Richard will give a talk in Erlangen, Germany
11 May 2026
Richard Stallman will speak in Erlangen, Germany on June 16 at 16:00, at the School of Engineering of FAU.
The talk is on the moral issues of free vs nonfree software.
We suggest you bring cash.
Urgent: Plan to drill in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
11 May 2026
US citizens: call on the Bureau of Land Management to stop the plan to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Urgent: Stop enabling helping deportation thugs
11 May 2026
US citizens: call on Reuters to stop enabling helping the deportation thugs.
Urgent: Block attempt to ban voting by mail
11 May 2026
US citizens: call on Congress to block the fascist's attempt to ban voting by mail.
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: Reject budget that attacks public education
11 May 2026
US citizens: call on Tell Congress: Reject the magats' budget that attacks public education.
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.
Household cost of blockaded oil and gas
11 May 2026
Citing the household cost of blockaded oil and gas to remind people of the desperate need to start climate defense.
The article uses the fashionable term "toxic", saying that the topic of climate disaster and the need to prevent it has become "toxic". What does that actually mean? Why in general does a topic, cause, or person, become "toxic"?
It is usually the result of a systematic campaign of vilification which aims to associate the target with a vague criticism, for which the reasons rarely rationally reconsidered. In the case of climate defense, we know this campaign has been operating for years, funded by the fossil fuel companies and spread by the many businesses that have relations with them and the politicians that they have funded.
The word "toxic", at the concrete level, refers to the existence of such an association for that target. But its connotation puts the blame on the target. Thus, it is a weasel-word whose effect is to endorse the campaign -- in effect, to condemn climate defense for being the target of vilification by the rich.
I therefore suggest rejecting the word.
World unprepared for next pandemic
11 May 2026
*World "unprepared" for next pandemic as countries fail to agree on sharing information, tests and vaccines.*
Magat officials closed San Francisco's immigration court
11 May 2026
Magat officials have closed San Francisco's immigration court.
US immigration courts have been underfunded for years, producing a large backlog of immigration cases. The wrecker's policy is to seize on various bogus excuses (such as criticizing him for his actions and policies) to cancel people's immigration cases. As a result, delaying the resolution of those cases is advantageous for him.
Rate of side effects from Covid and Shingles vaccines
11 May 2026
US Food and Drug Administration scientists published papers on the rate of side effects from Covid and Shingles vaccines, and found that serious side effects were very rare — one in a million.
Anti-vax agency officials withdrew the papers, claiming that the conclusions are invalid.
Banned non-fiction books doubled in US
11 May 2026
*Report shows banned non-fiction books doubled over last school year in US. New PEN America report analyzed 3,743 unique titles removed from libraries and classrooms and found books about activism and social movements were targeted.*
Trying to save copies of US government data
11 May 2026
"Data rescuers" are trying to save copies of US government data publications before magat officials destroy or alter them.
Mexico city sinking up to 40cm per year
11 May 2026
Mexico city is pumping so much water out of the aquifer underneath it that it is sinking up to 40cm per year.
When pipes leak under Mexico City, where does the water go? Into the aquifer? If so, leakage is just a way of extracting less. But I can't be sure of that — that water may take years to reach the aquifer than where it is needed. And engineers would compensate by increasing the extraction rate.
With enough money, solar-powered desalination could provide water for Mexico City, and pipelines could bring it there. But this would require taxing the rich.
Australian PISSI wives returning to Australia
11 May 2026
Australia has allowed some Australians who became PISSI wives, and were imprisoned for years in Syria, to return to Australia.
Some of them face grave criminal charges for supporting PISSI, and they deserve that. But exiling people is an unjust punishment for any crime, and punishing them without a trial is unjust too.
Radical listening
11 May 2026
Radical listening — a way of drawing passersby into exploring political issues together.
China trying to eradicate Tibetan culture
11 May 2026
China is trying to eradicate Tibetan culture and language by teaching children to speak only Chinese.
This reminds me of the residential schools that the US and Canada forced Amerindian children to live in during much of the 20th century — likewise designed to erase their cultures and languages.
The US and Canada ceased that practice some decades ago; now China is taking it up.
Memory loss and cognitive disabilities from domestic violence
11 May 2026
Many victims of domestic violence that includes blows to the head suffer from memory loss and cognitive disabilities.
Political issues worth writing about
11 May 2026
Ralph Nader describes several political issues that would be worth writing about, but reporters disregard his requests that they do so.
With regard to trying yet again to remove the monster from office, we know that it can't be done with the current composition of Congress. He was impeached twice during his first term, the second time after the January 6 attack on the Capitol, and Senate Republicans protected him both times. They would surely do it again; their attachment to him takes precedence over their country.
Besides, he now has another monster, less deranged but no less cruel and un-American, standing by to replace him.
However, as Nader suggests, the attempt might be an effective basis for organizing to save the Constitution by defeating SCROTUS in November. And our ex-presidents do have a duty to help.
Customers block from donating to the SPLC
11 May 2026
Big financial companies such as Fidelity and Vanguard have arbitrarily blocked customers from donating to the SPLC from their donor-advised funds.
I wonder if they can move these funds to other companies that aren't lackeys of persecution.
Punishing network for political reasons
11 May 2026
*ABC lawyers accuse [the] FCC [in court] of punishing network for political reasons.*
It is not news that the FCC is doing that, but ABC's willingness to resist is rare and admirable.
Directions for US and Iran negotiations
11 May 2026
Proposing directions for negotiation between the US and Iran that might lead to a deal.
It seems to be that the biggest obstacle is how to assure Iran that the US will actually keep a deal. Remove the bullshitter from office, perhaps?
Proposal to cut interest rates for poor countries
8 May 2026
*Proposing to cut interest rates poor countries pay for their massive debts by around 11% so they can fund social needs.*
Much of those debts should be wiped away.
Violent antisemitism percolating in Australia
8 May 2026
Violent antisemitism, threatening murder, has been percolating for years in Australia.
I don't think a threat of murder in 2019 had much to do with criticism of Israel's atrocities. It was simply hatred and scapegoating.
Billionaires have taken effective control of many governments and used it to impoverish most of humanity. A fraction of the billionaires are Jewish; most are not. Focusing condemnation narrowly on the Jewish billionaires lets the (non-Jewish) majority of billionaires, such as Musk, off the hook.
Ironically, today's Nazis give their political support to the right-wing governments that cooperate thoroughly with Israel's atrocities. They cite antisemitism as an excuse to persecute people who reproach those atrocities, and mostly leave the other antisemites (Nazis who support them) alone.
Public transit in US cities worse than third-world cities
8 May 2026
Most US cities are worse than many third-world cities in public transport.
Since the many cars that Americans use emit enormous amounts of greenhouse gases, the whole world should demand that the US start catching up.
Wrecker's oil-and-coal oligarchy
8 May 2026
*[The wrecker] and his oil-and-coal oligarchy should face sanctions for its war on the environment.*
Zohran Mamdani on event for investing in West Bank land
8 May 2026
Zohran Mamdani condemned an event held in NYC which encouraged Americans to invest in West Bank land being stolen from Palestinians.
Bravo, Mamdani!
Urgent: Robert Reich's site paywalled
7 May 2026
Sad news: Robert Reich's site has become paywalled. As a result, access to an article there requires running nonfree JavaScript code (https://gnu.org/philosophy/javascript-trap.html) and requires identifying oneself by using a payment account. Each of these consequences is unjust, and I have a moral obligation not to refer people to pages that require such things.
I can't let the links remain here as they are, but they are numerous and it will take time to deal with all of them.
The articles I linked to did not have that problem when I made the links.
Urgent: Executive order could label millions of Americans as domestic terrorists
7 May 2026
US citizens: call on Congress to refuse to fund Trump’s executive order that could label millions of Americans as domestic terrorists, or in any fashion block it.
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: Stand up for science
7 May 2026
US citizens: call on Congress to stand up for science, not polluter profits.
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: Denounce DOJ's attack on Southern Poverty Law Center
7 May 2026
US citizens: denounce the DOJ's Attack on the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Urgent: Drop bogus charges against James Comey
7 May 2026
US citizens: call on the Department of supposed Justice to drop bogus charges against James Comey and stop persecuting political speech.
Increase in FBI personnel working on "immigration-related matters"
7 May 2026
*There were 279 FBI personnel working on "immigration-related matters" [i.e., persecution] before [the persecutor] took office in January 2025, according to bureau records The Intercept obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. By September, that number had ballooned to more than 6,500.
Global heating will isolate New Orleans and Baton Rough
7 May 2026
Global heating will isolate New Orleans and Baton Rough in the middle of the sea, miles away from land. New Orleans must start now to move to higher ground.
No green card if you criticized Israel
7 May 2026
*Want a green card? Better make sure you haven't criticized Israel on social media.*
Supreme court ruling on voting rights act
7 May 2026
*Six supreme court justices handed down a ruling built, ostensibly, on the belief that the US has changed so much as to render the protections of the Voting Rights Act unnecessary. No one should be that gullible.*
Activists from flotilla captured jailed by Israel
7 May 2026
Activists Israel captured on the recent Gaza aid flotilla are being jailed in Israel. They told their lawyers that they are being held in solitary confinement, blindfolded.
Israel claims they are part of a group which it accuses of working secretly with HAMAS. That would be a bad thing if true, but I won't believe it on Israel's say-so. That is a standard way that right-wing extremists in the US and Israel try to smear anyone that defends the rights of Palestinians.
Even supposing that is true, it can't justify abuse of prisoners by Israel.
Executive agencies ignoring US courts
7 May 2026
*[Executive agencies are] increasingly ignoring US courts, new analysis shows.
Critics warn that respect for rule of law could break down as executive branch flouts judicial decisions.*
Zambia cancelled RightsCon conference
7 May 2026
Zambia agreed to hold the RightsCon conference this May, but canceled it shortly before it happened.
The article speculates this was due to pressure from China, and there may have been such pressure, but I have a hunch that the Zambian ruler objected to the event's support for equal rights for queer people. Zambia is very repressive in that area.
Starmer trying to label defense of Palestine as antisemitism
7 May 2026
Starmer is seeking a path to label defense of Palestine as antisemitism.
Once you accept that identification, you will inevitably take an unjust stance on at least one of the two issues.
Starmer Labour called itself the "adults"
7 May 2026
Starmer Labour called itself the "adults", meaning the ones who would prevent adoption of mad policies such as raising taxes on the rich. Rich people from increases in taxation, thus leaving a choice of various policies that won't solve the big problem of impoverishing the non-rich.
With a right-wing party in power, the "adults" may try to stop it from tearing up the legal system and constitution. However, with an ostensibly left-wing party in power, the "adults" try to prevent any major economic changes that could once again direct a large part of the country's productive capacity to the non-rich.
TikTok's "For You" pages prioritize pro-Republican messages
7 May 2026
* Researchers found that TikTok's "For You" pages prioritized pro-Republican [messages] in New York, Texas and Georgia.*
The research operated many dummy accounts and tallied how what the site showed them, comparing that with the preferences that the account showed by which videos it cut off.
The experiment does not reveal how the site chose the videos it chose to present to each user. We don't know whether the site was specifically programmed to show more right-wing messages. Perhaps the site prefers characteristics that are more often found in right-wing messages.
But ultimately that design detail is not very important. What matter is that TikTok spreads right-wing bias.
Accusation Modi's party stole election
7 May 2026
The leftist premier of West Bengal has accused Modi's party of stealing the election.
This is plausible, given the laws they adopted to deprive Muslims of Indian citizenship if they don't have written proof of it. One of the two laws (which operate together) is explicitly biased against Muslims.
Green Party as antisemitic, UK
6 May 2026
British cops have arrested two Green Party candidates, accusing them of promoting antisemitism.
The statement attributed to Sabine Mairey is flagrantly antisemitic. Aside from being inherently bad, it is also foolish and self-defeating to try to support Palestinians' rights by attacking the Jews that support Palestinians' rights.
The statement attributed to Saiqa Ali supports HAMAS. Since HAMAS is a terrorist organization, arguably the statement supports terrorism. However, HAMAS does not advocate antisemitism. HAMAS is is Islamist, meaning it seeks to impose the rules of Islam on everyone, including non-Muslims. That would be unjust, but does not imply treating Jews worse than Christians. However, HAMAS would be likely to treat Atheists such as me worse than either Christians or Jews.
According to Wikipedia, HAMAS was formerly antisemitic, but ended that about 10 years ago.
Tracking car travel, US
6 May 2026
Flock license plate cameras are networked to facilitate tracking of all cars' travel.
This is ideal for all sorts of abuses, from "running a plate for a date" to repression of protest groups once they have been identified as part of the mythical "terrorist" organization "Antifa".
The UK set up a national car tracking network over 20 years ago, and used it to find specific people and stop them from traveling to a protest.
Do you expect the persecutor to be less unjust than Tony B'liar?
Trophies from hunting wild animals
6 May 2026
Arguing that banning or interfering with taking trophies from hunting wild animals is a misguided policy that interferes with protection of wildlife.
EPA budget cut proposal
6 May 2026
*Democrats say EPA head's budget cut proposal "reads like climate change deniers' manifesto".*
Magat federal prosecutors losing in court prosecuting protesters
6 May 2026
Magat federal prosecutors have lost in court in their prosecutions of protesters, because judges found them to be stretching the truth to the point where it snapped.
China regulations on Pretend Intelligence chatbots
6 May 2026
China will impose strict regulations on Pretend Intelligence chatbots that have conversations about suicide — a human must be notified to intervene.
Other things that chatbots will be prohibited from doing include encouraging violence, and emotional manipulation, and promoting "obscenity", gambling and crime, and misleading users.
An intelligent being can try to apply such rules because it can understands, more or less, the meaning of its communications. (Although it is not easy even for an intelligent being to understand reliably what a communication might imply to another intelligent being.)
A pretend intelligence will have trouble applying such rules beyond a superficial manner, because it is not capable of such understanding. It might have a discussion of "getting off this mortal coil" or "the big sleep" and not detect that as a reference to suicide or death.
Aside from that, I would expect that these rules will be interpreted by China as restricting discussion of political issues that lead to criticizing China. Alas, the US might restrict discussions of fascism and democracy, a few years from now.
Magats reopened "gun show loophole"
6 May 2026
The magats reopened the "gun show loophole", which allowed gun dealers to sell guns at gun shows without requiring a background check from the buyer.
Machine learning system for emergency triage
6 May 2026
A machine learning system did better than human doctors at providing a second opinion for emergency triage.
I think this justifies describing that system as "artificial intelligence", when used for that job.
Countries adopting plans for ending use of fossil fuels
6 May 2026
60 significant countries agreed to adopt plans for ending use of fossil fuels.
The most powerful countries, who are he biggest consumers of fossil fuels, did not participate, but the participants amount to half the global GDP, so their decision might shift the world's climate trajectory.