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

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Link Policy

29 February 2016 (Many sites block visitors that use Tor) Many web sites block or harass visitors that use Tor. What the article does not mention is that the CAPTCHAs typically operate through nonfree Javascript code. We who refuse to run nonfree Javascript code simply can't access these sites.

29 February 2016 (Repression of prostitutes in Indonesia) Indonesia is imposing harsh repression on prostitutes. They will still work as prostitutes but it will be more dangerous for them.

29 February 2016 (Urgent: Contraceptive aid) US citizens: call on Congress to approve contraceptive aid for regions affected by Zika.

29 February 2016 (Scalia) Scalia did grave damage to American workers and consumers by allowing companies to impose arbitration requirements on them, thus denying them the right to go to court when mistreated.

29 February 2016 (Student prosecuted for insulting Tories) Charges have been dropped against a UK student who was prosecuted for an insult against Tories. Bravo to anyone that insults Tories, but Aneurin Bevan expressed it much more clearly. The Tories are lower than vermin.

29 February 2016 (Noncompete agreements) Many US companies impose noncompete agreements on lots of employees just because they can — so these employees, if laid off, can't work anywhere. The fact that most of these contracts would not be enforced by a court does not stop them from doing harm. If it were up to me, I would penalize companies for asking employees to sign them, outside some narrow cases.

29 February 2016 (Regulations for undersea fracking) The US proposes very light regulations for undersea fracking. Do we have to risk learning the hard way?

29 February 2016 (Support for solar power in Nevada) The people of Nevada are organizing strongly to reverse the decision to remove support for individuals to install solar power. If we taxed carbon emissions enough, and eliminated subsidies for fossil fuels, specific policies to encourage solar power would not be needed. Simply avoiding the cost of fossil fuel would be enough incentive for people to switch.

28 February 2016 (The South Carolina primary) Clinton won the South Carolina primary. However, Sanders leads nationwide and can still win the nomination.

28 February 2016 (False Benefit Fraud Allegations) People in the UK have reported around a million cases of alleged benefit fraud, but only 15% of them were real fraud. The other 85% of those accused were honest.

28 February 2016 (Surveillance cameras in nursing homes) Putting surveillance cameras in nursing homes would violate the privacy of the people living there. One possible trade-off is to install security cameras instead of surveillance cameras. The difference is that a surveillance camera can be watched remotely, while a security camera makes only a local recording that is overwritten in a short time. The security camera would deter abuses while not lending itself to watching everyone. I believe that only security cameras, not surveillance cameras, should be allowed pointing at places where the public is admitted, with exceptions allowed only under court orders for a specific place and time period. As for nursing homes, they could install security cameras in the rooms of those patients that request them.

28 February 2016 (Offending religious feelings) Dalits worship a "demon" that in mythology was killed by the goddess Durga. They believe he was a king that challenged the dominance of the caste system. Jawaharlal Nehru University uses this feast day as an occasion for political debates about caste, for which it faces prosecution for offending the religious feelings of higher caste Indians that worship Durga. I suppose they offend the religious feelings of Dalits, reciprocally, but they won't be prosecuted for that. Religious freedom means that people are free to hold any views in the area of religion, and freedom of speech means they are free to praise or condemn any religion.

28 February 2016 (Right-wing presuppositions in debate questions) Democratic debate moderators from PBS posed questions with right-wing presuppositions. The US right wing is not grateful for this support; rather, it continues to condemn PBS as "liberal" no matter how reactionary it gets. This is part of its long-term strategy to fool Americans into considering all views but the most extreme reactionarism as "leftist extremism". The support for Sanders shows that many Americans are starting to recognize this lie.

28 February 2016 (Plutocrats realize Sanders may become president) Plutocrats in the US and the EU will try to get This Treaty Is Plutocratic finished in time for Obama to sign it. They realize that the next president may be Sanders.

28 February 2016 (Bill slashes wildlife protections) U.S. House of Representatives Approves Bill Slashing Wildlife Protections. The victims of this SCROTUS initiative would include wolves in the US and elephants in Africa. SCROTUS = Sleazy Congressional Republicans Of The United States.

28 February 2016 (AT&T pays legislators to approve bill) AT&T gave 62 thousand dollars to Missouri state legislators to get a committee to approve a bill to block municipal internet access in that state. Even if they have to pay 10 times as much to get the whole legislature to approve the bill, AT&T will get tremendous return on investment.

28 February 2016 (Schoolchildren face felony charges) Two Florida schoolchildren face felony charges for putting red pepper in a teacher's soda. The school should punish them, but taking it to court is incompetence on the school's part. I reject the practice of calling teenagers "children" merely because they are minors, but these are 12 years old, not even teenagers. They really are children.

28 February 2016 (Scalia's worth to corporate America) "Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was worth billions of dollars to corporate America," extrapolating from evidence that his death has denied them the chance to make off with billions more.

28 February 2016 (Growing marijuana indoors) Growing marijuana indoors uses up lots of electricity. Why grow marijuana indoors? Because it's illegal. Even were it is legal, they still grow it indoors because they invested so much effort in learning to grow a good crop indoors. But legalization will change that over time, even if not instantly.

27 February 2016 (Reducing poaching) A team of local women has had great success in reducing poaching in one region of South Africa. More money and more political will would do a lot of good in inspiring such teams. Pay alone won't do it, but these efforts cost money.

27 February 2016 (Seaworld employee tries to provoke violence) Seaworld sent an employee to infiltrate PETA, where he tried to provoke them into violence. It seems to me that a fraudulent attempt to lead others into crime (so as to prosecute them) should itself be a crime.

27 February 2016 (Gov. Snyder) Some of Gov. Snyder's top advisers called for switching Flint's water supply back to safer water in October 2014. If Snyder did not know about this, he was incompetent at his job.

27 February 2016 (Sexting) New Mexico has legalized sexting for teenagers 14 and over. I fear 13-year-olds are still in danger of punishment. You might think it is wiser for them not to sext, or have sex, but some will do it anyway and it is wrong to jail them when they do.

26 February 2016 (Palestinian journalist released) Israel has released Palestinian journalist Mohammed al-Qiq from imprisonment without trial. However, he is too sick to leave the hospital.

26 February 2016 (Intolerance of queers) In Indonesia (and elsewhere), Islam stands for intolerance of queers. Tradition in Java and Bali includes a lot of public cross-dressing. The forms of Islam that were common in Java in the past did not go in for repression. In the past few decades, repressive Islam has spread there. I've heard this attributed to funding from Salafi Arabia.

26 February 2016 (Manus Island) One of Australia's prisoners in Manus Island was just granted refugee status, after a long hunger strike. He can't walk or eat normal food. The Papuan government wants to move him away from the only place he can get medical care.

26 February 2016 (Blocking imports of sea food) The US will start blocking imports of sea food from Thailand where there is suspicion forced labor was used.

26 February 2016 (Employed people are homeless) In San Francisco, even employed people are homeless. It is fine to insist that housing for people must meet certain standards, but not as an excuse to push people around on the street. San Francisco's first step should be to legalize sleeping in RVs. Its next step should be to provide homeless people with RVs, if not better. With all the wealth flowing into the city, it will have no trouble paying for this, if it taxes that wealth properly.

26 February 2016 (Citizenship) Senator Cruz wants the US government to have the power to take away people's citizenship by administrative order (not even a trial). What next, Mr Cruz? Round up people on the street and shoot them?

26 February 2016 (Assange "arbitrarily detained") The UN working group's conclusion that Julian Assange has been "arbitrarily detained" is based on the specific injustices of his case: how Sweden is using an unjustly conducted investigation as excuse to grab him and violate his rights. Here is its opinion. This reasoning and conclusion would not apply if a war criminal (Dubya, for instance) were hiding in an embassy to avoid honest, overt and justly conducted prosecution. They would also not apply if Sweden conducted its investigation of these accusations against Assange in an honest and above-board way.

26 February 2016 (Trampled human rights) 2015: When Global Governments Trampled Human Rights in Name of National Security.

26 February 2016 (Indigenous Palestinians) Haneen Zoabi: Why Israel Is Fighting the Indigenous Palestinians.

26 February 2016 (Fires in forests in Tasmania) Global heating resulted in fires in forests in Tasmania, that for at least a thousand years have been too wet for any fire. Their entire ecosystem is likely to burn away as heating continues.

26 February 2016 (Financial ties to Clinton's campaign) TV Pundits Praise Hillary Clinton On Air, Fail to Disclose Financial Ties to Her Campaign.

26 February 2016 (Lack of love as children) Many heroin users are using it to blunt the permanent pain of their lives, which comes from a lack of love as children. I don't know if there is a way to help those people, but making reliable birth control and abortion easy to get will avoid many of them.

26 February 2016 (Long-lasting brain problems) People who were not killed by Ebola have long-lasting brain problems.

26 February 2016 (Ultimate treachery) Obama is considering the ultimate treachery: nominating a Republican for the Supreme Court. With "Democrats" like that, who needs Republicans? Fortunately, the official Republicans rejected this nominee. But that doesn't mean Obama, the great weakling, won't offer them an even bigger compromise.

26 February 2016 (Tor anonymity) The US government hired CMU researchers to break Tor anonymity.

26 February 2016 (India's subsidy for solar power systems) India's subsidy for installing solar power systems it applies only to solar cells made in India. The WTO called this a barrier to trade, apparently under prodding from the US. Its logic makes sense, but its priorities are twisted.

26 February 2016 ("Bedroom tax") A disabled British woman, and her husband that cares for her, may become homeless because of the "bedroom tax". The Tories keep imposing cuts on the poor and sick, which they know must push increasing numbers of people into penury. Precisely whom or why, they don't care. The cuts must be applied rigidly, even dishonestly, or they would not achieve the goal.

26 February 2016 (Sanders plans to solve two US problems) Sanders plans to solve two US problems at once: curbing speculation in the big casino and funding US infrastructure. Incidentally, rebuilding the infrastructure will create lots of jobs.

26 February 2016 (Treaties with very poor countries) The UK has treaties with many very poor countries, limiting what taxes they can charge to UK companies.

26 February 2016 (National health systems) The TTIP could force privatization of national health systems, in the UK and (I presume) in the rest of Europe. It could also stop the US from setting up a proper national health service, which it badly needs.

26 February 2016 (New taxes) Foreign companies could the use TTIP and other such treaties to forbid states from imposing new taxes.

26 February 2016 (Urgent: Vote on state power) US citizens: Call on Congress to vote on whether the government can make companies change their products to snoop on people, and debate and vote on what power the state should have.

26 February 2016 (CO 2 emission limit) Terrible news: to avoid 2C of heating, we can only emit 1,200 bn tons more CO 2 (or equivalent) from now on. That is only half what scientists estimated before. "If we don't start reducing our emissions immediately, we will blow [the carbon budget] in a few decades."

26 February 2016 (Trade secrecy coverup of pre-clinical test) A French drug trial caused grave brain damage, sometimes fatal. A previous test of the same drug on dogs did similar damage, but it was covered up by trade secrecy. Drug companies should not be allowed to impose secrecy on any information about drug trials. Any arrangements made by the company that impede publication should land the executives responsible in prison for a long time, and the company should be punished by cancelling the patent on that drug. However, this alone is not enough, because imposing secrecy is not the only method these companies use to do corrupt medicine. For instance, when drug companies finance or control drug testing, they ruin its results. It is a fundamental conflict of interest. For a test to kill subjects is rare, but lesser forms of harm happen all the time. Drug companies should have nothing to do with tests on drugs. The government should run them, and drug companies should pay through their taxes. Drug companies have many ways of corrupting medicine.

26 February 2016 (The practice of requiring money bail) Some members of US Congress have proposed to end the practice of requiring money bail for people accused of crimes. The system keeps indigent people in jail for months or years, and many plead guilty to crimes they did not commit because the sentence is less jail time than they would spend waiting for a trial.

26 February 2016 (Bill Gates's lunacy) Bill Gates says there will be a "clean energy breakthrough" that will solve the global heating problem. Mr Bill's faith in future technology is touching, but it's lunacy. Such a breakthrough may or may not happen. Our plans for avoiding global heating disaster must not depend on it. Fortunately, we can avoid disaster even without any breakthrough — if we have the political will to make a forced march to sustainable energy. If, that is, we do not justify laziness by assuming that a "breakthrough" will make it easy.

26 February 2016 (Many web sites blocking Tor users) Many web sites are blocking connection through Tor, or making users answer a CAPTCHA. The CAPTCHA typically requires nonfree Javascript software. Thus, these sites demand that you either (1) let them track your location or (2) run a nonfree program. Either one means mistreating you. I refuse to do those things — I would rather not access those sites. I hope you will join me in rejecting them.

25 February 2016 (Bolivians decline to change constitution) Bolivia's voters declined to change the constitution to allow Evo Morales to run for president again. He was a big change for the better, but it is dangerous to let one person be president on and on.

25 February 2016 (Bernie Sanders ahead) This is good news, but since real outcomes will come soon, I will wait and post about them.

25 February 2016 (Nissan Leaf tracks driver's movements) The Nissan Leaf records where it has traveled, tracking the driver's movements. This article reports on how crackers have been able to extract that information from the car. However, I think the worst thing is that the car keeps these records at all. I am sure Nissan has a way to get at them, and I suppose governments can make Nissan extract them too.

25 February 2016 (Heathrow Airport climate protesters) The Heathrow Airport climate protesters were given a suspended sentence. This means they won't be imprisoned now, but they are effectively blocked from further protest activity. One of the protesters, expecting to be imprisoned, said she has no regrets. I wish someone could tell her how to write her favorite music onto an audio CD with GNU/Linux. The UK should repeal its "aggravated trespass" law.

25 February 2016 (Guantanamo prison still not closed) It's Obama's own fault that he has not closed the Guantanamo prison, because he accepted nearly all of its injustices.

25 February 2016 ("Antisemitism" in Oxford student club) Regarding "antisemitism" in an Oxford student club. Real antisemitism was widespread in the UK in the past, and it may still exist today, but the criticism of Israel's occupation policies as "antisemitism" is a falsehood.

25 February 2016 (Treason convictions in secret trials) Russia is convicting people of treason in secret trials, apparently based on no evidence. I wish this practice were limited to Russia.

25 February 2016 (Organized crime finances illegal fishing) Organized crime now finances illegal unsustainable fishing of endangered species around the world. A group of volunteers work to catch the criminals. I do not approve of releasing tuna from a fish farm, which they did once before, but that is a side issue.

24 February 2016 (Disappeared in Thailand) Chinese dissident and whistleblower Li Xin has disappeared in Thailand. At least one of the Hong Kong publishers was apparently taken from Thailand. It appears that Thailand is basically unsafe for anyone that China wants to grab. This resembles what the US did, kidnaping a man in Italy and sending him to Egypt to be tortured. One former CIA agent is going to be extradited to Italy for trial for this.

24 February 2016 (Thugs block delivery to Chelsea Manning) Prison thugs blocked delivery of printouts of EFF articles to Chelsea Manning, supposedly from concern that they violated the EFF's copyright. This excuse is even more ludicrous than it seems, because printing a web page to show a person who can't see it on the net is probably fair use.

24 February 2016 (Cease-fire in Syria) The US and Russia have agreed to a cease-fire in Syria applying to all sides except al-Nusra (al-Qa'ida) and PISSI. I hope this can work. But given the way the non-Islamist rebels are closely allied with al-Nusra, I am not sure the distinction is practical.

24 February 2016 (TTIP would protect Exxon from regulations) The EU's trade negotiator told Exxon that the TTIP would protect it from pesky regulations. That's effectively a confession that the TTIP is a form of corruption.

24 February 2016 (Rebelling against the establishment) Many Americans are rebelling against the establishment. Those who blame the real culprits support Sanders. Those distracted with scapegoats support Trump.

24 February 2016 (Pro-Palestinian posters in London metro) Pro-Palestinian activists put up posters in the London metro, pretending to be advertisements, which criticize aspects of Israel's occupation of Palestine. As described here, the posters seem to be factual and accurate. Israel and its supporters take offense at this contradiction of the one-sided official picture, so they describe the posters as "vandalism" and even pretend that they threaten violence.

24 February 2016 (Rate of sea level rise) Global warming has caused sea level to rise at the fastest rate in the last 2,800 years. It is not clear whether sea level rose faster 2,800 years ago, or we simply don't know how fast it rose then. This study forecasts only 1.3 meters (4.3 feet) of sea level rise by 2100, but we don't know how much global heating will melt the Greenland ice cap in this century. In any case, sea level will continue rising, and over centuries the rise could amount to 25 meters. Many of the world's major cities will be inundated.

23 February 2016 (Moving imprisonment without trial to US) Obama once again proposes to move imprisonment without trial from Guantanamo Bay to United States territory. The evil of the Guantanamo prison is imprisonment without trial. Moving it to the US would not reduce the evil, only smash the last barrier against making it standard US practice. Justice requires that each prisoner be tried or released.

23 February 2016 ("Three strikes" system for punishing sharing) The copyright industry finds Australia's "three strikes" system for punishing people for sharing files not worth using unless they make it super cheap to run, and unreliable.

23 February 2016 (Suing gun and ammo manufacturers) The relatives of people shot dead in Sandy Hook want to sue the manufacturers of the rifle and ammunition that the killer used. I think this sort of unpredictable liability is the wrong way to decide what kinds of guns may be sold. That policy should published explicitly in advance, and companies that follow it should not be liable. Thus, I advocate prohibiting large magazines, but not suing the companies that made them lawfully.

23 February 2016 (Solitary confinement) 44 Years in Solitary Confinement Is Even Worse Than You Can Imagine. So says another person who spent years in solitary confinement.

23 February 2016 (Capitalism and socialism) A poll finds that US Democratic voters are more favorable towards socialism than towards capitalism. I advocate a mixture of capitalism (allow private businesses) and socialism (regulate them tightly, tax them a lot, and keep them small).

23 February 2016 (Urgent: Appoint progressive to Supreme Court) US citizens: phone the White House and call on Obama to appoint a progressive to the Supreme Court. The White House comments line is 202-456-1111.

23 February 2016 (Urgent: Oppose the DARK act) US citizens: phone your senators to oppose the DARK act that would prohibit states from requiring labeling of GMOs. 1-877-796-1949

23 February 2016 (Greenhouse emissions and air pollution) Greenhouse emissions often go with air pollution. Cutting emissions to avoid global heating disaster could save almost 300,000 Americans from death from respiratory diseases by 2030.

23 February 2016 (Winner of the war in Afghanistan) At every stage, the winner of the war in Afghanistan has been … opium. The suggestion at the end to put US money into rural development is, however, easier to say than to do. The US has scattered lots of cash for this, and often it only fed corruption.

23 February 2016 (Clinton's pay from big banks) Clinton ought to recuse herself from the presidential race for conflict of interest: namely, her million-plus in pay from the big banks.

23 February 2016 (Another report from Heatland Institute) The Heatland institute* has published another report denying global heating, full of falsehoods. * Its official name is "Heartland", but "Heatland" describes it more accurately.

22 February 2016 (Australian gov't attacking democracy) The Australian government is subjecting democracy to a "corrosive" attack. It is promoting secrecy and reducing accountability to the public.

22 February 2016 (Right-wingers want to repress transsexuals) Right-wingers want to repress transsexuals with laws requiring them to use the toilets for the sex they were born with. There is a real dispute here, between male-to-female transsexuals who want to use toilets for females, and other females who feel uncomfortable with people in their toilets that are rather similar to males. Both of them have good reasons, and I don't see how to satisfy them both. I don't have a solution to offer, but these laws clearly only do harm.

22 February 2016 (Charter schools) The "Success Academy", a group of charter schools, succeeds by ejecting students that aren't a big success. There's a place for schools for gifted children. Just don't judge ordinary public schools against them.

22 February 2016 (FBI's demands to Apple unnecessary) Snowden explains why the FBI's demands to Apple are unnecessary. Specifically, The FBI already has all of the suspects' communications records — who they talked to and how — as these are stored by service providers, not on the phone itself. The FBI has received comprehensive backups of all the suspects' data until just 6 weeks before the crime. Copies of the suspects' contacts with co-workers — the FBI claimed interest — are available in duplicate from those co-workers' phones. The phone in controversy is a government-issued work phone, subjected to consent-to-monitoring, not a secret terrorist communications device. The "operational" phones believed to be hiding incriminating information, recovered by the FBI during a search, were physically destroyed, not "shielded by Apple." Alternative means for gaining access to this device — and others — exist that do not require the manufacturer's assistance.

22 February 2016 (Pentagon predicted "Salafist Principality") A Pentagon report in 2012 predicted that support for the (mainly Islamist) anti-Assad rebels in Syria was likely to result in a "Salafist Principality", basically something like PISSI. That's what Salafi Arabia and Turkey wanted, but why did the US support them? Even in 2012, some in the Pentagon knew that the Syrian rebels were mainly Islamists. That doesn't mean Obama and his advisers knew this — but if not, they should have. The US may have expected this "Salafist Principality" to be more like Salafi Arabia rather than the actual PISSI. That is hardly an excuse.

22 February 2016 (Bernie Sanders' accomplishments) What has Bernie Sanders actually accomplished?

22 February 2016 (Sydney nightlife lockout laws) Thousands of people in Sydney protested against laws that have made bars, restaurants and music venues shut down. These laws have avoided dozens of alcohol-related injuries each year, but maybe it is possible to keep the venues open and reduce how much alcohol people can drink in them.

22 February 2016 (Urgent: Stop merger) US citizens: tell the FCC to stop Charter from merging with Time Warner Cable.

22 February 2016 (Repression in Bahrain) The UK lobbied the UN, apparently with success, to tone down its criticism of repression in Bahrain.

22 February 2016 (Attacks on indigenous tribes in Amazon) Many uncontacted indigenous tribes in the Amazon are making contact, mainly because they have been attacked by murderous criminal gangs. There is no vaccine against the common cold — or against the flu in general.

21 February 2016 (Protesters surround Australian hospital) Large numbers of protesters surround the Australian hospital where a refugee baby is being treated. They are concerned lest the state send the baby back to the prison in Nauru, where the baby was burned.

21 February 2016 (Scalia) Scalia was no "originalist". He turned the constitution upside down to permit Republican voter suppression.

21 February 2016 (This year's US election issues) Most of the election issues in the US this year are really forms of the issue of plutocracy vs democracy.

21 February 2016 (Forced labor and business) Studying the relationship between forced labor and business.

20 February 2016 (Trumps admiration for atrocity) Trump stated his admiration for an atrocity (perhaps mythical) attributed to US General Pershing in the colonized Philippines, I've read (though not in detail) that the US's suppression of the Philippines in 1900, when it had kicked out Spanish rule, was quite brutal.

20 February 2016 (Sanders leading over Clinton in National poll) Sanders now leads Clinton in a national poll. Clinton's strategy of trying to prevent voters from learning about Sanders, by having few debates and obscure ones, was cunning, and it almost worked. Maybe now it will fail.

20 February 2016 (The case against tipping) Some US states long ago banned paying low wages to employees and telling them to make it up with tips. It works fine. I tip waiters in restaurants, because I know they depend on it, but I would rather get rid of the practice and require employers to pay them an adequate wage.

20 February 2016 (How to reduce inequality) To reduce inequality, we need to change the rules that the super-rich have set up to grab most of the wealth that we produce.

20 February 2016 (Released after 43 years in solitary for bogus charges) Prisoner Albert Woodfox, who has been in solitary confinement for 43 years after bogus trials, was released from prison. (The article was written before the release took place; I've heard elsewhere that it did occur.)

20 February 2016 (Sexism among Ebay shoppers) An experiment shows shoppers on Ebay act in a sexist way. For most products, they offer a higher bid if the seller is male. For a few products, the effect goes the other way. Sexism has been demonstrated in other areas; for instance, evaluation of the merit of scientific work is affected by sexism. My father's second wife was a painter. When she was young, she signed her paintings with a name that could be take for masculine, to avert sexism. Her paintings sold better that way.

20 February 2016 (CO2 makes coral vulnerable to viruses) Increased CO2 in the water may not directly wipe out coral, but makes coral deformed and more more vulnerable to viruses. Young coral organisms have special difficulty, so a reef might not recover after events that kill part of it.

(Uganda: opposition presidential candidate arrested) Uganda's main opposition presidential candidate has been arrested. It is a fitting end to an apparently rigged election.

20 February 2016 (Nauru restricting visits by Australians) Nauru has tightened security against exposure of how it treats the prisoners it imprisons for Australia by restricting visits by Australians. This is in case they might be journalists. Nauru basically does not allow journalists to enter. Nauru is Australia's equivalent of Guantanamo, except used for people not even accused of terrorism and even less accountable.

20 February 2016 (EU to reduce regulation of drug trials) The EU is proposing to reduce regulations on clinical trials of drugs. The biggest problem with clinical trials today is that they are run by the drug companies that make the drugs. This is a form of corruption. One specific aspect of this problem is that many trials go unpublished. "Lighter regulation" on clinical trials does not sound like it would do anything to improve this. Indeed, it could make things worse. What we need is specific additional regulation. This article gives too little information to judge the change, and that itself is a cause for suspicion.

20 February 2016 (US policy in Syria based on fiction) US policy in Syria is based on the fiction that a "moderate" armed opposition exists which is separate from al-Nusra (al-Qa'ida). Obama and his top staff must know this. What I don't see is what they hope to achieve. Convert part of al-Qa'ida into a US ally? It might not be a ridiculous idea, given that nearly all sides in Syria have committed great crimes (the exception being the Kurds). But if we can forgive al-Qa'ida its crimes, why not Assad too?

20 February 2016 (Labour Party concerned about anti-semitism) The UK Labour Party is concerned about anti-semitism in its student club at Oxford. I agree with the opposition to anti-semitism; however, the claim that comparing Israel's occupation with apartheid constitutes "anti-semitism" makes me concerned that their definition of "anti-semitism" is too broad and that this is being used as an excuse to repress criticism of Israel.

20 February 2016 (Tracking voters) The practice of tracking voters through massive surveillance threatens further danger to democracy as well.

20 February 2016 (Sit-in strike in Lexmark factory) Workers fired from a Lexmark factory in Mexico are holding a sit-in strike. When NAFTA gave Lexmark the option of moving its factory to Mexico, it gave Lexmark the option of treating workers like dirt. I have nothing against hiring Mexicans; I object to mistreating workers in any country or paying them so little.

20 February 2016 (Investigating one suspect) A judge ordered Apple to change the software in a suspect's iThing so that investigators can try more than 10 different passwords. (I say "suspect", because legally that's what's pertinent; but there is little doubt that this suspect, now deceased, was guilty of murder.) I do not object to this in principle, because it is part of investigating one suspect and doesn't imply snooping on everyone.

19 February 2016 (Lead in Chicago's water) Lead in Chicago's water supply is the cause of a lawsuit.

19 February 2016 (Abortions in South America) Women in South America are begging for help to get abortions. It appears that microcephaly can be detected at 22 weeks. That's not too late for an abortion a fetus with a grave birth defect.

19 February 2016 (NSA algorithm) The NSA's algorithm for detecting al Qa'ida couriers was an experiment, not a system used to choose targets.

19 February 2016 (Times' coverage of Iraq) The New York Times is suing the author and publisher of a book which shows how the Times' coverage of the US conquest of Iraq glorified that war. Fair use in the US is not an explicit right, just a defense available to those accused of copyright infringement. Thus, even if you are pretty sure from precedents that you're going to win the case on grounds of fair use, you're still in a perilous position.

19 February 2016 (American public schools) Americans rallied at 800 public schools to oppose school budget cuts, violation of local democratic control of schools, and imposed standardized tests.

19 February 2016 (Catholic hospitals in the US) Patients are suing a US Catholic organization for its broad interpretation of the policy of not doing abortions, which it imposes on Catholic hospitals in the US. The Catholic Church should remove itself from operating hospitals rather than impose its dogma on patients.

19 February 2016 (Spills of toxic chemicals) The EPA will start making rules to prevent spills of toxic chemicals.

19 February 2016 (Russian censorship of childrens' books) Russian censorship of childrens' books is so absurdly strict that it provides a wonderful tool for selective enforcement, and for squeezing publishers.

19 February 2016 (Extended state of emergency) France has extended its state of emergency for another three months. The emergency powers don't seem to have done much good so far, except for the fossil fuel companies by crushing rallies during the Paris climate meeting.

19 February 2016 (Demolition by Israel) Israel's soldiers demolish Palestinians' houses, farms, even outhouses over and over. "Every single child of these families who experienced the arrival of the bulldozers and army jeep at dawn needs no social networks to hate and hate more."

19 February 2016 (Electromagnetic waves) People who report sensitivity to electromagnetic waves may really be suffering from something, but it isn't caused by electromagnetic waves.

19 February 2016 (Runaway inequality in the US) Runaway inequality in the US has extended from wealth to life span.

19 February 2016 (Subsidizing fossil fuel) Venezuela has raised the price of gasoline — a very important measure. Subsidizing fossil fuel puts the whole world in danger.

19 February 2016 (NHS is degrading) The UK's local medical care directors say the NHS is degrading under the impact of Tory funding cuts. It has been clear for years that the Tories aimed to destroy the NHS but were unwilling to say so.

19 February 2016 (Hindu fanaticism) Kanhaiya Kumar, charged with "sedition" for criticizing India's trampling of human rights, was attacked in court by a Hindu-extremist fanatic. Hindu fanaticism has been a dangerous force in India since before India was founded. Shortly after that, a Hindu fanatic assassinated Gandhi. As for charges of "sedition", any state that charges a person with "sedition" (under whatever name) convicts itself of oppression.

19 February 2016 (Netanyahu a war criminal) As protesters in Berlin called Netanyahu a war criminal German thugs threatened to prosecute them for saying so.

[Reference updated on 2018-03-28 because the old link was broken.] Another instance of disrespect for freedom of speech.

19 February 2016 (Selling student debt) The US government is selling student debt to collection agencies, which immediately pile on more debt, and send US marshals to arrest debtors. A plutocratic state regards the people as its prey.

19 February 2016 (Big Pharma whitewash) Big Pharma is trying to whitewash its image with a campaign directed only at 7000 elite policymakers. This way, they avoid the embarrassment that would result if the rest of us saw their bullshit.

19 February 2016 (Shot for choosing who to marry) Each year, a thousand other women in Pakistan are murdered by their families. Sharmeen Obaid was shot by her father for choosing who to marry. By a freak accident, she survived to tell the tale. The killer got off without punishment after she was pressured to "forgive" him. Until state punishes these killers, private revenge is justified. Feminists in Pakistan would be justified in organizing to kill these killers.

19 February 2016 (Monitor torture in Egypt) The Nadeem Centre for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence tries to monitor torture in Egypt. The government, finding this embarrassing, is shutting it down.

19 February 2016 (CIA false reports) John Kiriakou: The CIA officially tells agents to make false reports, which supposedly will be corrected by other reports. But sometimes the false reports are passed on to Congress and the corrections are not.

19 February 2016 (San Francisco's wealthy) A particularly arrogant selfish jerk made the callous cruelty of San Francisco's wealthy people manifest.

19 February 2016 ("Official" TPP text) After the "official" TPP text was posted, a sneaky one-word change was made that make the copyright provisions even nastier.

19 February 2016 (Better solution for Zika) Strange that governments urge women not to get pregnant and do not urge men not to get women pregnant. I think it is ridiculous to demand that either men or women go without sex for years, when a better solution is available. There is no solid proof that Zika causes microencephaly, but evidence is accumulating. There's enough evidence to base practical decisions on the likelihood. Life decisions cannot always wait for scientific certainty, which can take many years to achieve. It is plausible for an insecticide to cause birth defects, but implausible that the insecticide alone could explain the big increase in microencephaly between 2014 and 2015 in Brazil. Perhaps the microencephaly results from the combination of Zika and a pesticide. Or maybe this idea can be ruled out, if some of the cases occurred in cities and the pesticide is used only on farms.

19 February 2016 (Nevada's solar industry) Sanders And Clinton Offer Different Solutions For Nevada's Sabotaged Solar Industry.

19 February 2016 (Climate mayhem) In trying to cope with climate mayhem, we must admit that we can't save everything. As global heating advances and causes additional mayhem, we will have to choose what to protect. The only way we can save everything — at least, everything that will only become threatened at later stages of heating — is to keep the fossil fuels in the ground. This is why spending money on mitigation instead of emissions reduction is total folly.

19 February 2016 (Natural gas myth) The European Commission's plan for "sustainable energy" is based on the natural gas myth. It formerly appeared that natural gas produced less greenhouse effect than other fossil fuels, but that was based on failing to take account of the methane leaks.

19 February 2016 (UK incomes) A report says UK incomes have returned to the pre-crash level. I suspect, however, that this does not take account of the way house costs and rents have ballooned.

19 February 2016 (Missing indigenous women) Many indigenous women in Canada have been murdered or disappeared, but there are signs it could be 4000 rather than 1000.

19 February 2016 (Indonesia to attack human rights) Indonesia is planning to attack human rights, following the bad examples of Australia and Malaysia. People could be jailed for months on mere suspicion. One part of the proposal is legitimate: to make it a crime to plan a terrorist act.

19 February 2016 (Global heating threatens Australian wine) Global heating threatens Australian wine. Vineyards will have to move to Tasmania, to the land where the old growth forests are burning down.

18 February 2016 (Urgent: Non-corruption condition for aid) US citizens: call on Congress to restrain US support for the corrupt regime in Honduras, by insisting on the non-corruption condition for US aid to it.

17 February 2016 (Getting a prisoner out of Guantánamo) UN human rights experts say Australia violated David Hicks's human rights by jailing him as part of a deal with the US. The deal was to get him out of Guantánamo, where the US was violating his human rights. Is it right to agree to violate someone's rights in order to get a worse violator to stop? And if you do, should you break the deal? It is a difficult question.

17 February 2016 (Making peaceful opposition a crime) Israel's campaign to make peaceful opposition to its occupation policies a crime has led to oppressive policies in France and the UK, and they are trying it in the US too. Some twenty years ago, Massachusetts passed a law to boycott companies that did business in Burma. At the time, the US had not yet adopted strong trade sanctions against Burma. Other countries called this a "non-tariff barrier to trade" and said it violated the World Trade Organization rules. Congress passed, and President Clinton signed, a law that prohibited states from adopting such boycotts: a victory for plutocracy over democracy. This is one of the many plutocratist actions I condemn Bill Clinton for. Hillary Clinton appears to be basically the same in her support for plutocracy, which is why I will not vote for her for president.

17 February 2016 (Safe zone in Syria) Turkey proposes to establish a safe zone in Syria, near the Turkish border, for refugees. I think the plan is a good idea, if it can be prevented from leading to a war between Turkey and Russia. Turkey accuses Russia of intentionally attacking civilians to send them fleeing. I would not put this past Putin. That doesn't prove it is an intentional plan. Maybe sending so many people fleeing is just a byproduct. If so, Putin clearly does not mind.

17 February 2016 (Patriarchy) Women rescued from enslavement by Boko Haram are rejected by their own communities. This is not only an injustice, it will help Boko Haram too. They can tell their captives, "If you escape, your family will hate you. Your only future now is with us." Patriarchy is so cruel.

17 February 2016 (TTIP) The TTIP would give companies a lever to get rid of taxes. Only companies — not people, of course. After the Corporations United* decision said that corporations deserve the same rights as humans, what businesses want is more rights than humans. However, German judges say that there is no legal basis for the TTIP's special courts. * That group of corporations called itself "Citizens United", but I call it what it was, not what it pretended to me.

17 February 2016 (Urgent: Food Recovery Act) US citizens: call on Congress to support the Food Recovery Act, whose measures would reduce waste of edible food.

17 February 2016 (Urgent: Clean energy) US citizens: support clean energy in/for US cities.

[Reference updated on 2018-03-28 because the old link was broken.]

17 February 2016 (Garment workers' low pay) Marks and Spencer was lauded for pledging to pay garment workers a living wage. In practice, the effect of the pledge is nil. These workers are paid so little they can hardly get by. The low pay for these workers, and workers in general around the world, is the intended result of "free trade" treaties. That's why we must replace them with a different global system of trade, one that keeps wages up.

17 February 2016 (Being bilingual helps the brain) Being bilingual helps the brain — so urge parents not to miss a chance to pass a minority language on to their children.

17 February 2016 (Culture wars) Why Conservatives start culture wars, and why they usually lose.

17 February 2016 (Australian censorship) Australian censorship, specifically the criminalization of "hate speech", interferes with the debate about whether to legalize same-sex marriage. Stating opposition is likely to lead to prosecution. I support same-sex marriage, but I also support freedom of speech, and this includes the freedom to offend, insult, condemn or mock any person, belief, practice, institution, or group. That includes gays, and that includes straights.

17 February 2016 (Mosul Dam) The Mosul Dam is in danger of collapsing and killing up to half a million people. Can't they release the water downstream to lower the pressure?

17 February 2016 (EU leaders) European Leaders Told to Keep Aid for Poor People , Not Hosting Refugees. Without taxing the rich properly, support for refugees will in the short term fall on the poor. In a longer term, the refugees will contribute to the economy if there are jobs for them; but there may be no housing for them.

17 February 2016 (Bahrain) Bahrain arrested American journalists who were covering a protest. The government accuses them of participating in the protest, and of doing journalism without permission. By doing so it confesses disrespect for human rights. The US government can't object much, since it supports the repression in Bahrain.

17 February 2016 (Overfishing) Overfishing Is As Big a Threat to Humanity As It Is to Our Oceans. What the article does not mention is that human population growth is the other jaw of the vice. To stabilize fish populations won't be enough unless we stabilize the human population too.

17 February 2016 (Russia and the Kurds) Russian air power is supporting the Kurds to advance in Syria. I suppose this is because Russia regards Turkey as the regional enemy, and the Kurds are the enemy of Russia's enemy. Azaz is near to, but not part of, the strip by which PISSI trades with Turkey. It would be a very good thing if the Kurds captured that strip. However, Turkey's recent shelling of Kurdish fighters suggests that it is on the verge of starting a broader war against Syrian Kurds. If that happens, the Kurds might lose greatly unless they get more support.

17 February 2016 (Bank bullied UK) A giant bank bullied the UK government into weakening regulations by threatening to leave. The courageous response, what the world needs, is to tell the banks to jump in the lake. But I won't say that the Tories were cowardly. I doubt they ever wished to deny such a powerful company what it wanted.

17 February 2016 (Trump) Trump Booed for Reminding GOP of Bush's 9/11 Failure and Iraq War Lies. Oh, the irony! Plain, unexaggerated truth from Trump! Right-wing nuts insisting on Dubya's lies instead! Dubya and Cheney repeated those lies over and over, even after the facts were established; it was evil, but very effective at building a movement disconnected from reality.

17 February 2016 (TTIP) TTIP of the Iceberg: Consumer Concerns Could Sink the US-EU Trade Agreement. If we are lucky, we will elect Sanders and he will pull the plug on This Treaty Is Plutocratic (TTIP).

17 February 2016 (Uganda) A few days before Uganda's presidential election, the state has jailed an opposition candidate. All protests have been banned in Kempala, in a Paris-style "state of emergency".

17 February 2016 (Student arrested) India arrested a student at Jawaharlal Nehru University for "sedition", leading to a strike which has received support from other campuses.

17 February 2016 (Puerto Rico) Puerto Rico is turning itself into a tax shelter for billionaires to parasitize the US. Due to the failure of the US to rescue Puerto Rico from horrible debt, I must admit that Puerto Rico is acting based on provocation. Still, the competition to bow down to billionaires will hurt all of us, except the billionaires. We must put an end to it.

16 February 2016 (Lobbyists for the chemical industry) The Union of Concerned Scientists reports on how lobbyists for the chemical industry have undermined government efforts to protect the public, as well as research on toxicity.

16 February 2016 (Massive surveillance by ISPs) Many organizations have called on the FCC to ban ISPs from collecting personal data about customers and making them available to anyone else. What they propose would be a step in the right direction, but it does not go far enough. It would still permit massive general surveillance by ISPs on behalf of Big Brother. For democracy's sake, we must stop considering this kind of "solution" as a real solution. Regardless of what entity collects the data, it is Big Brother's use of the data that threatens democracy. ISPs should be forbidden to keep any records of a user's internet contacts, except when ordered by a specific warrant.

16 February 2016 (Tories like to UK doctors) Some UK doctors paid to attend a meeting with the health minister Tory liars moved the meeting and told them it had been cancelled. What else would you expect from a Tory? The Tories are lower than vermin.

16 February 2016 (Useless "abstinence-only" campaigns) The US has spent almost 2 billion dollars on the useless "abstinence-only" substitute for sex education. It's effective for promoting pregnancy and diseases among teenagers, but no one can point to any good results.

8 February 2016 (Nazis' final solution) How and why did the Nazis murder 6 million Jews? And what did the German people know about it? A new book studies this in depth.

8 February 2016 (Big Data) German Competition Watchdog Wants 'Big Data' Hoards Considered in Merger Probes. This can help limit the power companies get from their data hoards, but we need to do more. We should make sure no company can accumulate so much.

7 February 2016 (Organic farming yields) Studies show that organic farming's yields are enough to feed the world. We would save a tremendous amount on pesticides.

7 February 2016 (Arrested for refusing to remove crosses) China arrested the leader of a Christian church because he opposed commands to remove crosses. I don't object to laws about how loudly churches can advertise publicly, but enforcing those laws doesn't require or excuse arresting someone for opposing the laws.

7 February 2016 (Trump promises to reinstitute torture) Trump promised to reinstitute torture if he is elected president — waterboarding and worse. After World War II, the US executed Japanese officers responsible for using waterboarding American prisoners of war. Torture is wrong no matter who does it. Even a subhuman monster like Trump does not deserve to be tortured. Imprisoned, yes, if he does what he promises. The same for Cruz.

7 February 2016 (Shaming of women who don't hide breasts) People continue to publicly harass women who don't hide their breasts well enough. We would all be better off if women — all women, not just attractive women — felt no compulsion to cover their breasts. The taboo on them provokes exaggerated desire for them, this keeps men and women at a distance, and they understand each other less. To see the bad effects of such taboos, look at an example that has more of them: Arab culture.

7 February 2016 (Provisional president in Haiti) Someone has decided to elect a provisional president in Haiti to run a new election. It is not clear from this article whether the opposition agrees to this plan.

7 February 2016 (Urgent: tell Congress to reject bill to protect bankers) US citizens: call on Congress to reject the Republican bill to make it harder to prosecute bank fraud. Republicans feel emboldened to act more and more blatantly to allow the rich to trample everyone else.

7 February 2016 ("Millenials" organization) Yet another dishonest conservative political organization: "Millennials Rising" is funded almost entirely by old men. Plutocrats feel no shame in lying to the masses.

7 February 2016 (Cruel bans on abortion) The Catholic Church continues unbendingly to impose cruel bans on abortion where it can. From articles I've seen, it seems that microcephaly may only appear late in pregnancy. Usually abortions are not done at that late stage, but I think we should regard microcephalic fetuses as subhuman and encourage abortion of them.

7 February 2016 (McMindfulness) McMindfulness: the commercialization of Buddhist techniques perverts their purpose.

7 February 2016 (Shopping) Americans generally buy far far more things than they need. Those large houses are not found in the cities where most of my acquaintances live, because rent is high.

7 February 2016 (Taser) A taser shock can leave a person mentally disorganized and with gaps or errors in memory. People in this state may make false statements that appear to incriminate them.

7 February 2016 (Brainwashing prison) The US has a prison in New York City which brainwashes prisoners into pleading guilty. The brainwashing conditions are officially a secret, but we know they include isolation and sleep deprivation, as well as painful hot and cold.

7 February 2016 (Sex workers) A sex worker from Ulster explains how criminalizing her customers has made her work more dangerous.

7 February 2016 (Error 53) Apple's latest system upgrade for iThings sabotages them irreparably if they were repaired by someone other than Apple.

7 February 2016 (Discourage oil's use) The low price of oil provides a great opportunity to increase the tax on oil and thus discourage its use. Obama now advocates doing a little of that.

7 February 2016 (Salvadoran officer) The US will send a Salvadoran officer to Spain for trial for killing dissident priests.

7 February 2016 (Mistreatment of prisoners) The US released around 200 photos of mistreatment of prisoners, out of 2000. The ACLU believes they are the mildest and that the other 1800 are worse.

7 February 2016 (Uri Avnery) Uri Avnery's long campaign for Israel to recognize a Palestinian state has won the support of just about every government on Earth, except Israel.

7 February 2016 (Democrats) Many Democrats are saying they won't vote for Clinton for president if she wins the nomination.

7 February 2016 (Mohammed al-Qiq) Palestinian journalist Mohammed al-Qiq, on hunger strike against his imprisonment without trial, is close to death. The Israeli Supreme Court says it has "suspended" his imprisonment, but it is not clear what that means, since he is still not allowed to leave the hospital.

7 February 2016 (Angel Rosa) The US deported Angel Rosa to Guatemala, where he has no family. He is ill from gangrene that he contracted in a US immigration prison, and his children (US citizens who live in the US) cannot take care of them there. The US says it will investigate how he got gangrene, but will they go to Guatemala to do it? Sometimes I wonder if the immigration police are trying to demonstrate how coldly and callously they can implements the rules.

7 February 2016 (Asylum seekers turned back) It appears Australia pays smugglers to carry boat people back to Indonesia, since the government refuses to deny this. Now that the government tells the senate "just trust us", it is totally out of democratic control. If I were a Senator I'd vote to deny that department funding, just to make it accept accountability.

07 February 2016 (Urgent: Overtime pay) US citizens: call on Obama not to let Republicans block a raise in the limit salary for mandatory overtime pay.

06 February 2016 ("Data-driven policing") "Data-driven policing" means watching everything everyone does, making suppositions about who is a criminal, and putting them on lists of suspects. If you believe that the thugs can be trusted, and you value safety but not freedom, you would rationally want this — provided you will never be a protester, a dissident, a journalist, a source, or a member of a low-privilege minority. We ought to prohibit it.

06 February 2016 (Bridge closure scandal) Chris Christie is suppressing crucial emails about the bridge closure scandal.

06 February 2016 (Who poisoned our water?) Americans were supposed to fear that terrorists would poison our water, but we see once again that corrupt and unjust government is a bigger threat than foreign terrorists. This is why we must not give up our freedom or privacy for security, even on the rare occasions when the security is real.

06 February 2016 (Taxing sugary drinks) Taxing sugary drinks would reduce the problem of obesity, which leads to diabetes. There is no excuse for failing to do this.

06 February 2016 (Funding cuts for Planned Parenthood) Funding cuts in Texas for Planned Parenthood hit poor women hardest, and women who used to get birth control from Planned Parenthood had a substantial increase in pregnancy rate. The Christian fanatics that attack abortion rights really want to attack contraception also. They consider pregnancy a punishment for having sex.

06 February 2016 (How to make banks smaller) Big banks would get a lot smaller if the US starts prosecuting their frauds. A group of bank whistleblowers recommend how. I am confident Sanders will do this if we elect him. It doesn't require new laws, just serious efforts to carry out the existing ones.

06 February 2016 (Sanders questioning Clinton's integrity) Yes, Bernie Sanders Is Questioning Hillary Clinton's Integrity. She deserves that. I've questioned it for a long time. I don't believe Clinton adopted her positions because plutocrats approached her and said, "We will give you money if you adopt these positions." She would never do anything so crass. Rather, she knew what plutocrats wanted (just as we all do). She could take a stand for their side without ever having a discussion with them about it.

06 February 2016 (Human rights defenders in Israel) Human rights defenders in Israel face intimidation; Breaking the Silence meetings are cancelled, and people are afraid to criticize the right-wing dominance. One fanatic wants thugs to systematically kill Palestinians rather than arrest them. The accusations made by a right-winger against a human rights defender in the Tel Aviv City Council demonstrate the contempt for the truth typical of the right-wing that now dominates Israel. Look at his claim that Breaking the Silence is "silencing people" by publishing what Israeli soldiers say about what they saw and did in the occupation. The only adequate term is Orwell's term, "blackwhiting".

06 February 2016 (Rejection of Israel's colonization) States and businesses are increasingly rejecting Israel's colonization of Palestinian territory. Even the US is criticizing it more than before. A lot more is needed, but it is good to see progress.

06 February 2016 (Ramallah under siege) Israel has put Ramallah under siege, as a form of collective punishment.

06 February 2016 ("Golden rice") "Golden rice" is held back by practical drawbacks, such as poor yield in real farms, and it's not clear how much it would help those who are nutritionally deprived.

6 February 2016 (Urgent: Social Security benefits) US citizens: call on Congress to expand Social Security benefits.

[Reference updated on 2018-03-28 because the old link was broken.]

6 February 2016 (Urgent: fighting in Libya again) US citizens: call on Congress to debate whether to fight in Libya again.

6 February 2016 (Public interest science) Professor Marc Edwards, who helped expose the poisoned water in Flint, says that funding pressures on academics and government agencies have destroyed public interest science in the US.

6 February 2016 (Google censored Samsung's ad-blocker) Google censored installation of Samsung's ad-blocker, saying that blocking ads is "interference" with the sites that advertise (and surveil users through ads). The ad-blocker is proprietary software, just like the program (Google Play) that Google used to deny access to install it. Using a nonfree program gives the owner power over you, and Google has exercised that power.

6 February 2016 (French Catholic pressure group) A French Catholic pressure group is pressuring France to restrict some well-known, controversial movies.

6 February 2016 (Professor Resat Baris Unlu acquitted) Professor Resat Baris Unlu was acquitted of charges based on the exam question in which he asked about comparing writings by the leader of a Kurdish rebel group. I fear students might have been charged with crimes because of their answers, too.

6 February 2016 (Fires in world heritage forests) Unprecedented fires in world heritage forests in Tasmania may now be the "new normal". No one was prepared or equipped to fight the fires that are destroying thousand-year-old trees. The whole ecosystem may be destroyed by them. When I visited Lebanon, I saw some of the last remaining cedars. Those trees can live a thousand years, too; but most of them were destroyed in the civil war.

6 February 2016 (US coal use) US coal use is declining a noticeable amount. This is good because it reduces toxic pollution. Burning natural gas doesn't make much of that. However, natural gas implies methane leaks, so replacing coal with gas doesn't reduce global heating the way companies claim.

6 February 2016 (Coal mine in Australia) A proposed giant coal mine in Australia has been suspended because the export coal market has shrunk. That is good for the Great Barrier Reef, but burning Indian coal in India will pump almost as much CO2 as burning Australian coal in India.

6 February 2016 (Australia cutting jobs in climate research) Australia is cutting hundreds of jobs in climate research in order to make its research organization "collaborate better with industry". Apparently this refers to the global heating industry. "Mitigation and adaptation" is the last ditch excuse of the planet roasters: the pretense that cleverness can prevent global heating from causing disasters, so we don't need to work expeditiously to curb it.

6 February 2016 (Undocumented immigrants in UK) Undocumented immigrants in the UK skip prenatal care and give birth at home, because they can't afford to pay almost $10,000 in medical fees.

6 February 2016 (Zika transmitted sexually) Zika can be transmitted sexually.

6 February 2016 (Walmart to pay 31 million dollars) Walmart was sentenced to pay 31 million dollars for operating its pharmacy incompetently and firing a whistleblower.

6 February 2016 (Deregulation of business) Right-wing politicians in various EU countries are planning sweeping deregulation of business.

6 February 2016 (Anthropomophic toys) People are being raised to see domesticated and wild animals as anthropomophic toys. It's as if they were considered imperfect approximations of a funny animal cartoon.

6 February 2016 (Local democracy) US businesses, operating through ALEC, are taking aim at local democracy.

6 February 2016 (Prisoners in solitary) US prisons create excuses to keep prisoners in solitary for years, and do this over the tiniest excuses.

6 February 2016 (EPA warnings about Flint's water) Michigan officials ignored EPA warnings about Flint's water. But the EPA did not treat the matter with sufficient urgency.

6 February 2016 (Legal bribery) Jimmy Carter: Citizens United 'Gives Legal Bribery a Chance to Prevail'.

6 February 2016 (North Carolina's voting law) North Carolina's voting law was intentionally designed to block various minorities from voting.

5 February 2016 (Adventure of the Extraordinary Rendition) The background for "Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Extraordinary Rendition."

5 February 2016 (Microcephaly) Microcephaly results in babies so mentally crippled that they are hardly human. I think they call for euthanasia, like a badly crippled dog.

5 February 2016 (US government snooping) The FBI Says It Can't Disclose Its Records Because Then the Public Would Know How the Bureau Works. It is spreading further. The former head of the Department of Homeland Security has applied that organization's approach in monitoring faculty and students at the University of California. Professors condemn this snooping. She refuses even to discuss what kinds of monitoring are being done. Supposedly our own safety forbids giving us any say in how much we are monitored. That's a recipe for tyranny — in DHS or in UC. Professors should set up their own local networks, and relay data in and out of UC encrypted, to protect themselves and the students. The article refers to security breakers as "hackers". To avoid giving us hackers a bad name, please use the term "crackers" for that.

5 February 2016 (World's Biggest Robot) The Internet Of Things Will Be The World's Biggest Robot. The article suffers from a confusion when it says "It will collect data and do things in our interests; that's why we're building it." Who is this "we"? The most he could validly claim is that each part serves someone's interest. In a just and democratic world, perhaps you could expect these devices to be benign towards you. In fact, parts are already designed and used to monitor and control people. For instance, since it is possible to spoof fitness data that insurance companies use to monitor people, the article advocates designing the devices to communicate with a company in a way that totally bypasses the subject being monitored. This demonstrates that they are a system of control imposed on a subject, not a product offered to a user. The use of such devices for any sort of monitoring should be prohibited by law. All data they produce should be made available directly to the user, and only in that way. These devices can probably tell whether someone is having sex (though Oral Roberts University says it isn't checking that at present). I suppose that university permits only Oral sex.

5 February 2016 (Urgent: Volunteer for Sanders campaign) Go to New Hampshire this weekend to volunteer for the Sanders campaign. The New Hampshire primary is next Tuesday, and it is important that he get an astonishing victory to influence other states.

5 February 2016 (Removal of racist conqueror's statue) Demanding to remove the statue of an racist conqueror such as Cecil Rhodes is a substitute for eliminating institutional racism and class bias. Where a symbol of racism is actively adored by some political groups, as for instance the confederate flag, it makes a real difference to demand that institutions (especially governments) visibly reject that symbol. However, nobody admires Rhodes today as a symbol of anything.

5 February 2016 (Russia bars former US officials) In retaliation for the US' barring of some Russian officials for the killing of Sergey Magnitsky, Russia has barred some former US officials, accusing them of involvement in torture. I don't know whether these people were in fact associated with torture by the US, but if they were, that is plenty of reason for any country to refuse to let them in. Or to let them in and then prosecute them. But it changes nothing about the killing of Magnitsky.

5 February 2016 (Urgent: regulations of business) US citizens: call on Senate Democrats to resist plans to help business lobbyists block regulations of business.

5 February 2016 (Demolishing homes of Palestinians) Israel is back to demolishing the homes of Palestinians.

5 February 2016 (Hindu nationalists) India's Hindu nationalists are systematically persecuting dissidents, drumming teachers out of schools, and prosecuting writer Arundhati Roy for criticizing them.

5 February 2016 (Delivery of poisoned water to Flint) The FBI is investigating possible crimes to prosecute in the delivery of poisoned water to Flint.

5 February 2016 (Facebook's natalist pressure.) Facebook's natalist pressure. How about pointing out some great non-mothers and great non-fathers? People who took advantage of not having children to dedicate effort to something more constructive than increasing the number of humans?

5 February 2016 (When ravens hide food) When ravens hide food, they can understand whether the surrounding make it possible that another raven could be watching.

5 February 2016 (Iowa caucuses) Sanders and Clinton got roughly equal numbers of delegates out of the Iowa caucuses. Clinton has backed off attacking Sanders' push for universal health care, and has returned to supporting the idea. I guess that attack was backfiring. Several important primaries will be held this month and on March 1. If you would like Sanders to win, please volunteer to help his campaign — don't put it off.

5 February 2016 (Noise from ships) Noise from ships seems to harm whales. Our overfishing of their prey, which in some cases we are driving to extinction, hurts them too.

5 February 2016 (Surveilling in the Super Bowl) The US is heavily surveilling everyone in the vicinity of the Super Bowl, which might mean everyone in San Francisco and the peninsula. Past experience suggests that augmentations of surveillance for a sports event remain permanently afterward.

5 February 2016 (Pressure on Greece) There is a lot of political pressure in the EU to demand that Greece force migrants back to Turkey.

5 February 2016 (99,000 families evicted in the UK) 99,000 families were evicted last year in the UK, as rents keep rising and the Tories keep cutting welfare. The Tories are lower than vermin.

5 February 2016 (Putin's bombing in Syria) Putin's bombing campaign in Syria, aimed mainly at groups opposed to both Assad and PISSI, has the main effect of strengthening PISSI.

5 February 2016 ("Fragrance" chemicals) Thousands of chemicals are put in products as "fragrance", and some can be toxic or cause allergic reactions. It's hard to find out which "fragrance" chemicals are found in products. We have no obligation to cater to companies' wish to keep secrets when any public interest is at stake. I think we should require publication of the full list of possibly volatile substances in every product.

5 February 2016 (California vineyards' harvest) Fires in California ruined a large part of the vineyards' harvest.

[Reference updated on 2018-03-28 because the old link was broken.]

5 February 2016 (DNA test agreements) Study: DNA Test Agreements Disregard Consumer Privacy. Like many articles about new abusive practices, this article legitimizes the known, current abuses. I think that is a mistake. We should not limit ourselves to opposing further changes for the worse. We must campaign to get rid of the existing evils too.

5 February 2016 (Australian boy faces being questioned in secret) An Australian boy faces being questioned in secret about his mother and his brother, and faces imprisonment if he ever discusses it with them. Trying to obey those strictures would ruin his life anyway, so it makes sense for him to respond courageously: "You're going to imprison me sooner or later, so I won't serve you now merely to postpone it. I refuse to answer." I don't know what they are suspected of, but it can't be as dangerous as what the government is doing here.

5 February 2016 (E-waste scrapping facilities) The employees at e-waste scrapping facilities pick up lead on their skin and hands, and it's enough to give their children lead poisoning. An ordinary shower does not wash it off.

5 February 2016 (Denmark's old people) How Denmark cares for old people. Other arrangements might also work well, but it puts most other countries to shame.

5 February 2016 ("Internet assistants") "Internet assistants" have a secondary danger, beyond just snooping on their users and being SaaSS (Service as a Software Substitute). It is amusing how someone can be blind to the dangers of these things and worry only about a secondary danger. The secondary danger is real, and the article makes a valid point — but don't forget the primary dangers.

5 February 2016 (Genetically modified human embryos) The UK has given permission to make genetically modified human embryos and experiment on each one for two weeks. The two-week limit seems hypercautious to me; there would be nothing wrong with keeping them for 5 months. However, implanting them into a woman would require advance consent to a mandatory abortion. While abortion is safer and less traumatic than giving birth, it is not something to ask lightly.

5 February 2016 (ISIS Encrypted Messaging App) The Myth of the ISIS Encrypted Messaging App.

5 February 2016 (Free to refuse to spread messages) Was it right to fine a bakery for refusing to make a cake with the message, "support gay marriage"? I think individuals should be free to refuse to spread messages they disagree with, and most other organizations too, but not publication companies. Publication companies should be considered common carriers, required to publish whatever customers will pay for, unless there is so much competition that there is no difficulty finding one to publish whatever you want to publish.

5 February 2016 (Cambodian women trafficked to China) Cambodian women are trafficked to China as wives/slaves; when they escape and get home, they are rejected by their communities, even parts of their families. The root of this crime is treating women as things, as property.

5 February 2016 (Resorts for rich foreigners) The foxes and vultures are waiting to buy parts of Havana as resorts for rich foreigners. I expect that politicians will profit from this wealth, and a few random Cubans, but I think most Cubans will not even get trickle-down.

5 February 2016 (Inequality in South Korea) Inequality is growing in South Korea. Those not privileged must work 14-hour days for low pay, and can barely get by. It's what's happening in the US, only more so.

5 February 2016 (Enslaving women as prostitutes) After a hypocritical "apology", Japan once again denies enslaving women as prostitutes during World War II.

5 February 2016 (Climate studies) Most climate studies don't look at what will happen after 2100. However, global heating won't stop then. If high-tech civilization survives till 2100, it may be able to bring down the levels of CO2 in the air.

5 February 2016 (Unpoison Flint's water) Here's How Hard It Will Be to Unpoison Flint's Water. It's not that the Flint river water itself contains lots of lead. Rather, using that water involves so much chlorine that it corrodes the lead pipes. The Lead Pipes in Flint, Michigan, Are a Tiny Part of a Huge Problem (of lead poisoning in the US).

4 February 2016 (Urgent: reduce Diesel emissions) US citizens: call on the EPA to reduce Diesel emissions from cargo shipping.

4 February 2016 (Urgent: federal sale of coal leases) US citizens: phone your senators and say to oppose Orrin Hatch's amendment which would resume federal sale of coal leases. The Capitol Switchboard numbers are 202-224-3121, 888-818-6641 and 888-355-3588.

4 February 2016 (Urgent: gun control executive orders) US citizens: call on Congress to respect Obama's gun control executive orders.

4 February 2016 (Urgent: deporting aliens in Flint) US citizens: Call on the state to stop deporting aliens in Flint for trying to buy water, and stop making them show government papers to get water.

4 February 2016 (Urgent: ban neonicotinoid pesticides) US citizens: call on the EPA to ban neonicotinoid pesticides The EPA has just recognized that neonicotinoids contribute to the death of bees. It is possible that other causes contribute as well, such as the varroa mite. But we can't get rid of them, or prevent them from doing damage — and we need the bees.

4 February 2016 (Claimed to have been raped by immigrants) A German girl claimed to have been raped by immigrants. But then she said she had made it up. The effects of her claim will probably not vanish away, alas.

4 February 2016 (Israeli civics textbook) Right-wing changes in an Israeli civics textbook have provoked protests from teachers, and from one of the authors of the book.

4 February 2016 (Uber is selling low) Uber is selling low and losing money to destroy its competitors. If you are a short-term thinker, you will be delighted to take advantage of this — until it controls the market and squeezes you forever. The article mentions a service called Kutsuplus as an alternative to Guber's model. It might have been better in some ways, but could people use it anonymously? Could they use it without running nonfree software? If not, it shared Uber's basic injustice.

4 February 2016 (UK's plutocratic rulers) A comedian finds a way to do justice to the UK's plutocratic rulers.

4 February 2016 (Recognize Palestine as a state) France says it will sponsor one last effort for a diplomatic settlement between Israel and Palestine; if that fails, it will recognize Palestine as a state. France might as well proceed directly to the second step; it will take more than this to get the Israeli right wing to seriously consider peace.

4 February 2016 (Tests for lead paint) Many US black children suffer from lead poisoning which reduces their IQ. Sometimes greedy landlords manage to skip tests for lead paint, and thus continue poisoning them. Mothers will tell their children not to eat the paint, unless they have to work so many hours that they can't see what their kids are doing. Lead and Race In Flint — And Everywhere Else.

4 February 2016 (Super Bowl in San Francisco) Holding the Super Bowl in San Francisco is hurting the city: new surveillance, cruelty to the homeless, and burdens on citizens and workers.

[Reference updated on 2018-03-28 because the old link was broken.]

4 February 2016 (Sharing classified files) David Petraeus to Receive No Further Punishment for Sharing Classified Files. Harsh punishment is reserved for heroes like Snowden that tell the public about government wrongdoing.

4 February 2016 (Control of government agencies) US businesses say the FDA is out of control — protecting people's privacy, at least to a minimal extent. They expect to have control of government agencies, you see.

4 February 2016 (Doxing of thugs) A cracker obtained and posted internal communications of a US thugs' union, some of which show right-wing extremism. In general I do not approve of doxing, even of thugs, merely for being thugs. There may be some specific cases where it is justified, such as thugs that are infiltrating dissident organizations, but that does not seem to be the case here.

4 February 2016 (Reducing Puerto Rico's debt) Puerto Rico has proposed a plan for reducing its debt.

4 February 2016 (Erroneous way of making decisions) Flint demonstrates the erroneous way of making decisions that we must not repeat in regard to global heating.

4 February 2016 (US planned to kidnap Snowden) The US apparently planned to kidnap Snowden with the help of some subservient government, since it had a plane waiting in Denmark to take him away as he was travelling. If the US had hoped a government would arrest him and then respect his rights with an extradition hearing, there would have been no need for that plane.

4 February 2016 (Racial discrimination in US) UN Experts Catalog Seemingly Endless List of Racial Discrimination in US. I believe that the US owes reparations to the descendants of those who suffered denial of equal rights, including both slavery and the racist laws from 1880 to the 1960s.

4 February 2016 (Tests of food) Just 3 years after horsemeat was passed off as "beef", the UK has cut the amount of tests of food, making cheating easier than ever. We depend on the state to keep businesses honest, and for many other things.

4 February 2016 (Ecological disruption) In England, flowers that normally bloom in May are blooming in January, due to El Nino on top of global heating. Since different species base their calendars on different cues, this will cause ecological disruption, which will wipe out some species. A cold snap in February could kill some organisms that have become active early.

04 February 2016 (Urgent: Congress' positions on TPP) US citizens: call on members of Congress to take a stand on the TPP now and pledge to stick with it after the election.

04 February 2016 (Music in Mali) Mali's Irrepressible Musical Spirit Resounds after Jihadi-Imposed Silence. Some Muslim fanatics have banned music since a thousand years ago.

04 February 2016 (NY Times covers campaign spending misleadingly) The New York Times found one small category of campaign spending in which Sanders gets more support than Clinton, and covered it misleadingly.

04 February 2016 (Surveillance of students) An extreme example of surveillance of students: asking them to wear a fitbit all the time. Just because most schools' surveillance does not go this far does not make it acceptable!

04 February 2016 (Marshall Island sues Britain, India and Pakistan) The Marshall Islands, a small country in the Pacific with painful experience with nuclear weapons, has sued Britain, India and Pakistan for not complying with treaty obligations to move towards nuclear disarmament.

04 February 2016 (Basic income for all) A basic income for all raises many questions about details. Will companies that sell to consumers really have the power to make governments keep most people's incomes from falling? They haven't done this in the US in the last decade. The tendency is to shift to selling luxury products for those who still have money to spend.

04 February 2016 (Why Bernie can deliver) Why Bernie Can Deliver on Promises of Change, While the Sensible Centrists Can't. "Sensible" middle-of-the-road Democrats such as Clinton won't even try to change the things that are deeply wrong with the US, such as plutocracy.

04 February 2016 (EU criticized for attacking tax-dodging) A US official criticized the EU for attacking tax-dodging by US companies. That official is evidently on the side of the plutocrats. Vote for Sanders and get him replaced with someone who will work for the people (of the US and other countries).

04 February 2016 (US funding for Afghanistan's "reconstruction") The US is still funding "reconstruction" in Afghanistan, but due to the Taliban's increasing activity, in many cases there is no way to check what work is really being done. Could inspectors use little drones? That's not a serious question, since we know this "reconstruction" often just feeds corruption. Maybe it would be more effective to give the equivalent of 10 dollars to every person in Afghanistan.

04 February 2016 (Support Sanders!) Do you support Clinton but agree more with Sanders? If so, give your support Sanders! Obama showed that a black plutocratist president will not stop plutocrats from forcing blacks into poverty. Clinton, if elected, would show that a woman plutocratist president will not stop them from pushing women into poverty.

03 February 2016 (TPP negotiator resigns over corruption) Japan's head negotiator for the TPP has resigned over his corruption. Any politician who supports the TPP is corrupt at a deep level, whether or not he took a bribe.

2 February 2016 (Urgent: Candidates' positions on GMO labeling) US citizens: call on candidates to state their positions on GMO labeling.

2 February 2016 (Imprisoned for planning civil disobedience) China imprisoned people for planning a civil disobedience movement, calling this "inciting subversion of state power". In the UK they might call the protests "aggravated trespass". In the US they have other charges to press against those who commit civil disobedience. This sort of repression is wrong no matter who does it and no matter what the excuse.

2 February 2016 (Missing people in Sri Lanka) Sri Lanka's Missing Thousands: One Woman's Six-Year Fight to Find Her Husband. The thousands may have been killed under direction of former tyrant Rajapaksa.

2 February 2016 (Morocco and Algeria labeled "safe") Some European countries are labeling Morocco and Algeria as "safe" countries, rejecting asylum applications from people from those countries. For most people in Morocco and Algeria, those countries are safe, but some minorities and some dissidents are persecuted.

02 February 2016 (Contracting out support activities) Contracting out support activities, famous Silicon Valley companies pay many of their workers too little to live on, and exclude them from the benefits of employees. Such contracting out is an obstacle to unionization, and that alone is a reason to adopt policies to discourage it.

02 February 2016 (Increased inequality) Oxfam's report on increased inequality gives recommendations for how to fix it. The report shows that it's not just that the rich are getting richer. They are making the poor poorer, too. The poorest half of humanity have lost around 40% of their wealth since 2010.

02 February 2016 (UK government privatizing the state) The UK government is privatizing the state, selling off large state activities cheap as well as the land on which they are run. The politicians that sell off the state cheap, and the cronies to whom they sell it, are conspiring together to cheat the country. The proper remedy, when the British people recognize the need, will be to confiscate what was sold off, with no compensation. That loss, for the "investors", will be right and proper. It will teach future rich cronies not to be so eager to participate in such conspiracies.

02 February 2016 (Businesses that should shut down) Some executives know that the best thing their business can do for the environment, and the world, is to shut down. But they consider that impossible, so they find ways to reconcile themselves to doing harm. We can save them from this. We should shut those businesses down.

01 February 2016 (Disney sued by former workers) Former Disney workers are suing Disney for abusing a special visa system to make them train visiting foreign workers to replace them. Workers, if your employer tries to do this to you, don't train your replacement! Quit immediately! That way, the cheating employer will suffer a loss from mistreating you.

(France adopts sedated dying law) France legalizes keeping dying patients deeply sedated (at their request) so that they feel no pain. This is good for people who have a painful condition that will kill them soon, but offers no escape to those who can't communicate and experience years of boredom.

30 January 2016 (Coal is a risky investment) Investors in coal mines are likely to lose lots of money. I am glad, but humanity (and the earth's wildlife) deserves a system of government which can protect us from man-made disasters even if investors can profit from them.

30 January 2016 (Protonmail) The staff of Protonmail are campaigning effectively against new surveillance laws in Switzerland.

30 January 2016 (Northern right whales) Northern right whales now have more protected areas on the US Atlantic coast. Whether it is enough to save them is not clear.

30 January 2016 (Attacks on Sanders) The plutocratist Democratic establishment is attacking Sanders more and more. Gandhi famously said: first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. Sanders is moving from stage 2 to stage 3.

30 January 2016 (America's poor have great work ethic) Americans who are poor have a great work ethic. If only SCROTUS would allow making jobs for them. As for the children, disabled and old, SCROTUS calls them "moochers".

30 January 2016 (Ban Ki-moon condemns Israeli colonization) UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned Israeli colonization of occupied Palestine. He said that this calls into question Israel's commitment to a two-state resolution of the dispute. That's an understatement; according to Uri Avnery, Netanyahu never seriously entertained the possibility of such an agreement, and engaged in sham peace talks only to forestall international cognizance of that fact. Those peace talks collapsed a couple of years ago, and international cognizance is taking hold.

30 January 2016 (Schengen "free travel" zone) The stress of a million refugees is making the Schengen "free travel" zone crumble. In 20 or 30 years we will probably see tens of millions of people fleeing for their lives from global heating disaster. In 50 years, there may be hundreds of millions — but maybe we can avoid reaching that point, if we cut back carbon emissions as hard as we can.

30 January 2016 (Hold placed on Obama's FDA nominee) Senators Markey and Sanders placed a hold on Obama's nomination of a commissioner for the Food and Drug Administration, because he has been tied too much to Big Pharma.

30 January 2016 (Urgent: Investigate bogus WMD claims) Everyone: Call on the New York Times to examine who knew Iraq WMD justifications for war were bogus, when they knew it, and who should have known it.

30 January 2016 (Sanders the realist) Sanders, not Clinton, is the realist.

30 January 2016 (More bankster money for Clinton) Clinton is going to raise more money this week from her bankster supporters.

30 January 2016 (GMOs) "Gene-Editing" Produces GMOs That Must Be Regulated.

30 January 2016 (Digital publishing formats) Publishers use digital formats as an opportunity to take away the rights that we enjoy when we buy copies of a work. This makes most commercial downloads (of books, music or video) systematically unjust. The CDT's characteristic weak recommendation is for slight regulatory relaxation to eliminate just a few of the unjust consequences of that shift. That is not enough. We must stop the injustice; we must put an end to these unjust licenses. Instead of the "authorized" copy that would oppress you, choose an unauthorized copy that treats you ethically.

30 January 2016 (Repression increasing in Israel) Peace activists in Israel face increasing repression. I expect that in 10 years Israel will have become so repressive that all but right-wing extremists will flee.

30 January 2016 (UK could punish Putin's regime) The UK could effectively punish Putin's regime for the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, without breaking diplomatic relations. I don't think the Tories care all that much; they are not so different from Putin, after all.

30 January 2016 (Suppressed US intel report on WMDs) A secret US intelligence report expressing ignorance on the subject of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was suppressed in 2002, and apparently not shown to Colin Powell before he argued for invading Iraq to destroy those unverified (and in fact nonexistent) weapons.

30 January 2016 (Ted Cruz puts church above country) Ted Cruz says he puts his church above the United States. That makes him totally unqualified to be president (or any sort of official). When John F. Kennedy ran for president, some Protestant Americans claimed that he would put his church above the United States and take orders from the Pope. He promised that the US and its Constitution would be his first loyalty, and people accepted this.

30 January 2016 (Rent strike for dorm rooms) Some students in London have started a rent strike for their dorm rooms, which have become intolerably expensive.

30 January 2016 (Psychologists' torture ban) Pentagon Asks Psychologists to Reconsider Torture Ban, Argues 'You Never Know …' Yes, we know. Just because enemies are vicious and cruel is no reason we should imitate them. Torture is never justified.

30 January 2016 (Solitary confinement) Obama has limited who can be put in solitary confinement in federal prisons. This is a change for the better but probably not enough. More than a short period of solitary confinement is dangerous to mental health.

30 January 2016 (Pharmaceutical patents) Jamie Love fights to save people's lives from pharmaceutical patents. Medicine is one of the areas where patents do a special kind of harm, but we would be better off eliminating patents entirely. I am disappointed that the first article uses the term "protection" to describe what patents do, because that is spin in favor of the patentholders. Using that term gives them an endorsement that they will use when lobbying for more strict patent laws. Please join me in refusing ever to use that term in regard to patents. The term "intellectual property rights" is worse than spin: it spreads confusion. Patents and copyrights are totally different in practice. If you lump them together, you will misunderstand what they do. See https://gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html.

29 January 2016 (Stingrays used without warrants) Prosecutors Say [thugs] Don't Need Warrants For Stingrays Because 'Everyone Knows' Cell Phones Generate Location Data. First they got people hooked on these devices, then they use them to track people, then they argue people have no rights. What it adds up to is that portable phones are malicious technology.

29 January 2016 (Anti-abortion activists indicted) A grand jury was asked to charge Planned Parenthood based on the lies in the fraudulent smear video. Instead it indicted people who made the video.

29 January 2016 (Products "for women" cost more) Products "for women" typically cost more than the same product "for men". The root of this problem is that women are too easily manipulated by the fashion industry; they are made to feel they must buy products that are "feminine". But business is already working on trying to do the same thing to men.

29 January 2016 ("Crime" invented to jail protesters) Heathrow Climate Protesters Found Guilty of "Aggravated Trespass". That "crime" was invented as a way to jail protesters.

29 January 2016 (The recent hot years) The recent very hot years could have happened by chance without global heating, but the chance would be 1 in 10,000. Want to bet the survival of civilization on that long shot? 2016 is expected to be hotter than 2015, because of El Niño. If this El Niño ends, subsequent years will be a little cooler for a while; however, 15 years from now, the current level of heat will be normal even without El Niño.

29 January 2016 (Women advised to avoid pregnancy) Some countries in Latin America are advising women to avoid pregnancy for the next year. These governments must pay for reliable birth control for women that can't afford it. And women should demand an extension of abortion rights, which are very limited in most countries in Latin America.

29 January 2016 (Authoritarian rule of Hungary) Hungary's authoritarian rulers want to establish a "terror threat" excuse for eliminating many basic human rights — whenever they wish. Perhaps all the time.

29 January 2016 (London's poor face new expense) For those in London who can barely pay the rent and food, a new expense will be laundry service, since most of the laundromats have closed. This is a small example of how changes in society make it hard to survive on a low income. In the past, people could live in boarding houses that cooked efficiently. Now they have no cooking facilities, and the food stores they can reach are not set up to sell food to be cooked, so they are stuck with the expensive prepared foods.

29 January 2016 (Flint residents fear toxic municipal water) Residents of Flint are afraid to shower with the toxic municipal water. Does anyone know whether bathing in that water is actually dangerous? The lead has affected adults as well as children. It doesn't sabotage their brain development, since that has already finished, but it harms their bones.

28 January 2016 (Absurd "safe spaces") The demand for "safe spaces" in UK universities has reached the point of absurdity where fundamentalist Islamists can physically prevent an Atheist from giving a talk criticizing Islam, and claim that her criticisms constitute "intimidation" of them. Insanely, the school's Feminist Society supported those religious fanatics, who would deny women many human rights if they had the chance. Islamists are enemies of human rights, especially for women and also for men. While respecting their right to state their views, we should never forget how repugnant those views are.

28 January 2016 (Google proposal for tracking users) Google has a proposal for security based on tracking user behavior so completely that no one can pretend to be anyone else.

28 January 2016 (Egyptian repression) State Repression in Egypt Is Worst We've Ever Seen, Says Activist. It is worse than Mubarak, worse than Nasser.

28 January 2016 (Chinese repression) Nanfu Wang made a film about a Chinese human rights defender and experienced repression directly.

28 January 2016 (Copyright law reform) The European Parliament proposed some reforms to copyright law but they fail to touch the great injustices such as DRM, the war on sharing, and the insanely long duration of copyright. I can't feel much gratification from the support for "open source" since it avoids raising the question as an ethical issue.

28 January 2016 (Study corrupted by UK government) It appears the UK government corrupted a supposedly objective study about the feasibility of allowing Chagossians to return to the Chagos Islands.

28 January 2016 (Punishment without conviction) The UK allows severe punishment without conviction: a man has been ordered to notify the thugs 24 hours before having sex with a woman, and must give her full identification. If a woman is attracted to him, those demands would surely put her off. If he pays a prostitute, the prostitute won't want to give that information. In effect, the man has been forbidden to have sex (except underground).

28 January 2016 (Suspended for helping a sick classmate) Anthony Ruelas was suspended from school for carrying a sick student to the nurse's office. The other student was having a severe asthma attack.

[Reference updated on 2018-03-28 because the old link was broken.] The management of that school needs to be replaced with someone who realizes that obedience is not the highe