no moral sense to me. I can only understand it intellectually.

    It was common to for families to despise women who were raped, along with women who had sex without authorization, treating women as possessions of the family rather than as persons. For instance, a legend about the foundation of the Roman Republic admires a woman for committing suicide after being pressured into sex. In some twisted societies, this attitude continues today and is the basis for "honor killings".

    I suppose women internalized this condemnation and converted it into shame.

  • 23 November 2014 (Urgent: Boycott Amazon)

    Everyone: sign up to boycott Amazon.

    I gave this as my additional statement.

    There are additional reasons to refuse to buy from Amazon. It keeps a database of what people buy, and does not accept cash. Amazon ebooks are a surveillance system and Amazon can erase them remotely: see stallman.org/ebooks.pdf.

    See also stallman.org/amazon.html for more bad things Amazon does.

    Thus, I agree to boycott Amazon, but it won't change anything, since I'd never consider buying from an organization that treated me that way, even if it didn't abuse its workers and evade taxes.

  • 23 November 2014 ("Ambient" computing)

    Always-listening, always-watching computers are supposedly meant to serve people, but when they're full of nonfree software they are actually tools to subjugate people.

  • 23 November 2014 (Car tracking)

    Many car companies now make cars that track where they go. The companies are trying to make this acceptable with weak promises about what they will do with the data.

    Those policies are irrelevant because real protection for the driver's privacy consists of not tracking the car in the first place. If you own a car, make sure its tracking hardware is deactivated.

  • 23 November 2014 (FISA Judge on mass surveillance)

    FISA Judge To Yahoo (in 2008): If US Citizens Don't Know They're Being Surveilled, There's No Harm.

  • 23 November 2014 (40 years of wrongful imprisonment)

    Two men in Ohio spent 40 years in prison because thugs bullied a teenager into testifying against them.

    At least they weren't executed.

  • 23 November 2014 (Public interest defense)

    GCHQ Whistleblower Calls for Public Interest Defense.

  • 23 November 2014 (Justice not expected in Ferguson)

    It's a rare moment in the US when black victims get justice for the violence of whites.

  • 23 November 2014 (Thugs spying on journalists)

    When Police Spy on Journalists Like Me, Freedom Is at Risk.

  • 23 November 2014 (Haitian opposition march attacked)

    A Haitian opposition march was attacked by supporters of the president, who was imposed by the US through a twisted election.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 23 November 2014 (Walmart electricity from coal)

    Walmart pretends to be trying to protect the environment, but it gets its electricity from coal.

  • 23 November 2014 (NSA data center water supply)

    Utah's legislature proposes to shut off the water supply to the NSA's data center.

  • 23 November 2014 (Transitory copies illegal under TPP)

    A subtle point in the TPP would make transitory copies (such as loading a program into memory to run it) copyright infringement.

  • 23 November 2014 (Iran's destruction of environment)

    Iran has worked around western sanctions at the cost of destroying its environment. The result is dust storms.

  • 23 November 2014 (Environmental catastrophes)

    You might think that humanity won't wake up to the dangers of global heating and extinction until it sees catastrophes, but the catastrophes are already happening, and the only awakening is by businesses that want to abolish environmental regulations.

  • 23 November 2014 (Many US cities similar to Ferguson)

    Many US cities arrest blacks far more often than whites. Ferguson is not the worst.

  • 22 November 2014 (UK tax give-aways to businesses)

    The UK government is losing billions of pounds by not keeping track of tax give-aways to businesses.

    This while they nickle-and-dime the unemployed and disabled into homelessness.

  • 22 November 2014 (Preventing youths from going to Syria)

    Aarhus has an interesting personal active approach towards people returning from fighting in Syria, which seems to have been effective at preventing more youths from going there.

    Meanwhile, the UK plans a system of internal exile for such people.

  • 22 November 2014 (US firms enabling surveillance)

    U.S. Firms Accused of Enabling Surveillance in Despotic Central Asian Regimes.

  • 22 November 2014 (UK journalists sue thugs for spying)

    UK journalists are suing the thugs for spying systematically on them as they covered protests.

    Thugs have long regarded democracy as their enemy; what is new is to have proof.

  • 22 November 2014 (Surveillance in Latin America)

    New Report Finds Little Oversight of Surveillance, Intelligence Agencies in Latin America.

  • 22 November 2014 (Urgent: Block the Keystone XL pipeline)

    US citizens: call on Obama to block the Keystone XL pipeline.

  • 22 November 2014 (Menlo Park's license plate cameras)

    Menlo Park's license plate cameras recorded car license plates 263,000 times in a few months. Just one of them helped solve a crime. All the rest were massive general surveillance.

    The question of cost is a side issue; what's wrong here is injustice.

  • 22 November 2014 (Cover-up of JP Morgan's crimes)

    Alayne Fleischmann has gone public about how JP Morgan and Attorney General Holder conspired to cover up JP Morgan's crimes. She offered her testimony several times, but they worked together to stop this from coming out in court and to avoid really punishing the bank.

    It should be noted that "securitization" of home mortgages is a harmful practice even if it is not done fraudulently. Your mortgage should be owned by a local bank that has the power to adjust it if you fall behind, and the incentive not to give you a mortgage without confidence you can pay it. Thus, I think that the practice should be stopped entirely.

  • 22 November 2014 (Global heating costs)

    Rich countries have not pledged enough to do the job of helping poor countries cope with the effects of global heating.

    But it is a hopeless job, because the costs will go up each decade. If we don't stop the heating, sooner or later the poor countries will be overwhelmed, followed by the rich countries.

  • 22 November 2014 (Brutal attack by Brisbane thugs)

    Thugs in Brisbane, where the G20 meeting was held, brutally attacked a man with no legs. They will probably claim he was trying to run away.

    Of course, the thugs accused the man of various crimes. I am skeptical.

  • 22 November 2014 (Harvard students sue Harvard)

    Harvard students have sued Harvard for mismanaging the school's endowment by investing it in fossil fuel companies.

    These companies' value is inflated by the carbon bubble, which has to pop some day.

  • 22 November 2014 (Guantanamo force feeding)

    The American Nursing Association has given its support to a Guantanamo nurse who faces a military trial for refusing to participate in force feeding.

  • 22 November 2014 (North Dakota's public bank)

    North Dakota's public bank is more profitable than US private banks.

    The oil boom in North Dakota is not an occasion for humanity to rejoice, given the grave danger it contributes to. But that is orthogonal to the merits of a public bank.

  • 22 November 2014 (Cystic fibrosis treatment patents)

    The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation helped develop a treatment, then sold its share of the patent rights to a company that is charging almost $400,000 per year. Most of the patients can't afford that.

    Other countries' national health systems will negotiate a price that will probably be far lower. US law, paid for by Big Pharma, does not allow this.

  • 22 November 2014 (Creating competition between ISPs)

    A proposal: instead of network neutrality regulation, create a competitive market for ISPs.

    Causing competition between ISPs is a good idea, but I would not trust that to replace network neutrality. Four competitors are too few to make a truly competitive market. And even companies in a competitive market impose nasty terms on customers. Consider the hotel that "fined" customers for bad reviews. It competes with lots of other hotels but that didn't stop it from pulling a fast one.

    Competition would pressure ISPs to improve their performance, price, and customer service. Those are things that customers notice all the time. We need common carrier regulation also for all the things that are less visible.

  • 22 November 2014 (US government torture)

    US officials refused to explain to the Committee Against Torture why nobody was prosecuted for US government torture.

  • 22 November 2014 (Working as banker encourages dishonesty)

    Bankers, after being led to think about their work, become more likely to cheat than people in general.

    In other words, it's not that bankers are inherently dishonest but rather than working as a banker encourages dishonesty.

  • 21 November 2014 (The arrest warrant against Assange)

    The Swedish appeals court did not cancel the arrest warrant against Julian Assange, but pressured the prosecutors to accept his invitation to question him in the Ecuadorian embassy.

    If the Swedish prosecutors were really concerned about the sexual allegations against Assange, they would interview him in the embassy so as to advance that case and either charge him or not. Their refusal to do this demonstrates that they are using the allegations as a pretext to send Assange to the US.

  • 21 November 2014 (Abortion experiences)

    Women are speaking about their abortion experiences to counter the harassment against women who have abortions.

    If anything, it's not aborting a pregnancy that raises questions as the human population continues to grow.

  • 21 November 2014 (Thugs attack Ferguson protesters)

    Thugs attacked protesters in Ferguson already, after creating pretexts, although the decision on prosecuting Michael Brown's killer has not been announced.

  • 21 November 2014 (North Korea threatens to throw tantrum)

    A UN agency called for prosecution of North Korea's ruler in the International Criminal Court. North Korea responded by threatening to throw a tantrum.

    This UN move was entirely justified, but I wish it would go after the even more flagrant human rights violators such as Bush II.

  • 21 November 2014 (Australia's government)

    Australia's government has sunk to shameless self-contradiction.

  • 21 November 2014 (Frackers pollute clean aquifers)

    Frackers polluted clean aquifers in California with fracking waste water.

  • 21 November 2014 (How weak is the USA Freedom Act?)

    The weakened USA Freedom Act is so weak that Obama plans to revive it.

  • 21 November 2014 (Urgent: Amend the constitution)

    US citizens: sign this petition to amend the constitution to stop the rich from using their money to dominate US elections.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 21 November 2014 (Violation of US election laws)

    Republicans used Twitter to disguise their violation of US election laws.

  • 21 November 2014 (Uber executive threatens journalist)

    Journalist Sarah Lacy writes about how an Uber executive said he would punish her critical journalism by using lies to smear her family life. It was the culmination of years of contempt for the company's drivers and passengers.

    By the way, I don't see anything wrong in offering taxi rides driven by attractive models of either sex. Since I believe sexual services should be legal, I would not object if they offered to fly you while driving you. However, this need not and should not be accompanied by Uber-style contempt towards women (and men).

  • 21 November 2014 (UK spending cuts)

    UK spending cuts have reduced tax income and caused a fresh budget deficit. The insane remedy is to cut spending more, and never mind that it has failed in its ostensible goal, because the real goal is to reduce workers to desperation.

  • 21 November 2014 (The Hunger Games)

    In teenage girls' fascination for the Hunger Games, they show a form of political maturity.

    The world of The Hunger Games is a projection of today's starve-the-poor plutocracy. It's much worse than today's USA, but the America of 2100 might be even worse. If globalized manufacturing collapses, we might be left with nothing but low-tech.

  • 21 November 2014 (Unemployment insurance)

    Refuting the claim that unemployment insurance causes unemployment: a study shows it is mostly false.

    Note that the claim really argues for lower wages; but US wages for many jobs are not enough to live on, so they must be raised.

    The US has many other policies that discourage employment, which we should change. For instance, charging employers for social security and medical care is a mistake. That money should be obtained by taxing rich people and businesses' income, independent of how much they pay to workers.

  • 20 November 2014 (Illinois minimum wage)

    The Illinois legislature is considering raising the minimum wage but banning cities from adopting a higher minimum.

    This measure would be harmful to workers. The statewide raise will probably not be enough, and living in Chicago is even more expensive.

  • 20 November 2014 (Arbitrary conditions imposed by hotel)

    A hotel charged guests extra, on their credit card, for posting a bad review of the hotel. The hotel claimed it was entitled to charge them because it had put that in the contract guests are made to sign. I suppose most guests don't read the contract; but if they did, having arrived and with perhaps nowhere else to stay, refusing to sign would not be much of an option.

    Hotels should not be allowed to write their own conditions arbitrarily to impose on guests.

  • 20 November 2014 (Big companies paying CEOs more than taxes)

    Many big US companies pay their CEOs more than they pay in taxes.

    When Mega Corporations Get Mega Tax Breaks, We All Pay.

  • 20 November 2014 (Financialization of rental residences)

    Financialization of rental residences means that people live in financial instruments.

  • 20 November 2014 (Former KGB running Russia)

    Under Putin, the former KGB now runs Russia and has returned to actively harassing and intimidating journalists and dissidents.

    By contrast the US style of massive surveillance is done quietly, so people don't realize how much they are being tracked. Digital technology means that both the US and Russia have a higher level of general surveillance today than was found in the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union could not tell where everyone went all the time; its agents could follow only a limited set of people.

    Although the NSA and FBI don't entirely run the US, the level of oversight by Congress and courts is very weak.

  • 20 November 2014 (Urgent: Cancel wolf-killing competition)

    US citizens: call on the Secretary of the Interior to cancel a wolf-killing competition.

  • 20 November 2014 (Defeat of the USA Freedom Act)

    The defeat of the USA Freedom Act could, ironically, backfire and abolish part of the PAT RIOT act, reducing mass surveillance even more.

    However, we need more than just to abolish the PAT RIOT Act, since that pertains only to certain methods of massive surveillance.

    http://gnu.org/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html.

  • 20 November 2014 (Helping prisoners escape from gangs)

    Prisons can help prisoners escape from gangs. Like other forms of rehabilitation, it costs money and requires not adopting the goal of being as tough as possible.

  • 20 November 2014 (Urgent: No oil drilling in Chukchi sea)

    US citizens: call on the US not to allow Shell (or anyone) to drill for oil in the Chukchi sea. A spill would turn it into the Upchukchi sea.

  • 20 November 2014 (USA Freedom Act defeated by Senate)

    The USA Freedom Act, already weakened so much that even Obama supported it, was defeated in the Senate.

    This means our next battle will be against renewal of the PAT RIOT act.

  • 20 November 2014 (Sierra Leone ambulance shortage)

    Due to the shortage of ambulances, people who go to the MSF treatment center in Sierra Leone because they might have Ebola are sure to catch it by the time they arrive.

  • 20 November 2014 (Voter disenfranchisement lists)

    Secret disenfranchisement lists denied Democrats 4% of the vote, and enabled the Republicans to steal control of the senate.

  • 20 November 2014 (Netanyahu plans "harsh" retaliation)

    Netanyahu plans a "harsh" retaliation to the murder of 5 Israelis.

    This harshness will be on top of the harshness of decades of Israeli occupation. The killers were retaliating for a much larger set of murders and other crimes committed against Palestinians by Israelis, together with persistent oppression.

    Retaliating against them with additional crimes (house demolitions, which are illegal collective punishment) and additional persistent oppression is more likely to inspire more Palestinians to retaliate in their turn.

    I suppose Netanyahu knows that.

  • 20 November 2014 (Cheap substitute for feminism)

    Trying to silence individuals considered misogynist has become a substitute for campaigning to change sexist institutions.

  • 20 November 2014 (Fracking plans in national forest)

    The US plans to allow fracking in the George Washington National Forest.

  • 20 November 2014 (Solitary confinement)

    Solitary confinement regularly drives prisoners mad, but the US government continues to do it and to misrepresent it.

  • 20 November 2014 (What Ferguson thugs might plausibly do)

    Ten illegal attacks on protesters that thugs in Ferguson might plausibly do.

  • 20 November 2014 (Rise in homeless children in US)

    2.5 million children in the US were homeless at some time in 2013. That's up 8% from the previous year.

  • 20 November 2014 (Teenagers running trafficking boats)

    Traffickers now recruit or even force teenagers to run boats full of people from Africa to Europe.

  • 19 November 2014 (Britain's food banks)

    Most of the people using Britain's food banks went there directly because of government policies of harshness to the poor.

  • 19 November 2014 (CO2 emissions must be cut to zero by 2070)

    CO2 emissions must be cut to zero by 2070 to avoid disaster.

    How much it will cost to achieve this depends on how actively we cut emissions before 2030.

  • 19 November 2014 (Lack of toilets in rural India)

    The lack of toilets in rural India goes with gender discrimination that makes it even worse for women.

  • 19 November 2014 (Energy drinks)

    Energy drinks are dangerous for children.

  • 19 November 2014 (Falsifying environmental reports)

    A US coal company is accused of falsifying its environmental reports.

  • 19 November 2014 (Slowly-Closing ozone hole)

    The slowly-closing ozone hole has altered climate and ecosystems in the southern hemisphere.

  • 19 November 2014 (Male TV presenter wore the same suit every day)

    A male TV presenter wore the same suit every day for a year, just to prove that nobody cared in the slightest about his clothing style, unlike the way viewers treated his female counterpart.

  • 19 November 2014 (Students in the UK marched on Parliament)

    Students in the UK marched on Parliament to make university gratis again.

  • 19 November 2014 (Greenpeace boat captured by Spain)

    The Greenpeace boat that was captured by Russia has now been captured by Spain.

  • 19 November 2014 (Political prisoners in Uzbekistan)

    Human Rights Watch reports on political prisoners in Uzbekistan, which relates to the forced labor of picking cotton.

  • 19 November 2014 (Clod computing)

    A survey of clod computing practices.

  • 19 November 2014 (Mainstream media on drone attacks)

    Mainstream media continue to parrot the Obama regime's claims that the casualties of drone attacks are mainly "militants".

  • 19 November 2014 (Keystone XL "backup" plan)

    Astroturf and intimidation are the proposed methods to gain approval of an "backup" alternative to the Keystone XL pipeline.

  • 19 November 2014 (Spanish navy rams Greenpeace boat)

    A Spanish navy boat rammed a Greenpeace boat that was interfering with oil drilling.

  • 19 November 2014 (Kenyans protest for women's right)

    In Nairobi a mob of men stripped a woman because they disapproved of her miniskirt. This led to a protest in favor of women's right to dress as they wish.

    The idea that revealing clothes are "not African" is ludicrous given that women in many parts of Africa did not cover their breasts until Europeans taught them prudery.

  • 19 November 2014 (Deforestation in Peruvian Amazon)

    Deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon proceeds over the murder of land defenders.

  • 19 November 2014 (Convicted of possessing a copy of a book)

    A Briton was convicted of possessing a copy of a book about how to make a bomb, after a secret trial.

    This case illustrates the principle that possession of a copy of a publication must never be illegal. Such prohibitions are outright tyranny, and so is a secret trial.

  • 19 November 2014 (Preemptive attack on expected protests)

    The governor of Missouri declared an emergency, preemptively attacking expected protests over the expected decision not to prosecute the thug that killed Michael Brown.

    The governor was asked to appoint a special prosecutor but refused. Looks like he's on the side of the thugs.

  • 19 November 2014 (Environmental impact of Carmichael mine)

    The Australian government nullified environmental planning requirements for a giant coal mine by saying the environmental impact study could be done after the mine is running.

  • 19 November 2014 (Campaigns to silence people)

    Campaigns to silence people whose views we dislike endanger a fundamental freedom.

    This includes even PISSI, the Pseudo-Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

  • 19 November 2014 (Urgent: Don't encourage fracking)

    US citizens: call on the EPA, in reducing power plant CO2 emissions, not to encourage fracking.

  • 19 November 2014 (Urgent: Support for Ghoncheh Ghavami)

    Everyone: Send a message of support for Ghoncheh Ghavami.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 19 November 2014 (Urgent: Reduce ozone pollution)

    US citizens: support a proposed EPA regulation to reduce ozone pollution.

  • 19 November 2014 (Teacher's resignation letter)

    A teacher's resignation letter: "my profession no longer exists" due to bizarre school reforms.

  • 19 November 2014 (FERC's permitting system)

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's permitting system for pipelines and other gas and oil facilities is designed to let companies have what they want.

  • 19 November 2014 (Publicly usable WiFi networks)

    Germany's law punished WiFi network owners for what people download through those networks. The result is — very few publicly usable WiFi networks.

    This law is unjust because (1) it is a system of collective responsibility, conscripting anyone that has a WiFi net as an enforcer, and (2) the War on Sharing is unjust in its entirety.

    It would be ironic if a mere economic consideration leads to elimination of this unjust law. In the mean time, Germans should operate WiFi networks without passwords, to refuse conscripting as enforcers in the War on Sharing.

  • 19 November 2014 (US Supreme Court cites junk science)

    Even the US Supreme Court cites junk science to interfere with abortion.

  • 19 November 2014 (Corporations taking over courts)

    Elizabeth Warren: Corporations Are Taking Over the Courts with the GOP's Help.

    I suspect they got help from some "Democrats", too.

  • 19 November 2014 (Humans and wildlife)

    Is there room on Earth for humans and wildlife?

    Sometimes it is justified to evict humans from an area so that other species can survive. After all, we humans occupy so much land on Earth, and we tend to take all the land there is.

  • 19 November 2014 (Mexico corrupt from top to bottom)

    Mexico is revealed as corrupt from top to bottom.

    Peña Nieto's election was corrupt too.

    But it was the reaction to the killing of protesting students that ended society's willingness to tolerate it.

  • 18 November 2014 (The idea of freedom)

    A refugee who escaped from North Korea sends balloons over the border to teach the people of North Korea the idea of freedom.

  • 18 November 2014 (Arming Syrian rebels to fight PISSI is hopeless)

    The CIA believes arming Syrian rebels to fight PISSI is hopeless, and Obama knows this.

    So who does he think he is fooling when he proposes to do more of this?

  • 18 November 2014 (Building Keystone XL pipeline would be an act of war)

    The Rosebud Sioux tribe says that building the Keystone XL pipeline would be an act of war.

    Yes, it would be — against the whole world, not just them.

  • 18 November 2014 (An "information war")

    Accusing Putin of waging an "information war" by supporting anyone that criticizes the west.

    There is some truth in this; however, western governments deserve a lot of criticism, Putin or no Putin. Indeed, they do a substantial amount of the same things.

  • 18 November 2014 (Polar bear population on Alaska's north coast)

    The polar bear population on Alaska's north coast has fallen 40% in 10 years. Few young bears have survived.

  • 18 November 2014 (Rodney Reed is about to be executed)

    Rodney Reed is about to be executed for the murder of his lover, but she may really have been killed by her jealous thug fiance. The investigation did not consider the thug seriously as a suspect.

  • 18 November 2014 (St Louis thug chief)

    The St Louis thug chief accused all the protesters, journalists and bystanders teargassed and attacked in Ferguson of being "criminals".

  • 18 November 2014 (Unnecessary and harmful quarantines)

    Nurse Kaci Hickox condemns the politicians that want to impose unnecessary and harmful quarantines in order to look like they are protecting us.

  • 18 November 2014 (Geoengineering)

    Rich people think that the idea that geoengineering could make global heating go away is likely to encourage them to go on burning fossil fuels.

    The fallacy is that geoengineering is just an idea, not a real solution.

  • 18 November 2014 (Accreditation to the G20)

    Australia gave business representatives accreditation to the G20 but denied it to union representatives.

  • 17 November 2014 (US drug companies wined and dined doctors)

    Documents show US drug companies wined and dined doctors to get them to prescribe narcotic painkillers more.

    These painkillers certainly have their place. It has been a long time since I took one, but they are far better than pain. However, these sales tactics (for any drug) corrupt medicine and must not be tolerated.

  • 17 November 2014 (Prosecuted for expressing happiness about assassination)

    In Venezuela, some people in the opposition are being prosecuted for expressing happiness about an assassination.

    I managed to see some of Inés González Árraga's tweets; they were quite hostile to the government, but did not make threats or call for violence.

  • 17 November 2014 (German Spy Agency Wants To Buy Zero-Day Vulnerabilities)

    German Spy Agency Wants To Buy Zero-Day Vulnerabilities In Order To Undermine SSL Security.

  • 17 November 2014 (Urgent: Vote for the USA Freedom Act)

    US citizens: urge your senators to vote for the USA Freedom Act

    I suggest you add, as I did, that this is not enough to restore our privacy.

  • 17 November 2014 (IRA protected rapists within its ranks)

    The IRA protected rapists within its ranks much like the Catholic Church and some sports teams.

  • 17 November 2014 (Gender pay gap)

    Evidence that the gender pay gap can't be explained by anything other than bias.

  • 17 November 2014 (Urgent: Oppose rigging electoral college)

    US citizens: oppose rigging the electoral college.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 17 November 2014 (Ferguson thug caught lying)

    The thug that killed Michael Brown arrested a man for making a video of him, then lied about it (standard thug procedure).

  • 17 November 2014 (Urgent: Cancel nuclear arsenal spending)

    US citizens: call on Obama to cancel spending a trillion dollars for replacing the US nuclear arsenal.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 17 November 2014 (FBI surveillance of MLK)

    The FBI used surveillance to try to pressure Martin Luther King Jr. commit suicide.

    We know that the NSA now does surveillance to get data for blackmail.

  • 17 November 2014 (Coal company gov't of Australia)

    The coal company government of Australia fought to the bitter end inside the G20 meeting to undermine actions against global heating.

  • 17 November 2014 (Bank scandals)

    A series of bank scandals, leading to large fines, are the predictable result of deregulation.

    I suspect that the fines are not big enough to motivate the bank executives and shareholders to try to prevent more corruption. In the US, they aren't. The result of inadequate fines is that the executives would like another corrupt scheme to make a lot of money followed by an inadequate fine.

    Complicated and changing banking systems will tend to offer new opportunities for corruption. Let's have a simple banking system that changes little.

  • 17 November 2014 (Africans who had Ebola face ostracism)

    Africans who recover from Ebola face ostracism by ignorant neighbors who don't understand they are not contagious any more.

  • 17 November 2014 (Environmental groups sue Shell)

    Environmental groups are suing to deny Shell permission to harass, capture and kill walruses in drilling operations in the Chukchi sea.

    Melting sea ice due to global heating is making it hard for walruses to find food. To have a chance to survive, they need what protection we can give them.

  • 17 November 2014 (Palestinian activist faces imprisonment)

    Palestinian rights activist Rasmea Odeh faces imprisonment and loss of US citizenship because she didn't mention a criminal conviction in Israel, which she says was a false confession that was beaten out of her.

    I see the point that she ought to have mentioned the conviction and said it was false, rather than hiding the issue. Strictly speaking, what she did was wrong. However, it's also clear that she had reason to fear a second injustice would result from the first.

    Since all she did was break a rule, not hurt anyone, the court ought to seek to remake the decision properly, as it should have been made given all the pertinent information.

  • 17 November 2014 (Helping the rich by hitting the poor)

    Revealed: How [UK] Coalition Has Helped Rich by Hitting Poor.

  • 17 November 2014 (Phony cell phone towers)

    US privacy and search law doesn't know how to cope with the indiscriminate surveillance of phony cell phone towers.

  • 17 November 2014 (Surgeon to defy ban on entering Gaza)

    Surgeon Mads Gilbert, who treated the wounded of Gaza while Israel attacked, says he will not let Israel stop him from returning to Gaza.

  • 17 November 2014 (Denton fracking ban to be ignored)

    Texas Oil Regulator Says It Will Not Honor Town's Vote To Ban Fracking.

  • 17 November 2014 (The Gulf's autocrats)

    It's Dangerous to Be So Cozy with the Gulf's Autocrats.

    On the other hand, the forces opposing them may turn out to be PISSI.

  • 16 November 2014 (Bankruptcy due to medical costs)

    A US woman who had a heart attack faces bankruptcy because the ambulance took her to "the wrong hospital" where her insurance did not cover the costs.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

    Medical costs are a common cause of bankruptcy in the US, because the medical system is totally broken. We need a national health system.

  • 16 November 2014 (Campaign money from cable companies)

    Big US cable companies spent 8 million dollars to buy support in the last election.

  • 16 November 2014 ("Justice" dept. admits it misled court)

    The "Justice" department admitted that it misled an appeals court regarding secrecy of "national security" letter surveillance orders — once the EFF caught the fib.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 16 November 2014 (Dialog in Beijing not allowed)

    Hong Kong protest leaders wanted to go to Beijing to try to talk with Chinese officials, but they were denied entry.

  • 16 November 2014 (Legalized robbery by thugs)

    Thug departments make lists of what kinds of cars to seize from hapless members of the public.

    Some states have tried to restrict civil forfeiture, or stop thug departments from keeping what they confiscate. The US government works with thug departments to circumvent those restrictions.

    Forfeiture is punishment without trial. Many of the victims are never even charged. It ought to be considered unconstitutional.

  • 16 November 2014 (Israel's "Minister of Home Security")

    Israel's "Minister of Home Security" publicly said thugs should to carry out summary executions.

  • 16 November 2014 (Amazon and Hachette)

    Amazon and Hachette have resolved their dispute about ebook prices. This will please those who just want to "get a book right now" and don't care about anything deeper.

    Using the Amazon Swindle makes you stop lending books to your friends — which means you're not their friend any more.

  • 16 November 2014 (Wall Street like Clinton)

    Wall Street likes Clinton better than it likes Obama!

    Apparently he hasn't been a total pushover, and they think Clinton will be.

  • 16 November 2014 (Companies dropping ALEC)

    So many companies have dropped ALEC that it has lost 1/5 of its funding and is running at a deficit.

    That means we should campaign even harder to convince more companies to drop ALEC.

  • 16 November 2014 (Urgent: Raise federal contract workers' wages)

    US citizens: call on Obama to order federal contractors to pay workers a living wage.

  • 16 November 2014 (Urgent: Raise Walmart workers' wages)

    Everyone: tell Walmart to pay workers $15 an hour.

  • 16 November 2014 (Urgent: Stop tax-dodging in Luxembourg)

    Everyone: call on Luxembourg to stop facilitating tax-dodging.

  • 16 November 2014 (Urgent: True network neutrality)

    US citizens: call on the FCC to instate true network neutrality.

  • 16 November 2014 (Urgent: Tell eBay to quit ALEC)

    Everyone: tell eBay to quit ALEC.

  • 16 November 2014 (Urgent: Block Keystone XL)

    US citizens: call on Obama to block Keystone XL and apply global heating considerations to all federal projects.

  • 16 November 2014 (Fake cell phone towers in planes)

    The US government carries fake cell phone towers in planes to identify people on the ground.

  • 16 November 2014 (Women forced into sterilization)

    In India, women are pressured or forced into sterilization, sometimes because they are poor or low-caste.

    This practice is an injustice, but incentives for sterilization are not the same as compulsion. If people are so poor that they desperately jump at any incentives, that doesn't mean the incentives are wrong, but rather that society is too unequal.

    A law such as China's one-child-per-family law would be fair and necessary in India.

  • 16 November 2014 (Australians' phone records)

    Plans for recording all Australians' phone contacts are meeting opposition in parliament.

    This is wise, given how the Obama regime used phone records to find a whistleblower in the US.

  • 16 November 2014 (UK thugs' attack on striking miners)

    Will the UK government investigate the thugs' attack on striking miners, which was followed (as usual) by trying to frame them?

  • 15 November 2014 (Urgent: Respect journalists and journalism)

    US citizens: call on Obama to respect journalists and journalism.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 15 November 2014 (British spying on journalists and lawyers)

    British spying on journalists and lawyers directly threatens Americans and people in other countries.

  • 15 November 2014 (Conservatives have political control)

    Conservatives have political control of the English-speaking world because the traditional left parties have lost the spirit to disagree with their assumptions.

    In the US, rigging elections through voter-suppression and gerrymandering help them do it.

  • 15 November 2014 (The morale problem with the US ICBM corps)

    The morale problem with the US ICBM corps is not just a matter of details. It comes from the nature of its activity.

  • 15 November 2014 (Urgent: Oppose export of fracked gas)

    US citizens: call on Congress to reject plans to encourage export of fracked gas.

  • 15 November 2014 (Journalist Rafael Marques de Morais)

    Journalist Rafael Marques de Morais: 'No politician, however strong, will stop me doing my job'. But they sure try hard.

  • 15 November 2014 (Robot watchmen)

    Robot watchmen are in their infancy, but if they work well in 10 years, they could put a million Americans out of work.

    They carry cameras that can be viewed over the internet. We know from experience that many users will not alter the default password, so anyone will be able to watch through their cameras. Quite a joke that will be on whoever uses them.

  • 15 November 2014 (Farm out servers to lots of buildings for heat)

    The latest bad idea: farm out servers to lots of buildings so that their waste heat can provide heat for the buildings.

    That would be efficient in winter; not so much in summer. But what about the privacy implications?

    The idea of "the cloud" means "Don't ask who stores your data (and can look at it); don't concern yourself with who does your computing (and controls how it is done). Put your blind faith in you-don't-know-who."

    With this scheme, you put your faith in an unidentified homeowner as well as several unidentified companies.

    Here's a better idea. Get your own servers to heat your water, and store your own data in them.

  • 15 November 2014 (Berkeley approved a tax on soda)

    Berkeley California disregarded the drink companies' ad campaign and approved a tax on soda.

    The tax should apply to all drinks that contain sugar. For instance, fruit juice as sold often includes a lot of added sugar; so it is not good for you. I have stopped drinking all drinks that have sugar, with occasional exceptions when there is something special available.

  • 15 November 2014 (Thugs arrest someone for having gas mask)

    Australian thugs did not arrest protesters for carrying banners and wearing Anonymous masks, but did arrest someone for having a gas mask.

    A gas mask is not an offensive weapon, so prohibiting them is inexcusable.

  • 15 November 2014 (US admitted torture practices to the UN)

    The US admitted torture practices to the UN. Next step: correct them, and hold the guilty accountable.

  • 15 November 2014 (Dubya is still lying about Iraq)

    Dubya is still lying about Iraq.

  • 15 November 2014 (Urgent: Ban neonicotinoid pesticides)

    US citizens: call for a ban on neonicotinoid pesticides, which endanger the bees that pollinate crops and wildlife.

  • 15 November 2014 (Thalidomide executives escape punishment)

    The executives of the company that made thalidomide used political pull to escape punishment.

  • 15 November 2014 (UK ISPs add political censorship)

    Major UK ISPs have added political censorship to their sexual censorship.

  • 15 November 2014 (APA's participation in torture)

    The American Psychological Association will investigate how in 2002 it revised its code of ethics to permit its members to participate in Bush regime torture.

    Bravo for James Risen, who is also standing up to a threat of imprisonment by the Obama regime for protecting his sources.

  • 15 November 2014 (US-China climate pledge)

    The US-China climate pledge will be harder for China than for the US.

    Too bad that it isn't enough to avoid disaster. Both countries must do more.

  • 15 November 2014 (UK proposes punishment without trial)

    To stop Britons from going to fight for PISSI, the UK government proposes punishment without trial, imposed arbitrarily by border control agents and airlines.

  • 15 November 2014 (Boko Haram captures Chibok)

    Boko Haram captured Chibok, the town where it kidnapped around 300 schoolgirls earlier this year.

  • 15 November 2014 (Urgent: Thank Obama)

    US citizens: Thank Obama for making a climate deal with Russia.

  • 15 November 2014 (Urgent: Wall Street pay reform)

    US citizens: support Wall Street pay reform to end incentives for bad investments.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 15 November 2014 (Urgent: Food safety and fracking)

    US citizens: call on Congress to resist bills to promote fracking or undermine food safety.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 15 November 2014 (The real excitement about Clinton)

    Where is the real excitement about Ms Clinton as president?

  • 15 November 2014 (Corrupt debt and economic colonization)

    Relating devastation in the Philippines to corrupt debt, and the Ebola epidemic to economic colonization.

  • 15 November 2014 (Walmart workers holding sit-down strike)

    Walmart workers are holding a sit-down strike to protest repression against attempts to organize.

    I am sad that this links to ustream.com, which can't be viewed without nonfree software. To develop a free front end for ustream would be a very useful project. In the mean time, please don't ustream, and please don't stream with ustream.

  • 15 November 2014 (Cell phones)

    The mere presence of a cell phone tends to make discussions about meaningful issues shallow.

    On the other hand, if you do have a meaningful discussion about an important issue, such as how to resist plutocracy, carrying cell phones will pre-alert the NSA about who you are talking with.

    Using text messages for a dispute is a recipe for escalating them. (We old-timers discovered this fact about email back around 1980.)
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 15 November 2014 (Heatwave in Brisbane)

    A heatwave in Brisbane will give G20 delegates a hint of what the fossil fuel companies want to do to the world.

  • 15 November 2014 (Spying lampposts)

    "Improved" lampposts do various kinds of spying.

  • 15 November 2014 (Fining the unemployed in the UK)

    Fining the unemployed in the UK is not pushing them to get jobs, only making them dependent on food banks.

    Raising the minimum wage, and abolishing zero-hours contracts, would circulate more money among the poor and thus create more jobs. That would get these people working.

  • 14 November 2014 (Arnold Abbott)

    Arnold Abbott says he will continue feeding homeless people in Fort Lauderdale "as long as there is breath in my body."

  • 14 November 2014 (France orders Google to censor search)

    France ordered Google to delete an article from search results world-wide.

    This reminds us of the danger of services provided by multinational companies that operate in countries that limit what the companies can do. In other cases it goes beyond this fairly mild requirement (which applies only to searches for a person's name).

  • 14 November 2014 (Australians bury heads in sand)

    Australians buried their heads in the sand to show what Abbott is doing regarding global heating.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 14 November 2014 (Shell's disregard for safety)

    Documents show Shell disregarded safety in Nigeria and then tried to cover up the damage.

  • 14 November 2014 (Peace activist banned from G20)

    Australia has banned a peace activist from the G20 event area, and refused to say why.

    Perhaps because he would do some sort of nonviolent protest.

  • 14 November 2014 (Chief Scientific Adviser position)

    EU bureaucrats have abolished the position of Chief Scientific Adviser.

  • 14 November 2014 ("World heritage" sites threatened)

    1/3 of natural "world heritage" sites face environmental threats.

  • 14 November 2014 ("Democrat" pushing for Keystone XL)

    "Democratic" senator Landrieu is trying to win a runoff election by pushing for the Keystone XL pipeline.

  • 14 November 2014 (Elizabeth Warren on US gov't agenda)

    Elizabeth Warren states what the US government's agenda should be, and what it should not be.

  • 14 November 2014 (Teacher prosecuted for sex with student)

    A teacher in the UK is being prosecuted for having sex with a 16-year-old student, after he boasted of it to his friends.

    He now says he feels "disgusted", but I think that is only what someone told him to say, or convinced him to feel.

    Every secondary school should aim for all of its graduates to be fully capable in sexuality; none should be excluded from participation in sex due to lack of proper experience. Therefore, the school should have several sex teachers, adults with whom students can learn to be comfortable with sex and confident in pleasing their lovers. They would also learn good habits for avoidance of disease and pregnancy.

  • 14 November 2014 (Urgent: Vote against Keystone XL)

    US citizens: tell your senators to vote against the Keystone XL pipeline.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 14 November 2014 (Urgent: Oppose "Republibama" government)

    US citizens: oppose "Republibama" government.

    This page has been found to work with LibreJS enabled.

  • 14 November 2014 (Artists protesting surveillance)

    Artists protesting against surveillance still naively presume that it is possible to flood the NSA with so much data that it will not provide effective surveillance.

    That would have been true 20 years ago. Nowadays the NSA can easily have computers find the interesting bits and discard the rest.

  • 14 November 2014 (UK gov't demands companies spy)

    The UK government now demands that companies illegally spy on their customers.

  • 14 November 2014 (Fascists and neo-Nazis in Ukraine)

    Fascists and neo-Nazis are a significant force in Ukraine; it's not just a Putin fantasy.

  • 14 November 2014 (Unions)

    On the good that unions do, and the bad that they don't do.

  • 14 November 2014 ("Energy forum" at G20)

    Peabody Energy (operator of the world's biggest coal mine

  • ran the "energy forum" at the corrupt G20 meeting. It took outside protesters to bring in even the slightest mention of global heating.


    [04 December 2014] UK university speech censorship)

    The UK plan to censor speeches in universities means the end of intellectual freedom, in a sad contrast with the tradition of liberty.

  • 04 December 2014 (Record pace of evictions in UK)

    Evictions in the UK are hitting a record pace. Traps placed in welfare benefits by the Tories are almost certain to cause an eviction when they go off.

    The main problem is that the wealthy are using a larger fraction of the UK's total housing space than before. This can be reversed at least partially by raising taxes on large houses and apartments, which will move the middle class and somewhat wealthy towards somewhat smaller spaces, making more buildings available for poor people to live in.

  • 04 December 2014 (Baby coral research)

    Baby coral animals may be able to adapt to higher acidity.

  • 04 December 2014 (Urgent: Support US fast food workers)

    Everyone: support US fast food workers on strike for $15 an hour.

  • 04 December 2014 (Threats sent by Japanese corporation)

    Japanese corporation Sumitomo tried to get a license to mine in the Solomon Islands by telling the Japanese ambassador to threaten to cut aid for a hospital.

    The ambassador didn't dare say no, but fortunately he avoided carrying out the order.

  • 04 December 2014 ("Complimentary medicines")

    Common "complementary medicines" claimed to assist cancer chemotherapy are likely to undermine its effectiveness.

  • 04 December 2014 (Carbon footprint of meat production)

    Eating Less Meat Essential to Curb Climate Change, Says Report.

    Most people don't realize how big a footprint meat production has. Especially beef.

    Fixing this problem does not require "telling people what to eat"; making greenhouse-emitting activities pay for the damage they do would be enough.

  • 04 December 2014 (Harmful chemicals in Antarctic waters)

    Soap, Sunscreen And Steroids Found in Antarctic Waters And Wildlife.

    Some of these chemicals can be harmful to wildlife in minute quantities because they mimic hormones.

  • 04 December 2014 (Luxembourg's tax-dodging scheme)

    Important EU countries are pushing to end Luxembourg's tax-dodging scheme.

  • 04 December 2014 (Raped women threatened and imprisoned)

    When thugs disbelieve a woman who makes an accusation of rape, they often threaten her until she falsely confesses to lying. Then she gets prosecuted and may be caught in prison until the rapist is caught raping someone else.

  • 04 December 2014 (Antisemitism Is Racism)

    Antisemitism Is Racism. We Need to Acknowledge That.

  • 04 December 2014 ("Peace and calm" from rifle manufacturer)

    The rifle manufacturer Kalashnikov, whose weapons are used in wars around the world, now advertises itself as "promoting peace and calm".

    Reminds me of how the US renamed the War Department as the "Defense Department".

  • 04 December 2014 (Censorship in Bangladesh)

    A journalist in Bangladesh has been fined for questioning the government's claims about the number of political murders in Bangladesh's war of independence.

    Ironically, he was instrumental in calling attention to these murders.

    Such vile censorship is not unique to Bangladesh. France has two laws each explicitly prohibiting disagreement with the official views on a particular question. One was adopted just a few years ago.

  • 04 December 2014 (Threats from fracking)

    Fracking threatens to exacerbate water shortages in Mexico, earthquakes in China and Indonesia, and wipe out indigenous peoples in some other countries.

    All this while encouraging people to keep burning fossil fuel.

  • 04 December 2014 (Militarization of US police)

    Obama isn't proposing to stop militarizing US police, only to monitor the process more.

  • 04 December 2014 (Lima climate talks)

    The US is dragging its feet in Lima climate talks, acting as if we could take our time curbing global heading slowly.

  • 04 December 2014 (Money for war but no help for refugees)

    The US spent a lot of money for war but won't help Syrian refugees.

    I think the US should offer funds for permanent resettlement of these refugees, not just to keep them alive in refugee camps, because that way the problem will be solved.

  • 04 December 2014 (Australian immigration TV show)

    Australian immigration seems to have pressured Monica Jones to agree to be filmed for a TV program, on pain of receiving harsh treatment.

  • 03 December 2014 (Guaranteed harms of fracking)

    Clinton's criticism of fracking presumes that there are some places where the risks are acceptable.

    Clearly she is considering only the local risk of polluting water and not the guaranteed harms of (1) using scarce water and (2) contributing to global heating.

  • 03 December 2014 (Austerity)

    The Labour Party would have used a little less austerity than the Tories applied, but both would have spread poverty.

  • 03 December 2014 (Militarization of US thugs)

    Obama plans to somewhat limit the militarization of US thugs.

    Why is this program "popular in Congress"? Probably because of the money of the companies that make the equipment, which have arranged to divide the work around nearly all congressional districts.

    We must reject the idea that an elected official's proper job includes pulling jobs to their districts from other parts of the US, or getting the government to do misguided spending in their districts.

  • 03 December 2014 (Line between death threats and jokes)

    Where to draw the line between online death threats and jokes or self-expression?

    A just criterion can't rest on the subjective understanding of either party. It has to be based on what is reasonable in the situation.

    In addition we must stop publicly posting our private musings. Web sites such as Facebook that encourage that practice are harmful.

  • 03 December 2014 ("Ghost soldiers" on Iraqi army payroll)

    The Iraqi army, trained by the US, had 50,000 "ghost soldiers" on its payroll who were not really acting as soldiers.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

    This alone does not explain PISSI's triumph. The 10,000 real soldiers in Mosul greatly outnumbered PISSI, and could easily have held the city — if they were inclined to fight.

  • 03 December 2014 (Spanish gov't wants crimes forgotten)

    The Spanish right-wing government cut off funds for finding and identifying the graves of people massacred by its predecessor, the dictator Franco, during the Spanish civil war.

    Franco was a general, and tried to stage a military coup, but ran into resistance from the people so that it took him three years to conquer all of Spain.

    Friends in Spain told me a few years ago that Franco's supporters still occupied positions of power. It is no surprise, therefore, that right-wing politicians want to Franco's crimes to be forgotten.

  • 03 December 2014 (Human rights activist sentenced to prison)

    A Bahraini human rights campaigner was sentenced to prison for attacking two thugs. That's what the thugs generally say; more likely they attacked her.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

    The effect is to keep her in permanent exile.

  • 03 December 2014 (Tax-evading landlord evicting residents)

    London residents facing eviction by a new tax-evading landlord protested at the company's office.

  • 03 December 2014 (New Pun)

    No stallions for the cast!.

  • 03 December 2014 (Urgent: Incentives for renewable energy)

    US citizens: call on Congress to renew incentives for renewable energy and energy efficiency.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 03 December 2014 (Urgent: Nuclear diplomacy with Iran)

    US citizens: call on your congresscritter and senators not to wipe out nuclear diplomacy with Iran.

  • 03 December 2014 (Syrian censorship)

    Studying Syrian censorship through leaked logs.

  • 03 December 2014 (Thugs attack HK protesters)

    Thousands of Hong Kong democracy protesters occupied a street, and were attacked by thugs with dogs and pepper spray.

    It seems to be a very strong form of pepper spray.

  • 03 December 2014 (Putin exerting control over publishing)

    Putin is exerting control over publishing in Russia, not just "news".

    In general I object to using the word "content" to describe publications, because it disparages them. However, it may be a fitting word for the publications of Putin's flunkies.

  • 03 December 2014 (High price of HIV drugs)

    Millions with HIV die because they can't afford the drugs to keep them alive.

    The World Trade Organization and its TRIPES (*) agreement is partly responsible for the high price of these patented drugs. The leaders of that organization, as well as the politicians that signed it and ratified it, should be tried for mass murder by the International Criminal Court.

    * Trade-Restricting Impediments to Production, Education and Science.

  • 03 December 2014 (How to Police the Police)

    How to Police the Police: What Rules Should Govern Police Use of Body Cameras?

  • 03 December 2014 (Jurisdiction to seize data)

    When a US company has data in a server in Europe, which country has jurisdiction to seize the data?

  • 03 December 2014 (Protesters attacked by thugs in Egypt)

    1000 protesters tried to enter Tahrir Square and were attacked by thugs.

  • 03 December 2014 (Toxic tropical jellyfish crossing Suez Canal)

    The Suez Canal has allowed toxic tropical jellyfish to invade the Mediterranean, where they endanger people and fish. And other dangerous invaders too.

  • 03 December 2014 (UN Committee Against Torture rebukes US)

    The United Nations Committee Against Torture rebuked the US for failing to punish torturers, as well as use of solitary confinement and violence by thugs, and imprisonment of large numbers of people facing possible deportation.

  • 03 December 2014 (Birth control)

    The small health risks of some birth control methods are smaller than the health risks they prevent, and trivial compared with the health risks of pregnancy.

  • 03 December 2014 (In prison for not stopping abusive husband)

    Many US women are in prison for being unable to stop their husbands from beating their children to death.

    The legal system fails to consider that the women were terrorized by those men.

  • 03 December 2014 (Secret opportunity to indict anyone)

    The grand jury gives prosecutors a secret opportunity to indict anyone — or, as in the case of Michael Brown's killing, to avoid indicting someone. This article proposes a replacement system.

  • 03 December 2014 (UK "counter-terrorism" leaflets)

    The UK is giving out "counter-terrorism" leaflets whose only use is to make people scared and ready to give up freedoms for security against a tiny danger.

    (You know already what these campaigns are for, but the article is so funny it would be a shame not to show it to you.)

    The way for the UK (and the US) to minimize the danger of terrorism by Islamists is to wind down the many interventions in mainly Muslim countries.

  • 03 December 2014 (The neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party)

    In 1944, just after freeing Greece from the Nazis, the UK joined with Greek collaborators to massacre unarmed leftist demonstrators in order to impose a right-wing government of the former flunkies of the Nazis.

    This led to the Greek civil war an dictatorship, and to today's Greek neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party.

  • 03 December 2014 (Internet surveillance)

    It is quite likely you are already responding to fear of what internet surveillance can do to you.

  • 03 December 2014 (Galapagos Islands' endangered species)

    Scientists protecting endangered species on the Galapagos Islands have run out of money because competing local people made them close their gift shop.

    Human inhabitation of the Galapagos Islands endangers the unique species there, and so does tourism.

  • 02 December 2014 (Chicago's schools lost 100 million dollars)

    Chicago's schools lost 100 million dollars after banksters led them into a tricky financial scheme, telling them not to worry about the fine print.

    The crucial point is that banksters had shortly before procured a state law to permit this sort of scheme. That's the way they work. All the "financial deregulation" laws of the past 20 years should simply be repealed.

  • 02 December 2014 (Homelessness and destitution are becoming normal in UK)

    In the UK, homelessness and destitution are becoming normal: people are starting to accept it as a permanent state of affairs which need not be corrected.

    The same happened in the US in the 1980s; it is part of Reagan's legacy.

  • 02 December 2014 (Japanese officials pushing denialism)

    Right-wing Japanese officials are pushing denialism of forcing women from occupied peoples into prostitution, using one piece of questionable evidence as a false excuse to deny all the evidence.

  • 02 December 2014 (Germany's biggest electric company)

    Germany's biggest electric company will split off fossil fuel generators to concentrate on renewable energy.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 02 December 2014 (Thugs that get fired for misconduct)

    US thugs that get fired for misconduct typically have no difficulty getting jobs as thugs in other places in the US.

  • 02 December 2014 (Autopsy on Michael Brown)

    The person who did the autopsy on Michael Brown seems to be hardly qualified for it, and not very honest.

    Why, I wonder, did the state entrust such a sensitive job to someone like that?

  • 02 December 2014 (Imprisoned for encouraging to learn and speak Tibetan)

    Tibetan singer Kalsang Yarphel has been imprisoned for encouraging Tibetans to learn and speak Tibetan.

    Evidently China aims to erase Tibetan culture.

  • 02 December 2014 (Having a baby is substantially dangerous)

    Having a baby is substantially dangerous; occasionally the only way a woman can save herself is with a late-term abortion.

  • 02 December 2014 (Thugs have planned years in advance)

    Washington DC thugs have planned years in advance how to spend the money they expect to take from people not convicted of crimes.

  • 02 December 2014 (Research that should not be done)

    An example of research that should not be done: tracking people automatically from one camera to another.

    Note the idiotic non-response given in the article to concerns that this is dangerous. They suggest that if the video is encrypted in transmission to Big Brother it will protect you from being tracked by someone else. As if anyone were as dangerous as Big Brother!

    I've proposed making it illegal to have remotely accessible cameras pointed at public places.

  • 01 December 2014 (Urgent: Lima negotiations)

    US citizens: call on the US to stand for strong measures to curb global heating in the Lima negotiations.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

    In my message, I used the term "global heating" to underline how serious the danger is, rather than the denialists' term "climate change".

  • 01 December 2014 (Michael Brown's killer quits)

    Michael Brown's killer quit the Ferguson thug department.

  • 01 December 2014 (Black Friday buying fever)

    The buying fever on Black Friday is a disgrace to society, as well as a distraction from more important things.

    The people who do it don't understand how pathetic their obsession with appliances is.

  • 01 December 2014 (PISSI)

    According to reports smuggled out of Raqqa, PISSI lords it over the inhabitants like an occupying army, and doesn't bother defending them from Assad's bombers when they attack civilian areas.

    If this is accurate (it could be an exaggeration), it would be easy to get people's help in pushing PISSI out, if only there were a decent alternative on offer. But there isn't.

    I wonder why Assad continues making them hate him.

    Note: PISSI is the Pseudo-Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

  • 01 December 2014 (Charges against Mubarak dismissed)

    Murder and corruption charges against Mubarak and some of his henchmen were dismissed in an arbitrary way.

    With the supporters of democracy and human rights under total repression, I guess al-Sisi doesn't need to pretend to hold the previous military ruler accountable for anything.

  • 01 December 2014 (Italy trying to weaken net neutrality)

    Italy is trying to weaken EU standards for network neutrality.

  • 01 December 2014 (Brazil's Javari Valley threatened)

    Brazil's Javari Valley Threatened by Peruvian Oil, Warn Tribes.

    The Peruvian president, Ollanta Humala, gave an impression of being vaguely leftist, but this does not seem to be very much the case.

  • 01 December 2014 (The harm done by fracking)

    The harm done by fracking could be comparable to that of thalidomide, tobacco or asbestos.

  • 01 December 2014 (Legal excuse used to spy on citizens)

    The Germany spy agency came up with a tricky legal excuse to spy on the communications of some Germans.

  • 01 December 2014 (Automatic face recognition)

    Your Face Is Not a Bar Code: Arguments Against Automatic Face Recognition in Public Places.

    This article is as valid as when it was written a decade ago. However, I must disagree with one point in the article: fear of terrorists is not justifiable for Americans in general. The danger of terrorism in the US is so tiny that it is foolish to worry about it, unless you're one of the small fraction who has a job to do to prevent it.

  • 01 December 2014 ("Fusion center" monitors protesters)

    The Massachusetts "fusion center", created to try to find "terrorists", was used to monitor Black Lives Matter protesters in Boston last week.

  • 01 December 2014 (Brock proposes to work for Clinton)

    David Brock used to get Republicans elected; now he proposes to work for Ms Clinton, who is almost a Republican.

  • 01 December 2014 (Mainstream media propaganda)

    An example shows how mainstream media propaganda for Wall Street works: by grossly misrepresenting what progressives said.

    And it handles the issue of the Keystone XL pipeline by presenting a "debate" between two associates of the oil industry.

  • 01 December 2014 (Protesters shot by thugs)

    Haitian thugs shot and wounded protesters who want the US-supported sweatshop next to their town to provide them with electricity.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 01 December 2014 (Activists charged with fictitious acts)

    Chinese activists are being tried for fictitious acts of "disorder".

  • 01 December 2014 (UK women left vulnerable unless they pay)

    The UK legal system leaves many women vulnerable to their ex-abusers who are released from prison, unless they have extra money to spend.

    Of course, women in that position tend to be short of money.

  • 01 December 2014 (Racism and its effects in the US)

    The US needs to seriously address the question of racism and its effects.

    Practical racism interacts with the growing inequality of wealth. With ever more Americans poor, groups that are targets of prejudice will tend to get poor first.

  • 01 December 2014 (UN human rights report reproves the US)

    The UN human rights report reproved the US for imposing sleep deprivation on prisoners.

  • 30 November 2014 (Responding to religious fundamentalism)

    Pope Francis, visiting Turkey, calls for responding to religious fundamentalism by helping the poor and marginalized.

    It seems that he and I agree on political issues, except for those related to sex and reproduction.

  • 30 November 2014 (Threatened for studying Tibetan language)

    A Chinese official threatened Tibetan students with punishment later if they study the Tibetan language.

    Some of China's methods of spreading propaganda about Tibet.

  • 30 November 2014 (Balloon-Suspended cameras over Jerusalem)

    Israel deploys balloon-suspended cameras over Jerusalem which can track all protesters, and everyone else too.

  • 30 November 2014 (Arrested after pointing a banana at a thug)

    A man in the US was arrested after pointing a banana at a thug as if it were a weapon.

    It is foolish to pretend to threaten armed people with a gun, even if it without anything that looks much like a gun. If he had succeeded in fooling them, they couldn't be blamed for shooting him in perceived self-defense.

    However, once they knew it was a banana, they also knew it was never seriously meant as a threat. Thus, it was wrong for them to arrest and charge the man with threatening anyone. Mere folly should not be treated as a crime.

  • 30 November 2014 (Slave labor in UK)

    A study estimates that over 10,000 people in the UK are in slave labor.

    In general, the estimates for numbers of slave laborers in various countries include a lot of guesswork.

  • 30 November 2014 (Exit International)

    Exit International teaches how to commit suicide painlessly. People flock to learn this in case they will need it later.

    I think everyone should have the right to commit suicide, though it makes sense to impose a waiting period and to treat people for depression if that's the root of their wish to die.

    Death is unfair; that people must die is a fundamental injustice in the universe (though there is no one to blame for it). But when life is so horrible that even death is better, forcing the person to go on living is a kind of torture.

  • 30 November 2014 (Botched executions)

    Ohio has been embarrassed by a series of botched executions, so now Republicans plan to block even courts from investigating how they are carried out.

  • 30 November 2014 (Thug in Ferguson shot at a woman in a car)

    A thug in Ferguson shot at a woman in a car, causing her to lose an eye.

  • 30 November 2014 (Urgent: Stand with Elizabeth Warren)

    US citizens: stand with Elizabeth Warren in rejecting bankster Antonio Weiss as an official of the US Treasury.

  • 30 November 2014 (Peaceful protests closed shopping malls)

    Peaceful protests closed shopping malls around Ferguson on Fools' Friday, and other activities around the US.

  • 30 November 2014 (E-Cigarettes)

    Some e-cigarettes contain a lot of formaldehyde, which is carcinogenic.

    I suggest that they should be sold like tobacco itself: to adults but not to minors.

  • 30 November 2014 (Urgent: Reduce power plant CO2 emissions)

    US citizens: call on the EPA to push harder and faster to reduce CO2 emissions from power plants.

  • 30 November 2014 (Women fighting global heating)

    Women on Climate Change Frontline Make Big Impact on Small Grants.

  • 30 November 2014 (Olive production devastated)

    Weather has devastated olive production in many countries.

    Specific occurrences of these kinds of bad weather are random, but our global heating activities are making them more frequent.

  • 30 November 2014 (UK poultry contamination)

    Most poultry in the UK is contaminated with potentially fatal bacteria, and the UK government is failing to tackle the problem.

    Instead it is considering an industry proposal to cut inspections.

  • 30 November 2014 (Censorship threats in India)

    An Indian version of Hamlet faces censorship threats.

  • 30 November 2014 (Thugs beat up HK protest leaders)

    Thugs beat up Hong Kong protest leaders after arresting them.

  • 30 November 2014 (EU trying to limit Google search)

    The European Union is trying to impose the right to have articles dropped from searches for your name on Google world-wide.

    I don't think this particular requirement is a big deal, but it is dangerous for any country to have the power to limit search engines world wide.

  • 30 November 2014 (Totalitarianism predicted by Dostoevsky)

    Dostoevsky predicted the totalitarianism that can occur when people abandon individual morality by going to any lengths to fight for some cause.

    It is a mistake, however, to equate morality with religion.

    The problem he presents is not in having ideals, not as such, but in approaching them with the assumption that they justify any means whatsoever.

  • 30 November 2014 (Jail Term for Blasphemy)

    Pakistan's Geo News to Appeal against Owner's 26-Year Jail Term for Blasphemy.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

    Two people in the Indian film industry were sentenced to 26 years for "blasphemy" consisting of having a religious song playing during a wedding scene.

    Pakistan should beg the world forgiveness for censoring criticism of religion, but in the second case it wasn't even criticism.

    India is not very good in this department either.

  • 30 November 2014 (Railroad Privatization in UK)

    One railroad line in the UK was run by the state, and was run so well that it became an embarrassment to right-wing politicians who insist on privatization.

    Privatization of the railroads in the UK has been a rip-off. They should all be re-nationalized.

  • 30 November 2014 (Plans to protect forests and peatlands)

    Indonesia's president proposes plans to protect forests and peatlands.

  • 30 November 2014 (The Five Leaders Who Failed Ferguson)

    The Five Leaders Who Failed Ferguson.

  • 30 November 2014 (UK Tory leader lost libel suit)

    A former UK Tory leader lost his libel suit: the judge believed the thug who said the politician called him a "pleb".

    The judge said that the thug didn't have enough imagination to have made this up, but lying in court, for a thug, is not the stretch it would be for you or me.

    I can't find either of them credible enough to believe.

  • 30 November 2014 (Nuclear weapons)

    Nuclear weapons can be detonated by accidents and rebellions, making them so dangerous we need to eliminate them all.

  • 30 November 2014 (Ransoming hostages from PISSI)

    Refusing to ransoming hostages from PISSI, so that they got beheaded for propaganda instead, may have done the US and UK more harm than ransoming would have done.

  • 30 November 2014 (US public schools charge students for lunch)

    US public schools are so poorly supported that they charge students for lunch, and when students' parents have not paid, they go hungry. Some students receive lunch gratis, but they are treated as objects of scorn.

    When I was a child, the public school gave all students lunch.

    Meanwhile, it seems to me that rejecting the idea that the poor deserve to be looked down on is one important lesson for schools to teach.

  • 29 November 2014 (Indian rich)

    Indian rich fritter away millions on frivolities, displaying contempt for the rest of society.

  • 29 November 2014 (Judge rejects DNA testing)

    A judge rejected DNA testing that might support Rodney Reed's claim he is innocent of murder. The judge would rather kill a man than recognize doubt in a past verdict.

    The death penalty is inherently wrong, because it can't be undone when evidence shows the convicted person was innocent. And other reasons too.

  • 28 November 2014 (Urgent: Defend the right to protest)

    US citizens: call on Holder to give justice for Michael Brown and to defend the right to protest.

  • 28 November 2014 (Urgent: Stricter carbon emission standards)

    US citizens: call for stricter carbon emission standards for existing power plants.

  • 28 November 2014 (Urgent: Justice for Michael Brown)

    US citizens: Call on Obama to give justice for Michael Brown.

  • 28 November 2014 (Oregon referendum on labeling GMOs)

    The Oregon referendum on labeling GMOs came out so close that it requires a recount.

  • 28 November 2014 (Civil disobedience against oil pipeline)

    Canadian scientist Alfredo Frid explained why he joined in civil disobedience against an oil pipeline.

    Frid is mistaken when he accuses the Canadian of "inaction" on "climate change". The Canadian government is a strong supporter of global heating and takes many kinds of actions to speed it up, including gagging scientists and shutting down research projects that can monitor heating.

  • 28 November 2014 (Ferguson thugs clamp down hard)

    The thugs clamped down hard on protesters in Ferguson.

    One thug begged people not to burn down their city. Considered by normal standards it is foolish for people to burn down their own city, but then, if they had normal lives and considered normal standards applicable, they wouldn't want to do so.

    The killings of blacks around the US is the extreme manifestation of a racist system that needs systemic change.

    Of course, the system in the US oppresses whites plenty as well; just not as much on the average.

  • 28 November 2014 (Obama plans more US troops in Afghanistan)

    Obama is planning to send some more US troops to Afghanistan.

    The US can never actually lose the war in Afghanistan, but it can't win either, and continuing the fight means continuing the suffering of Afghans and the expense and militarization of the US.

    The resumption of night raids will increase the suffering.

    I don't think war is justified under these circumstances.

  • 28 November 2014 (Venezuelan opposition politician faces charges)

    A Venezuelan opposition politician faces charges of organizing to kill President Maduro.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

    This is not an absurd accusation, given that the opposition launched a coup attempt against Chavez a decade ago, organized by the US.

    However, it could also be stretching the facts.

  • 28 November 2014 (Records of who talks to whom)

    A UN committee's resolution against massive surveillance left out the crucial issue of recording who talks with whom.

    Records of who talks with whom are absolutely crucial. Whistleblower Donald Sachtleben is in prison because the US government exhaustively studied the phone records of dozens of journalists from the Associated Press.

    The UK asked Vodaphone for the phone records of one journalist, so Vodaphone handed over the phone records of everyone at the same newspaper.

  • 28 November 2014 (Handouts to banks)

    We Should Cash-Bomb the People — Not the Banks.

    On the other hand, if officials' goal is to help billionaires, not the rest, handouts to banks make perfect sense.

  • 28 November 2014 (20,000 missing people in Mexico)

    Mexico's Missing Students Draw Attention to 20,000 'Vanished' Others.

  • 28 November 2014 (Drop in deforestation in Brazil)

    Deforestation in Brazil has become substantially less this year.

    It is not clear why.

  • 28 November 2014 (Teenage protesters sentenced to prison)

    In Egypt 78 teenagers were sentenced to prison for protesting for Morsi.

  • 28 November 2014 (CO2 emissions from ships)

    The EU has taken a feeble first step towards controlling CO2 emissions from ships, but it won't even start until 2018.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

    Charging a fee for emissions would cover this naturally; shipping any load by air or sea should be charged for the emissions involved.

  • 28 November 2014 (Factions fighting over Libya)

    Three (or more) factions are now fighting over Libya.

    I am not sure whether there is a basis to prefer any one of them to the rest.

  • 28 November 2014 (Islamist fanatics kill polio vaccinators)

    Islamist fanatics killed two polio vaccinators in Pakistan.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

    This is an extreme example of the harm religion does to society.

  • 28 November 2014 (UK thugs distributing fear propaganda)

    UK thugs are distributing fear propaganda which will aid their campaign for further surveillance and censorship.

  • 28 November 2014 (Human overpopulation)

    Human overpopulation is leading to increasing human incursion into a national park in Mumbai.

  • 28 November 2014 (Weakening inspection rules for farm animals)

    The UK government wants to follow the US in weakening the inspection rules for farm animals.

    This would save money for companies in ordinary operation and make some rare big dangers more likely.

  • 27 November 2014 (Urgent: Fuel efficiency for trucks)

    US citizens: call on Obama to require increases in fuel efficiency for trucks.

  • 27 November 2014 (Urgent: Prevent racial profiling)

    US citizens: call for federal guidelines to prevent racial profiling by state and local thugs.

  • 27 November 2014 (Treaty to ban cluster bombs)

    Although most countries have signed the treaty to ban cluster bombs, Russia, China and the US have not, and many banks and funds have invested in their production.

  • 27 November 2014 (Cost of gene modification treatment)

    A gene modification treatment for an obscure disease costs over a million dollars per patient. What will happen to the poor?
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 27 November 2014 (UK spy agencies blame Facebook)

    The ham-fisted UK spy-on-all agencies are blaming Facebook as an excuse to get themselves off the hook for incompetence in detecting jihadists planning an attack; but the real problem is the unjust interventions that make people so angry they will kill.

    It seems incorrect to call that attack "terrorism", because it was aimed at a soldier, not at civilians.

  • 27 November 2014 (Greek "economic recovery")

    In the Greek "economic recovery", the state drains people and schools to support banks that hardly lend money.

    I'd say it's an extractivist government of occupation.

  • 27 November 2014 (Warm weather in autumn)

    Warm weather in autumn leads some frogs to breed now rather than in spring. But it is a risky bet.

  • 27 November 2014 (Turkey bans reporting on corruption)

    Turkey has banned reporting about the investigation of corruption accusations against members of the government.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

    Erdogan dismissed the prosecutors that brought the accusations long ago.

  • 27 November 2014 (Fixing the racist system in the US)

    Suggestions for fixing the racist system that leads to killing so many black people in the US.

  • 27 November 2014 (Persecution of protesters in Mexico)

    It appears Mexican thugs arrested protesters more or less at random and charged them with attempted murder.

    This is in addition to attacking other protesters.

    The conduct of the thugs so far has already demonstrated that protesters have plenty to worry about (including being murdered like the 43 students that all this started with).

  • 27 November 2014 (The current Canadian gov't)

    US Republicans enabled the current Canadian government to gain power.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 27 November 2014 (Ferguson verdict)

    Ferguson, goddamn: No indictment for Darren Wilson is no surprise. This is why we protest.

    The law may have spoken but the Ferguson verdict is not justice.

  • 27 November 2014 (Australian whistleblower not charged)

    The Australian whistleblower who leaked a report about an apparently corrupt scholarship given to Prime Minister Abbott's daughter will not face charges, but still seems to face more criticism than the parties apparently involved in the corrupt proceedings (the school and the prime minister).

  • 27 November 2014 (New scam by Facebook)

    How did Mari Sherkin end up on a dating site unwillingly? Through a new scam by Facebook: it pops up windows showing other companies' sites, which then trick Facebook useds into "agreeing" to let those companies get their personal data from Facebook.

  • 27 November 2014 (Regin)

    The extremely sophisticated cracking software referred to as "Regin", used to attack computers in many countries including Belgium, seems related to Stuxnet which ties it to the US and UK.

  • 27 November 2014 (Term limits)

    Arguing against term limits on elected officials.

    I have always opposed term limits for legislators.

  • 27 November 2014 (Global heating will endanger honeybees)

    Global heating will endanger honeybees by helping a parasite.

  • 27 November 2014 (HK thugs arrest protest leaders)

    Hong Kong thugs arrested two of the main protest leaders.

  • 27 November 2014 (Low-income housing in London)

    The new owners of low-income housing in London, who plan to evict the poor to raise the rents, will evade taxes on the increased income.

    I hope the victims organize physical resistance to the evictions, and to further use of the building by the anonymous new owners.

  • 27 November 2014 (Thugs commit 1/6 of killings in Utah)

    1/6 of all killings in Utah are committed by thugs.

  • 27 November 2014 (Russia moving to annex Abkhazia)

    Russia is moving to annex Abkhazia, a breakaway part of Georgia.

    It is not exactly comparable to the case of Crimea: the Abkhazians rebelled on their own rather than experiencing a Russian invasion. Still, to be ruled by Russia is to suffer tyranny.

  • 27 November 2014 (Disabled UK children hungry and sick)

    Welfare cuts in the UK are leaving disabled children hungry and sick, and their parents are in even worse state.

    But it's even worse in the US, where over 2 million children were homeless during 2013.

  • 27 November 2014 (Texas-approved textbooks)

    Texas approved textbooks which list Moses as one of the founding fathers of the USA. And other wacky stuff.

  • 27 November 2014 (Thugs shoot 12-year-old boy dead)

    Thugs shot a 12-year-old boy dead when he tried to pull a pellet gun on them.

    The orange "this is a toy" indicator had been removed, so it looked real. Thus, I can't criticize the thugs for this one. I would not take their word for what happened, but if the boy's family saw the video and doesn't disagree, I suppose their story is true this time.

  • 27 November 2014 (Opportunity to debate Obama's wars)

    Hagel's resignation should provide an opportunity to debate Obama's wars.

    The US mainstream media will, however, express no doubts.

  • 27 November 2014 (1.5C of global heating locked in)

    Human emissions have already locked in 1.5C of global heating, and the consequences will be disastrous. The question is how soon we stop making it worse.

  • 27 November 2014 (Senate torture investigation)

    The Senate torture investigators did not try to talk with prisoners in Guantanamo about how they were tortured.

  • 27 November 2014 (US gov't secret search engine)

    The US government has a secret search engine to search through the billions of records of Americans' and other people's communications.

    The agencies that use this data pretend that they didn't use it and it doesn't exist. They are legally required to minimize their retention of data about Americans, but they ignore that.

  • 27 November 2014 (Monsanto PR campaign)

    Monsanto asks people to calm down and have a civil conversation about GMOS, even as it sues to overturn the laws passed by Vermont and Maui.

  • 27 November 2014 (Deforestation and the spread of Ebola)

    Deforestation, "Development" Connected to Spread of Ebola in West Africa.

  • 27 November 2014 (8,000 Chinese teachers strike)

    In a Country Without Formal Unions, 8,000 Chinese Teachers Strike for Higher Pay.

  • 27 November 2014 (No shortage of US tech workers)

    The [US] Tech Worker Shortage Doesn't Really Exist.

  • 27 November 2014 (Phony "scholarly journals")

    Phony "scholarly journals" will accept any junk whatsoever for publication.

    I occasionally receive an invitation to register for a conference in some foreign country. Often the stated topic is human trafficking. I wonder whether these events really occur, people use them to take a vacation and claim it's for a conference, or whether they only commit credit card fraud.

  • 27 November 2014 (Repression of Crimean Tatars)

    Putin is carrying out stiff repression of Crimean Tatars, including murder of activists.

    The Tatars reject Russian rule of the Crimea but have not engaged in violence.

  • 27 November 2014 (Global heating denial)

    What global heating denial will look like in 100 years, assuming civilization still exists.

  • 27 November 2014 (Rasmea Odeh)

    Rasmea Odeh's lawyer calls for reconsideration of the verdict that convicted her of concealing how she had been framed and tortured in Israel in 1967.

  • 26 November 2014 (Urgent: Protect Colorado wilderness)

    US citizens: call for protecting wilderness areas in Colorado from fracking.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 26 November 2014 (Fossil fuel dangers recognized)

    Obama's "climate change" envoy recognizes that lots of fossil fuels have to be left in the ground.

    Now if Obama would only start doing so.

  • 26 November 2014 (Dismissal of "Defense" secretary)

    Obama appears to have dismissed "Defense" secretary Hagel because Hagel wasn't suited for Obama's war plans.

  • 26 November 2014 (Societies with little religion)

    Societies with little religion can be quite good to live in.

    This does not prove that Atheism, by itself, will make a society good to live in. (It did not make the Soviet Union very good.) But this does show that religion isn't necessary for a society to be good to live in.

    Please don't buy the book from Amazon.

  • 26 November 2014 (Psychological harm of religions)

    How religions cause psychological harm to some (many?) believers.

  • 26 November 2014 (Humans imitating other humans)

    Great apes imitate fellow apes when there's an advantage in it, but humans imitate other humans even for no reason.

    Human see, human do.

  • 26 November 2014 (US drone bombings)

    US targeted 24 specific men in Pakistan with multiple drone bombings each. The bombings killed only 6 of them, but killed 868 other people including about 140 children.

    Some fraction of the other people killed may have been Taliban soldiers, but clearly a large fraction were bystanders and relatives.

  • 26 November 2014 (Atlantic mackerel)

    The Atlantic mackerel catch limit has been reduced 25%. Since the fish stock is at quite a low level, I think it is nuts to allow people to catch any of them. To try to fine-tune catch levels presumes more knowledge than we really have. We should do everything possible to give the fish a chance to bounce back; if they do, then we can start catching them again, with luck much more of them than now.

  • 26 November 2014 (Traumas inflicted on Americans)

    The multiple traumas inflicted on Americans are causing a massive breakdown.

  • 26 November 2014 ("Terrorism")

    Saudi Arabia has defined criticism of the state, and any defense of Atheism, as "terrorism".

    The US took a start down that path by defining "animal rights terrorism" to include actions such as running a web site or loosing farm animals.

    I can understand prosecuting that as destruction of property, but calling it "terrorism" is another example of a lying law.

  • 26 November 2014 (The harm of religion)

    Religion does lots of harm to society.

  • 26 November 2014 (Thai editor sentenced for "defaming" king)

    A Thai editor has been sentenced to over four years in prison for "defaming" the king.

    Any law making it a crime to defame, insult or offend someone is a violation of freedom of speech.

  • 26 November 2014 (UK proposes university censorship)

    The UK proposes to make universities censor "radical" speakers.

    Initially this is to be applied to radical Islamism, but who knows when it will be extended to cover refusal to run proprietary software, support for the Green Party, or opposition to censorship.

    The UK already has a vicious regime of censorship, but that's no reason to tolerate more.

    Imposed exile without trial is also proposed, as well as an arbitrary ban on flying without trial.

  • 26 November 2014 (Breastfeeding)

    It's not clear that breastfeeding is good for babies. Perhaps it's being raised in a middle-class home (which is where mothers are likely to do this) is what's good for babies.

  • 26 November 2014 (Privatized parole supervision)

    Private companies are finding ways to squeeze money out of supervision of criminals on parole.

    These companies function by mistreating their employees, the public, the prisoners, or some combination. Sometimes the indirection means they can't in practice be held accountable for how they treat the prisoners.

    The California initiative just approved, releasing many prisoners that there is no need to keep in prison, is very good notwithstanding this problem.

  • 26 November 2014 (Women's rights in Afghanistan)

    The peace talks with the Taliban endanger the fragments of women's rights in Afghanistan.

    I supported the invasion of Afghanistan to liberate women (and to some extent men) from the oppression of the Taliban. However, the existing Afghan government has allowed a large part of the same oppression, even in the places it effectively controls. I can't say that the small freedom Afghan women have gained justifies unending war.

  • 26 November 2014 (Antibiotic resistance)

    Ebola Is Scary, But Antibiotic Resistance Should Scare Us More.

  • 26 November 2014 (Australian thugs snoop on lawyer and client)

    Australian thugs listened sneakily to a prisoner's discussion with his lawyer.

    The government refuses to tell him why he was arrested and forbids newspapers to mention his name. I wonder if he has been gagged as well — I suspect so. Is any information about this available outside Australia?

    If your relative is arrested, spread the word immediately so that the state can't put the cat back into the bag.

  • 26 November 2014 (Encouraging cooperating)

    Psychological experiments reaffirm that it is possible for social structures to encourage and reward cooperation more, and selfishness less, than the ones existing in the US and UK.

    Comparing the free software world with the proprietary software world demonstrates the same thing.

    Present-day society has been reshaped by plutocrats to weaken society's defenses that restrained them. If we recognize them as the enemy, and defeat them, reversing the changes they made is a map for undoing the harm they have done. Simply to reverse all pertinent changes since 1980 would be a big improvement overall.

    A few of the changes since 1980 may be considered improvements (for instance, equal rights for gays, most advances in medical technology, improvements in renewable energy technology, PCs before they were designed for DRM, the internet before apps, and the web before Javascript), so I would advocate aiming exactly to recreate 1980.

  • 26 November 2014 (Amnesty's Detekt program)

    Amnesty's Detekt program may give a false sense of security.

  • 26 November 2014 (Urgent: Oppose Olympic Games)

    In Massachusetts: oppose holding Olympic Games in Boston.

    The Olympic Committee is leaning towards Boston because of Boston's record of clamping down arbitrarily on millions of people, when it forced everyone to stay indoors.

    Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington DC should start organizing too.

    If people with enough democracy to reject Olympic Games do so, the games will be held in dictatorial countries. At least that way they won't lead to tyranny worse than what those countries already have.

  • 26 November 2014 (Urgent: Raise pay limit for overtime)

    US citizens: Call on Obama to raise the pay limit for workers to get overtime pay.

  • 26 November 2014 (Products connected to Koch Brothers)

    Here's a list of products made by companies largely owned by the Koch Brothers, so you can choose alternatives.

  • 26 November 2014 (World Bank's future investments)

    The World Bank says it will "focus" future investments on renewable energy, but falls short of ceasing to invest in fossil fuels.

    I am worried by the escape hatch to allow coal investments in cases of "extreme need". Billionaires can claim with a straight face that they have "extreme need" for the profits from a coal mine, and ways to convince politicians to endorse the claim.

  • 26 November 2014 (Wars not stopped by horrific pictures)

    Horrific pictures of casualties don't seem to stop war.

  • 26 November 2014 (Law makes non-Jews second-class citizens)

    Israel's cabinet approved a law to officially make non-Jews second-class citizens and remove Arabic as an official language.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

    This seems ideally calculated to provoke more Israeli Arabs into random acts of violence, but Netanyahu calls it a "deterrent" like other acts of collective punishment.

    There is no word on whether Netanyahu also plans to punish Jews collectively for acts such as firebombing Huda Hamaiel's house.

  • 26 November 2014 (Conservationists pressuring Australia's big banks)

    Conservationists are pressuring Australia's big banks not to invest in coal companies.

    If those banks are looking for long-term return, they should try to make sure that Australia isn't knocked to its knees by global heating.

  • 26 November 2014 (Hong Kong government defeated democracy protesters by)

    The Hong Kong government defeated democracy protesters by yielding nothing and waiting for the public to get tired of protests.

    Lesson: people who get tired and stop protesting don't win.

  • 26 November 2014 (Blanket Data Retention)

    Blanket Data Retention Does Not Come in "Good" And "Bad" Forms.

  • 26 November 2014 (Communication and server companies)

    Communication and server companies have an interest in letting people think they care about privacy, but not so much in effectively doing so.

    I disagree with one point: encryption is not a fraud or a sham. However, it can only protect specific limited aspects of privacy, which are not enough.

  • 26 November 2014 (The old School of the Americas)

    The old School of the Americas, under a new name, teaches fighting "terrorists" (whatever that means) and the "war on drugs".

    It's a different harm but it's still harm. Recall that the dictatorships of South America in the 70s said that the people they disappeared were "terrorists".

  • 26 November 2014 (Grand jury decided not to indict the killer of Michael Brown)

    As expected, the grand jury decided not to indict the killer of Michael Brown.

    This was predictable; hardly ever do killer thugs face justice.

    The decision led to predictable riots.

    It is wrong to vent this rage by burning down private buildings that have nothing to do with the killing. At the same time, I understand that many in Ferguson feel that rioting is their last recourse after trying everything else. I hope it leads to some good.

    Civil rights and justice groups called on Governor Nixon to appoint a special prosecutor, but he didn't. He could still do this, but he would rather provoke riots and repress them. He is directly and personally responsible for giving a killer thug immunity. We should not let him shrug it off.

  • 26 November 2014 (Protesters banned from China)

    Hundreds or perhaps thousands of Hong Kong citizens who protested for democracy have been banned from China.

    Much like the US no-fly list, they don't find this out until they try to cross the border.

  • 26 November 2014 (LEDs for street lighting)

    The EU foolishly relaxed its requirement to adopt LEDs for street lighting, inviting a giant waste of energy and money.

  • 26 November 2014 (Beyond Ferguson)

    Beyond Ferguson: we need to stop giving carte blanche to militarized thugs.

  • 25 November 2014 (Urgent: Federal Reserve governors)

    US citizens: call on Obama to appoint some Federal Reserve governors who don't represent banksters.

  • 25 November 2014 (Urgent: Charge JP Morgan now)

    US citizens: call on the Justice Department to charge JP Morgan now with the crimes that Alayne Fleischmann has witnessed.

  • 25 November 2014 (Urgent: Release Senate's torture report)

    US citizens: Call on Senator Udall to personally release the Senate's torture report while he is still a senator.

  • 25 November 2014 (Urgent: Support network neutrality)

    US citizens: support network neutrality again.

  • 25 November 2014 (Pakistani thug raids)

    Pakistan's uniformed thugs say they go on raids to kill major criminals. Others say the thugs are killing whoever is convenient in order to run up the tally.

  • 25 November 2014 (Claims of Satanic child abuse)

    Claims of Satanic child abuse are coming back. These are based on convincing people to remember things that never happened to them.

  • 25 November 2014 (Bluefin tuna fishing quotas)

    Bluefin tuna in the Atlantic have recovered to some extent from past overfishing, so governments jumped at the chance to increase fishing quotas.

    I hope eventually it will be possible to catch these tuna at a higher rate sustainably, but it is foolhardy to be hasty. The current numbers of tuna are more than in the 1950s, but they could be minuscule compared with the 1850s.

  • 25 November 2014 (Variant of RFID for sabotaging computers)

    A variant of an RFID turns out to be a prime method used by US and Russian agents (and maybe others) to sabotage computers.

  • 25 November 2014 (Crusade against "child pornography")

    A UK politician has been forced to resign from some positions because his swiped credit card number was used to buy pornography depicting children. The fact that it wasn't him is, apparently, not sufficient to protect him; being falsely accused is considered reason why he must resign.

    Isn't this nuts?

    These events illustrate that the crusade against "child pornography" endangers everyone. This result tends to happen whenever possession or purchase of some sort of publication is illegal. We must abolish such laws because they whip up witch-hunts.

  • 25 November 2014 (Syrian rebel groups joining PISSI)

    Many Syrian rebel groups are joining with PISSI, or at least making truces with PISSI, because they regard the US as an enemy for fighting PISSI.

    PISSI is the Pseudo-Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

  • 25 November 2014 (Israeli soldiers kill man walking in Gaza)

    Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian who was trying to catch birds and went too close to the Israeli border.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

    Israel has no right to kill people in Gaza for walking around in Gaza. If Israel wants a buffer zone, it should construct that buffer zone on Israel's side of the border.

  • 25 November 2014 (Kidnapping plot launched by Putin)

    Putin launched a plot to kidnap Bill Browder, after killing his lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in prison.

  • 25 November 2014 (Terrorists murder bus passengers)

    Al-Shabaab terrorists captured a bus and murdered all the passengers that were not Muslims.

  • 25 November 2014 (French thugs kill protester)

    French thugs killed an anti-dam protester with a grenade, inspiring continuing protests.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 25 November 2014 (The fiction of "recovery" in UK)

    Puncturing the fiction of a "recovery" in the UK, the number of poor people going to food banks continues to increase.

    This includes people who have work but their wages don't cover food.

  • 25 November 2014 (Japan entering recession)

    Japan is entering a recession, and as usual financial powers are pushing for spending cuts to make it worse, but the government is determined to stimulate the economy instead.

    Britain seems to be entering another recession (although working people have not started to recover from the last one), so the plutocratic government plans more budget cuts to make sure of this.

  • 25 November 2014 (Banksters taking over state pension funds)

    Banksters are taking over state pension funds in order to drain them with high fees and risky investments.

  • 24 November 2014 (Orders against reporting on sexual abuse)

    UK newspapers were ordered not to report on sexual abuse by politicians, and the records of these orders appear to have been destroyed, or else the orders were fake.

    Either way, it is very fishy.

  • 24 November 2014 (Altruism)

    Experimental subjects paid more to protect strangers from electric shocks than to protect themselves from shocks.

    The article ends with a very good refutation of one of the typical fallacious cynical attacks against altruism.

  • 24 November 2014 (Australian public broadcasting attacked)

    The Australian government is attacking public broadcasting for not being right-wing.

  • 24 November 2014 (Chilean officers sentenced for torture)

    The Chilean officers that tortured Alberto Bachelet and his daughter (now president) have been sentenced to prison.

  • 24 November 2014 (Walmart workers plan strikes)

    Walmart workers plan strikes and protests on the day that foolish Americans typically start shopping for mandatory Christmas presents.

    Since they are looking for support from the public, I suggest that people participate.

  • 24 November 2014 (Man to be executed despite botched trial)

    Robert Holsey is set to be executed, and the state of Georgia doesn't care that his defense team was nonfunctional because its leader was drunk.

    The death penalty is wrong even if the criminal has competent defense lawyers. This case points rather at the willingness of the US legal system to insist on upholding decisions that were made laughably.

  • 24 November 2014 (Nonviolent Resistance defeating Mafia)

    United nonviolent resistance is defeating the Mafia protection racket in Sicily.

  • 24 November 2014 (Gun carrying and crime)

    A new study finds that allowing people in general to carry guns leads to more crime, in the US.

  • 24 November 2014 (Occupy London protesters return)

    Occupy London protesters are returning to Parliament Square.

  • 24 November 2014 (Free scientific publication)

    The Gates Foundation has insisted on free scientific publication for research it supports.

    They use the term "open access"; I think that term is misguided because it tends to lead people in the direction of weaker positions than this. Fortunately the Gates Foundation overcame the weakness of the term itself, and took a strong stand.

    There are so many ironies in this.

    Meanwhile, France cut its research budget in order to pay publishers such as Elsevier.

  • 24 November 2014 (Obama authorizes fighting in Afghanistan)

    Obama has authorized remaining US troops in Afghanistan to continue fighting the Taliban directly, hoping people won't notice.

  • 24 November 2014 (Global heating "lake effect")

    Global heating means big snow loads from the "lake effect".

  • 24 November 2014 (Attacks on whistleblowers)

    Whistleblowers are repeatedly subject to dishonest retaliation and false accusations by those in power whose errors or crimes have been exposed.

  • 24 November 2014 (Phone companies trying to force VOIP)

    US phone companies are trying to push customers off the superior copper cables onto VOIP, by refusing to maintain the copper cables.

    The idea of requiring the VOIP replacement to be improved before forcing the changeover is not sufficient. VOIP is inherently less reliable as well as subjecting people to digital monkey-business.

  • 24 November 2014 (Algorithmic decision making)

    Algorithmic decision making is leading to many strange kinds of troubles caused by mistaken identity.

  • 24 November 2014 (Obama nominates another bankster)

    Obama proposed a bankster to be the Undersecretary for Domestic Finance, and Elizabeth Warren came out swinging against him.

  • 23 November 2014 (A carbon tax bill)

    Senators have introduced a carbon tax bill.

    This has no chance of passing, but introducing it is at least a political step.

  • 23 November 2014 (Paid global heating denialists)

    A movie exposes the methods of the paid global heating denialists.

  • 23 November 2014 (US abortion doctors on harassment and restrictions)

    US abortion doctors say the harassment and restrictions are the worst they have ever seen.

  • 23 November 2014 (The last remaining "Angola 3")

    The last remaining "Angola 3" prisoner had his conviction overturned, but the state may appeal this decision to keep him in prison more years until he dies.

    Regardless of the issues of his guilt and his trial, keeping anyone in solitary confinement for so long amounts to brainwashing.

  • 23 November 2014 (The Destructive God That Can Never Be Appeased)

    Growth: The Destructive God That Can Never Be Appeased.

  • 23 November 2014 (Six Vital Steps to Protect Earth)

    Six Vital Steps World Leaders Must Agree to Take to Protect Earth.

    Here's what the agreement needs to do and why.

  • 23 November 2014 (Urgent: US border patrol agents)

    US citizens: Call for establishment of a clear and practical way to report abuses by US border patrol agents.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 23 November 2014 (Urgent: Protect bees)

    US citizens: call on Obama to make sure the pollinator health task force takes sufficient measures to truly protect bees.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 23 November 2014 (Jewish Voice for Peace mourns)

    Jewish Voice for Peace mourns the Jewish and Palestinian casualties of individual violence in Israel and Palestine.

  • 23 November 2014 (How US mainstream media promote escalation of war)

    An example of how US mainstream media promote escalation of war against PISSI.

    Examples of how they promote the Keystone XL planet-roaster pipeline.

    When they do acknowledge the real argument against the pipeline, next they claim it's impossible to stop the extraction of tar sands oil.

    "Stop resisting, you can't win" has been used against every successful resistance movement.

  • 23 November 2014 (Useful Idiots in the Digital Age)

    Are "We the People" Useful Idiots in the Digital Age?

  • 23 November 2014 (Ceasing to feel ashamed of accusing men of rape)

    American women are ceasing to feel ashamed of accusing men of raping them.

    The idea of being ashamed of being assaulted in any fashion makes no moral sense to me. I can only understand it intellectually.

    It was common to for families to despise women who were raped, along with women who had sex without authorization, treating women as possessions of the family rather than as persons. For instance, a legend about the foundation of the Roman Republic admires a woman for committing suicide after being pressured into sex. In some twisted societies, this attitude continues today and is the basis for "honor killings".

    I suppose women internalized this condemnation and converted it into shame.

  • 23 November 2014 (Urgent: Boycott Amazon)

    Everyone: sign up to boycott Amazon.

    I gave this as my additional statement.

    There are additional reasons to refuse to buy from Amazon. It keeps a database of what people buy, and does not accept cash. Amazon ebooks are a surveillance system and Amazon can erase them remotely: see stallman.org/ebooks.pdf.

    See also stallman.org/amazon.html for more bad things Amazon does.

    Thus, I agree to boycott Amazon, but it won't change anything, since I'd never consider buying from an organization that treated me that way, even if it didn't abuse its workers and evade taxes.

  • 23 November 2014 ("Ambient" computing)

    Always-listening, always-watching computers are supposedly meant to serve people, but when they're full of nonfree software they are actually tools to subjugate people.

  • 23 November 2014 (Car tracking)

    Many car companies now make cars that track where they go. The companies are trying to make this acceptable with weak promises about what they will do with the data.

    Those policies are irrelevant because real protection for the driver's privacy consists of not tracking the car in the first place. If you own a car, make sure its tracking hardware is deactivated.

  • 23 November 2014 (FISA Judge on mass surveillance)

    FISA Judge To Yahoo (in 2008): If US Citizens Don't Know They're Being Surveilled, There's No Harm.

  • 23 November 2014 (40 years of wrongful imprisonment)

    Two men in Ohio spent 40 years in prison because thugs bullied a teenager into testifying against them.

    At least they weren't executed.

  • 23 November 2014 (Public interest defense)

    GCHQ Whistleblower Calls for Public Interest Defense.

  • 23 November 2014 (Justice not expected in Ferguson)

    It's a rare moment in the US when black victims get justice for the violence of whites.

  • 23 November 2014 (Thugs spying on journalists)

    When Police Spy on Journalists Like Me, Freedom Is at Risk.

  • 23 November 2014 (Haitian opposition march attacked)

    A Haitian opposition march was attacked by supporters of the president, who was imposed by the US through a twisted election.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 23 November 2014 (Walmart electricity from coal)

    Walmart pretends to be trying to protect the environment, but it gets its electricity from coal.

  • 23 November 2014 (NSA data center water supply)

    Utah's legislature proposes to shut off the water supply to the NSA's data center.

  • 23 November 2014 (Transitory copies illegal under TPP)

    A subtle point in the TPP would make transitory copies (such as loading a program into memory to run it) copyright infringement.

  • 23 November 2014 (Iran's destruction of environment)

    Iran has worked around western sanctions at the cost of destroying its environment. The result is dust storms.

  • 23 November 2014 (Environmental catastrophes)

    You might think that humanity won't wake up to the dangers of global heating and extinction until it sees catastrophes, but the catastrophes are already happening, and the only awakening is by businesses that want to abolish environmental regulations.

  • 23 November 2014 (Many US cities similar to Ferguson)

    Many US cities arrest blacks far more often than whites. Ferguson is not the worst.

  • 22 November 2014 (UK tax give-aways to businesses)

    The UK government is losing billions of pounds by not keeping track of tax give-aways to businesses.

    This while they nickle-and-dime the unemployed and disabled into homelessness.

  • 22 November 2014 (Preventing youths from going to Syria)

    Aarhus has an interesting personal active approach towards people returning from fighting in Syria, which seems to have been effective at preventing more youths from going there.

    Meanwhile, the UK plans a system of internal exile for such people.

  • 22 November 2014 (US firms enabling surveillance)

    U.S. Firms Accused of Enabling Surveillance in Despotic Central Asian Regimes.

  • 22 November 2014 (UK journalists sue thugs for spying)

    UK journalists are suing the thugs for spying systematically on them as they covered protests.

    Thugs have long regarded democracy as their enemy; what is new is to have proof.

  • 22 November 2014 (Surveillance in Latin America)

    New Report Finds Little Oversight of Surveillance, Intelligence Agencies in Latin America.

  • 22 November 2014 (Urgent: Block the Keystone XL pipeline)

    US citizens: call on Obama to block the Keystone XL pipeline.

  • 22 November 2014 (Menlo Park's license plate cameras)

    Menlo Park's license plate cameras recorded car license plates 263,000 times in a few months. Just one of them helped solve a crime. All the rest were massive general surveillance.

    The question of cost is a side issue; what's wrong here is injustice.

  • 22 November 2014 (Cover-up of JP Morgan's crimes)

    Alayne Fleischmann has gone public about how JP Morgan and Attorney General Holder conspired to cover up JP Morgan's crimes. She offered her testimony several times, but they worked together to stop this from coming out in court and to avoid really punishing the bank.

    It should be noted that "securitization" of home mortgages is a harmful practice even if it is not done fraudulently. Your mortgage should be owned by a local bank that has the power to adjust it if you fall behind, and the incentive not to give you a mortgage without confidence you can pay it. Thus, I think that the practice should be stopped entirely.

  • 22 November 2014 (Global heating costs)

    Rich countries have not pledged enough to do the job of helping poor countries cope with the effects of global heating.

    But it is a hopeless job, because the costs will go up each decade. If we don't stop the heating, sooner or later the poor countries will be overwhelmed, followed by the rich countries.

  • 22 November 2014 (Brutal attack by Brisbane thugs)

    Thugs in Brisbane, where the G20 meeting was held, brutally attacked a man with no legs. They will probably claim he was trying to run away.

    Of course, the thugs accused the man of various crimes. I am skeptical.

  • 22 November 2014 (Harvard students sue Harvard)

    Harvard students have sued Harvard for mismanaging the school's endowment by investing it in fossil fuel companies.

    These companies' value is inflated by the carbon bubble, which has to pop some day.

  • 22 November 2014 (Guantanamo force feeding)

    The American Nursing Association has given its support to a Guantanamo nurse who faces a military trial for refusing to participate in force feeding.

  • 22 November 2014 (North Dakota's public bank)

    North Dakota's public bank is more profitable than US private banks.

    The oil boom in North Dakota is not an occasion for humanity to rejoice, given the grave danger it contributes to. But that is orthogonal to the merits of a public bank.

  • 22 November 2014 (Cystic fibrosis treatment patents)

    The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation helped develop a treatment, then sold its share of the patent rights to a company that is charging almost $400,000 per year. Most of the patients can't afford that.

    Other countries' national health systems will negotiate a price that will probably be far lower. US law, paid for by Big Pharma, does not allow this.

  • 22 November 2014 (Creating competition between ISPs)

    A proposal: instead of network neutrality regulation, create a competitive market for ISPs.

    Causing competition between ISPs is a good idea, but I would not trust that to replace network neutrality. Four competitors are too few to make a truly competitive market. And even companies in a competitive market impose nasty terms on customers. Consider the hotel that "fined" customers for bad reviews. It competes with lots of other hotels but that didn't stop it from pulling a fast one.

    Competition would pressure ISPs to improve their performance, price, and customer service. Those are things that customers notice all the time. We need common carrier regulation also for all the things that are less visible.

  • 22 November 2014 (US government torture)

    US officials refused to explain to the Committee Against Torture why nobody was prosecuted for US government torture.

  • 22 November 2014 (Working as banker encourages dishonesty)

    Bankers, after being led to think about their work, become more likely to cheat than people in general.

    In other words, it's not that bankers are inherently dishonest but rather than working as a banker encourages dishonesty.

  • 21 November 2014 (The arrest warrant against Assange)

    The Swedish appeals court did not cancel the arrest warrant against Julian Assange, but pressured the prosecutors to accept his invitation to question him in the Ecuadorian embassy.

    If the Swedish prosecutors were really concerned about the sexual allegations against Assange, they would interview him in the embassy so as to advance that case and either charge him or not. Their refusal to do this demonstrates that they are using the allegations as a pretext to send Assange to the US.

  • 21 November 2014 (Abortion experiences)

    Women are speaking about their abortion experiences to counter the harassment against women who have abortions.

    If anything, it's not aborting a pregnancy that raises questions as the human population continues to grow.

  • 21 November 2014 (Thugs attack Ferguson protesters)

    Thugs attacked protesters in Ferguson already, after creating pretexts, although the decision on prosecuting Michael Brown's killer has not been announced.

  • 21 November 2014 (North Korea threatens to throw tantrum)

    A UN agency called for prosecution of North Korea's ruler in the International Criminal Court. North Korea responded by threatening to throw a tantrum.

    This UN move was entirely justified, but I wish it would go after the even more flagrant human rights violators such as Bush II.

  • 21 November 2014 (Australia's government)

    Australia's government has sunk to shameless self-contradiction.

  • 21 November 2014 (Frackers pollute clean aquifers)

    Frackers polluted clean aquifers in California with fracking waste water.

  • 21 November 2014 (How weak is the USA Freedom Act?)

    The weakened USA Freedom Act is so weak that Obama plans to revive it.

  • 21 November 2014 (Urgent: Amend the constitution)

    US citizens: sign this petition to amend the constitution to stop the rich from using their money to dominate US elections.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 21 November 2014 (Violation of US election laws)

    Republicans used Twitter to disguise their violation of US election laws.

  • 21 November 2014 (Uber executive threatens journalist)

    Journalist Sarah Lacy writes about how an Uber executive said he would punish her critical journalism by using lies to smear her family life. It was the culmination of years of contempt for the company's drivers and passengers.

    By the way, I don't see anything wrong in offering taxi rides driven by attractive models of either sex. Since I believe sexual services should be legal, I would not object if they offered to fly you while driving you. However, this need not and should not be accompanied by Uber-style contempt towards women (and men).

  • 21 November 2014 (UK spending cuts)

    UK spending cuts have reduced tax income and caused a fresh budget deficit. The insane remedy is to cut spending more, and never mind that it has failed in its ostensible goal, because the real goal is to reduce workers to desperation.

  • 21 November 2014 (The Hunger Games)

    In teenage girls' fascination for the Hunger Games, they show a form of political maturity.

    The world of The Hunger Games is a projection of today's starve-the-poor plutocracy. It's much worse than today's USA, but the America of 2100 might be even worse. If globalized manufacturing collapses, we might be left with nothing but low-tech.

  • 21 November 2014 (Unemployment insurance)

    Refuting the claim that unemployment insurance causes unemployment: a study shows it is mostly false.

    Note that the claim really argues for lower wages; but US wages for many jobs are not enough to live on, so they must be raised.

    The US has many other policies that discourage employment, which we should change. For instance, charging employers for social security and medical care is a mistake. That money should be obtained by taxing rich people and businesses' income, independent of how much they pay to workers.

  • 20 November 2014 (Illinois minimum wage)

    The Illinois legislature is considering raising the minimum wage but banning cities from adopting a higher minimum.

    This measure would be harmful to workers. The statewide raise will probably not be enough, and living in Chicago is even more expensive.

  • 20 November 2014 (Arbitrary conditions imposed by hotel)

    A hotel charged guests extra, on their credit card, for posting a bad review of the hotel. The hotel claimed it was entitled to charge them because it had put that in the contract guests are made to sign. I suppose most guests don't read the contract; but if they did, having arrived and with perhaps nowhere else to stay, refusing to sign would not be much of an option.

    Hotels should not be allowed to write their own conditions arbitrarily to impose on guests.

  • 20 November 2014 (Big companies paying CEOs more than taxes)

    Many big US companies pay their CEOs more than they pay in taxes.

    When Mega Corporations Get Mega Tax Breaks, We All Pay.

  • 20 November 2014 (Financialization of rental residences)

    Financialization of rental residences means that people live in financial instruments.

  • 20 November 2014 (Former KGB running Russia)

    Under Putin, the former KGB now runs Russia and has returned to actively harassing and intimidating journalists and dissidents.

    By contrast the US style of massive surveillance is done quietly, so people don't realize how much they are being tracked. Digital technology means that both the US and Russia have a higher level of general surveillance today than was found in the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union could not tell where everyone went all the time; its agents could follow only a limited set of people.

    Although the NSA and FBI don't entirely run the US, the level of oversight by Congress and courts is very weak.

  • 20 November 2014 (Urgent: Cancel wolf-killing competition)

    US citizens: call on the Secretary of the Interior to cancel a wolf-killing competition.

  • 20 November 2014 (Defeat of the USA Freedom Act)

    The defeat of the USA Freedom Act could, ironically, backfire and abolish part of the PAT RIOT act, reducing mass surveillance even more.

    However, we need more than just to abolish the PAT RIOT Act, since that pertains only to certain methods of massive surveillance.

    http://gnu.org/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html.

  • 20 November 2014 (Helping prisoners escape from gangs)

    Prisons can help prisoners escape from gangs. Like other forms of rehabilitation, it costs money and requires not adopting the goal of being as tough as possible.

  • 20 November 2014 (Urgent: No oil drilling in Chukchi sea)

    US citizens: call on the US not to allow Shell (or anyone) to drill for oil in the Chukchi sea. A spill would turn it into the Upchukchi sea.

  • 20 November 2014 (USA Freedom Act defeated by Senate)

    The USA Freedom Act, already weakened so much that even Obama supported it, was defeated in the Senate.

    This means our next battle will be against renewal of the PAT RIOT act.

  • 20 November 2014 (Sierra Leone ambulance shortage)

    Due to the shortage of ambulances, people who go to the MSF treatment center in Sierra Leone because they might have Ebola are sure to catch it by the time they arrive.

  • 20 November 2014 (Voter disenfranchisement lists)

    Secret disenfranchisement lists denied Democrats 4% of the vote, and enabled the Republicans to steal control of the senate.

  • 20 November 2014 (Netanyahu plans "harsh" retaliation)

    Netanyahu plans a "harsh" retaliation to the murder of 5 Israelis.

    This harshness will be on top of the harshness of decades of Israeli occupation. The killers were retaliating for a much larger set of murders and other crimes committed against Palestinians by Israelis, together with persistent oppression.

    Retaliating against them with additional crimes (house demolitions, which are illegal collective punishment) and additional persistent oppression is more likely to inspire more Palestinians to retaliate in their turn.

    I suppose Netanyahu knows that.

  • 20 November 2014 (Cheap substitute for feminism)

    Trying to silence individuals considered misogynist has become a substitute for campaigning to change sexist institutions.

  • 20 November 2014 (Fracking plans in national forest)

    The US plans to allow fracking in the George Washington National Forest.

  • 20 November 2014 (Solitary confinement)

    Solitary confinement regularly drives prisoners mad, but the US government continues to do it and to misrepresent it.

  • 20 November 2014 (What Ferguson thugs might plausibly do)

    Ten illegal attacks on protesters that thugs in Ferguson might plausibly do.

  • 20 November 2014 (Rise in homeless children in US)

    2.5 million children in the US were homeless at some time in 2013. That's up 8% from the previous year.

  • 20 November 2014 (Teenagers running trafficking boats)

    Traffickers now recruit or even force teenagers to run boats full of people from Africa to Europe.

  • 19 November 2014 (Britain's food banks)

    Most of the people using Britain's food banks went there directly because of government policies of harshness to the poor.

  • 19 November 2014 (CO2 emissions must be cut to zero by 2070)

    CO2 emissions must be cut to zero by 2070 to avoid disaster.

    How much it will cost to achieve this depends on how actively we cut emissions before 2030.

  • 19 November 2014 (Lack of toilets in rural India)

    The lack of toilets in rural India goes with gender discrimination that makes it even worse for women.

  • 19 November 2014 (Energy drinks)

    Energy drinks are dangerous for children.

  • 19 November 2014 (Falsifying environmental reports)

    A US coal company is accused of falsifying its environmental reports.

  • 19 November 2014 (Slowly-Closing ozone hole)

    The slowly-closing ozone hole has altered climate and ecosystems in the southern hemisphere.

  • 19 November 2014 (Male TV presenter wore the same suit every day)

    A male TV presenter wore the same suit every day for a year, just to prove that nobody cared in the slightest about his clothing style, unlike the way viewers treated his female counterpart.

  • 19 November 2014 (Students in the UK marched on Parliament)

    Students in the UK marched on Parliament to make university gratis again.

  • 19 November 2014 (Greenpeace boat captured by Spain)

    The Greenpeace boat that was captured by Russia has now been captured by Spain.

  • 19 November 2014 (Political prisoners in Uzbekistan)

    Human Rights Watch reports on political prisoners in Uzbekistan, which relates to the forced labor of picking cotton.

  • 19 November 2014 (Clod computing)

    A survey of clod computing practices.

  • 19 November 2014 (Mainstream media on drone attacks)

    Mainstream media continue to parrot the Obama regime's claims that the casualties of drone attacks are mainly "militants".

  • 19 November 2014 (Keystone XL "backup" plan)

    Astroturf and intimidation are the proposed methods to gain approval of an "backup" alternative to the Keystone XL pipeline.

  • 19 November 2014 (Spanish navy rams Greenpeace boat)

    A Spanish navy boat rammed a Greenpeace boat that was interfering with oil drilling.

  • 19 November 2014 (Kenyans protest for women's right)

    In Nairobi a mob of men stripped a woman because they disapproved of her miniskirt. This led to a protest in favor of women's right to dress as they wish.

    The idea that revealing clothes are "not African" is ludicrous given that women in many parts of Africa did not cover their breasts until Europeans taught them prudery.

  • 19 November 2014 (Deforestation in Peruvian Amazon)

    Deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon proceeds over the murder of land defenders.

  • 19 November 2014 (Convicted of possessing a copy of a book)

    A Briton was convicted of possessing a copy of a book about how to make a bomb, after a secret trial.

    This case illustrates the principle that possession of a copy of a publication must never be illegal. Such prohibitions are outright tyranny, and so is a secret trial.

  • 19 November 2014 (Preemptive attack on expected protests)

    The governor of Missouri declared an emergency, preemptively attacking expected protests over the expected decision not to prosecute the thug that killed Michael Brown.

    The governor was asked to appoint a special prosecutor but refused. Looks like he's on the side of the thugs.

  • 19 November 2014 (Environmental impact of Carmichael mine)

    The Australian government nullified environmental planning requirements for a giant coal mine by saying the environmental impact study could be done after the mine is running.

  • 19 November 2014 (Campaigns to silence people)

    Campaigns to silence people whose views we dislike endanger a fundamental freedom.

    This includes even PISSI, the Pseudo-Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

  • 19 November 2014 (Urgent: Don't encourage fracking)

    US citizens: call on the EPA, in reducing power plant CO2 emissions, not to encourage fracking.

  • 19 November 2014 (Urgent: Support for Ghoncheh Ghavami)

    Everyone: Send a message of support for Ghoncheh Ghavami.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 19 November 2014 (Urgent: Reduce ozone pollution)

    US citizens: support a proposed EPA regulation to reduce ozone pollution.

  • 19 November 2014 (Teacher's resignation letter)

    A teacher's resignation letter: "my profession no longer exists" due to bizarre school reforms.

  • 19 November 2014 (FERC's permitting system)

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's permitting system for pipelines and other gas and oil facilities is designed to let companies have what they want.

  • 19 November 2014 (Publicly usable WiFi networks)

    Germany's law punished WiFi network owners for what people download through those networks. The result is — very few publicly usable WiFi networks.

    This law is unjust because (1) it is a system of collective responsibility, conscripting anyone that has a WiFi net as an enforcer, and (2) the War on Sharing is unjust in its entirety.

    It would be ironic if a mere economic consideration leads to elimination of this unjust law. In the mean time, Germans should operate WiFi networks without passwords, to refuse conscripting as enforcers in the War on Sharing.

  • 19 November 2014 (US Supreme Court cites junk science)

    Even the US Supreme Court cites junk science to interfere with abortion.

  • 19 November 2014 (Corporations taking over courts)

    Elizabeth Warren: Corporations Are Taking Over the Courts with the GOP's Help.

    I suspect they got help from some "Democrats", too.

  • 19 November 2014 (Humans and wildlife)

    Is there room on Earth for humans and wildlife?

    Sometimes it is justified to evict humans from an area so that other species can survive. After all, we humans occupy so much land on Earth, and we tend to take all the land there is.

  • 19 November 2014 (Mexico corrupt from top to bottom)

    Mexico is revealed as corrupt from top to bottom.

    Peña Nieto's election was corrupt too.

    But it was the reaction to the killing of protesting students that ended society's willingness to tolerate it.

  • 18 November 2014 (The idea of freedom)

    A refugee who escaped from North Korea sends balloons over the border to teach the people of North Korea the idea of freedom.

  • 18 November 2014 (Arming Syrian rebels to fight PISSI is hopeless)

    The CIA believes arming Syrian rebels to fight PISSI is hopeless, and Obama knows this.

    So who does he think he is fooling when he proposes to do more of this?

  • 18 November 2014 (Building Keystone XL pipeline would be an act of war)

    The Rosebud Sioux tribe says that building the Keystone XL pipeline would be an act of war.

    Yes, it would be — against the whole world, not just them.

  • 18 November 2014 (An "information war")

    Accusing Putin of waging an "information war" by supporting anyone that criticizes the west.

    There is some truth in this; however, western governments deserve a lot of criticism, Putin or no Putin. Indeed, they do a substantial amount of the same things.

  • 18 November 2014 (Polar bear population on Alaska's north coast)

    The polar bear population on Alaska's north coast has fallen 40% in 10 years. Few young bears have survived.

  • 18 November 2014 (Rodney Reed is about to be executed)

    Rodney Reed is about to be executed for the murder of his lover, but she may really have been killed by her jealous thug fiance. The investigation did not consider the thug seriously as a suspect.

  • 18 November 2014 (St Louis thug chief)

    The St Louis thug chief accused all the protesters, journalists and bystanders teargassed and attacked in Ferguson of being "criminals".

  • 18 November 2014 (Unnecessary and harmful quarantines)

    Nurse Kaci Hickox condemns the politicians that want to impose unnecessary and harmful quarantines in order to look like they are protecting us.

  • 18 November 2014 (Geoengineering)

    Rich people think that the idea that geoengineering could make global heating go away is likely to encourage them to go on burning fossil fuels.

    The fallacy is that geoengineering is just an idea, not a real solution.

  • 18 November 2014 (Accreditation to the G20)

    Australia gave business representatives accreditation to the G20 but denied it to union representatives.

  • 17 November 2014 (US drug companies wined and dined doctors)

    Documents show US drug companies wined and dined doctors to get them to prescribe narcotic painkillers more.

    These painkillers certainly have their place. It has been a long time since I took one, but they are far better than pain. However, these sales tactics (for any drug) corrupt medicine and must not be tolerated.

  • 17 November 2014 (Prosecuted for expressing happiness about assassination)

    In Venezuela, some people in the opposition are being prosecuted for expressing happiness about an assassination.

    I managed to see some of Inés González Árraga's tweets; they were quite hostile to the government, but did not make threats or call for violence.

  • 17 November 2014 (German Spy Agency Wants To Buy Zero-Day Vulnerabilities)

    German Spy Agency Wants To Buy Zero-Day Vulnerabilities In Order To Undermine SSL Security.

  • 17 November 2014 (Urgent: Vote for the USA Freedom Act)

    US citizens: urge your senators to vote for the USA Freedom Act

    I suggest you add, as I did, that this is not enough to restore our privacy.

  • 17 November 2014 (IRA protected rapists within its ranks)

    The IRA protected rapists within its ranks much like the Catholic Church and some sports teams.

  • 17 November 2014 (Gender pay gap)

    Evidence that the gender pay gap can't be explained by anything other than bias.

  • 17 November 2014 (Urgent: Oppose rigging electoral college)

    US citizens: oppose rigging the electoral college.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 17 November 2014 (Ferguson thug caught lying)

    The thug that killed Michael Brown arrested a man for making a video of him, then lied about it (standard thug procedure).

  • 17 November 2014 (Urgent: Cancel nuclear arsenal spending)

    US citizens: call on Obama to cancel spending a trillion dollars for replacing the US nuclear arsenal.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 17 November 2014 (FBI surveillance of MLK)

    The FBI used surveillance to try to pressure Martin Luther King Jr. commit suicide.

    We know that the NSA now does surveillance to get data for blackmail.

  • 17 November 2014 (Coal company gov't of Australia)

    The coal company government of Australia fought to the bitter end inside the G20 meeting to undermine actions against global heating.

  • 17 November 2014 (Bank scandals)

    A series of bank scandals, leading to large fines, are the predictable result of deregulation.

    I suspect that the fines are not big enough to motivate the bank executives and shareholders to try to prevent more corruption. In the US, they aren't. The result of inadequate fines is that the executives would like another corrupt scheme to make a lot of money followed by an inadequate fine.

    Complicated and changing banking systems will tend to offer new opportunities for corruption. Let's have a simple banking system that changes little.

  • 17 November 2014 (Africans who had Ebola face ostracism)

    Africans who recover from Ebola face ostracism by ignorant neighbors who don't understand they are not contagious any more.

  • 17 November 2014 (Environmental groups sue Shell)

    Environmental groups are suing to deny Shell permission to harass, capture and kill walruses in drilling operations in the Chukchi sea.

    Melting sea ice due to global heating is making it hard for walruses to find food. To have a chance to survive, they need what protection we can give them.

  • 17 November 2014 (Palestinian activist faces imprisonment)

    Palestinian rights activist Rasmea Odeh faces imprisonment and loss of US citizenship because she didn't mention a criminal conviction in Israel, which she says was a false confession that was beaten out of her.

    I see the point that she ought to have mentioned the conviction and said it was false, rather than hiding the issue. Strictly speaking, what she did was wrong. However, it's also clear that she had reason to fear a second injustice would result from the first.

    Since all she did was break a rule, not hurt anyone, the court ought to seek to remake the decision properly, as it should have been made given all the pertinent information.

  • 17 November 2014 (Helping the rich by hitting the poor)

    Revealed: How [UK] Coalition Has Helped Rich by Hitting Poor.

  • 17 November 2014 (Phony cell phone towers)

    US privacy and search law doesn't know how to cope with the indiscriminate surveillance of phony cell phone towers.

  • 17 November 2014 (Surgeon to defy ban on entering Gaza)

    Surgeon Mads Gilbert, who treated the wounded of Gaza while Israel attacked, says he will not let Israel stop him from returning to Gaza.

  • 17 November 2014 (Denton fracking ban to be ignored)

    Texas Oil Regulator Says It Will Not Honor Town's Vote To Ban Fracking.

  • 17 November 2014 (The Gulf's autocrats)

    It's Dangerous to Be So Cozy with the Gulf's Autocrats.

    On the other hand, the forces opposing them may turn out to be PISSI.

  • 16 November 2014 (Bankruptcy due to medical costs)

    A US woman who had a heart attack faces bankruptcy because the ambulance took her to "the wrong hospital" where her insurance did not cover the costs.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

    Medical costs are a common cause of bankruptcy in the US, because the medical system is totally broken. We need a national health system.

  • 16 November 2014 (Campaign money from cable companies)

    Big US cable companies spent 8 million dollars to buy support in the last election.

  • 16 November 2014 ("Justice" dept. admits it misled court)

    The "Justice" department admitted that it misled an appeals court regarding secrecy of "national security" letter surveillance orders — once the EFF caught the fib.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 16 November 2014 (Dialog in Beijing not allowed)

    Hong Kong protest leaders wanted to go to Beijing to try to talk with Chinese officials, but they were denied entry.

  • 16 November 2014 (Legalized robbery by thugs)

    Thug departments make lists of what kinds of cars to seize from hapless members of the public.

    Some states have tried to restrict civil forfeiture, or stop thug departments from keeping what they confiscate. The US government works with thug departments to circumvent those restrictions.

    Forfeiture is punishment without trial. Many of the victims are never even charged. It ought to be considered unconstitutional.

  • 16 November 2014 (Israel's "Minister of Home Security")

    Israel's "Minister of Home Security" publicly said thugs should to carry out summary executions.

  • 16 November 2014 (Amazon and Hachette)

    Amazon and Hachette have resolved their dispute about ebook prices. This will please those who just want to "get a book right now" and don't care about anything deeper.

    Using the Amazon Swindle makes you stop lending books to your friends — which means you're not their friend any more.

  • 16 November 2014 (Wall Street like Clinton)

    Wall Street likes Clinton better than it likes Obama!

    Apparently he hasn't been a total pushover, and they think Clinton will be.

  • 16 November 2014 (Companies dropping ALEC)

    So many companies have dropped ALEC that it has lost 1/5 of its funding and is running at a deficit.

    That means we should campaign even harder to convince more companies to drop ALEC.

  • 16 November 2014 (Urgent: Raise federal contract workers' wages)

    US citizens: call on Obama to order federal contractors to pay workers a living wage.

  • 16 November 2014 (Urgent: Raise Walmart workers' wages)

    Everyone: tell Walmart to pay workers $15 an hour.

  • 16 November 2014 (Urgent: Stop tax-dodging in Luxembourg)

    Everyone: call on Luxembourg to stop facilitating tax-dodging.

  • 16 November 2014 (Urgent: True network neutrality)

    US citizens: call on the FCC to instate true network neutrality.

  • 16 November 2014 (Urgent: Tell eBay to quit ALEC)

    Everyone: tell eBay to quit ALEC.

  • 16 November 2014 (Urgent: Block Keystone XL)

    US citizens: call on Obama to block Keystone XL and apply global heating considerations to all federal projects.

  • 16 November 2014 (Fake cell phone towers in planes)

    The US government carries fake cell phone towers in planes to identify people on the ground.

  • 16 November 2014 (Women forced into sterilization)

    In India, women are pressured or forced into sterilization, sometimes because they are poor or low-caste.

    This practice is an injustice, but incentives for sterilization are not the same as compulsion. If people are so poor that they desperately jump at any incentives, that doesn't mean the incentives are wrong, but rather that society is too unequal.

    A law such as China's one-child-per-family law would be fair and necessary in India.

  • 16 November 2014 (Australians' phone records)

    Plans for recording all Australians' phone contacts are meeting opposition in parliament.

    This is wise, given how the Obama regime used phone records to find a whistleblower in the US.

  • 16 November 2014 (UK thugs' attack on striking miners)

    Will the UK government investigate the thugs' attack on striking miners, which was followed (as usual) by trying to frame them?

  • 15 November 2014 (Urgent: Respect journalists and journalism)

    US citizens: call on Obama to respect journalists and journalism.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 15 November 2014 (British spying on journalists and lawyers)

    British spying on journalists and lawyers directly threatens Americans and people in other countries.

  • 15 November 2014 (Conservatives have political control)

    Conservatives have political control of the English-speaking world because the traditional left parties have lost the spirit to disagree with their assumptions.

    In the US, rigging elections through voter-suppression and gerrymandering help them do it.

  • 15 November 2014 (The morale problem with the US ICBM corps)

    The morale problem with the US ICBM corps is not just a matter of details. It comes from the nature of its activity.

  • 15 November 2014 (Urgent: Oppose export of fracked gas)

    US citizens: call on Congress to reject plans to encourage export of fracked gas.

  • 15 November 2014 (Journalist Rafael Marques de Morais)

    Journalist Rafael Marques de Morais: 'No politician, however strong, will stop me doing my job'. But they sure try hard.

  • 15 November 2014 (Robot watchmen)

    Robot watchmen are in their infancy, but if they work well in 10 years, they could put a million Americans out of work.

    They carry cameras that can be viewed over the internet. We know from experience that many users will not alter the default password, so anyone will be able to watch through their cameras. Quite a joke that will be on whoever uses them.

  • 15 November 2014 (Farm out servers to lots of buildings for heat)

    The latest bad idea: farm out servers to lots of buildings so that their waste heat can provide heat for the buildings.

    That would be efficient in winter; not so much in summer. But what about the privacy implications?

    The idea of "the cloud" means "Don't ask who stores your data (and can look at it); don't concern yourself with who does your computing (and controls how it is done). Put your blind faith in you-don't-know-who."

    With this scheme, you put your faith in an unidentified homeowner as well as several unidentified companies.

    Here's a better idea. Get your own servers to heat your water, and store your own data in them.

  • 15 November 2014 (Berkeley approved a tax on soda)

    Berkeley California disregarded the drink companies' ad campaign and approved a tax on soda.

    The tax should apply to all drinks that contain sugar. For instance, fruit juice as sold often includes a lot of added sugar; so it is not good for you. I have stopped drinking all drinks that have sugar, with occasional exceptions when there is something special available.

  • 15 November 2014 (Thugs arrest someone for having gas mask)

    Australian thugs did not arrest protesters for carrying banners and wearing Anonymous masks, but did arrest someone for having a gas mask.

    A gas mask is not an offensive weapon, so prohibiting them is inexcusable.

  • 15 November 2014 (US admitted torture practices to the UN)

    The US admitted torture practices to the UN. Next step: correct them, and hold the guilty accountable.

  • 15 November 2014 (Dubya is still lying about Iraq)

    Dubya is still lying about Iraq.

  • 15 November 2014 (Urgent: Ban neonicotinoid pesticides)

    US citizens: call for a ban on neonicotinoid pesticides, which endanger the bees that pollinate crops and wildlife.

  • 15 November 2014 (Thalidomide executives escape punishment)

    The executives of the company that made thalidomide used political pull to escape punishment.

  • 15 November 2014 (UK ISPs add political censorship)

    Major UK ISPs have added political censorship to their sexual censorship.

  • 15 November 2014 (APA's participation in torture)

    The American Psychological Association will investigate how in 2002 it revised its code of ethics to permit its members to participate in Bush regime torture.

    Bravo for James Risen, who is also standing up to a threat of imprisonment by the Obama regime for protecting his sources.

  • 15 November 2014 (US-China climate pledge)

    The US-China climate pledge will be harder for China than for the US.

    Too bad that it isn't enough to avoid disaster. Both countries must do more.

  • 15 November 2014 (UK proposes punishment without trial)

    To stop Britons from going to fight for PISSI, the UK government proposes punishment without trial, imposed arbitrarily by border control agents and airlines.

  • 15 November 2014 (Boko Haram captures Chibok)

    Boko Haram captured Chibok, the town where it kidnapped around 300 schoolgirls earlier this year.

  • 15 November 2014 (Urgent: Thank Obama)

    US citizens: Thank Obama for making a climate deal with Russia.

  • 15 November 2014 (Urgent: Wall Street pay reform)

    US citizens: support Wall Street pay reform to end incentives for bad investments.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 15 November 2014 (Urgent: Food safety and fracking)

    US citizens: call on Congress to resist bills to promote fracking or undermine food safety.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 15 November 2014 (The real excitement about Clinton)

    Where is the real excitement about Ms Clinton as president?

  • 15 November 2014 (Corrupt debt and economic colonization)

    Relating devastation in the Philippines to corrupt debt, and the Ebola epidemic to economic colonization.

  • 15 November 2014 (Walmart workers holding sit-down strike)

    Walmart workers are holding a sit-down strike to protest repression against attempts to organize.

    I am sad that this links to ustream.com, which can't be viewed without nonfree software. To develop a free front end for ustream would be a very useful project. In the mean time, please don't ustream, and please don't stream with ustream.

  • 15 November 2014 (Cell phones)

    The mere presence of a cell phone tends to make discussions about meaningful issues shallow.

    On the other hand, if you do have a meaningful discussion about an important issue, such as how to resist plutocracy, carrying cell phones will pre-alert the NSA about who you are talking with.

    Using text messages for a dispute is a recipe for escalating them. (We old-timers discovered this fact about email back around 1980.)
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 15 November 2014 (Heatwave in Brisbane)

    A heatwave in Brisbane will give G20 delegates a hint of what the fossil fuel companies want to do to the world.

  • 15 November 2014 (Spying lampposts)

    "Improved" lampposts do various kinds of spying.

  • 15 November 2014 (Fining the unemployed in the UK)

    Fining the unemployed in the UK is not pushing them to get jobs, only making them dependent on food banks.

    Raising the minimum wage, and abolishing zero-hours contracts, would circulate more money among the poor and thus create more jobs. That would get these people working.

  • 14 November 2014 (Arnold Abbott)

    Arnold Abbott says he will continue feeding homeless people in Fort Lauderdale "as long as there is breath in my body."

  • 14 November 2014 (France orders Google to censor search)

    France ordered Google to delete an article from search results world-wide.

    This reminds us of the danger of services provided by multinational companies that operate in countries that limit what the companies can do. In other cases it goes beyond this fairly mild requirement (which applies only to searches for a person's name).

  • 14 November 2014 (Australians bury heads in sand)

    Australians buried their heads in the sand to show what Abbott is doing regarding global heating.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 14 November 2014 (Shell's disregard for safety)

    Documents show Shell disregarded safety in Nigeria and then tried to cover up the damage.

  • 14 November 2014 (Peace activist banned from G20)

    Australia has banned a peace activist from the G20 event area, and refused to say why.

    Perhaps because he would do some sort of nonviolent protest.

  • 14 November 2014 (Chief Scientific Adviser position)

    EU bureaucrats have abolished the position of Chief Scientific Adviser.

  • 14 November 2014 ("World heritage" sites threatened)

    1/3 of natural "world heritage" sites face environmental threats.

  • 14 November 2014 ("Democrat" pushing for Keystone XL)

    "Democratic" senator Landrieu is trying to win a runoff election by pushing for the Keystone XL pipeline.

  • 14 November 2014 (Elizabeth Warren on US gov't agenda)

    Elizabeth Warren states what the US government's agenda should be, and what it should not be.

  • 14 November 2014 (Teacher prosecuted for sex with student)

    A teacher in the UK is being prosecuted for having sex with a 16-year-old student, after he boasted of it to his friends.

    He now says he feels "disgusted", but I think that is only what someone told him to say, or convinced him to feel.

    Every secondary school should aim for all of its graduates to be fully capable in sexuality; none should be excluded from participation in sex due to lack of proper experience. Therefore, the school should have several sex teachers, adults with whom students can learn to be comfortable with sex and confident in pleasing their lovers. They would also learn good habits for avoidance of disease and pregnancy.

  • 14 November 2014 (Urgent: Vote against Keystone XL)

    US citizens: tell your senators to vote against the Keystone XL pipeline.
    [Reference updated on 2018-03-22 because the old link was broken.]

  • 14 November 2014 (Urgent: Oppose "Republibama" government)

    US citizens: oppose "Republibama" government.

    This page has been found to work with LibreJS enabled.

  • 14 November 2014 (Artists protesting surveillance)

    Artists protesting against surveillance still naively presume that it is possible to flood the NSA with so much data that it will not provide effective surveillance.

    That would have been true 20 years ago. Nowadays the NSA can easily have computers find the interesting bits and discard the rest.

  • 14 November 2014 (UK gov't demands companies spy)

    The UK government now demands that companies illegally spy on their customers.

  • 14 November 2014 (Fascists and neo-Nazis in Ukraine)

    Fascists and neo-Nazis are a significant force in Ukraine; it's not just a Putin fantasy.

  • 14 November 2014 (Unions)

    On the good that unions do, and the bad that they don't do.

  • 14 November 2014 ("Energy forum" at G20)

    Peabody Energy (operator of the world's biggest coal mine

  • ran the "energy forum" at the corrupt G20 meeting. It took outside protesters to bring in even the slightest mention of global heating.