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Each political note has its own anchor in case you want to link to it.

My intention is to make links only to publicly accessible, stable URLs. If you find a link to a page that requires subscription, please report that as you would report any other broken link.

30 October 2011 (Chinese Lawyer Beaten) Activists trying to visit imprisoned Chinese lawyer Chen Guangcheng have been beaten by government thugs.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.] I disagree with Chen Guangcheng's cause. I support China's one-child policy, because in this limited planet, which we are already using beyond capacity, people cannot have a fundamental right to reproduce without limit. However, he is entitled to advocate his views without being imprisoned or beaten.

30 October 2011 (Detriment Torture Case) The Injustice Department has sabotaged a Guantanamo prisoner's case about his abuse in Lithuania, which collaborated in his torture, by refusing to give lawyers the document he signed to authorize them to represent him. The CIA seized his own writings about how he was tortured in secret prisons, and classified them "secret operational documents". Is this any better than Stalin?

30 October 2011 (India: Blackberry Monitor) India is examining Blackberry messages with RIM's help, but has to demonstrate that each investigation is authorized. However, the government wants to be able to look at any and all messages with no controls.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.]

30 October 2011 (Syria Uprising) Syria continues shooting large numbers of protesters, and is getting increasingly isolated. Some of the opposition have asked for a no-fly zone. I doubt that it makes sense to do this when military resistance is at this very low level.

30 October 2011 (Urgent: Rally Nov 6 in DC) In the US: protest in Washington DC on Nov 6 against the Keystone XL planet-roaster tar sands oil pipeline.

30 October 2011 (Children Funds Fraud) Report: South Dakota Removes Hundreds Of Native American Children From Their Homes, Collects Millions In Federal Funds.

30 October 2011 (Water Privatization) The EPA official in charge of water resources advocates privatization of the water supply. A progressive president would not appoint officials with such right-wing views.

30 October 2011 (Police Fake Identities) When police testify in court under a false name, it may not be perjury, but it can easily lead them into perjury. In the US, police frequently commit perjury even when they don't disguise their names.

30 October 2011 (Wkileaks Blockade) The arbitrary US financial blockade against Wikileaks threatens all journalism. Not to mention all political dissidence.

30 October 2011 (Giles Fraser Resigned) Giles Fraser resigned from St Paul's Cathedral in protest against the idea of forcibly clearing protesters' tents.

30 October 2011 (Deportation Flight Blocked) The UK tried to stage a hasty and quiet mass deportation of refugees to Iraq, but it was blocked.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.]

30 October 2011 (Fukushima Radiation Hiked) The radiation released by the Fukushima meltdowns was much more than the Japanese government estimated.

30 October 2011 (Permission To Lie) The US Injustice Department wants permission to lie in response to Freedom of Information requests.

30 October 2011 (US Support Brutal Businessman) A Wikileaks cable shows how the US supports a businessman in Honduras with "war on drugs" funds although he seems to be connected with drug trafficking. Is this war on drugs, or what?

30 October 2011 (Medicaid Ripple Effects) Medicaid cuts proposed by right-wing politicians including Obama could have a harmful ripple effect on state governments.

30 October 2011 (Mine Disaster: In Addition) Massey Energy's former security chief has been convicted of lying to the officials who were investigating the disaster that was caused by Massey's contempt for safety standards. Defense lawyer Wilmouth is right that they should have prosecuted the executives responsible for the dangerous practices. Not instead, but in addition.

30 October 2011 (Occupied Brazilian Dam) Activists have occupied the site of the Belo Monte dam to block construction.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.] A court ruled that the dam was being constructed illegally, but that seems not to have prevented construction.

30 October 2011 (Protect World's Coral) A company selling protected black coral has been fined over 4 million dollars. This is the sort of thing that we need states for, and the reason why I am not an anarchist.

30 October 2011 (US Congress Internet Bill) Meet the real parasites of the Internet: the US Congress.

29 October 2011 (Prosecute Gaddafi Killers) Libya's former rebels acknowledge that Gaddafi was murdered, and say they will prosecute the killer if they can identify him. The US has the duty to prosecute whoever decided to kill Osama Bin Laden, even if that person is President Obama. Just because Gaddafi and Bin Laden committed massive crimes, almost comparable to those of Dubya, is no excuse for their summary execution. 53 Gaddafi supporters were murdered in Sirte, apparently while prisoner.

28 October 2011 (Bush Torture Program) Canadian officials crushed the prosecution of Bush for torture.

28 October 2011 (Contributions Missed) The world will miss out on the possible contributions of a billion young people, for failure to make the investment to educate them. And will fall into a poverty trap if it does not provide birth control to everyone. We can thank the IMF for a lot of this.

28 October 2011 (WikiLeaks May Close) Assange says WikiLeaks may have to cease operation due to the US payment blockade.

28 October 2011 (Patriot Act Sued) ACLU Sues Government to Find Out Secret Interpretation of Patriot Act.

28 October 2011 (Regulations Needed) Republican hypocrites say Obama has created many regulations, but in fact he has made fewer than Bush. There is nothing particularly bad about regulations anyway — we need to regulate businesses more so they can't hurt us. This criticism of Obama is therefore really an attempt to spread the irrational idea that "regulations are bad".

28 October 2011 (Great Firewall of America) The E-TYRANNY Act, just introduced in the House of Representatives, would create the Great Firewall of America.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.]

27 October 2011 (Ex-Minister Fox) It seems that ex-minister Fox sold a lobbyist a meeting in exchange for cash to fund Werrity. Fox clearly didn't do this because Werrity was such a good friend. It was all part of a scheme, and he too must have expected to gain somehow from it.

27 October 2011 (Oakland Camp) Scott Olsen, member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, suffered a skull fracture as the police attacked the Occupy Oakland camp.

27 October 2011 (Protest Camp) Wall Street will be proud of the Oakland police and mayor, for arresting everyone in the protest camp, then attacking later protests with tear gas. The article lists the absurd excuses that they made up for their political intervention.

27 October 2011 (UN: Cholera To Haiti) The UN (working for the US) brought cholera to Haiti. But the reason cholera has been able to spread there so much is that the US blocked Aristide's plans to provide clean water.

27 October 2011 (Veteran Critical Injury) Scott Olsen, member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, suffered a skull fracture as the police attacked the Occupy Oakland camp.

27 October 2011 (Steve Jobs) In my first posting about Steve Jobs, I misquoted Mayor Washington's words. According to this radio program, his exact words were: When he says that he would hope that I would have all the good qualities of past mayors, there are no good qualities of past mayors to be had. None. None. None. None. I did not mourn at the bier of the late mayor. I regret anyone dying. I have no regrets about him leaving. I remembered two sentences ("I regret...leaving.") of what Washington said, but got the words wrong. The error did not alter the meaning, but accuracy requires this correction. Overall, Washington's statement was harsher than mine. He criticized Mayor Daley as a person; I criticized Jobs' public activity. My feelings about Jobs as a person are not strong, since I barely knew him. The important thing about Jobs is what he directed Apple to do to those who are still living: to make general-purpose computers with digital handcuffs more controlling and unjust than ever before. He designed them to refuse even to let users install their own choice of applications — and installing free (freedom-respecting) applications is entirely forbidden. He even tried to make it illegal to install software not approved by Apple. Jobs saw how to make these computers stylish and smooth. That would normally be positive, but not in this case, since it has the paradoxical effect of making their controlling nature seem acceptable. Jobs' death inspired a flood of articles lauding him for these very devices. That further increases their potential for harm, which is why now more than ever we must focus attention on it. We must not let secondary considerations about Apple or Jobs distract us from this threat until we have thwarted it. Jobs also made it a personal crusade to attack Android with software patents. In practice, Android is not entirely free software, but it is a big step closer compared with the iPhone. If Apple's guns hit Android, they could wipe out all possibility of free software portable devices that are attractive to use. Jobs' final legacy may be the patent disaster we have warned about for 20 years.

[Reference updated on 2018-05-16 because the old link was broken.]

27 October 2011 (Biotech Crops Africa) Biotech companies are trying to get approval for GMOs in Europe by pretending this will help feed Africa. You can see this is bullshit because they are talking about selling the crops to Europe — not eating them. It won't be poor hungry Africans that grow these GMO crops, but foreign-owned plantations being created now by chasing them off their land. If poor Africans do try growing GMOs, they will need loans, and the result will be that they go broke and lose their land, as thousands of Indian farmers have done.

26 October 2011 (Censhorship) Police in the US asked Google to delete videos showing police brutality. It must be real brutality or the police would not have cared. UK police ordered 135 videos deleted in the first half of 2011. I wonder what the "threat to national security" is. Does it reveal something about undercover police spies? If you know anything — if the cops deleted your video — please write to me. I also wonder what law gives the police in the UK the power to carry out such censorship.

26 October 2011 (Urgent: Oppose The Internet Blacklist Bill) US citizens: call your congresscritter to oppose the Internet Blacklist bill, aka "PROTECT IP Act". Also send mail to your congresscritter through this page. The concept of "intellectual property" distorts the US constition's idea of the purpose of copyright law. Any bill that uses that term is almost sure to be misguided and harmful, and the "PROTECT IP" bill is totally nasty. As your constituent I expect you to oppose this bill.

26 October 2011 (Tunisia: "Moderate Islamist" Party) A "moderate Islamist" party seems to have won the election in Tunisia. As Iraq shows, Islamist government can lead to a tyranny no better than what Tunisia recently escaped from. I hope in Tunisia's case that this party respects democracy and the rights of non-Muslims.

26 October 2011 (Uri Avnery: Israel) Uri Avnery: If all of Israel is drunk with emotion because one boy has been returned to his family, what about [doing the same to] 4000 families on the other side?

25 October 2011 (Himalayan Glaciers) Himalayan glaciers are melting faster than ever, with temperatures last year at a record high. You have to think for a while to realize that "a 5-decade high" means an historic high (since the records only go back 5 decades). If China recognizes the danger it is in, it may be more inclined to take action to prevent global heating.

25 October 2011 (Population Growth) The "green revolution" bought humanity a 40-year breathing space in which to stabilize its population. It has failed to use the chance. Our population is increasing and Earth's ability to support it is dwindling.

25 October 2011 (Deification Of Steve Jobs) The Deification of Steve Jobs is Apple's Greatest Marketing Triumph to Date. The article is mistaken at the end, where it says that Jobs chose not to change the world. Apple's app store, which restricts even the user's choice of programs to install, is a substantial change for the worse.

25 October 2011 (Education Cuts) Tens of thousands, perhaps 100,000, protested in Madrid against cuts in education.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.]

25 October 2011 (Unrepentant Mayor) The Mayor of Melbourne sent police to attack protesters and remove their camp. It is surely inconvenient to have protests going on, but it is shallow-minded to give that priority over the important issues of the protest. The mayor's criticism of the protesters is invalid. If protesters had agreed to leave, it must be because he had threatened them. He did wrong in threatening them, and gains no moral legitimacy from whatever "agreement" he thus extracted.

25 October 2011 (Welfare For Disabled) There were protests across the UK against cuts in welfare for disabled people.

25 October 2011 (UK Libel Cases) The UK is considering a two-level rule for libel accusations against web sites, which distinguishes between anonymous postings and postings with the author's name.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.] This would be an improvement compared with the UK's strict current libel rules. However, distinguishing between identified and anonymous comments might be a bad precedent. Another concern is whether sites would need to verify the names that people give.

25 October 2011 (Greece Bankruptcy) Massive protests in Greece turned violent as the government voted to cancel all collective bargaining agreements with workers, Cancelling contracts is one of the consequences of bankruptcy. In effect, the Greek government is going bankrupt towards the workers and the people, but not towards the banksters. That's the reverse of the priorities it ought to have. And this is not the end. The banksters will continue to make things worse in Greece until it eventually refuses to go along. The people with helmets and gas masks, who began by attacking the peaceful union protest — were they protesters, or were they sent by the police? I don't know, but if they were real protesters, why would the attack other protesters?

25 October 2011 (West Papua) West Papuan independence campaigners held a meeting at which they declared independence. Indonesian soldiers fired at the meeting and then arrested some of the participants. Indonesia took over West Papua by force when the Dutch pulled out in the 1960s, and has ruled the area as a colonial power.

25 October 2011 (Canada Tar Sands) Canada seems to have won UK support for the use of its tar sands oil, against EU efforts to prevent catastrophe. That point is at the end of the article.

25 October 2011 (Werrity Links) The UK government is concealing the source of Werrity's funds. Note how the Conservative Party is trying to separate itself from the behavior of its leader, Prime Minister Cameron. The opposition is not letting the issue fade away.

25 October 2011 (US Military Pays) The US military pays a hundred million a year to companies guilty of frauds against the US military. And that's just fraud that has been proved or admitted. This is not likely to reduce fraud.

25 October 2011 (Tibetans Self-Immolate) Nine Tibetans have set themselves on fire this year to protest Chinese oppression.

[Reference updated on 2018-05-16 because the old link was broken.]

25 October 2011 (Italy-France Train) Thousands protested in rural Italy against construction of a high-speed train line to France.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.] I think that this train line is a very good thing. It can reduce damage to the environment, if it replaces car and air travel. So perhaps the opposition is just NIMBY. On the other hand, there might be a real problem with specifics, such as the route. Governments often make such decisions with hardly an effort to study the alternatives.

25 October 2011 (Libya's Justification) The Libyan government forces now admit that Gaddafi was murdered shortly after he was captured. They cite the probable US murder of Osama bin Laden as a precedent.

25 October 2011 (Bahrain Treating Wounded) Bahrain is now holding civilian trials for medics accused of treating wounded protesters. While this avoids the injustice of military trials, civilian trials in Bahrain may not be very fair either. Anyway, there is a basic injustice in the idea that treating a wounded person is a crime.

25 October 2011 (Ancient Pompeii) Another collapse at ancient Pompeii demonstrates that Berlusconi has done nothing to improve maintenance there. Pompeii is the tip of the iceberg. Italy is full of old buildings that are falling into ruin because not enough is done to protect them.

25 October 2011 (Karzai Pakistan) Karzai's amazing declaration: if the US gets into war with Pakistan, he would side with Pakistan. It is a strange way of declaring his independance, but it will probably work, at least in the short run — the US will go on keeping him in power anyway.

25 October 2011 (Amazon Highway) Bolivian President Morales has cancelled the planned highway and says he will permanently protect the reserve where it would have run.

25 October 2011 (EU Pharma Company) The EU is investigating the possibility that a big pharma company paid to delay the introduction of a generic drug.

25 October 2011 (Cap-And-Trade California) California has put a cap-and-trade CO2 emission system into effect. The European Union's carbon-trading system has been subject to tremendous cheating, and appears to have achieved very little reduction in emissions. I fear it will be the same for California, but if they can avoid that and achieve a reduction, that will be good.

25 October 2011 (Radio Host Fired) NPR had radio host Lisa Simeone fired from the show Soundprint because she was participating in the mass protests. Perhaps this is what the new president of NPR means by "depoliticizing" the organization.

24 October 2011 (Tea Party News) Even nonsense is considered news if it is from the Tea Party. The comparison with the Progressive Budget demonstrates the right-wing bias of the mainstream media.

24 October 2011 (Urgent: Streaming Any Media) Sign the "Free Bieber" petition, against the bill that would impose a 5-year prison term for streaming any material without permission.

24 October 2011 (Urgent: Block Pipeline) US citizens: tell the EPA to block the Keystone XL planet-roaster pipeline.

[Reference updated on 2018-05-16 because the old link was broken.]

24 October 2011 (UN Ban On Toxic Waste) The UN has advanced a treaty to ban the export of toxic waste, which the rich countries often dump in poor countries. However, the US, which rejects the treaty, will continue the stream of poison.

24 October 2011 (Buying Elections) Since the Citizens United decision, millionaires have systematically begun buying elections. North Carolina's state government has been totally wrapped up.

24 October 2011 (Population Debate) As demographers debate whether the human population in 2100 will be 10 billion or 15 billion, others warn that 7 billion are already loading the Earth beyond what it can sustain. Those who predict a crisis of population decrease more than a hundred years from now are assuming that medicine will not, even in 100 or 200 years, greatly extend the average human life span. I think that is a rather unlikely assumption. I cannot assert life-extension is certain, but they are the ones assuming that the absence of life-extension is certain. They want us to ignore urgently needed population limitation measures based on that absurd sense of certainty.

24 October 2011 (FBI Wants Secure Internet) The FBI wants a new, secure internet for power plants and banks to use. It might be a good idea to use this for power plants, but if you let the banks on, you can hardly trust its security.

24 October 2011 (Incompetent Bank Security) First State Super bank was told by a client that its security was incompetent, and could be breached in 30 seconds. The bank sent the police after him.

[Reference updated on 2018-05-16 because the old link was broken.]

24 October 2011 (Five Banks) 5 behemoth banks hold the US political system hostage.

24 October 2011 (Adult Filters And Children) Trying to block "adult" material (please don't call it "content") from children is ineffective, and harmful to them. It is also a fundamental injustice to adults when applied in public access locations such as libraries.

24 October 2011 (OWS: Left Vs Right) Republicans are trying to fabricate accusations of conspiracy against Occupy Wall Street, and Democrats are trying to co-opt it. I take exception with the article's identification of centrists such as Obama and the DCCC with "the left". MoveOn is really somewhat on the left.

24 October 2011 (OWS: Pepper Spray Officer) The NYPD's serial pepper spray officer was punished with a fine of 10 days of vacation time. That's a slap on the wrist. What punishment would you get if you had pepper sprayed him?

24 October 2011 (Tax Liability Graph) One graph summarizes how candidate Cain's tax plan would increase taxes for most people and cut them for the wealthy.

24 October 2011 (Green Energy Grants) The US policies to support renewable energy are also, through their details, supporting special business interests or the affluent.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.] I see this as part of the general capture of our democracy by business interests and the affluent.

24 October 2011 (Gaddafi Death) There are conflicting stories about how Gaddafi was killed. They disagree even about whether he was shot in the head. This lends plausibility to the idea that he was murdered. The fact that his general Jabr was also killed after being captured gives further support to the idea. Those who rose up against him had good reasons to fight him, and perhaps even hate him. But they should not have killed him when he was a prisoner.

24 October 2011 (Republicans As Libertarians) Republicans claim to be "libertarians" while fighting to eliminate some of our freedoms.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.]

24 October 2011 (Urgent: Tell Verizon) US residents: tell Verizon you won't stand for ISPs that release your personal data to other companies. Even if Verizon eliminates this recently added abuse, it won't make things OK. It practices punishment-by-disconnection, and it saves data about who its customers talk with, which enables the FBI to collect it all. Still, it is important to push back when they try to make things even worse. So I signed.

24 October 2011 (US Support Bahrain) Two "progressive" US congresscritters told Bahrain's main opposition party, in effect, that they support the oppressive government and will continue to do so.

24 October 2011 (Second-Hand Goods Ban) A dangerous law in Louisiana bans selling second-hand goods for cash.

24 October 2011 (Arab Arms Export) Arab dictators in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria and Yemen got their weapons from countries including the US.

[Reference updated on 2018-05-16 because the old link was broken.]

24 October 2011 (Afghan Torture) US support for the Afghan military and police is illegal because of its systematic human rights violations, but the US government has ignored this so far. If only we could make US government support for the Pentagon and the CIA obey the same rules, the US would greatly improve its human rights record.

24 October 2011 (Egypt Military Rule) Egypt's military rulers say they will keep control until the planned transition process is finished, which could mean more than another year. The US, which only reluctantly gave support to Egypt's democracy movement, supports this.

24 October 2011 (Inside Austerity Class) How the Austerity Class Rules Washington. Its domination of the media plays a crucial role, and that is probably due to business ties between the media corporations and the billionaire vultures who profit from everyone else's suffering.

24 October 2011 (Quit Coal) Student activists have occupied the administration at Michigan State University, to pressure it to close its large coal-fired power plant.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.]

24 October 2011 (Hunger Strike Peru) Striking miners in Peru started a hunger strike to pressure the state to intervene on their side. It has already done so to a certain extent.

24 October 2011 (Gaddafi Death) The Libyan government says Gaddafi was killed in a crossfire after surrendering.

[Reference updated on 2018-05-16 because the old link was broken.] It isn't obviously false, but may not be true.

24 October 2011 (Bangkok Floods) Bangkok faces an unstoppable flood. Global heating might play a role in this. If so, there will be worse floods in the coming decades.

24 October 2011 (Investigate) How the UK government plans to "investigate" the Fox/Werrity scandal and not see what's really going on.

22 October 2011 (Amazon's Browser) Amazon's browser offers faster browsing, at the price of telling Amazon all about it.

[Reference updated on 2018-05-16 because the old link was broken.] I think it is foolish to trust companies' "privacy assurances", since it is hard to tell what they really do. Besides, under the U SAP AT RIOT Act, the FBI could collect the all the data every week. If all the data is deleted after two weeks, the FBI will get every last bit.

21 October 2011 (GMos Companies) The GMOs companies offered famous people opportunities to give prestigious speeches and interviews, and to put their names on other people's writings, if they would promote GMOs. It would be interesting to investigate which events they offered to give these people speaking slots in, because they must represent other corrupt ties.

21 October 2011 (French Court: ISPs) A French court ordered ISPs to block access to a web site that shows incidents of police brutality. I got further explanation that the specific reason is that the site also publishes the addresses of the culprits.

21 October 2011 (Corruption Scandal) The Fox/Werrity corruption scandal seems to involve the center of the Tory party. What isn't known is what these donors were told they were paying for.

21 October 2011 (Radar System: Walls) A radar system is being developed that can see through concrete walls. Under the anti-human-rights climate that gave us the "Patriot Act", I am concerned that police will be too ready use this to look into people's homes. We need a cheap system to put into our walls and windows to block such spying.

21 October 2011 (UK Scandal) The UK's use of long-term police spies and disruptor in peaceful political activist groups has become a tremendous scandal after it was exposed that one of them lied on the witness stand about his real name. The practice, overall, is an attack on democracy, but I don't find that one particular point bothersome. If they had found a way to avoid the need to put this spy on the stand, the harm would have been just as great.

21 October 2011 (ETA: Renounced Violence) The Basque terrorist group ETA has renounced violence. I think that the question of whether the Basque country remains part of Spain or not is, in general, less important politically than whether it remains part of the European Union and the World Trade Organization.

21 October 2011 ("Black Box") The EU Parliament considered a proposal to require a censorship "black box" on every computer.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.] This has been discussed in science fiction, but I have not heard of its being seriously proposed before. The excuse is, of course, "child" pornography. It is the perfect excuse for tyranny, since an irrational fear of it has already been spread, and politicians fear to question any measure proposed to attack it.

21 October 2011 (Occupy Arrest Wolf) Naomi Wolf relates how she was arrested for resisting the unjust and often arbitrary restrictions that New York City (like much of the US) has imposed to undermine the freedom of assembly.

21 October 2011 (Undercover Police Spy) A UK undercover police infiltrator may have spied on his fellow protesters' conversations with the lawyer representing them all.

21 October 2011 (UK Secret Hearings) The UK government plans secret hearings so that people like Binyam Mohamed cannot get an admission they were tortured. Of course, the motive for this plan is to bow to the US government, whose evil deeds this plan would help to cover up.

21 October 2011 (Iran MEK Plot) Iran says that the supposed plot to kill the Saudi ambassador was funded by the Mujahideen-e Khalq, the possibly terrorist opposition group that is seeking to get off the US government "terrorist" list. I would not trust the Iranian government for this claim, any more than I would trust the US government for the claim that Iran's forces were behind it. The accusation against the MEK has one point in its favor: that organization would have gained from the results of such an attack, if it were attributed instead to Iran. But that is not proof.

21 October 2011 (Skype And Abortion) Senator DeMint wants to ban use of the Internet for women to discuss abortion with their doctors. It is unfortunate that NARAL's president spoke of Skype as if it were acceptable. If DeMint wanted to require its replacement with free software, I'd cheer.

21 October 2011 (Paid Sick Days) ALEC, the right-wing legislative machine, wants to abolish paid sick days.

21 October 2011 (Immigrant Detention Abuse) Illegal immigrants in the US, when detained, are subject to abuses that go as far as rape.

21 October 2011 (India: AFSPA) India must repeal the law that allows the army to arrest, imprison and kill civilians.

21 October 2011 (Censoring Climate Report) Gov. Perry's men in Texas are trying to change a scientific report to avoid mention of the expected effects of climate change.

21 October 2011 (Civilian Vs Military Law) Both houses of Congress want to require holding civilians in military prisons, and one wants to require military kangaroo courts too.

21 October 2011 (Bahrain Rights Violation) The State Department will "consider" Bahrain's investigation of its own human rights abuses before the planned arms sale.

[Reference updated on 2018-07-17 because the old link was broken.] The State Department surely knows all about these abuses. In effect, it is saying it will take account of those abuses Bahrain's government is willing to acknowledge. More pressure is called for.

21 October 2011 (PayPal Diaspora Embargo) PayPal froze $45,000 of community donations to the Diaspora project and refused to say why.

[Reference updated on 2018-05-16 because the old link was broken.] Later: after a lot of public pressure, PayPal said it would unfreeze the account. I have seen no details yet.

21 October 2011 (German Federal Trojan) The German trojan surveillance program can collect data from 15 different applications. I don't know about all of them, but I'd expect most of them are proprietary. This means either the interception capability was developed using reverse engineering or it was done with the cooperation of those companies.

21 October 2011 (Kuwaiti Protest) 10,000 protested in Kuwaiti to dismiss the corrupt prime minister.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.]

20 October 2011 (US Chinese Internet) The US has objected to Chinese Internet filtering as an obstacle to trade. But only when it affects business profits.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.] It would be an ironic benefit if the WTO someday gets China to reduce its censorship, but it won't really be much to the WTO's credit. The US could achieve just as much simply by putting its remaining clout with China firmly behind human rights. And this could not outweigh the harm that the WTO has done.

20 October 2011 (Gaddafi French Company) A French company faces a legal investigation for selling Internet surveillance systems to Gaddafi's regime. These were used to find dissidents and torture them. It appears that Sarkozy himself approved the sale. The US and Europe had a cozy relationship with Gaddafi for most of the last decade. Once Gaddafi was willing to cease his former hostilities, there was a good case for making peace with him, despite his being a tyrant. But there are limits to how far a relationship with a tyrant should go, even if he is not also an enemy. This relationship went so far as to include torture; for instance, various countries sent prisoners to Libya for torture. That is unacceptable. People who criticize the NATO intervention in Libya should recognize that letting Gaddafi crush the rebellion would have resulted in more of the same cozy relationship. Thanks to the intervention, Libyans have a chance to set up a better government. Of course, it might go wrong and lead to a new tyranny — there is always that chance. There is no guaranteed recipe for good government, just as there is no guaranteed recipe for pulling down a tyranny. To wait for an opportunity that can't go wrong would be to wait forever. For the same reason, people must try every plausible chance to destroy the empire of the megacorporations. Nobody knows a guaranteed method, so we must try whatever might work, until something does. Gaddafi's regime was not the only one that does unjust surveillance. The US does it too. The company's PR head is related to the French defense minister. This is not proof of corruption, but the idea that a desire for corrupt influence wasn't part of the reason for hiring that person strains credulity. Such a close relationship between a company and an official who has influence over the company's business ought to call for an automatic investigation.

20 October 2011 (Canada Tar Sands Oil) Canada's plan B for exporting tar sands oil, a pipeline to British Colombia, faces such strong opposition that it probably can't be built.

[Reference updated on 2018-05-16 because the old link was broken.] Thus, if the US blocks the Keystone XL pipeline, that oil won't be able to ensure a planet-wide catastrophe.

20 October 2011 (Minimum Sentences) Congress is considering bringing back mandatory minimum sentences, overturning a Supreme Court decision against them. Most of Congress is not interested in overturning the Supreme Court decision that allowed corporations to secretly buy unlimited influence in elections.

20 October 2011 (Colombian Unions) Colombian union leaders fear that the ratification of the destructive treaty with the US may cause the world to forget about the continuing murders of unionists there.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.] If the AFL-CIO campaigns only not to implement the treaty for a while, that would be weak. The campaign goal should be to cancel this treaty, along with all the other antidemocratic "free trade" treaties.

20 October 2011 (Iran Directors) Iran has sentenced two movie directors to prison, and in addition banned one of them from talking with journalists or leaving the country for 20 years.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.] This reminds me of Israel's sentence against Mordecai Vanunu.

20 October 2011 (Loan Benefited Banks) Federal Reserve forced to report which banks benefit from loan programs.

20 October 2011 (Swedish Journalists) Swedish journalists chain themselves to a prison to protest against imprisonment of their colleagues in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

20 October 2011 (UN Solitary Confinement) The UN special rapporteur on torture has called for an end to solitary confinement except as a short term measure to protect a prisoner.

20 October 2011 (Uganda A4C) Uganda has arrested protest leaders, saying that protesting to bring down the government constitutes "treason".

20 October 2011 (Awlaki's Son's Death) The US killed Anwar al-Awlaki's son, who had run away from home to look for his father. If you look at the Facebook page, use Tor from a browser with no cookies.

20 October 2011 (Effectiveness of Vaccine) For the first time, a vaccine against malaria shows substantial effectiveness. But it isn't clear yet whether the effect is enough, in practice, to make it useful.

20 October 2011 (Israeli Prisoner Deal) Israeli prisoner Gilad Shalit and around 500 Palestinian prisoners have been freed in a swap deal. This has the potential to facilitate peace negotiations, but their success will depend on Israel's willingness to make necessary concessions. According to Hamas, relaxing the siege of Gaza is part of the deal.

19 October 2011 (Pipeline Hearings) The State Department demonstrated the rigged nature of its decision about the Keystone XL pipeline by hiring an oil company subcontractor to run the hearings about it.

[Reference updated on 2018-05-16 because the old link was broken.] The contractor tried to rig the proceedings subtly so that they would appear honest. The pipeline developers are spreading false claims that it will create many thousands of jobs. This article shows that the construction jobs will be much fewer; and in the long term, it will make only around 50 jobs.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.] However, even if it made thousands of jobs permanently, that could compensate for the catastrophe that would result from burning the tar sands oil.

20 October 2011 (Israel's New settlement) Israel plans a new "settlement" at the edge of Jerusalem, which would create an added obstacle to possible peace.

[Reference updated on 2018-07-17 because the old link was broken.]

20 October 2011 (Wall Street Reason) In economic terms, what justifies the Wall Street protesters' anger. I think, however, that the reduction of democracy into a form of corporate control is a deeper reason to protest.

20 October 2011 (San Fancisco Protest) Protesters in San Francisco rebuilt their camp after a police raid. The raid had an excuse, of course, but its apparent purpose was to suppress democracy.

20 October 2011 (Jailed Egyptian Blogger) Maikel Nabil Sanad would rather starve to death than be tried again by the Egyptian military for "insulting the army". He refuses to apologize for his criticism, which he considers justified. For the most part, I do not mourn the death of people I did not have a relationship with. The exceptions are heroes such as Sanad. I honor him now, and I will honor him if he dies.

20 October 2011 (Naomi Wolf Arrest) Naomi Wolf was arrested at a protest against New York Governer Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo takes the side of the wealthy against tax increases.

20 October 2011 (Election In Haiti) The OAS's intervention in Haiti's presidential election was such as to make it more dishonest, not less so. However, it was wrong to treat the election as legitimate at all, since the exclusion of the Fanmi Lavalas party made it fundamentally invalid.

20 October 2011 (Army In Haiti) US-imposed Haitian president Martelly wants to reverse Aristide's most durable achievement: abolishing the army.

20 October 2011 (Sirte Fighting) After weeks of bloody fighting, Sirte is mostly destroyed. There was probably no better way to take the city, but was it really necessary to take the city in a hurry? Sirte was encircled, so Gaddafi's forces could not get out and do harm elsewhere. Eventually they would have surrendered.

18 October 2011 (Shrems Facebook) Law student Max Schrems has had the gumption and the knowledge to put Facebook in legal trouble for many violations of EU privacy and data protection law. I fear Facebook will escape by playing its trump card: the idea that it is so important that states do not dare punish it in any effectively dissuasive way.

18 October 2011 (California Marijuana) The campaign to repeal prohibition of marijuana in California.

18 October 2011 (Haiti Occupation) The UN voted to reduce the size of its occupation force in Haiti, which was increased after the quake, but Haitians demand its complete removal.

18 October 2011 (UK Budget Cut) The UK's National Health Service is suffering greatly under right-wing budget cuts. It is still better than what 50 million Americans get for health care.

18 October 2011 (Mckinnon Extradition) A UK state inquiry into the one-sided extradition treaty with the US concluded it's fine and dandy, and only wishes that the European Court of Justice would get out of the way.

18 October 2011 (London Protest) Protesters plan to occupy a square next to the London Stock Exchange. I support this protest, along with the many similar ones. However, I criticize the hyperbole of saying they will "occupy the London Stock Exchange" when the plan is to occupy a square. Let's not exaggerate. This article demonstrates a general injustice: giving the public diminished rights in some streets and squares which are designated as "private". If it looks like a street, and the public are normally free to walk on it, they should enjoy the same rights there as in any other public street.

18 October 2011 (Syrian Protests Drift) Syrian protests are drifting towards an armed revolution. The city of Homs has kicked out Assad's forces, and other cities' protesters call on soldiers to defect.

18 October 2011 (Urgent: Arbitration Fairness Act) US citizens: phone your congresscritter to support the Arbitration Fairness Act. Also send email through this page.

18 October 2011 (Urgent: Tissue Tree Farms) In the US: call on retailers not to stock tissue products from APP, which cuts down rainforests to make tree farms.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.]

18 October 2011 (Canada EU Trade Treaty) Canadians used a "trojan horse" to protest a treacherous trade treaty that their government is negotiating with the EU.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.] I have no inside information about the treaty's provisions, but the EU wouldn't consider a trade treaty that wasn't treacherous to democracy. I would not trust the study's claims about how much economic growth such a treaty might result in, but it might cause some growth. However, it will also ensure such growth mainly benefits the wealthy, making it unhelpful to the rest of society. It is also likely to endanger the environment, public health, and the rights of all Internet users.

18 October 2011 (Tunis Rally) Thousands rallied for freedom of expression in Tunis in response to another protest by Islamists in favor of religious censorship.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.]

18 October 2011 (US Drone Error Afghanistan) A US drone fired at US troops, killing two of them. In the fog of war, avoiding such mistakes is impossible. Every army tries, more or less, and the US armed forces put some care and study into the effort. But no army can entirely succeed at avoiding this. What conclusion follows? There are a lot more civilians in Afghanistan than there are US troops. And the civilians look a lot more like the Taliban than US troops do. We don't have enough data to know how often US troops will get mistaken for Taliban with the current (recently increased) rate of drone attacks, but suppose it is once every two years. How often do civilians get mistaken for Taliban? Every week? Every day? Those too are errors — frequent errors. However, they are much easier to cover up, so the US claims they don't happen. The US should own up to them.

18 October 2011 (Fukushima Food) Plankton near Fukushima show high levels of radioactive cesium.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.] People don't eat this plankton, but fish do, and those fish might concentrate the cesium resulting in higher levels.

18 October 2011 (Occupation Arrest) Police in Gainesville, Florida, arrested Ellas Anthony McDaniel, who is Bo Diddley's son, in Bo Diddley park, as he stood on a stone which carries the slogan, "freedom of speech". I don't like the name "occupation" for these protests, because it is confusing. A government of occupation is what we already have, and what these protests are against.

18 October 2011 (Wall Street) Senator Sanders endorses the Wall Street protests. Wendell Potter suggests Washington protesters direct their protests at the health insurance industry.

18 October 2011 (Perry Oil) Gov. Perry wants spending cuts to balance the budget, but his men are prepared to give a gratuitous tax rebate to oil companies.

[Reference updated on 2018-05-16 because the old link was broken.]

18 October 2011 (Bush Era) If Obama is not reelected, we face a new Bush era. And if he is reelected, the same is true.

[Reference updated on 2018-05-16 because the old link was broken.] Before Obama was elected, he told progressives, "Make me do it." Now that he is in office, his message is to get someone else to do it.

18 October 2011 (Fracking Cover Up) EPA whistle-blower Weston Wilson warns that the petroleum companies are trying to force the EPA to cover up the danger of fracking — as it has done twice before with those companies.

[Reference updated on 2018-05-16 because the old link was broken.]

18 October 2011 (Rumsfeld War) How Rumsfeld created the war-logistics industry, which now has a business incentive to continue any and all wars.

18 October 2011 (Global Agribusiness) Ethiopia's tyrannical government is handing out minority people's land to global agribusiness, and arresting the people when they object.

18 October 2011 (Stronger Police) The UK government wants stronger police powers to stop riots. So far, no sign of a plan to stop corporate looting.

18 October 2011 (Class Warfare) Nobelist Diamond: The U.S. has an unemployment crisis and a debt problem, but many people in Washington are behaving as if we have a debt crisis and an unemployment problem, The officials that order these priorities wrong are not making a sincere mistake. They are engaging in class warfare.

18 October 2011 (Urgent: Support Transactions Tax) US citizens: sign this petition in favor of a financial transactions tax.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.] Also phone your congresscritter — a phone call carries more weight. The Capitol Switchboard numbers are 202-224-3121, 888-818-6641 and 888-355-3588.

18 October 2011 (Atlantic Bridge) The UK government says it refuses to investigate the Atlantic Bridge "charity" which was central to the Fox/Werrity corruption scandal. What's more, it will change the rules to help hide any other similar cases of corruption.

17 October 2011 (CREDO Action's) The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is raising money based on the Republican War on Women — and planning to spend it in support of Democratic congresscritters who took the Republican side. The right wing of the Republican Party achieved so much power (with which it is now waging war against non-rich Americans and especially women) by actively opposing moderate candidates. Meanwhile, progressives have let them be sucked into supporting right-wing Democrats such as Obama. It is high time for that to change. The last time the US had an economic crisis, the Republicans wanted to let it go on, but the Democratic Party offered to create jobs. The Democratic Party was voted in and governed for 20 years. But this option is not available today — today's Democratic Party is only marginally less bad than today's Republican Party. CREDO Action's criticism of this is the first step of trying to change that. What use is having some Democrats in office if they act like Republicans?

17 October 2011 (BrainWashing) Bradley Manning was not the only US prisoner held in conditions that amount to brainwashing. There may be 20,000 more. One of them is Tarek Mehanna. The use of brainwashing on people accused but not tried raises the concern that its purpose is to extract false confessions, such as many of the US POWs held by North Korea gave after they were brainwashed. Meanwhile, to accuse someone of terrorism for translating a book is a clear violation of freedom of the press. People have a right to say that terrorism is good, and we must respect that right even if we disagree with their views.

17 October 2011 (The Pentagon) The Pentagon says that it won't be able to pass an audit in 2017. Large amounts of payments cannot be accounted for because the documents to justify them cannot be found.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.] Part of the cause of the problem is that the Pentagon's budget is large and growing. Big budget cuts will help correct that problem.

17 October 2011 (12 Most Absurd Laws) 12 Most Absurd Laws Used to Stifle the Occupy Wall St. Movement When protesters become numerous enough, they can massively defy these laws, and pack the jails until the police give up arresting them.

17 October 2011 (Bush Forces Iraq) The US will fully remove the Bush forces from Iraq. Americans can thank those in the Iraqi government, such as the party of Muqtada al-Sadr, that refused to give the Bush forces the continued immunity from prosecution that Obama demanded.

17 October 2011 (World-wide Protests) Chinese are using local protests and even riots to demand correction of injustices, and sometimes it works. The article says that "calls for pro-democracy demonstrations...received little public support", and appears to assert that Chinese people wouldn't support them, but we don't know this. Government censorship prevent a movement from getting started. The US government is almost as callous towards the 99% as the Chinese government is. And Americans are learning to follow the example of the Chinese. Protesters in Brooklyn tried to shut down a foreclusure auction.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.] Hooray!

17 October 2011 (Coal Ash Regulation) Republicans in Congress seek to block EPA regulation of toxic coal ash — a change which could kill many Americans.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.] Every harmful thing that business asks for, it claims is to protect jobs. When you look closely, it is really a threat to close some plant. "If you won't let us pollute and endanger your life, we will shut the plant." Ok, shut it, should be our response. But often that threat is a bluff. When it comes time to decide, they might clean up the plant rather than shut it. However, it costs them nothing to say, now, "We will shut the plant." Who knows, we might yield to the bluff. When it comes to handling toxic coal ash, the threat is certainly a bluff. The companies that burn the coal will pay whatever it costs to dispose of the ash according to regulations. The only question is whether to make them dispose of it in a way that is safe for the public.

17 October 2011 (Obama-supported Censorship) Obama's man was directly involved in negotiations to make major US ISPs impose censorship on their users.

17 October 2011 (Sirte) Gaddafi's cult of personality seems to be the reason why some of his soldiers continue fighting in Sirte. However, it seems that they also killed civilians who wouldn't join them.

17 October 2011 (Protests in Rome) As tens of thousands protested in Rome, some made violent attacks against banks, stores, cars, and police. I don't approve of this violence, part of which seems to have been directed randomly. It was a self-defeating tactic for the protest movement, and it was also simply wrong. The perpetrators may have done this to damage the protest. During the protests in Genoa in 2001, Italian police deployed armed provocateurs disguised as "anarchists", apparently to create an excuse to attack the real (nonviolent) protesters. Maybe they did this again in Rome. But even if these were real dissidents rather than police stooges, we should not let their comparatively small wrong distract us from the giant wrongs done by the corporatocracy.

16 October 2011 (UK Government's Austerity) The UK government's austerity program has caused unemployment, so few jobs are available. To distract attention from this, it proposed a new plan to help workers move if they find a job distant from home. I can't tell whether the plan is good or bad, but it certainly fails to address the problem.

16 October 2011 (Pay to assassinate) The US has arrested an Iranian for trying to pay to assassinate the Saudi ambassador, but some are skeptical about the accusation. If Arbabsiar is guilty of trying to arrange the assassination, whether he was working for the Iranian goverment is another question. I would not put this past the Iranian goverment, but it is a valid point that it would have had little to gain from doing this. Is there proof that Arbabsiar had state support, other than his say-so? Maybe it was a false boast, or wishful thinking. There was recently a factional conflict inside the Iranian state, and maybe there still is. Maybe some faction in the Iranian state tried to use Arbabsiar to make trouble for some other faction. Maybe Arbabsiar set out to harm the Iranian state by getting it into a war, and having failed that, hopes to embarrass it. Or maybe someone with this goal was using Arbabsiar. The Iranian state richly deserves to be harmed, but not that way. The main effect of starting such a war would be to harm thousands or millions of people. The Saudi monarchy is equally tyrannical, but assassinating its ambassadors won't make it better.

16 October 2011 (Falsely increase circulation) The Wall Street Journal paid companies a kickback to buy lots of copies so as to falsely increase circulation figures.

16 October 2011 (Tactics against the Taliban) NATO has systematically exaggerated the effectiveness of its tactics against the Taliban — for instance, by calling lots of Taliban casualties "leaders"

16 October 2011 (Tax on CO2 emissions) Australia is on track to pass a tax on CO2 emissions. Prime Minister Gillard is doing this even though it means the possible sacrifice of her political career. That is heroism. If the tax is repealed, it won't achieve its goal. But it is better to try than to give up at the start. And perhaps it won't be repealed. Perhaps Australians will see they can live with it. Perhaps increased signs of global heating will show them it is necessary.

16 October 2011 (Questionable trial) Ukraine's opposition leader was sentenced to prison after a questionable trial about a gas deal she signed with Russia. The deal might have been bad, but as long as Ukraine does not repudiate the deal itself, it can hardly justify calling the deal criminal. One paradoxical good result could flow from this trial: blocking the EU's "free trade" treaty, which I suspect would impose unjust laws to prevent and persecute sharing.

16 October 2011 (Email) If you get your email through a US commercial email service, the US government can collect information about it without ever showing you a search warrant.

16 October 2011 (Personal data) A study finds that commercial web sites give visitors' personal data to large numbers of other sites. My response to this is not to identify myself to web sites. I don't buy things over the Internet. In addition, my batch method of accessing web pages fetches the page I asked for, and not whatever else it points to.

16 October 2011 (Cut off water supply) Part of Alabama campaign against illegal immigrants is to cut off their water supply. This persecutes citizens too, if they don't have a drivers' license. It effectively makes the license a mandatory identification card, which is inherently unjust. People also fear that they will be picked up off the street and deported, leaving their children suddenly alone. US citizens without drivers licenses could be deported too, if the police guess someplace to send them.

16 October 2011 (Tram connecting Jerusalem) The tram connecting Jerusalem with a settlement inside the West Bank is another tool used by Israel to make an independent Palestine impossible.

16 October 2011 (Bloomberg) New York Night-Mayor Bloomberg tried to shut down the protest camp on the pretext of sanitation, but retreated in the fact of physical support from thousands of protesters. The park's owner, Brookfield Properties, is a bankster company. Was Zuccotti Park created by a private company, or was it a public park that was privatized?

16 October 2011 (Exxon) Exxon is trying to avoid paying for damage done by its big Alaska oil spill, damage that still persists, and the Department of "Justice" doesn't seem to care much. The US deserves a president that would call for the most vigorous possible action against companies such as Exxon and BP, and who would support laws to hold them 100% liable for damage they do. Meaning not Obama!

16 October 2011 (The House Of Representatives) The House of Representatives passed a law encouraging hospitals to let women die rather than perform abortions. In typical hypocritical fashion, this is called the "Protect Life Act." In effect, it represents the Republican position that human life is sacred except after birth. One member of Congress said this policy would have killed her.

16 October 2011 (US: Drone Bombers) There was a protest at the base where the US operates drones by remote control. I am not against drone bombers per se; supposing there is a war, I don't think attacking enemy troops with drone bombers is worse than attacking them with artillery or manned bombers. What is disturbing about the US use of drones is that it uses them against people who are not clearly enemy troops, far from any battlefield. Attacking them with artillery or manned bombers would pose the same moral problem, but isn't often done, because it is not feasible.

16 October 2011 (Obama's Anti-Democratic Trade Treaties) The US Congress approved Obama's anti-democratic trade treaties. This list says how US senators and congresscritters voted.

[Reference updated on 2018-05-16 because the old link was broken.] Anyone that voted for these treaties is working to eliminate democracy piece by piece.

16 October 2011 (Abu Dhabi) Nasser bin Ghaith has been imprisoned in Abu Dhabi for "insulting the president". He is boycotting the Bush-league trial that they have given him. The article calls on the French Sorbonne university, which he is connected with, to condemn his imprisonment, which it has in cowardly fashion refused to do. When it does this, it should condemn French President Sarkozy for punishing French people for insulting him.

15 October 2011 (Public Assistance Drug Testing) The ACLU sued to overturn a law requiring poor people to get drug tests when they apply for public assistance. It should be illegal to demand drug tests of job applicants, too — even airline pilot applicants. The right thing to do is test them before every flight to verify they are not impaired in their level of awareness.

15 October 2011 (Tax Increase Purposal) House Democrats presented a recommendation to the super committee: raise taxes. This article does not say whether the recommendation accepts any cuts in areas outside the military. I would like to know.

15 October 2011 (EPA Regs Blocked) Congressional Republicans passed a bill to block EPA regulations that would save 20,000 lives. This is consistent with their general policy that human life is worth nothing after birth.

15 October 2011 (Total impunity) Israeli intelligence routinely tortures prisoners, and even kills them occasionally, with total impunity.

15 October 2011 (Settlers) Israeli "settlers" attacked Palestinian families who were harvesting their olive trees. For once, Israeli soldiers acted to stop it: they took the bullies away and let the Palestinians harvest their trees. For the first time, the Israeli government has arrested someone for violence against Arabs.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.] However, these were Israeli Arabs. Violence (even arson) against Palestinians has never been punished.

15 October 2011 (West Bank colonies) The government of Israel is pushing hard to legitimize West Bank colonies built in violation of Israeli law, and even colonies built on private Palestinian land. All these colonies are considered illegal by the world outside Israel.

15 October 2011 (Right-wing business flunkies) Right-wing business flunkies hope to stop the National Labor Relations Board from protecting workers against business abuses.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.]

15 October 2011 (Sandblasting jeans) Sandblasting jeans, done to make them look worn, causes silicosis for the workers.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.] Rich countries ought to ban the sale of sandblasted jeans, not just the sandblasting itself. But the WTO would probably call this a "barrier to trade". The WTO's purpose is to defend business profits against "protectionist" laws, such as laws to protect people's health and lives. The WTO, and all "free trade" treaties that make it harder to do that, must be abolished.

15 October 2011 (Lake Imja) Global heating has created Lake Imja in the Himalayas, which grows every year. Some day the water will send a disastrous flood downstream.

15 October 2011 (Prisoner-exchange deal) Israel and Hamas reached a prisoner-exchange deal. If Hamas releases Gilad Shalit, he will be safe in Israel. The Palestinians that Israel releases may not be free for long: the Israeli army could rearrest them or kill them. If it does not systematically do this, the deal may make it harder for Israel to say it is impossible to negotiate with Hamas.

15 October 2011 (Corn-for-ethanol) US corn-for-ethanol is blamed for driving up world food prices. The US must drop this policy, but that will only delay the problem. It will be difficult to grow enough food for the 9 billion people projected for 2050, and difficult even to find enough water for them, and meanwhile global heating will reduce production. The shortage will make itself felt through prices that rise to the level where millions cannot afford food. The population may be limited at a smaller level by shortages — which means that having a baby will mean killing someone (very likely that baby, if the parents are poor; probably someone else, if the parents are not poor). To avoid that horrible outcome, we need vigorous birth control programs, sufficient to keep the world's population short of the resource limit.

15 October 2011 (Another bank bailout) The European Union is planning another bank bailout. It makes sense to use public money to keep banks from closing only if the state ensures that this does not represent a gift to the banksters. The state must require either shares, or repayment with market interest, in return for whatever it gives the banks.

15 October 2011 (Rescuers of Greece) The "rescuers" of Greece say they will keep it from immediate default in exchange for additional painful cuts — and they will come back for more cuts next year. Greeks now plan to occupy government buildings. If they occupy Parliament quickly enough, they may prevent the current round of cuts from being passed, and force default now rather than later. The longer it is postponed, the more cuts.

15 October 2011 (Subsidies for farmers) Europe is considering improvements in subsidies for farmers, such as to limit the amount of subsidy any farmer can receive. (Would this be a cap for the cap?) The UK is right that there might be a danger that some farms would be "split up" among relatives without real change. But that is a problem to be solved, not a reason to give up.

15 October 2011 (Reiki) An experiment shows that Reiki is merely a placebo. A massage has more real effect.

15 October 2011 (Insulting) Peyman Aref was expelled from university, imprisoned for a year, then flogged, for "insulting" the president of Iran and talking with foreign reporters. Neither of these activities should be a crime. All countries which have such laws, from Iran to France to Ecuador, must abolish them.

15 October 2011 (License plate recognition) Automatic license plate recognition is being deployed in the US. It is not systematic and ubiquitous, as in the UK, but if there are enough recognizers the result could be the same.

[Reference updated on 2018-05-16 because the old link was broken.]

15 October 2011 (Large banks) JPMorgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo Accused Of Overcharging Military Veterans — with illegal hidden fees. We need to break up large banks, that have so much influence that courts will look the other way when they commit foreclosure fraud , and eliminate mortgage-backed securities, so that the bank that made the loan retains the power to adjust it and give the home-owner more time.

15 October 2011 (Without a trial) The US executed Anwar al-Awlaki without a trial, or even a hearing. Obama convinced courts to leave the issue in his hands without question.

[Reference updated on 2018-05-16 because the old link was broken.] The Obama regime's argument seems to be that al Qa'ida is an enemy army and al-Awlaki is effectively an officer in it, so killing him is a normal part of such a war. That reason would be sufficient. What is questionable is to classify what al Qa'ida does as "war". That error led the US into responses that were self-defeating (as well as, in the case of Iraq, fundamentally unjust). As for the fact that al-Awlaki was "hiding in a place where he could not be captured", lots of criminals do that. Is that a reason not to indict him and ask him to surrender for prosecution?

15 October 2011 (Supposed grass-roots groups) Two more supposed grass-roots groups that AT&T has corrupted: Americans for Digital Equality and the Hispanic -Technology And Telecommunications Partnership. This is in addition to GLAAD and the NAACP. You can tell whether a group is run by sincere activists by their reaction to discovering such corruption. GLAAD's activists cleaned up the corruption and cleared the organization's name, but I never heard that they NAACP has done so.

15 October 2011 (Urgent: Amazon) Tell Amazon you object to the China-style way it treats its US workers. It is considerate of them to have an ambulance standing by for workers that collapse, but that doesn't make it ok.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.] I replaced it forces me to reconsider using Amazon for my online shopping. with I consider it a reason not to buy from Amazon. since I refuse to buy from Amazon for other reasons anyway: Amazon requires customers to identify themselves. If you look around, you can find a local independent bookstore that will order books for you without recording your name. Offer to pay in advance; unless they are pathologically rigid, that should be enough.

Amazon puts the squeeze on publishers and authors. If you do order a book over the Internet, order it from the publisher!

Amazon ebooks are an attack on your freedom. (Or see the html version of this article.)

15 October 2011 (Paid To Fake News) A right-wing billionaire is paying "journalists" to "mock and undermine" the Occupy Wall Street protests.

15 October 2011 (Profiteer Greed) Bush gave business a temporary tax break on "foreign profits", which hurt the US treasury and did no good for the US economy. Now the same profiteers want it again.

15 October 2011 (Connecticut Apologizes) Connecticut apologizes for Dubya. Does anyone know if the apology sign is really there on the road?

15 October 2011 (Contractors Inefficient) Increasing use of contractors in the US military is leading to less oversight and more vulnerability. Although the supposed reason for this is to save money, it is probably more expensive.

15 October 2011 (CA Warrants Vetoed) The governor of California vetoed a bill that would have required police to get a warrant before searching people's cell phones. Apparently he did this as a political deal for the support of police in his election campaign. Shame, shame!

15 October 2011 (UK Police Bully Man) Police in the UK bullied a man for taking photos of his daughter in a shopping mall. He has called for a boycott of the mall. That's a good response. However, he should know better than to post photos of his daughter on facebook.

14 October 2011 (Systematic Torture) Karzai's police and intelligence systematically torture their prisoners.

14 October 2011 (Protest Provocateur) A right-wing agent provocateur admits leading the group that entered the Air and Space Museum, while most protesters remained outside following their original plan.

14 October 2011 (Labor Manufacturing) Should Labor Fight To Revive U.S. Manufacturing? I disagree with the article on one point: it doesn't recognize the harm done by "free trade" treaties to all the countries that participate in them. These treaties systematically undermine democracy, so we must eliminate them to restore democracy. This does not imply "protectionism". One need not be "protectionist" to wish for democracy in the US and Colombia, and therefore oppose the US=Colombia "free trade" treaty. One need not be "protectionist" to support efforts to reduce smoking in the US and therefore call for elimination of the WTO.

14 October 2011 (Facebook Like) Facebook tracks users that see 'like' buttons, even users who never visited facebook.com and never click on those buttons.

14 October 2011 (New Zealand Oil) A grounded container ship is spreading oil on pristine New Zealand beaches. Ships which contain enough oil to present a danger should not be allowed to travel within 20 miles of any land without positive control of their locations.

14 October 2011 (Urgent Note: Support McGovern-Wyden resolution) US citizens: phone your congresscritter to support the McGovern-Wyden resolution to block an arms sale to Bahrain.

14 October 2011 (Assassinating ambassadors) If Iran had really tried to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the US, that would not be very different from what the US does.

14 October 2011 (UK ISPs may block porn sites) Major UK ISPs will offer the option of blocking access to known porn sites. In principle, I see no harm in this as an option. However, other articles warn that subscribers may be forced to prove their age to opt out of the blocking, and that means identifying yourself. That is an unjust requirement. In addition, public access sites might impose the same censorship.

14 October 2011 (Museum Protesters) Protesters tried to enter the National Air and Space Museum to criticize its glorification of the military.

14 October 2011 (Jeju Construction) The residents of the Korean island of Jeju are using every peaceful method to restrict construction of a US/Korean naval base.

14 October 2011 (UK Health Resistance) Powerful resistance seems to be scuttling the Tories' plans to destroy the UK National Health Service.

14 October 2011 (Obama Exploitation) NAFTA drove millions of Mexicans to migrate; Obama's free exploitation treaties would do likewise in other countries.

14 October 2011 (Urgent: Reggie Clemons) Everyone: call on the governor of Missouri to commute Reggie Clemons' death sentence; there was essentially no evidence and his trial was questionable.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.]

14 October 2011 (Assad Protests) Since Assad has crushed nonviolent protests in Syria by force, some in Syria are trying armed resistance. I sympathize, but I don't see how they could possibly get anywhere.

13 October 2011 (Not Worth Fighting) 1/3 of US veterans of the past decade think that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were "not worth fighting". The conquest of Iraq was much worse than a misjudgment, but given the natural tendency of people who fought a war to resist the idea that it wasn't necessary and justified, it is remarkable that so many have overcome it.

13 October 2011 (Muslims Egypt) Muslim fanatics in Egypt have attacked Christians and a church. In February, the protest leaders and the Egyptian people clearly established a nonsectarian stand. They must reiterate this now.

13 October 2011 (Iran Threats) The BBC says Iran is pressuring its Iranian employees in London by threatening their relatives in Iran. This disgusting tactic was also used by the Bush forces in Iraq.

13 October 2011 (Drug Rehab Vietnam) 40,000 "drug rehabilitation patients" are forced to do hard labor in Vietnam, shelling cashews, with constant exposure to the toxic outer parts of the nut. With 30 years of fighting, the Vietnamese replaced their overt French colonial rule with indirect colonization through a native satrap.

13 October 2011 (Boston Police) Boston police attacked and arrested 141 protesters for being in a park.

13 October 2011 (Bahrain Bowed) Bahrain has bowed to international pressure and granted a new trial to some (not all) the medical personnel imprisoned for treating wounded protesters.

[Reference updated on 2018-07-17 because the old link was broken.] The new trials will be civilian trials, but that doesn't guarantee they will be fair. In any case, the very idea of that it is a crime to give medical treatment to certain people is inherently evil.

13 October 2011 (Right Of Return) Comparing the right-of-return issue for Palestinians with the comparable issue for Jews.

13 October 2011 (Italy Wikipedia Berlusconi) The proposed Italian law that would make Wikipedia impossible to run there is being used by Berlusconi to interfere with publishing evidence of corruption.

13 October 2011 (Alaska Obama) Alaskans condemn Obama's decision to allow undersea oil drilling there.

13 October 2011 (Urgent: Donna Edwards) US citizens: phone your congresscritter and say, support Donna Edwards' constitutional amendment to reverse the Citizens United decision. You can also phone Rep. Edwards at 202-225-8699 and thank her. This amendment would specifically allow laws to regulate political "speech" by corporations.

13 October 2011 (Urgent: Unfair Trade) US citizens: phone your congresscritter at 1-800-718-1008 and insist on opposing the unfair trade treaties proposed with Korea, Panama, and Colombia. See http://www.citizen.org/Page.aspx?pid=4956.

[Reference updated on 2018-05-16 because the old link was broken.] Each of these treaties is unfair to both countries involved, because it gives the advantage to corporations.

13 October 2011 (Congress Block) The US Congress blocked $200 million aid to the Palestinian Authority. This can block humanitarian projects that the aid was meant for. The Palestinian Authority has clearly decided not to bow to this pressure. It has already threatened to dissolve itself and deny Israel a buffer over its conduct of the occupation. Cutting off its funds would push it towards carrying out that threat.

12 October 2011 (Israeli Education) The Israeli education ministry arbitrarily ordered schools not to talk about riots in 2000 in which some Israeli Arabs were killed.

12 October 2011 (Uber Vultures) How a few billionaires used the White House to profit by screwing poor sick Americans and poor countries. And they want to do it again.

12 October 2011 (Greece Strike) The latest austerity measures imposed on Greece have led to a general strike that shut down the entire government.

12 October 2011 (Iranian Actress) An Iranian actress has been sentenced to imprisonment plus flogging for appearing in a banned film. Has the US considered developing drone aircraft that can drop leaflets? Someone told me that the M129E1 could probably be carried by a drone.

12 October 2011 (Steel Workers Occupy) United Steel Workers support Occupy Wall Street.

[Reference updated on 2018-05-16 because the old link was broken.]

12 October 2011 (CO2 Ocean) As we overload the oceans with CO2, not only will this kill much of the life in them, but the CO2 will start to come back out.

12 October 2011 (UNESCO Palestine) The full membership of UNESCO will vote on whether to admit Palestine as a member.

[Reference updated on 2018-07-17 because the old link was broken.]

12 October 2011 (Anti-Citizen Tyranny) Several countries signed the Anti-Citizen Tyranny Agreement, which commits them to support media businesses against their citizens by banning devices that break digital handcuffs. The other provisions that these companies have not got this time, they will come back for with another treaty.

12 October 2011 (Child Soldiers) Omar Khadr is being punished for shooting a US soldier in Afghanistan. Video footage suggests he was tortured in Guantanamo, and there is some evidence his confession was false. Child soldiers are not supposed to be punished for war crimes, but supposed he had been older. It is not a crime for soldiers to shoot enemy soldiers — it is simply war. He should have been treated as a POW, not as a criminal. I am not surprised that the government of Canada didn't care about the case. What's a mere Canadian citizen against the dictates of the US? What the Canadian government really cares about is selling tar sand oil and roasting our planet, because that's what business wants. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch rebuked the Obama regime for giving military aid to other regimes that use child soldiers.

12 October 2011 (Europe Oil Sands) The European Commission voted to designate Canadian tar sand oil as particularly dirty for its high production of CO2.

12 October 2011 (Burma Dam) Burma's regime showed a small sign of willingness to hear the people's voice, by suspending the planned Myitsone dam project. But this does not mean the regime will allow dissent, or even that the dam won't be built.

12 October 2011 (Israeli Elite) Naomi Klein points out that the Israeli elite profits greatly from the insecurity that results from not having peace.

[Reference updated on 2018-05-13 because the old link was broken.]

12 October 2011 (Italy Wikipedia) Italian Wikipedia has taken its pages off line to warn Italians about a proposed law, being debated now, which would make Wikipedia's operation impossible in Italy.

12 October 2011 (UK Afghanistan) The UK is investigating 100 incidents where UK troops in Afghanistan were accused of killing or wounding civilians. In some of these incidents, the soldiers involved acted criminally, but most were simply bad luck for everyone involved. Such accidents are inevitable in a war, which is why launching a war is a crime in the absence of very strong justification.

12 October 2011 (NATO Libya) Civilians fleeing Sirte say that the government forces are firing lots of rockets which are endangering civilians. More info: Since NATO's mission in Libya is to protect civilians, it ought to insist that the new government not endanger them.

12 October 2011 (Urgent: Occupy Together) Support the march on Wall Street or another occupation in another US city, or the "virtual occupation".

12 October 2011 (Republican Budget) Republicans want to cut the budget of the Government Accounting Office, which reduces government waste. I read an article recently which suggested that the way to understand government decisions is to replace "despite" with "because" (or "for the sake of"). I think that applies here too: Republicans want to eliminate this organization because it prevents waste. After all, what is wasteful government spending? Excess payments to companies. Republicans represent those companies, so they are in favor of wasteful payments to those companies. Dubya and Cheney set up a system of wasteful spending in Iraq to reward their cronies, and the system was general enough that others took advantage of it to drink from the same trough. This is another example of the same thing. Furthermore, eliminating waste reduces the deficit, and that undercuts the arguments of Republicans for attacking benefits to poor Americans (which they want to do because they use it to get votes).. If a fairy gave the US $400 billion a year, they would need another tax cut for the rich to create a new the excuse for these cuts. In fact, that is what Wisconsin Gov. Walker did this year: he cut taxes for the rich, created a deficit, then uses it to attack workers' rights.

12 October 2011 (Motel Owner) Motel owners face the threat of confiscation because, over the years, a tiny fraction of their guests were arrested.

12 October 2011 (Israel Palestine) Israeli troops supposedly attack protests because Palestinian youths throw stones, but an Israeli soldier says that the troops usually shoot first.

12 October 2011 (Protest Respect) The right to protest is respected more in Egypt and Spain than in New York.

12 October 2011 (Israeli Occupation Boycott) The boycott of companies that profit from the Israeli occupation and colonization of the West Bank is hitting some companies hard, and they are moving their production.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.]

12 October 2011 (Legal Hooding) A lawsuit by an Iraqi ex-prisoner has brought about a ruling banning the UK from putting hoods over prisoners' heads. Bush ordered the US to put hoods over prisoners' heads. Has Obama changed this?

12 October 2011 (South Africa Dalai Lama) The government of South Africa refused to allow the Dalai Lama to make a private visit for Desmond Tutu's birthday party. It could only be sucking up to Chinese tyranny.

12 October 2011 (Sister Cities Protest) The Occupy Wall Street protest has inspired sister protests in several US cities, and are hoping to get 30 more soon.

12 October 2011 (Libyan Jew Rebels) A Libyan Jew, exiled by Gaddafi, returned to help the rebels. But his efforts to reopen the old synagogue have been met with threats of violence.

12 October 2011 (Nader) Ralph Nader is trying to organize a primary challenge to Obama. Hooray! Finally, we progressives will have a chance to show Obama how much we despise his right-wing policies. The article refers to the myth that Nader was responsible for the election of Dubya. Dubya stole the 2000 election and the 2004 election.

12 October 2011 (UK Nuclear Protester) Protesters are blocking the road to a nuclear construction site in the UK.

12 October 2011 (Energy Efficiency) Great advances in efficiency of appliances are being nullified by the purchase of energy hogs such as plasma TV screens.

12 October 2011 (Livni London) Tzipi Livni can now safely visit London, thanks to a change in UK law which gives ministers a political veto over prosecutions even when the crime cannot be denied. With typical state hypocrisy, they say that this is to prevent the law from being "used for political purposes", when in fact the result is to authorize precisely that.

12 October 2011 (Lake Wobegon Effect) With the Lake Wobegon effect, large companies try to pay their executives more than most comparably-sized companies pay theirs.

12 October 2011 (Alabama Anti-Immigrant) Alabama's anti-Immigrant law, upheld by a US court, has scared illegal Immigrants into pulling 2000 children out of school. Some of those children are US citizens, but they can no longer get an education. When illegal Immigrant women are too scared to get prenatal care for their children, the result will be US citizens with incurable birth defects.

12 October 2011 (American Jobs Act) US citizens: phone your congresscritter to support Obama's American Jobs Act. Or use this page to send a message, but a phone call carries more weight.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.] Here's information on the proposal. I see only one point here that is specifically bad: that of new computer labs in schools, which I fear would teach dependence on proprietary software to America's children. However, this would be a small part of the plan, not enough reason to reject the whole thing. A few other points might be of questionable effectiveness - some of the tax breaks for businesses. Obama probably isn't serious about the issue either, but it is an opportunity for us anyway. The Republicans will oppose anything that helps American workers, but we may as well make them lose something for opposing it.

12 October 2011 (Chevron Lawsuit) The lawsuit against Chevron shows companies that if they pollute, they may be made to pay. Unfortunately there remain many examples where companies were able to avoid paying, such as Exxon for the still persisting damage from the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.

12 October 2011 (Ozone Hole) For the first time, there was a large ozone hole in the Arctic stratosphere like the one that happens every year in the Antarctic.

12 October 2011 (UK Money) The UK says it has to cut support for the poor because it is out of money, so why does it hand out so much to the rich?

12 October 2011 (Tuvalu Fresh Water) Tuvalu is running out of fresh water due to a lack of rain. This might get worse with global heating, but not for long; in a decade or two, Tuvalu will be inundated frequently by storms and will no longer be inhabitable.

12 October 2011 (State Department Pipeline) State Department admits its "Independent" tar sands pipeline review was paid for by TransCanada (the company that plans to build the pipeline).

[Reference updated on 2018-05-16 because the old link was broken.]

12 October 2011 (Chicago Protest) Thousands protested in Chicago to tax the rich instead of budget cuts.

12 October 2011 (Kidnaping-for-torture) Lithuania is covering up for the Bush regime about how it participated in the kidnaping-for-torture system.

[Reference updated on 2018-05-16 because the old link was broken.]

12 October 2011 (Open Access) Princeton University has adopted the "open access" publication policy, as I have urged universities to do since the 90s. This policy may be marginally stronger than those of Harvard and MIT. It allows a professor to request a waiver, but are those waivers granted automatically, or does the university have the option to refuse, to make the publisher negotiate?

11 October 2011 (Bribing) The New York police arrested people for no apparent reason during a recent protest on Wall Street. Was the reason a 4.6 million donation from J. P. Morgan?

[Reference updated on 2018-05-16 because the old link was broken.] Bribing a policeman is a crime; bribing the police department is not.

11 October 2011 (Bizarre patent) The US appeals court upheld a bizarre, general patent on using information found in scientific literature.

10 October 2011 (Corporate responsibility) Mike Daisey's one-man campaign to call attention to the suffering inflicted by Apple on the people who make its products. Apple will probably try to diffuse the criticism with some sort of "corporate responsibility" pledge, which Chinese companies will then pretend to follow. It will be very hard to get Chinese factories to treat workers decently as long as the Chinese government is corrupt and won't enforce whatever laws they might have about labor conditions. In effect, the responsibility for these abuses falls on the corporations that decided to move all the manufacturing from the US to China and on the subservient politicians that helped them do it.

10 October 2011 (Drug Trials) Big Pharma companies test experimental drugs in poor countries where they don't bother to tell the subjects that they are participating in an experiment. We should not allow these companies to run trials of their own drugs. That is an opening for corruption, and these companies, which assiduously research new ways to corrupt medicine, will take advantage of any opening they get. We already know that studies funded by drug companies are less likely to report any problem. We should tax these companies and run studies which they have no connection with.

10 October 2011 (Earth Justice) Earth Justice is suing for proper environmental impact consideration before opening a new coal mine in Montana. A congressional committee allowed two witnesses into its hearing to describe the harm done by strip mining of coal, but ignored them.

10 October 2011 (Kindle) The Kindle was a scheme for knowing what books are read by the fools who use it. The new version, Kindle Fire, will let Amazon track users' web browsing too.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.] Stallman's Law: under corporatocracy, every advance in technology is an opportunity for corporations to reduce, in practice, the rights of human beings.

10 October 2011 (Urgent Note: Bologna) Everyone: call on the NYPD to investigate officer Bologna's violence rather that try to feed us the bologna that there could have been some justification for shooting pepper spray at helpless unagressive protesters.

10 October 2011 (Social computer games) How "social" computer games are subtly designed to get some vulnerable players hooked and paying lots of money. The article is written in a style that is too clever gets in the way of its point, but the point is visible nonetheless.

10 October 2011 (Pinkwashing) "Pinkwashing" means making questionable or expensive products seem good by linking them somehow with the cause of treating breast cancer. The foundation which started the practice is now selling a perfume with toxic contents.

10 October 2011 (Latest Republican looney lie) The latest Republican looney lie: cutting the Pentagon budget would "force" the US to reinstate the draft. The hypocrisy of Republicans is visible when they say military cuts would cost jobs, but disregard the loss of jobs that would result from the other cuts they advocate. Any given amount of spending creates fewer jobs when it is spent on the military.

10 October 2011 (Violence in Afghanistan) The UN found that violence in Afghanistan is up 40% over 2010.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.] There is no way the US can "win" this war except by crushing the country. The sooner it pulls out, the less harm it will do.

09 October 2011 (Protests in Chile) Chilean police massively attacked the protesters. They sprayed tear gas directly on the leader of the students, paralyzing her. She says that they sprayed her with a burning chemical too. The protesters have called for a general strike.

[Reference updated on 2018-05-16 because the old link was broken.]

09 October 2011 (EU is planning for Greek to become bankrupt) This article argues that the European Union is planning for the Greek state to become bankrupt. Interestingly, it assumes that Greece will use the bankruptcy to shaft Greek workers rather than to cancel debt to banks. I won't say this is impossible but I don't see why it is a certainty.

09 October 2011 (Fracking) A group of medical doctors asked New York State to study health implications before permitting fracking.

09 October 2011 (Vaccination efforts in Pakistan) CIA's vaccine ruse in Pakistan has harmed vaccination efforts as well as relations between the US and the Pakistani people. The phony vaccination scheme may have been wrong, but it is clearly not "treason"; accusing people based on exaggeration is just as wrong in Pakistan as in the US or anywhere else. By making that accusation, Pakistan effectively says, "To attack bin Laden was to attack the Pakistani state." I hope Pakistan does not really wish to identify itself with a terrorist.

09 October 2011 (Sirte seems to be falling to Libyan government forces) Sirte seems to be on the edge of falling to Libyan government forces. I have to wonder why Gaddafi's men continue to fight, even though it is clear they will lose. Is it from discipline? I doubt they had so much of that. Loyalty to Gaddafi? Maybe, but I wonder why. Fear they will not be allowed to surrender? I hope that is not it. Tribal loyalty? If so, the government needs to do something to win the support of that tribe, or it will lead to some sort of problem later.

09 October 2011 (Syria is attacking dissidents) Syria is attacking dissidents outside Syria by sending thugs to fight them and by torturing their relatives.

09 October 2011 (Right-wing_bias_on_NPR) NPR's new president plans to "depoliticize" the service — which means, increase the right-wing bias. NPR stands for Not Progressive, Really.

09 October 2011 (Block arms sales to Bahrain) Human Rights Watch (and many others) have called on Congress to block US arms sales to Bahrain.

09 October 2011 (Bloody occupation of Kashmir) India deports foreign journalists who try to cover its bloody occupation of Kashmir, or its cruel war against the tribals. Indian journalists get framed and imprisoned instead.

09 October 2011 (Weaker Bailout Repayment Rules) Banks Successfully Lobbied For Weaker Bailout Repayment Rules So They Could Pay Bonuses. More information about this. The latest Republican distraction: Wall Street protesters threaten poor bankers who are "Are Struggling To Make Ends Meet". Th corporations which rule with their unjust power do have some employees. But what they do with their power, to transfer wealth to the rich, has destroyed millions of jobs and left millions more with lousy jobs. We need to eliminate that power. If the result is that some unproductive jobs disappear, that will be a minor offset to the overall benefit.

09 October 2011 (Representing dissidents) Narges Mohammadi has been sentenced to 11 years in prison in Iran for representing dissidents in court. This bogus trial was not as bad as what Obama does, sentencing people to execution by decree.

08 October 2011 (Oil from the Big Spill) Small amounts of oil from the Big Spill had devastating effects on fish in marshes in Louisiana.

08 October 2011 (Gagging scientists) Many federal agencies are systematically gagging their scientists.

[Reference updated on 2018-05-16 because the old link was broken.]

08 October 2011 (Business as usual) James Hansen says, "If we stay on with business as usual, the southern U.S. will become almost uninhabitable."

[Reference updated on 2018-05-16 because the old link was broken.]

8 October 2011 (Urgent: FCC's Rules) US citizens: send mail to your senators telling them to oppose the resolution to block the FCC's network neutrality rules. Even better, phone them too. The FCC's rules are not as strong as they should be, but they are much better than nothing, and nothing is the senators who are working for the telcos want us to have. The Capitol Switchboard numbers are 202-224-3121, 888-818-6641 and 888-355-3588.

8 October 2011 (Urgent: US Citizens) US citizens: phone your congresscritter to support the bill to make it easy to move your money to a different bank. Also sign this petition, but the phone call carries more weight. The Capitol Switchboard numbers are 202-224-3121, 888-818-6641 and 888-355-3588.

8 October 2011 (Big US Drug Companies) Big US drug companies get away with illegal medical experiments because they are too big to sue. The US needs to adopt policies that will make large companies split up.

8 October 2011 (Birth Control) Republicans want to cut off the US government's investment in birth control for poor women, even though this change would increase the deficit. It would also result in more abortions (slightly dangerous) and more births (more dangerous).

8 October 2011 (Conservative Front Group) A conservative front group, "FreedomWorks" is trying to hijack public anger and protests and direct them on paths that support the banksters. The Federal Reserve Bank has been trying to stimulate the economy, but it cannot do so very effectively. The right tool for this job is deficit spending, but Republicans won't allow that, and Obama has mostly embraced the Republican goal of deficit-cutting.

8 October 2011 (Turkey: "Anti-Terror" Laws.) Turkey has imprisoned 500 protesting students using "anti-terror" laws.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.] If a law is described as "anti-terror", that is plenty of reason to suspect it unjustly restricts citizens' freedom. This is because reacting to a sensational crime often leads legislators to switch off their better judgment.

8 October 2011 (Secret Panel) Obama's decisions about who to assassinate are made by a secret panel of officials that releases no deliberations. Whatever crimes Awlaki may have been involved in, and no matter what crimes he may have been planning, they don't justify execution without trial.

06 October 2011 (Avwar Al-Awlaqi) Anwar Al-Awlaqi has been assassinated at the orders of Obama, who seems to have won uncontested power to order US citizens killed.

06 October 2011 (Secret Supercomittee) The Supercommittee said it would conduct its meetings openly, but in fact makes most meeting an "exception" and holds them in secret.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-15 because the old link was broken.]

06 October 2011 (Uganda New Forest) New Forest Company wanted to grow trees in Uganda as a carbon-offset scheme, so it violently chased out the people who lived on the land. Growing trees as a carbon-offset scheme is bogus in the first place because the CO2 absorption is only forecast, not real.

06 October 2011 (Us Afghanistan) How the US set up an indiscriminate killing machine in Afghanistan.

06 October 2011 (Steve Jobs) Steve Jobs, the pioneer of the computer as a jail made cool, designed to sever fools from their freedom, has died. As Chicago Mayor Harold Washington said of the corrupt former Mayor Daley, "I'm not glad he's dead, but I'm glad he's gone." Nobody deserves to have to die - not Jobs, not Mr. Bill, not even people guilty of bigger evils than theirs. But we all deserve the end of Jobs' malign influence on people's computing. Unfortunately, that influence continues despite his absence. We can only hope his successors, as they attempt to carry on his legacy, will be less effective. (I posted a follow-on : 27 October 2011 (Steve Jobs) )

06 October 2011 (US Haiti) The US pressured Haitian senators to approve as prime minister a man who has ties to the former dictatorship and is currently employed by Bill Clinton. (See the last paragraph.) This is after imposing its choice of president on Haiti in a Burmese-style election.

06 October 2011 (UK Body Scanners) The UK is forcing people to go through body scanners at train stations. On seeing a photo I find it is just a metal detector, not a body scanner. Fortunately, therefore, it was a false alarm.

06 October 2011 (Israel West Bank) Israel's fanatical followers in the Republican Party openly avowed their support for Israel's annexation of the West Bank. Annexation is what Israel has been gradually doing for a few decades. What we see here is the fading of shame about that goal. The rest of Boehner's statement