Richard Stallman

Richard Stallman's Political Notes -

Magat officials threaten to withold Snap funds - 2025-12-06T22:38:10+00:00

Magat officials have threatened to withhold food stamp funds from states that don't hand over all their personal data about all recipients.

Border thugs raided medical aid site - 2025-12-06T22:38:10+00:00

Border thugs broke into and raided a humanitarian aid station in the Arizona desert, without a warrant.

This station gives food, water and medical care, and a chance to rest -- but not transportation -- to people who have crossed the border. The thugs could have entered the place lawfully by first applying for a warrant, but they look for opportunities for lawlessness that will diminish constitutional rights in the US.

Dollar-store industry overcharging customers - 2025-12-06T22:38:10+00:00

*A Guardian investigation reveals Dollar General and Family Dollar stores often fail to honor their shelf prices – charging more at checkout for everything from frying pans to Frosted Flakes.*

The companies let such errors accumulate systematically "by accident"; not doing the work required to update the price stickers on the products themselves. When they are caught, the fines are minuscule. Morally it is the equivalent of deciding to lie and defraud, and it ought to be punushed as such.

Some dollar stores also explicitly lie by presenting fake "discount prices".

I've heard these stores criticized also for (1) not offering much in the way of fresh vegetables and fruit, thus imposing a less healthful diet, and (2) driving all competitors out of business, so that whole neigborhoods have no access to those foods.

Strikes on alleged drug boats - 2025-12-06T22:38:10+00:00

The wrecker has given the US military permission to keep attacking alleged drug smuggling boats until they ae completely destroyed, even if this will result in killing survivors.

This second attack is a secondary crime on top of the first crime -- the first military attack an alleged drug smuggling boat. The US could easily capture these boats and their crews, then prosecute the people on the boat for smuggling drugs, if it turns out they were really smuggling drugs. That is the legitimate thing to do, respecting the law.

But the wrecker doesn't want to carry out justice under laws, rather to twist them into a fascist regime's laws -- a means of compelling everyone's submission.

Brazil's environment minister on climate action - 2025-12-06T22:38:10+00:00

*Exclusive: Brazil’s environment minister talks about climate inaction and the course we have to plot to save ourselves and the planet.*

Campaign to release Marwan Barghouti - 2025-12-06T22:38:09+00:00

A campaign calls on Israel to release Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti from imprisonment without trial, hoping he can end the fighting among Palestinians and then negotuate peace with israel.

Magat government sides with pesticide companies - 2025-12-06T22:38:09+00:00

The magat government wants to shield pesticide companies from lawsuits by people who accuse pesticides of causing them cancer.

Farming with contaminated biosolids, UK - 2025-12-06T16:37:58+00:00

*Fertilising arable land with human waste leaves array of toxins that could re-enter food chain, study finds.*

This practice was effectively used for millennia, so I wonder whether the waste contained toxins back then or not. Perhaps it was chemically safe back then because these toxic substances had not been invented yet. Or perhaps some were present but nobody was aware of them, since the life expectancy was shorter then.

There were of course germs that could be transmitted this way, but people took some precautions against such spreading.

UK NHS buys expensive US meds - 2025-12-06T16:37:58+00:00

The wrecker has bullied the UK's NHS into paying more for patent medicines from the US.

This is the bully's fight to make medical treatment more expensive and deny it to many poor people.

Stop Spotify recruit-ads - 2025-12-06T04:37:59+00:00

US citizens: call on Spotify to stop showing recruiting ads for the deportation thug department, ads which demonize immigrants.

See the instructions for how to sign this letter campaign without running any nonfree JavaScript code—not trivial, but not hard.

Spotify does wrong to all its customers and to most musicians. I urge people to refuse absolutely to use Spotify or any dis-service that acts like Spotify. But I did not raise those issues in the letter I sent for this campaign, as it would have been counterproductive.

But I did mention in my letter the systematic lawlessness of the deportation thugs, who often defy court orders as well as the constitutional rights of the victims.

Expansion of Heathrow airport - 2025-12-05T10:38:09+00:00

The UK government has decided on a major expansion of Heathrow airport, which will put the country on a path of ever more flying, and a faster and bigger climate disaster.

The decision cites various short term advantages. They would be quite desirable, if the price were limited to the cost of construction.

Hong Kong man charged with "sedition" - 2025-12-05T10:38:09+00:00

A Hong Kong man has been charged with "sedition" for calling for action against the corruption that was responsible for the recent fire in a tall residential building that killed more than 135 people.

The muskrat's Imitation Intelligence - 2025-12-05T10:38:09+00:00

If the muskrat's Imitation Intelligence could really think and have views and opinions, we would have to conclude it is a Nazi.

Trial for terrorist designation of Palestine Action organization - 2025-12-05T10:38:09+00:00

The UK's arbitrary declaration that Palestine Action is a terrorist organization is being reconsidered by a sort of trial, but some of the evidence is being kept secret, so that there is no way for the organization and its supporters to dispute the validity of what is claimed.

Israel still committing genocide in Gaza - 2025-12-05T10:38:08+00:00

*Israel still committing genocide in Gaza, Amnesty International says.*

Israel is still "deliberately inflicting on Palestinians conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction," which is one of the conditions listed in the definition of genocide. This includes denial of food, denial of shelter, and denial of medicine and destruction of doctors and medical facilities.

Temporary protected status for Burmese refugees ended - 2025-12-05T10:38:08+00:00

The persecutor has ended temporary protected status for Burmese refugees, threatening to deport them to Burma. The Burmese military dictatorship is delighted with this show of support.

Some Republican opposition to intense gerrymandering - 2025-12-05T10:38:08+00:00

Some Republicans oppose, for various reasons, the press for gerrymandering more intensely the House of Representatives.

Superbugs due to antibiotic and antifungal use on crops - 2025-12-05T10:38:07+00:00

*Use on crops of 8m pounds of antibiotics and antifungals a year leads to superbugs and damages human health, lawsuit claims.*

John McAuliff's win against a Republican - 2025-12-05T10:38:07+00:00

*John McAuliff won against a Republican by focusing on something affecting all his constituents: the cost of energy,* increased by building lots of datacenters, meant for use with bullshit generators.

Moral basis of resistance against magatry - 2025-12-05T10:38:07+00:00

This article lays out the moral basis of resistance against magatry, then tries to give it an unneeded "spiritual" basis. I think the first is useful, but the second is not.

US to label supposed Venezuelan drug cartel as terrorist organization - 2025-12-05T10:38:07+00:00

*US will label supposed Venezuelan drug cartel "headed by Maduro" as terrorist organization.* This will demonstrate to magats the strength of the bullshitter's contempt for truth.

When Dubya used a lie (claiming Iraq had weapons of mass destruction) to start a war against Iraq, he tried to fabricate an false appearance of justification for that accusation.

By contrast, the falsifier doesn't bother with that. Instead he relies on the combination of (1) supporters who are loyal to a fault and insist it is true because the falsifier says so and (2) ordering officials to obey orders supposedly justified by the false claim even though it is patently unsubstantiated.

South Korea coal-fired power plants - 2025-12-05T10:38:06+00:00

South Korea has decided to close all coal-fired power plants by 2040!

Hooray, and the whole world must go at least this fast to end fossil fuel power generation.

(satire) Tax on movies where slaves escape - 2025-12-05T10:38:04+00:00

(satire) *[The persecutor] Imposes 100% Tax On Movies Where Slaves Escape.*

History of housing segregation in US cities - 2025-12-05T10:38:04+00:00

The history of housing segregation in US cities (many of them in the north) goes through several steps of imposition by force.

Urgent: Consumer Protection loyalties - 2025-12-05T04:38:03+00:00

US citizens: call for protecting the CFPB from being made to show humility" towards the banks it is supposed to regulate.

The main switchboard is +1-202-224-3121. If you message Congress, please spread the word!

Urgent: PBS and NPR funding - 2025-12-05T04:38:03+00:00

US citizens: call on Congress to restore PBS and NPR funding.

The main switchboard is +1-202-224-3121. If you message Congress, please spread the word!

Urgent: Affordable Care Act and abortion - 2025-12-05T04:38:03+00:00

US citizens: call on congressional Democrats to reject any new abortion restrictions in ACA funding talks.

The main switchboard is +1-202-224-3121. If you message Congress, please spread the word!

Urgent: Safe abortion access - 2025-12-05T04:38:02+00:00

US citizens: call on legislators to protect safe abortion access: no one should die because doctors are afraid they will be imprisoned if they save her.

The main switchboard is +1-202-224-3121. If you message Congress, please spread the word!

Urgent: National Labor Relations nominee - 2025-12-05T04:38:01+00:00

US citizens: call on the Senate to protect workers' rights by rejecting the nomination of Scott Mayer, union-busting lawyer, to the NLRB

The main switchboard is +1-202-224-3121. If you message Congress, please spread the word!

Christian Coalition harvests US gov't - 2025-12-03T10:38:23+00:00

Vance is closely linked to fanatical Christians whose variant of Christianity says that they should dominate and control everyone, crush dissent, and impose their theology on everyone — by hook or by crook.

Can no longer afford McDonald's - 2025-12-03T05:48:36+00:00

Due to rapid increase in the US cost of living, customers of McDonald's can no longer afford to eat at McDonald's.

US thugs blocking investigations - 2025-12-03T05:48:35+00:00

US thugs accused of serious crimes are blocking investigation using a law intended to protect the privacy of victims.

Premature deaths from air pollution - 2025-12-03T05:48:35+00:00

*Air pollution from oil and gas causes 90,000 premature US deaths each year, says new study.* This is roughly 2% of all US deaths in a year.

If global climate disaster happens, it is likely to cause hundreds of millions of premature deaths per year. To avoid that requires greatly reducing the use of fossil fuels. The toxicity of these emissions is one added reason to do that quickly.

Possible fossil gas shortage around 2030 - 2025-12-03T05:48:35+00:00

Britain's energy minister warns of a possible shortage of fossil gas around 2030, and makes a recommendation with a gaping blind spot.

Deportation thug "use of force" report written by bullshit generator - 2025-12-03T05:48:35+00:00

A deportation thug was required to write a "use of force" report, and submitted a report that was almost all bullshit, invented by a bullshit generator which had only the slightest information about what the thug actually did.

That thug should be punished for submitting a probably false report.

Ukraine used drone boats to attack Russian oil tankers - 2025-12-03T05:48:35+00:00

Ukraine used drone boats to attack two Russian oil tankers sailing empty to Novorossiysk to pick up an export cargo of oil.

I suggested this method a few years ago.

FDA adopted magat criteria for approval of new vaccines - 2025-12-03T05:48:34+00:00

The FDA has adopted magat criteria for the approval of new vaccines, based on the anti-vax ideology whose adherents the saboteur in chief has appointed.

The alleged evidence for this has not been published scientifically, so thoughtful scientists are being blocked from studying that evidence.

Israel's de facto state policy of organised torture - 2025-12-03T05:48:33+00:00

The UN committee which monitors torture practices of various countries has reported that *Israel has "de facto state policy" of organised torture,*

Local climate disasters happening in many countries - 2025-12-03T05:48:33+00:00

Local climate disasters are happening in many countries. This article presents interviews with disaster victims in countries around the world.

As long as we allow continued increase in the greenhouse gas level, these disasters will keep getting worse and more frequent.

Israeli soldiers shot Palestinians who had surrendered to them - 2025-12-03T05:48:32+00:00

Israeli soldiers shot Palestinians who had surrendered to them. Journalists have a video of it.

Secret surveillance of Martin Luther King - 2025-12-03T05:48:32+00:00

Once-secret photos from 1964 demonstrate how the New York City thugs secretly surveilled Martin Luther King and those around him, even as the city lionized him.

Billions earmarked for former coal communities - 2025-12-03T05:48:32+00:00

*Biden earmarked billions for former coal communities in Appalachia – and [the saboteur in chief] came and took it away.

How fascism imposes itself and why we should resist - 2025-12-03T05:48:32+00:00

How fascism imposes itself such that few people ever think of resisting, and why we need to resist it before that becomes terrifyingly dangerous.

Europe's water reserves drying up - 2025-12-03T05:48:32+00:00

*Vast swathes of Europe's water reserves are drying up.* This is due to global heating, and it is not limited to the south. It covers Poland and even parts of Britain.

A few parts of Europe are becoming wetter.

Federal agent dressed as construction worker - 2025-12-03T05:48:31+00:00

*The Intercept confirmed that a federal agent caught on camera wearing a [construction worker] hard hat and safety vest works for [the deportation thugs].*

Urgent: End the Gaza genocide - 2025-12-02T04:38:04+00:00

US citizens: support Rashida Tlaib's resolution to acknowledge and put an end to the genocide in Gaza.

The main switchboard is +1-202-224-3121. If you message Congress, please spread the word!

Mamdani criticises Israel's crimes - 2025-12-02T16:37:54+00:00

Zohran Mamdani is blazing a trail for criticism of Israel's crimes in New York City.

BBC forbids criticism of Trump - 2025-12-02T16:37:54+00:00

The BBC has ordered its presenters , when reporting on how it deleted some words from a speech it was going to broadcast, that they are forbidden to say what those words were.

They were, "The most openly corrupt president in American history".

Ultra-rich reshaping British politics - 2025-12-02T16:37:54+00:00

How rich people dominate British politics, notwithstanding that it is suppose to be democratic.

You can see the results in the Labour Party's mostly right-wing policies, which they maintain despite what their voters want.

Canada oil pipeline deal - 2025-12-02T16:37:54+00:00

Canada's new version of planet-roaster government has decided to push through another pipeline for exporting tar sands oil.

The party was re-elected because it stood up to the bully, but in regard to actual political issues it is plutocratist.