Denying people help for suicide
26 October 2021

This article argues for denying people help for suicide on the ground that inadequate support for sick people would drive them to choose death.

It does happen that some people choose suicide because their options for living are lousy. It must already happen that, in some cases, their options for living could be better if they could have certain kinds of help. I agree it would be good to give them more help. If this leads more people to choose to stay alive, that's success.

But the question here is whether we should force people to suffer longer when they would rather die. The article implicitly assumes that we can compel governments to improve aid for the sick and disabled by making them people keep suffering. This approach has not been very effective so far.

Here's a subtle discussion of the disagreement over assisted suicide.

Fighting for billions for fossil fuel
26 October 2021

*Sen. Joe Manchin Has Been Fighting to Keep Billions in Subsidies for Fossil Fuel Industry.*

Testing out propaganda techniques
26 October 2021

*Canadian military leaders saw the pandemic as a unique opportunity to test out propaganda techniques on an unsuspecting public.*

Cannabis legalization
26 October 2021

*Luxembourg first in Europe to legalise growing and using cannabis.*

Powers of public health officials
26 October 2021

Republicans are passing laws to reduce the powers of public health officials.

This has a specific short-term goal, to prevent Americans from protecting themselves from Republican Covid-spreading policies. Also, they have a pattern of shifting powers away from local or statewide officials (safe from gerrymandering) to state legislatures (where the Republican Party maintains power with a minority of votes via gerrymandering).

Pro-climate corporations
26 October 2021

*Self-Proclaimed Pro-Climate Corporations Have Been Giving Thousands to Manchin and Sinema.*

Guns in Hollywood movies
26 October 2021

The prevalence of guns in Hollywood movies has tripled since 1985. This can influence people (especially children) who see the movie to play with guns.

Business-supremacy treaty
26 October 2021

Alleging that the UK-New Zealand business-supremacy treaty would cause economic losses and undermine climate defense. That's in addition to imposing a sort of race-based censorship.

Journalists and mother of journalist jailed
26 October 2021

*Iranian women journalists, imprisoned journalist’s mother jailed arbitrarily.*

Immigrant suicide review
26 October 2021

*ICE Review of Immigrant's Suicide Finds Falsified Documents, Neglect, and [use of solitary] Confinement.*

Anti-war journalism
26 October 2021

*Fate Of Anti-War Journalism Lies in Upcoming Assange Hearings.* Not directly in what happens to Assange himself, but in whether the US can prosecute journalists and news publishers for "espionage" and entirely disregard the public's right to know.

Seizing land and homes
26 October 2021

Taliban are seizing land and homes from Afghans because of political and religious disagreements.

Lobbying to weaken climate defense plan
26 October 2021

Australia and Japan are lobbying to weaken the world's climate defense plans, alongside OPEC countries such as Salafi Arabia.

If we had all known in the 1970s how dangerous Middle East oil would be to the Earth's ecosphere, maybe world powers could have made an agreement to keep most of it in the ground.

Not over yet
26 October 2021

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reminds Americans not to give up on the fight for a real climate/relief bill. It's not over yet.

Unvaccinated individuals
26 October 2021

*New analysis has suggested that unvaccinated individuals should expect to be reinfected with Covid-19 every 16 months, on average.*

Urgent: Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty
25 October 2021

US citizens: call on world leaders at COP26 to adopt a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Covid increasing in UK
25 October 2021

Covid is increasing in the UK despite most people's being vaccinated. UK unions and medical officials call for strict enforcement of mask requirements and distancing, to protect their workers.

Palestinian human rights organizations
25 October 2021

Israel has labeled prominent Palestinian human rights organizations as "terrorist", claiming that they secretly work for the PFLP.

It could perhaps be true that there are people in those organizations that secretly work with some PFLP activists. It might be difficult for the organizations to prevent that, or even find out about it.

But given Israel's history of distortions and lies in regard to Palestinians, and its contempt for their human rights, I don't consider it plausible. I have more confidence in B'tselem.

Race-based censorship
25 October 2021

The UK and New Zealand have agreed on a business-supremacy treaty that also imposes race-based censorship.

UK governments do not hesitate to censor, so the Tories probably consider this an insignificant concession. But it is an injustice nonetheless. We must defend the right to mock anyone whatsoever, or soon we won't be allowed to mock anyone at all.

The idea of "Cultural appropriation" as wrong is a misguided concept, so analyze real situations based on better concepts.

Kidney disease
25 October 2021

Increased heat in some regions is causing an increase in kidney disease.

Climate defense
25 October 2021

While Manchin demands to eliminate climate defense from the Build Back Better bill, the chair of House climate panel recognizes that it's already inadequate.

Search engines
25 October 2021

UK radio broadcasters have noticed that dis-services such as search engines, especially voice-controlled ones such as Alexa, can manipulate users into not listening to UK radio broadcasts.

UN climate report
25 October 2021

*Oil and coal-rich countries lobbying to weaken UN climate report, leak shows.*

Offering Manchin "compromises"
25 October 2021

Democrats are offering Manchin "compromises" that would effectively vitiate the climate parts of the Build Back Better bill.

That would give Manchin a total victory that costs him nothing.

It would be better to say that Manchin has blocked passage of the bill. Then he would receive the blame for that.

Amazon workers
25 October 2021

*Amazon workers in Staten Island to file for union vote.*

Climate risks
25 October 2021

New Zealand will require the larger banks to report on the climate risks to their investments.

Inheritance taxes
25 October 2021

Billionaires use special kinds of trusts to hand billions to their heirs with no inheritance taxes.

Guantanamo Imprisonment Illegal
25 October 2021

*US Judge Rules Guantánamo [prisoner]'s Imprisonment Illegal.*

I expect this will be appealed up to the Supreme Court. If it affirms the decision, I am not confident that will result Asadullah Haroon Gul's release. That's because the US treats continued imprisonment as the default, even if it is illegal, unless all the conditions combine to make the prisoner's release an option.

That is clearly unjust. If the US has no legal basis to keep someone in prison, it must release per, even if that means releasing per into the US as an immigrant.

If US officials didn't want that, they should have treated him justly.

Equal Rights Amendment
25 October 2021

After Virginia ratified the Equal Rights (for women) Amendment, the bully's lawyers declared that it was too late, because the deadline had passed. A congresscritter says that that was mistaken, and that Biden should reject that conclusion and allow the ERA to enter the Constitution.

I support the ERA. I am not an expert on the legal question of whether it is still possible for it to be adopted under the law from the 1970s.

Asylum officers
25 October 2021

Asylum officers, who interview asylum-seekers, are told of long lists of crimes committed against them by US border thugs.

These include beatings, threats of rape, rape, and tricking them into signing away their legal rights.

Internet Service Providers
25 October 2021

*Internet Service Providers Collect, Sell Horrifying Amount of Sensitive Data, Government Study Concludes.*

ISPs should be forbidden to install equipment to examine packets to learn anything about the people talking on the internet.

Political prisoners
25 October 2021

The Burmese military government released some political prisoners, then almost immediately arrested them again. It was apparently just a cruel mind game.

Right-wing bias
25 October 2021

Research has discovered that Twitter's algorithm for promoting tweets results in a large right-wing bias. Twitter says it does not know what causes this.

More information.

Proposed tax hikes
25 October 2021

*After Getting 'Stealth Bailout' During Pandemic, US Corporations Try to Kill Proposed Tax Hikes.*

Urgent: Prosecute Bannon
25 October 2021

US citizens: call on the Justice Department to prosecute Bannon without delay.

Urgent: climate emergency
25 October 2021

US citizens: call on Biden to stop approving fossil fuel projects and declare a climate emergency.

Biden can personally block 24 large fossil fuel projects, achieving an enormous reduction in future greenhouse gas emissions.

Urgent: chair of the Federal Reserve
25 October 2021

US citizens: call on Biden not to retain Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve.

Urgent: Fair pay
25 October 2021

US citizens: call on John Deere to give fair pay and benefits to its workers (some of whom are now on strike).

Supreme Court legitimacy
25 October 2021

Jurists are concerned that expanding the US Supreme Court could undermine the court's legitimacy.

Indeed it could, but Republican manipulations, and the decisions that result, are doing exactly that.

Biden should endorse expanding the court.

Expansion may not be the best solution. I read an article proposing instead to reduce the size of the court, which would kick the most recently elected justices down to appeals courts. However, we don't need "the best solution" — any solution is better than none.

Meanwhile, any such plan will run into Manchin running interference for the Republicans.

Means-testing
25 October 2021

*House Progressives to Pelosi: Reject Divisive Means-Testing in Favor of Universal Benefits.*

I sympathize completely with those who say that wealthy people should be paying more, not receiving more. But the amount we would get from rich people by denying them these benefits would be minuscule, not enough to justify the future weakness that would result from limiting these benefits to poor people.

Instead, we should make the rich pay taxes on all their income and property. That would bring in far more funds. However, Manchin specifically opposes that too.

Why does the spending in the Build Back Better bill have to be specifically "paid for"? It's not something the US needs to do for economic reasons. Deficit spending is entirely possible, and economically desirable now. Congress doesn't trouble to make sure increases in military spending are "paid for" by savings or taxes.

The reason is that plutocratists adopted an arbitrary "pay as you go" rule for spending on things that will help Americans, and that applies to the Build Back Better bill.

Threat to war
25 October 2021

*Assange: A Threat to War Itself.*

Antivax fanaticism
25 October 2021

Antivax fanaticism is now splitting the right wing.

Assassins
25 October 2021

Bolivia accuses the alleged assassins of President Moïse of having tried to kill Luis Arce in Bolivia, before he was elected president.

Climate emergency
25 October 2021

*If the US could get on a war footing in 1941, we can tackle the climate emergency.*

Dangerous traps
25 October 2021

Some congresscritters always treat proposals to help the non-rich as dangerous traps to be avoided. Strangely, they don't say the same about military plans.

Climate scientist
25 October 2021

MIT invited climate scientist Dorian Abbot to give a talk, then uninvited him under pressure from a mob who disapprove of some of his political views.

I support affirmative action. Experiments show that judging individuals' scientific work is systematically biased by racism and sexism, and they affect people's chances in other ways too. Affirmative action is a way of trying to counteract those effects.

At the same time, I defend freedom of speech, including the freedom to state views that disagree with yours or mine. It is wrong to exile people from the scientific community over of their views about affirmative action, or other issues. Universities should resist attempts to force people into conformity by bullying dissenters. No one in a university is entitled to be "protected" from encountering expression of "inappropriate" views. If you don't like them, argue with them.

What about "citational justice"? It stands to reason that racism and sexism will affect how much any particular person's work gets cited, since it affects how people judge that work. Some kind of "citational affirmative action" could be a good countermeasure, but it needs to be limited, just as affirmative action in admissions is.

Perhaps, "when we cite A, let's also cite B or C."

The article linked to above displays the New York Times' usual symbolic bigotry by capitalizing "black" but not "white". (To avoid endorsing bigotry, capitalize both words or neither one.) I object to bigotry, and normally I decline to link to articles which promote it. But I make exceptions for some important articles. Usually, they are articles that give important information about racism or the fight to eliminate racism. This article gives important information about the threat to the freedom to maintain heterodox views about anything that many people want to censor.

Tuskless elephants
25 October 2021

*Ivory poaching has led to evolution of tuskless elephants, study finds.*

Pro-democracy demonstrators
25 October 2021

Hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators marched in Sudan.

This shows that the people are not on the side of the protesters that want a coup. But even though the military don't have enough support to make a coup look like "back by public demand", they still might have a coup.

Steve Bannon hold in criminal contempt
25 October 2021

*House [of Representatives] holds Trump ally Steve Bannon in criminal contempt of Congress.*

I am relieved that the House did not shrink from this confrontation, because the trumpets believe they can get away with anything by bluffing.

Urgent: Get rid of the filibuster
24 October 2021

US citizens: phone your senators at 1-833-497-4273 and say to get rid of the filibuster.

Especially if you live in West Virginia or Arizona.

Global Biodiversity Conservation
24 October 2021

*The United States Must Rejoin the Global Biodiversity Conservation Community.*

Future of Europe
24 October 2021

*The future of Europe is at stake in the fight for Germany’s finance ministry.*

The world needs deficit spending, both to help the people rendered poor by Covid-19, and to curb global heating. Politicians that oppose this commit mass murder, and that's what the "Free Democrats" advocate.

National medical system
24 October 2021

The US must establish a national medical system, and not only to give Americans better health and longer life. There will be many secondary benefits for the non-rich.

(satire) Democrats in the Midterms
24 October 2021

(satire) *Experts Warn Everything That Will Happen Between Now And November 2022 Could Spell Trouble For Democrats In Midterms.*

It's only mildly an exaggeration over what I have seen in CNN.

Recipes for Covid vaccines
24 October 2021

Some congressional Democrats have asked Biden to investigate whether he has the legal authority to seize and publish the recipes for making Covid vaccines, saying it could be so.

UN Human Rights Council
24 October 2021

The US has been reelected to the UN Human Rights Council, but it still needs to change policies so as to respect human rights.

Patent waiver
24 October 2021

The UK and the EU have once again blocked a patent waiver for Covid-19 vaccines.

That article is based on total acceptance of the twisted concept of "intellectual property". That term is an over generalization and misrepresents the laws it purports to describe. It also embodies a perverse choice of values. The term was adopted, a few decades ago, to make unjust rules seem inevitable and to make patent waivers seem radical and shocking.

We would help the chances of implementing patent waivers, now and in the future, by rejecting that term and the premises it promotes.

As for the TRIPES agreement, it implements bogus trickle-down economics. We should abolish it.

Low-income voters
24 October 2021

Advances among low-income voters were crucial for Biden's victories in several swing states.

New torture device
24 October 2021

The US deportation thugs have a new torture device with which they tie a victim up in a painful position in which perse almost can't breathe.

They used this to deport victims before their asylum hearings determined whether they were entitled to remain in the US.

John Deere
24 October 2021

Farmers and tractor factory workers should realize they are all in the same boat against an exploitative company such as John Deere.

US Chamber of Commerce
24 October 2021

Extinction Rebellion protested the headquarters of the US Chamber of Commerce, a plutocratist lobby group that helps fossil fuel companies continue procuring the death of millions of people around the world.

Ukraine and Georgia
24 October 2021

The US is suspected of inviting Ukraine and Georgia to join NATO.

That's a foolish strategy now, just as it was earlier in this century when the US and Russia still had a mostly friendly relationship. Indeed, the two might still have one, if the US had not encouraged Georgia's belligerence toward Russia.

Having buffer zones between powers is important for peace between them.

"Compromise" voting rights bill
24 October 2021

Manchin proposed a weakened "compromise" voting rights bill, but he could not find ten Republicans to support it. They are determined to rig the next election.

There's only one question left for Manchin and Sinema: will you let the Republicans rig the election, or will you support that?

I've seen a rumor that Manchin is threatening to become a Republican. That somehow doesn't surprise me. But it is a dangerous threat, as it would be considerably worse than what he is already doing.

Fossil fuel extraction
24 October 2021

Quebec announces the plan to put a end to fossil fuel extraction.

Ecuador's new president
24 October 2021

Ecuador's new president is a hard-line plutocratist and extractivist, who has declared the intention to flood the world with disastrous quantities of fossil fuel.

Since global heating will kill hundreds of millions, or perhaps even billions, we should think of fossil fuel extraction as a form of war. Eventually we will need to threaten retaliation with war to stop the extraction.

Total
24 October 2021

The French oil company Total knew in 1971 that its extraction of fossil fuels would lead to global disaster.

(satire) Single reusable grocery bag
24 October 2021

(satire) *Biden Scales Down $2 Trillion Climate Plan To Single Reusable Grocery Bag.* However, that was still too much for Manchin.

Private equity
24 October 2021

Senator Warren and others have proposed a bill to protect real businesses from "private equity".

Money over human health
24 October 2021

An extreme example of how US hospitals prioritize money over human health.

Urgent: Meeting in support of Julian Assange
22 October 2021

Meeting in support of Julian Assange, Monday Oct 25 2pm-4pm First Church Cambridge, 11 Garden St, Cambridge Mass.

Urgent: Carried interest loophole
22 October 2021

US citizens: phone your congresscritter to call for closing the carried interest loophole. This is explained in a previous pol note.

The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

If you call, please spread the word!

Pfizer bullying governments
22 October 2021

Pfizer uses its control over vaccine supply to bully governments into giving it special privileges.

Please keep in mind that "intellectual property" is a bogus concept which misrepresents the various laws it pretends to refer to, and causes confusion every time it is used.

Hungary's opposition alliance
22 October 2021

Hungary's opposition alliance now faces the ultimate test: the election for parliament, in which Orbán will either hold or lose control over the government.

Texas census figures
22 October 2021

Texas Republicans have twisted new census figures to concentrate the increased fraction of Latins into a smaller number of congressional districts.

Toxic algae blooms
22 October 2021

*Toxic algae blooms are multiplying. The [US] government has no plan to help.*

UK CO2 capture
22 October 2021

The UK is going to spend millions to pay for building two large facilities for CO2 capture,

CCS may eventually work, but we need to remember that (1) it will take many years to finish these facilities, (2) it can't capture all the CO2 produced in the factory or power plant it is attached to, and (3) building solar and wind power will avoid a lot more CO2 emissions for the same amount of energy. It might ultimately be useful, especially for making concrete, since clean electricity won't help with that.

Heat pumps
22 October 2021

The UK's plan to fund replacement of 90,000 home boilers with heat pumps is at the same time a substantial step forward, and totally inadequate.

That happens often because the efforts so far to defend the climate are several orders of magnitude less than what is needed.

I've also read claims that these heat pumps are not very efficient.

Vie to lead the Philippines
22 October 2021

*‘Some call it a circus’: dictator’s son, boxing icon and former actor vie to lead Philippines.*

Denser housing
22 October 2021

New Zealand is passing a law that will increase housing construction and promote denser housing.

Paleolithic humans
22 October 2021

Arguing that paleolithic humans in many parts of the world had a wide range of social organizations, and that it was quite usual for a people to switch during the year between various forms of social organizations — even between nomadic bands and farmers.

If it was common during hundreds of thousands of years to gain the status of chief by success in leadership while alternating annually between two levels of social organization with two different relationship requirements for success, this would have been a selective force towards ever greater emotional intelligence.

London Protest for Assange
22 October 2021

In London, a last protest against the decision that Julian Assange committed a crime that justifies extradition.

Even more important than whether Assange is punished for publishing important news about government crimes is whether the UK gets away with a series of lies and crimes designed to railroad Assange.

Even more important than that is whether this case establishes a principle that publishing important news about government crimes is a crime.

Religious exemptions
22 October 2021

*"Religious exemptions" threaten to undermine US Covid vaccine mandates.*

The reason to require vaccination against Covid-19 is because being vaccinated protects everyone, not only yourself. For the same reason, there should be no exceptions for any reason other than medical.

Interruptions of female justices
22 October 2021

*Let her finish: interruptions of female justices led to new supreme court rules.*

(satire) Concern over nothing
22 October 2021

(satire) *BREAKING: Concern Mounting Over Nothing In Particular.*

War on drugs
22 October 2021

How the War on Drugs represses Americans in regard to work.

(satire) Last universe blowing itself up
22 October 2021

(satire) *Study Finds Big Bang Result Of Last Universe Blowing Itself Up With Fireworks.*

Hindu-supremacist party
22 October 2021

The Hindu-supremacist party (BJP) has convinced Indian Hindus (84% of the population) that they are being oppressed by the Muslims (14%) and must make violent attacks to avoid being wiped out.

BJP's elected officials legitimize murder of Muslims, while the former state of Kashmir suffers under a semi-occupation.

(satire) Latest misinformation
22 October 2021

(satire) *Florida School Revises Covid Guidelines To Reflect Latest Misinformation.*

Build back better bill
22 October 2021

As Manchin demands to cut climate defense from the Build Back Better bill. threatening to kill it, other Senate Democrats say they will kill it if Manchin gets his way.

If Manchin thought he could cut whatever he likes and the bill will go through, maybe seeing that this would actually kill it will make him accept a compromise. At least, I hope so.

MP Meetings
22 October 2021

After the murder of an MP, there is pressure in the UK to move MP meetings with the public to Zoom! People who defend freedom in their computing would be excluded.

Perhaps it would be wise to move to online meetings, but they must not limit these meetings to use of nonfree software. Britons, please tell your MP this ASAP.

Migrant pushbacks at Belarus border
22 October 2021

*Poland: Thousands protest against migrant pushbacks at Belarus border.*

JFK Assassination papers
22 October 2021

*Biden Faces Deadline for Release of More JFK Assassination Papers.*

Syrian refugees
22 October 2021

* Five years to the day after a family of Syrian refugees were bundled on to a plane and deported to Turkey despite having lodged asylum claims in Greece, they are taking their case to the European court of justice.*

Many countries make a habit of deporting people before they have a chance to apply for asylum and get to the end of the court process to judge the claim. That cheats them out of their legal rights.

I've see countries including the USA, the UK, Greece and Poland accused of this.

Talk
22 October 2021

This Saturday, Oct 23, Richard Stallman will be giving an online talk for the 8dot8 conference, titled Software libre, tu libertad, y tu ciberseguridad (Free software, your freedom, and your cybersecurity).

More info

Urgent: Hold Bannon in contempt
22 October 2021

US citizens: call on Congress to hold Bannon in contempt for refusing to testify about the Jan 6 attack on the Capitol.

Protest linked to troll farm
22 October 2021

The protests in favor of a military coup in Sudan are linked with a troll farm.

Thug infiltration
22 October 2021

The UK is investigating the thugs that infiltrated various protest movements under false identities decades ago, and had sexual relationships with women participants, but is questioning them in secret to conceal their identities.

Lying witness in prison
22 October 2021

The witness that lied to the US government about Julian Assange is now in jail in Iceland for engaging in a long series of business crimes.

Face recognition in schools
22 October 2021

A few UK schools will participate in a pilot project to identify students for school lunches using face recognition. This is wrong, but so is using fingerprints to do the job.

Schools should not identify students for lunch; they should simply give lunch to every student in the school.

Climate villains
22 October 2021

*Naming Climate Villains as the World Burns.*

Femcels
22 October 2021

"Femcels" are women who have given up on ever having a sexual relationship.

Unlike the male "incels", these women don't blame or hate men for not being attracted to them. They see that as an inevitable a fact of life. I understand their feelings.

Response to murder of an MP
22 October 2021

The UK government is aching to respond to the murder of an MP with — of course — censorship (details to be defined), plus surveillance (putting an end to anonymous communication).

Qualified immunity
22 October 2021

The Supreme Court upheld the principle of "qualified immunity" for thugs. This means that thugs can't be convicted for any sort of violence unless court cases have already established that it wasn't constitutionally protected.

I've supported campaigns to legislate to change that.

Testimony on unfair competition
22 October 2021

Members of Congress accused Amazon of giving misleading or dishonest testimony about unfair competition.

Extracting more fossil fuels
22 October 2021

Fossil fuel companies plan to extract fossil fuels at an increasing rate, rather than diminishing it. And governments are funding this expansion more than they are funding renewable energy.

Polio vaccination
22 October 2021

The Taliban have agreed to restart polio vaccination in Afghanistan.

Governments into smartphones
22 October 2021

*Apple’s plan to scan images will allow governments into smartphones.*

High-tech methods of producing coffee
22 October 2021

High-tech methods of producing coffee are far more efficient, in terms of water use and greenhouse gas emissions, but some oppose using these methods because today's coffee farmers would no longer have a livelihood.

We must eliminate most greenhouse gas emissions, because the cost of failing to do so can easily include the collapse of civilization and billions of deaths. We can't take the risk of continuing dangerous pollution to make work for people.