Crimes of the bully's 2016 campaign
11 May 2021

The Department of Justice has only 5 more months to prosecute crimes of the bully's 2016 campaign.

Big Pharma Greed
11 May 2021

Stiglitz: *Big Pharma Greed Will Prolong Pandemic—If We Don't Fight Back.*

I agree fully with the substance of his points. I wish he did not fall into trap of using the term "intellectual property" to talk about patents. copyrights, trade secrets and trademarks as if they were similar enough to generalize about.

Since the whole point of the WTO is to give businesses more power over national governments, and thereby more power over people, we should abolish the WTO.

Reasons Americans hesitate to go back to work
11 May 2021

Higher unemployment payments are not the main reason Americans hesitate to go back to work. Safety is one. Taking care of children who are not spending the day in school is another.

Fascism spreading
11 May 2021

Fascism is spreading around the world, with fascist ideas spreading before it. No two fascist regimes are identical, but we must acknowledge that that is what they are.

Gates Foundation's forays into education
11 May 2021

The Gates Foundation's forays into education have not turned out well.

The Lie-Cheat-Steal party
11 May 2021

The Republican Party has become the Lie-Cheat-Steal Party, still repeating in unison that the bully really won the 2020 election.

Every year since 2000, if not before, the Republican Party has tried to rig the election. In 2000, 2004 and 2016 it succeeded.

(satire) Facebook oversight board
11 May 2021

(satire) *Mark Zuckerberg Asks Facebook Oversight Board To Rule On Whether Argument Wife's Fault.

Ban on Bee-killing pesticides
11 May 2021

*Rejecting Bayer Appeal, Top EU Court Upholds Ban on Bee-Killing Pesticides.*

Fake letters to the FCC
11 May 2021

The US attorney for Southern New York says that the scheme that sent fake letters to the FCC about network neutrality was illegal.

Will we see some charges?

Motorcycle airbag vest
11 May 2021

*This Motorcycle Airbag Vest Will Stop Working If You Miss a Payment.*

In the world of the future, you won't own anything, not even the vest around your torso. Unless you are rich.

DRM-gouging to dishwashers
11 May 2021

Introducing DRM-gouging to dishwashers.

Normally, a new kind of product may start out expensive, but the price goes down. However, if the product requires a subscription, its price may never fall.

Heirs of Samsung
11 May 2021

The heirs of Samsung will have to pay a substantial fraction in inheritance tax.

South Korea has made a wise decision. The US should follow it.

Disappearance of activist
11 May 2021

*Mayor of Mexican town and two officials arrested over disappearance of activist.*

Claudia Uruchurtu Cruz was grabbed after a meeting and forced into a van belonging to the city.

Signs of 'arbitrary execution'
11 May 2021

*Brazil judge sees signs of 'arbitrary execution' in Rio police raid.*

Anti-Bolsonaro coalition
11 May 2021

*Lula lays foundations of anti-Bolsonaro coalition.*

Prisoner of conscience
11 May 2021

Amnesty International has resumed referring to Alexei Navalny as a "prisoner of conscience".

The organization has decided to be less particular, and recognize people that courageously resist tyrants, even if they have expressed views that Amnesty disagrees with.

I disagree with those views too, but I think Amnesty's change in policy is wise.

Ponca chief Standing Bear
11 May 2021

A descendant of Ponca chief Standing Bear demands that Harvard return a hatchet that Standing Bear gave away in gratitude.

We know that the US committed many injustices against Standing Bear and the rest of the Poncas, as it did to many other indigenous Americans. Only a fraction of them are mentioned in the article.

However, none of that invalidates Standing Bear's gift of the hatchet to Webster, who had defended his right to be considered human. That was a valid gift, and so (as far as we know) was Webster's gift of the hatchet to Harvard. Thus, I conclude that Chapman's argument is invalid and Harvard should keep the hatchet.

Displaying the hatchet in a museum can teach Americans about what indigenous Americans had to do to claim human rights in the United States.

Prosecution of Extinction Rebellion protesters
11 May 2021

The UK should stop prosecuting Extinction Rebellion protesters. The public are protecting them by finding them not guilty. Bravo for the public! Now it is time for the state to back down.

Excuse to thwart generic Covid vaccines
11 May 2021

European politicians have found an excuse to thwart generic Covid vaccines: demanding that the US start exporting vaccine first.

This is a bizarre nonsequitur. The US will have spare capacity soon and could export it, but that won't be enough to vaccinate the whole world quickly.

Deal between Georgian political parties
11 May 2021

The EU has brokered a deal between the two main political parties of Georgia. The opposition alleged rigging of the election, so the ruling party imprisoned the leader of the opposition.

With no information to go by except this article, I'm inclined to believe the opposition. It is hard to set up an ecosystem disinformation as complete as the one that Republicans have established in the US, and even that one can only fool those who wish to be fooled.

Seizure of phone records
11 May 2021

The bully had the Department of Justice seize phone records of reporters who were investigating whether Attorney General Sessions had talked with the Russian ambassador.

Urgent: clean up ICE
10 May 2021

US citizens: call on Biden's team to clean up ICE or shut it down.

Prosecution for drawing penises
10 May 2021

New Zealand threatens to prosecute Geoff Upson for trying to get potholes fixed by drawing penises around them.

Sick and cruel prudery is seeping back, threatening to reverse the sexual revolution.

Tracking tags
10 May 2021

Very small tracking tags, made by Apple and other companies, make it easy to track any person or object. We may have to start checking our clothing and other property regularly to remove them.

Waking Snow White
10 May 2021

Some say that Prince Charming has no right to wake Snow White with a kiss without first waking her to ask for her consent. His obligation is to leave her unconscious forever, they contend.

In real life, nobody needs a kiss to regain consciousness. But there are real situations in which medics need to cut clothing off of unconscious people, perhaps even exposing their genitals. This is a prelude to medical treatments which aim at restoring those people to consciousness. Medics have presumed that that goal justifies stripping them.

Maybe we will see real pressure for medics medics to leave those people untreated, on pain of being charged with some sort of sex crime.

I compare this to the right-wing political pressure to let women die rather than abort ectopic pregnancies.

Nuclear plants
10 May 2021

Biden's infrastructure plan includes subsidy for the existing nuclear power plants, as well as plans to build a new one.

This would be a harmful use of the money, as well as wasteful — it would be cheaper to replace the nuclear plants with storage batteries — but if it can convince Manchin to vote to end the filibuster, it would be a price worth paying.

Harassing dissidents
10 May 2021

A London thug probably killed dissident Blair Peach; afterward, undercover thugs spied on dissidents (including his lover) for 20 years as they demanded information on how he was killed.

One must suppose the thugs were seeking a way to discredit the dissidents who were, for them, an inconvenience.

Corruption of cops
10 May 2021

The BBC has exposed the persistent corruption of London cops.

Urgent: exclude the wrecker
10 May 2021

US citizens: call on youtube to exclude the wrecker.

Urgent: Wealth tax
10 May 2021

US citizens: call on Congress to adopt a wealth tax.

Exploiting vulnerable people for profit
10 May 2021

*The company I founded in my 20s exploited vulnerable people for profit.* It sold special kinds of funeral activities, mainly to people who would pay for more ways to grieve.

Suing states not burning coal
10 May 2021

Republicans in Wyoming threaten to sue states that don't burn coal.

Upholding ban on neonicotinoid
10 May 2021

*EU court upholds ban on [neonicotinoid] insecticides linked to harming bees.*

They harm other kinds of animals too.

Millions for endangered species
10 May 2021

Florida has agreed to spend 400 million to help various endangered species including the Florida panther.

My "childhood sweetheart" Melinda would be glad if she were still alive.

Refugees chased out
10 May 2021

After the 2018 California fires, 20,000 refugees fled to the city of Chico. After a while of warmth and assistance, the city got tired of them and now tries to chase out those that remain.

Vaccinal plans exclusion
10 May 2021

* Research reveals that many national vaccination plans exclude asylum seekers, refugees, migrants and [internally displaced persons].*

Koch brother
10 May 2021

The remaining Koch brother is still promoting extremist Republicans that supported the Republican big lie that the bully won the election.

Floyd thugs charged
10 May 2021

There are now federal charges against four thugs that participated in the killing of George Floyd.

ICE disregarding orders
10 May 2021

The US deportation agency, ICE, is disregarding Biden's orders and doing gratuitous harm -- because it can.

Israel west-bank
10 May 2021

*France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Britain urged Israel… to halt settlement-building in the West Bank.*

COVID death estimate
10 May 2021

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates that almost 7 million people have died from Covid-19.

That is a lot more than governments recognize.

Former Maldives President Injured
10 May 2021

Former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed was injured by a bomb.

He championed climate defense, and was removed by a coup which we must suspect was organized by planet-roasters.

The article says he is now speaker of the Maldives Parliament. I hope he is still pushing for the need to curb sea-level rise before the Maldives are inundated.

Hong Kong Dissidents
10 May 2021

Three Hong Kong dissidents have been imprisoned for "rioting" simply because they were present at a protest.

Republicans are trying to make it easier to imprison protesters for "rioting." This seems to be a standard item in the repressive playbook.

Uber & Lyft Against Unions
10 May 2021

Uber and Lyft are lobbying against the PRO Act, which would facilitate forming unions.

So are Instacart and some of the food-delivery companies. This is another reason to boycott them all. (I won't use them anyway since they won't let me pay anonymous cash.)

Hydrogen fuel
9 May 2021

It is physically possible to make hydrogen and use it as a fuel, and it's renewable if generated using renewable electricity, but that is inefficient use of funds. In this decade we can decarbonize more by converting the uses of energy to run off renewable electricity.

I wonder if it is possible to generate hydrogen efficiently from petroleum without producing any greenhouse gases as the result. Maybe the result could be sugar.

Covid waiver
9 May 2021

Even with US support, a waiver on patents and trademarks on Covid-19 vaccines is likely to take many months to negotiate, in effect keeping humanity helpless against the virus.

The WTO is structured to resist any initiative to reduce the power of the businesses that it exists to serve. Of course, it claims that this is for our own good, to ensure plenty of wealth for the rich that could theoretically trickle down to the rest of us.

I have said before that we should abolish the WTO. I repeat that now.

Skepticism towards governments and corporations
9 May 2021

* Unless actions by governments and corporations cut emissions in the here and now, a dose of scepticism is in order.*

Amsterdam prostitution move
9 May 2021

Amsterdam's mayor wants to move the visible prostitutes' windows to an out-of-the-way place where tourists will not see them. This change is supposed to "protect" the prostitutes, but the prostitutes do not want to be protected in this way.

I think the mayor is motivated by prudish disgust.

It would be better to consult the prostitutes and see what sort of protection they would actually like.

UN report methane
9 May 2021

*Cut methane emissions to rapidly fight climate disasters, UN report says.*

Cheyney to be replaced
9 May 2021

Rep. Liz Cheney is the one Republican leader in the House of Representatives that refuses to be a puppet of the bullshitter. So the puppets are planning to replace her as a leader.

New Zealand Labour Citizenship
9 May 2021

New Zealand's Labour Party is sliding into establishing two classes of citizenship with two different laws.

It may well be that the Maori deserve compensation for being mistreated in the past by European colonists. That sort of thing has happened in many colonies including the US, Canada and Australia. I don't know enough about New Zealand history to have a firm opinion about that case.

But this compensation should not take the form of a permanent division of society between two kinds of citizens, with different rules and privileges.

Australia lenders
9 May 2021

Australia refused to lend money for a wind farm and battery farm, saying that all funding for that is supposed to come from private lenders.

Does Australia provide any subsidies for fossil fuel development or extraction? Any tax write-offs such as depletion? I would expect it does. By its stated philosophy, it should stop that immediately.

15 Months Hong Kong
9 May 2021

The new standard in Hong Kong is 15 months in prison for telling people about the Tian An Men Square protest and massacre.

Get both doses!
9 May 2021

One dose of Covid-19 vaccine improves your chances a lot, but the second dose is a big improvement on top of that.

Conclusion: get vaccinated and get both doses!

Bill Gates' Invisible Climate Hand
9 May 2021

Bill Gates says, have faith in the Invisible Hand and assume technology will prevent global heating.

When confronted with the political issues about which way the world will go, he plays dumb.

Urgent: paid sick leave and family leave
7 May 2021

US citizens: call on Congress to include paid sick leave and family leave in the American Families Plan.

Patent waiver on Covid-19 vaccines
7 May 2021

*US declares support for patent waiver on Covid-19 vaccines.*

I am curious to see how this change of position came about, and who championed it. Most of the officials that Biden chose for foreign policy have plutocratist leanings.

The article says nothing about the trade secrets of the vaccine companies, but I've read elsewhere that the US means to include them too.

Governments should require the vaccine companies to teach their methods to new producers, but that (unlike the patent license) is not just a matter of stating a new policy.

Moving from pledges
7 May 2021

*World Must Move From Pledges to Actual Green Recovery Spending.*

Leader's Compound
7 May 2021

(satire) *Couple Worried Relationship Will Lose Spark Once They Move Into Leader's Compound.*

Proposing what is needed
7 May 2021

Will Biden find the courage to propose the whole of what the country needs, instead of just 1/3?

COINTELPRO files
7 May 2021

*House Democrat introduces bill to release COINTELPRO files on surveillance of Black Panthers and Fred Hampton.*

Right-wing ideology
7 May 2021

Since 1980 the world's elites have adopted right-wing ideology and spread suffering. Only left-wing politics offers an answer.

"left-wing" covers a lot of ground, so we must be careful about which variety we support.

Why young adults need to get vaccinated
7 May 2021

Why young (and middle-aged) adults need to get vaccinated, for their own health and everyone else's.

Algorithm and business model
7 May 2021

Fight for the Future gets to the root of how surveillance capitalism promotes civic strife: it's the algorithm, and behind the algorithm, the business model.

Notorious civic saboteurs, such as the bully, are the creations of that algorithm and that business model. They are people who had enough talent to exploit it, and lacked the conscience to hold them back. Instead of playing whack-a-mole with them, we should fix the system they exploit.

Cleaner energy
7 May 2021

*Tens of Thousands of Premature Deaths Linked to So-Called "Cleaner" Energy Like Fracked Gas: Study.*

Undercover leader
7 May 2021

A UK undercover infiltrator in the Troops Out Movement became its leader and surely reported all the personal details of supporters.

He used deceptive sexual relationships with other supporters as a means to advance in the group.

Lending for coal
7 May 2021

British banks have increased their lending for coal since 2015.

Face recognition
7 May 2021

A dis-service now offers everyone face recognition applied to lots of collected pictures of anyone and everyone.

Pushing back refugees
7 May 2021

*European countries, supported by EU’s border agency Frontex, systematically pushed back refugees [numbering 40,000] using illegal tactics ranging from assault to brutality during detention or transportation.* 2,000 of them died from this.