Urgent: Stop jailing children in deportation prisons
17 October 2026
US citizens: call on your congresscritter and senators to stop jailing children in deportation prisons.
I edited the sample letter to avoid associating myself or my views with religion, and to reject terms such as "detention" and "ICE". You might want to do likewise.
I condemn the jailing of children and families in deportation prison, and I call on you to put a stop to it. (The word "detention" is too bureaucratically unfeeling to fit this cruel practice; please join me in shunning it.)
Since 2025, LICE (Lethal Instruments of Cruel Expulsion) has jailed more than 6,200 children -- including at least 500 babies and toddlers.
As a member of Congress, you have the legal authority to enter LICE deportation prisons without advance notice, inspect conditions, and demand accountability.
I call on you to conduct immediate, unannounced inspections of jails holding children and families -- and use every oversight and funding tool available to end jailing of children.
A nation that cares about children does not put them in cages.
See the instructions for how to sign this letter campaign without running any nonfree JavaScript code--not trivial, but not hard.
Urgent: Youth Voting Rights Act
17 October 2026
US citizens: call on Congress to pass the Youth Voting Rights Act, which would eliminate obstacles to registering and voting by young voters who are of voting age but lack experience.
US citizens: Join with this campaign to address this issue.
To phone your congresscritter about this, the main switchboard is +1-202-224-3121.
Please spread the word.
Urgent: Don't silence overseas voters
17 October 2026
US citizens: call on the Pentagon not to silence overseas voters.
Urgent: Don't subsidize private schools
17 October 2026
US citizens: call on the US Treasury not to subsidize private schools.
See the instructions for how to sign this letter campaign without running any nonfree JavaScript code--not trivial, but not hard.
Urgent: Restore fuel economy standards
17 October 2026
US citizens: call on Congress to restore fuel economy standards that the saboteur's officials weakened.
See the instructions for how to sign this letter campaign without running any nonfree JavaScript code--not trivial, but not hard.
US citizens: Join with this campaign to address this issue.
To phone your congresscritter about this, the main switchboard is +1-202-224-3121.
Please spread the word.
Urgent: School desegregation cases
17 October 2026
US citizens: call on the DOJ to stop dropping school desegregation cases and stick to Brown v. Board of Education.
Urgent: Deportation to unrelated countries
17 October 2026
US citizens: Thank the Judges Who Ruled Out Deportation to Countries Unrelated to the Deportee.
Urgent: Strictly limit the R&D tax credit
17 October 2026
US citizens: call on Congress to strictly limit the R&D Tax Credit.
I used this as the text of my letter.
Please legislate stricter rules for the research and experimentation tax credit, so that the companies that want to impose Alleged Intelligence on everyone cannot label datacenters for production use as "research and experimentation", even if part of their use will be research or experimentation.
The page gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html#ArtificialIntelligence explains why we should not lend support to the marketing hype campaign which that term promotes.
Meta’s use of this credit illustrates the need for congressional action. A New York Times investigation reported that the company is classifying Alleged Intelligence data centers as experimental pilot models and claiming costly computer chips as research supplies. Meta’s total research credits increased from $700 million in 2023 to $3.9 billion in 2025.
Given the corrupter's deliberate corruption of the IRS, counting on it to do its job honestly is self-delusion. I urge Congress to change tax law so that any claim of "research expenses" over a certain amount must be evaluated by a court, with a presumption of rejection unless it is proved valid.
Thank you,
See the instructions for how to sign this letter campaign without running any nonfree JavaScript code--not trivial, but not hard.
US citizens: Join with this campaign to address this issue.
To phone your congresscritter about this, the main switchboard is +1-202-224-3121.
Please spread the word.
Urgent: Protect reimbursement of Planned Parenthood by Medicaid
17 October 2026
US citizens: call on Congress to protect reimbursement of Planned Parenthood by Medicaid (for services that Medicaid covers) from arbitrary revenge and interference.
US citizens: Join with this campaign to address this issue.
To phone your congresscritter about this, the main switchboard is +1-202-224-3121.
Please spread the word.
Suing newspapers before publishing
17 October 2026
*[The editor of the Wall Street Journal] said the tactic of suing newspapers before they had published a story had become an established PR strategy of the powerful amid greater distrust of the established media.*
Federal Reserve changing rules
17 October 2026
The Federal Reserve is changing the rules to help big banks take dangerous risks, and risk causing nationwide harm.
Summary of mass surveillance in the US
17 October 2026
A summary of mass surveillance in the US, and how the data thus collected is used against everyone.
I protect myself from most of these systems by never using them. But there are a few I can't avoid, such as cameras used to track the public.
Heatwaves and wildfires
17 October 2026
*Heatwaves and wildfires are setting back air quality improvements, UN finds.
WMO report details extreme weather events causing climatic feedback loop with serious health consequences.*
Airline passenger tied to a seat and then arrested
17 October 2026
An article seems to say that an airline passenger was tied to a seat, and then arrested, for uttering statements of bigotry.
Bigotry is nasty and I will rebuke people for that, but I don't think people should be tied up, let alone arrested, just for saying nasty things.
There is a brief hint that he may have done something worse than speak words of bigotry, but the article gives no details — as if they made no real difference. I think we are intended to go away feeling that that passenger deserved to be tied up and arrested for speaking words of bigotry.
Taxing driverless cars
17 October 2026
*[Driverless] cars should be taxed to offset job losses, thinktank urges.*
If the worst problem the cars cause is loss of jobs, taxing them could be sufficient to deal with the problem. Today's driverless cars have other, worse problems: identifying their passengers, blocking traffic, blocking emergency responders, and snooping on everyone that the car spies. These call for prohibiting them.
"War on terror" weakened the first amendment
17 October 2026
*The "war on terror" weakened the first amendment. Now we desperately need it.*
(satire) Taking $5,000 from every American
17 October 2026
(satire) *[The Corrupter] Promises to Take $5,000 From Every American If Democrats Win Midterm.*
ChatGPT encouraged user to commit suicide
17 October 2026
ChatGPT encouraged a user' delusional religious tendencies to the point that he tried to commit suicide, by telling per perse was Jesus.
Meta platforms manipulate users to stay
17 October 2026
Meta (formerly known as Facebook) engineers its platforms to lead people to stay on its platforms almost compulsively, treating human minds as a resource to be mined for profit.
Interviews with Israeli intelligence agents
17 October 2026
A documentary presents anonymous interviews with Israeli intelligence agents about the systems of killing Palestinians, sometimes because heuristics suggested they are HAMAS agents, sometimes merely for disobeying invisible boundaries.
More about the film.
EDRI reproaches US government
17 October 2026
EDRI reproaches the US government for its attack on Autistici/Inventati.
The power to designate a person or organization arbitrarily for punishment, bypassing the trial that anyone accused has a right to, is a standing invitation for government repression. We must abolish it.
Years ago, the US government used this power (in the form of the no fly list") to bully foreigners into becoming spies.
The would-be despot has used this power to silence dissent and to protect war criminals. Now he is moving on to sabotage civil society.
Esther Rantzen's plans for assistance in dying
17 October 2026
Terminally ill broadcaster Esther Rantzen planned in advance to go to Switzerland for assistance in dying — later on. But now that her illness has advanced to the point where she wants to do this, she is considered "too physically fragile" to travel there.
*Rantzen said: "Unfortunately, when I was strong enough to make the flight and go to Dignitas, my life was not unbearably painful, indeed, I was able to relax in my beloved cottage in the New Forest.
And by the time life did become unbearable, I was too physically fragile to make the journey and go through the Dignitas process.
So even though I had spent the money and made the plans, I was not ready to end my life back then, and did not realize that would be my last chance.*
Meanwhile, the UK has abandoned the plan to legalize assisted suicide.
I wonder whether Rantzen could try to travel anyway despite her fragility. The medical risks that would ordinarily be a reason for her to avoid the travel might, in this sad context, count as opportunities.
New South Wales to limit "screen time" in schools
17 October 2026
The Australian state of New South Wales will strictly limit "screen time" in schools. The limits will vary with the grade level.
I am not an expert on "screens"' effect on students minds. The views of teachers on this subject seem plausible to me. What I do know is that nonfree applications, which includes most ed-tech, have malicious functionalities, and getting used to using them is bad for anyone of any age.
Urgent: Investigate Sen. Collins
10 October 2026
US citizens: call on the Senate to investigate Sen. Collins for possible corruption.
US citizens: Join with this campaign to address this issue.
To phone your congresscritter about this, the main switchboard is +1-202-224-3121.
Please spread the word.
Urgent: Opposing surveilling pricing
10 October 2026
US citizens: thank states and cities for opposing surveillance pricing.
Urgent: Block destruction of national parks and forests
10 October 2026
US citizens: call on Congress to block the saboteur in chief from destroying America's national parks and forests.
US citizens: Join with this campaign to address this issue.
To phone your congresscritter about this, the main switchboard is +1-202-224-3121.
Please spread the word.
Urgent: Thank Germany for Safeguarding U.S. climate data
10 October 2026
US citizens: thank Germany for Safeguarding U.S. Climate Data.
Digital display of product prices
10 October 2026
The AFL-CIO warns that digital display of product prices is likely to eliminate tens of thousands of jobs in the US while increasing grocery prices significantly.
If you think those two consequences are contradictory, it could be that you believe that the main factor affecting products' retail prices is how much the products cost the store. That economic theory was based on the assumption of so much competition that it would compel stores to pass savings along to the customers.
Nothing like that is true nowadays. After decades of mergers and megamergers, and data companies that enable all stores easily to sync up prices without directly communicating about them, competition hardly affects what stores can charge.
Connected car ideal for coercive control
10 October 2026
A connected car is an ideal weapon for coercive control — by people you know, or by strangers working for your country's government, or by strangers working for another country's government.
Abdul El-Sayed for senator from Michigan
10 October 2026
Robert Reich supports Abdul El-Sayed for senator from Michigan.
Failure to punish Dubya for torture
10 October 2026
The US's failure to punish Dubya for torture, in Guantanamo and other parts of the world, paved the way for the persecutor to embrace torture in the US.
Legal excuse for presidents to block investigation
10 October 2026
The corrupter's Department of Thwarting Justice has invented a new legal excuse for presidents to block investigation into their conduct by Congress or courts.
Datacenter exemption from disclosing air pollution
10 October 2026
The polluter in chief has directed his henchmen to give datacenters an exemption from disclosing their toxic air pollution.
Robert Reich on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as Democratic nominee
10 October 2026
Robert Reich lauds Bernie Sanders, then encourages Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to run for the Democratic nomination for president in 2028, although he does not expect she would win it this time.
I know one reason that she probably won't win it: the Democratic National Committee is is dominated by big business, and it barely disguises its bias against progressive candidates.
I voted for Sanders, and if Ocasio-Cortez runs, I will vote for her.
Right-wing extremist party in Sweden's government
10 October 2026
Admitting a right-wing extremist party into Sweden's government has spread hate, cruelty and global heating denialism into the rest of Sweden's parties.
(satire) GTA VI feature
10 October 2026
(satire) *Hyperrealistic ‘GTA VI’ Feature Makes Players Serve Out Prison Sentences In Real Time.*
Things FLOCK cameras capture
10 October 2026
FLOCK cameras don't just capture license plate numbers. They capture faces, too, and other aspects of the appearance of people and cars.
Often cops search for people photographed while merely standing for a while in one place.
We need to do more than end federal subsidies for such cameras. We must stop them from being useful for repression, by putting strict limits on surveillance cameras and permitting only security cameras.
Laws being pushed by Big Chemistry
10 October 2026
Big Chemistry is pushing a law to prohibit accusing factories of dangerous pollution based on the sort of air quality monitors that ordinary people can afford.
Protecting Koalas and allowing greenhouse gas emissions
10 October 2026
Australia is considering a deal to protect more of the forests where koalas (vulnerable) live in exchange for allowing additional greenhouse gas emissions.
In effect, planet roasters are holding adorable koalas hostage with a demand to let them continue destroying civilization and the biosphere. Bravo for the Green legislators with the courage to denounce that ransom demand.
Putin forces are bombing food warehouses in Ukraine
10 October 2026
Support for affordability and accountability
10 October 2026
Progressive campaigners report that most Americans would support a political campaign that joins the goals of "affordability" (to benefit the non-rich) and "accountability" (to be imposed on the rich).
It is useful to know that this combination — lowering prices by eliminating corruption -- can defeat the magats and plutocratists. However, it is not evident to me that the combination includes or implies preventing climate disaster, restoring human rights, upholding science, protecting everyone from Orwellian surveillance, and rejecting bigotry.
Thus, if "accountability" and "corruption" are interpreted in the usual narrow sense, I'd have to say these two goals alone are disastrously insufficient.
Neo-Nazis in Republican employment
10 October 2026
Some Republican officials are treating and describing neo-Nazis as toxic in their employment.
That is a positive change, but they need to understand that if you run in the same circles as Nazis — in the circles that have vicious ideas that attract Nazis — you will have opportunity after opportunity to take up with someone who is a Nazi. Look how many Republicans associate willingly with Elon Musk, or the monster in the White House. They can hardly avoid
I praise the old ACLU for defending freedom of speech for everyone, to express any views whatsoever — even including Nazis. I cite Nazis as an example here because their views are as vicious as can be. I am sure the ACLU's leaders judged them that way too. But they recognized that when you start denying people's freedom of speech because you dislike their views, that is the start of tyranny — and people who criticize the powerful in any way are likely to be on the receiving end.
I am not surprised that the extent of support for Nazi views in some countries today goes hand in hand with hatred and cruelty for many disprivileged groups.
Recognizing the freedom to advocate vicious views does not imply ceasing to castigate them.
Urgent: Tax billionaires' income from wealth
9 October 2026
US citizens: call on your state legislators to tax billionaires’ income from wealth.
In my letter I said that this should be in addition to taxing the wealth they already have.
Urgent: Corrupter's government-paid political ads
9 October 2026
US citizens: call on networks to stop airing the corrupter's government-paid political ads.
See the instructions for how to sign this letter campaign without running any nonfree JavaScript code--not trivial, but not hard.
Urgent: Tax the rich
9 October 2026
US citizens: call on 2026 Senate candidates: Tax the rich, don't cut Social Security!
See the instructions for how to sign this letter campaign without running any nonfree JavaScript code--not trivial, but not hard.
Urgent: Stop spending medical research funds on war
9 October 2026
US citizens: call on your congresscritter and senators to stop the cheater from spending medical research funds for weapons and war.
See the instructions for how to sign this letter campaign without running any nonfree JavaScript code--not trivial, but not hard.
US citizens: Join with this campaign to address this issue.
To phone your congresscritter about this, the main switchboard is +1-202-224-3121.
Please spread the word.
Urgent: Enforcement of Amazon's safety settlement
9 October 2026
US citizens: call on OSHA officials to enforce Amazon's safety settlement with its workers.
See the instructions for how to sign this letter campaign without running any nonfree JavaScript code--not trivial, but not hard.
Urgent: Protect temporary protection status for Haitians
9 October 2026
US citizens: call on your senators to protect temporary protection status for Haitians first thing, when the Senate is back in session.
See the instructions for how to sign this letter campaign without running any nonfree JavaScript code--not trivial, but not hard.
US citizens: Join with this campaign to address this issue.
To phone your congresscritter about this, the main switchboard is +1-202-224-3121.
Please spread the word.
Urgent: Investigate Meta
9 October 2026
US citizens: call on Congress to urge the IRS to investigate Meta and take the money back.
See the instructions for how to sign this letter campaign without running any nonfree JavaScript code--not trivial, but not hard.
Excluding news organizations from press conferences
9 October 2026
Australia's right-wing extremist party sometimes excludes specific news organizations from press conferences, apparently to prevent criticism.