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

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

Some sites have paper tiger paywalls that can be defeated by deleting a cookie. I don't post links to those sites because it would be too complex to tell users what to do to avoid having to identify themselves.

31 October 2012 (Cloudy thinking about computing) The cloudy thinking by many companies about their computing has led them to make web services depend on lots of different servers run by different companies. If any one of them fails, perhaps due to a hurricane, the service may become inoperational. The same design practice often means that using one web service enables many servers run by different companies to track you.

31 October 2012 (Jill Stein arrested for helping tree-sitters) Jill Stein was arrested for bringing supplies to tree-sitters blocking construction of the planet-roaster pipeline. The report says that the company is routing the pipeline around the tree sitters, thus giving the lie to previous statements that it could not change the route for all the world. However, the pain that Texas landowners are suffering from the construction of the pipeline is nothing compared to what global heating will do to humanity if this pipeline is finished and used. Here is a statement published by Ms Stein's campaign.

[Reference updated on 2018-03-02 because the old link was broken.]

31 October 2012 (More inequality and less income in UK) A commission involving businessmen and unionists concluded that the UK will experience increasing inequality and decreased income, and recommended measures to push wages up as well enable people to work. Other useful measures would be to help people have fewer children and to help more workers unionize. It would be hard to get such a commission to recommend these.

31 October 2012 (PR campaign by US sugar industry) The US sugar industry's organized PR campaign ended scientific research into the health effects of eating lots of sugar. This enables the sugar company to continue to claim that there is no evidence that eating sugar causes obesity or diabetes.

31 October 2012 (Immunity for murdering civilians) Colombia's president is pushing a constitutional amendment that would give the country's murderous military effective immunity for murdering civilians. I heard in Colombia that he was minister of defense when the "false positive" murders took place.

31 October 2012 (US Congress paralyzed) Congress is so paralyzed that it cannot defend its own power from the other two branches of government. To say that Congress is "polarized" mis-states the problem; "paralyzed" fits it better. The Republicans can block anything in the House, and the Democrats can block anything in the Senate. Thus, it hard to pass any law.

31 October 2012 (Colonization of West Bank) Until 1977, Israel tried to treat the inhabitants of the West Bank decently. Then the colonization started.

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

31 October 2012 (Overuse of aquifer in Gaza) As Israel has taken 89% of the West Bank's water resources, the aquifer is being emptied and Palestinians' water supply decreases every year. In Gaza, overuse of the aquifer threatens to ruin it permanently. Emptying aquifers through overextraction is a world-wide problem. Israel's policies cause this problem to occur more strongly in Palestine.

31 October 2012 (Gaza-Egypt tunnels) Imports and exports via tunnels have greatly eased the siege of Gaza, but Hamas has developed unexpected bad relations with Egypt.

31 October 2012 (Hasan Safadi freed) Hasan Safadi ended his second hunger strike and was freed from imprisonment without trial in Israel. Safadi ended his first long hunger strike when Israel promised to release him. Then Israel reneged on the deal by extending his imprisonment, so he launched the second hunger strike.

30 October 2012 (UberTaxi) The founder of the regulation-defying taxi company UberTaxi has praised and echoed the ideas of Ayn Rand, and shows Rand-like contempt for mere workers. Government regulations can be well or badly chosen, but trying to destroy government regulation is means a society in which businesses trample people at every opportunity. I've seen taxi regulations that I think are cruel (requiring drivers to wear jackets and ties in hot weather, supposedly for my sake — I felt ashamed) and even flat-out tyrannical (in NYC, every cab must have equipment to send the customer's photo immediately to the thug department by radio, so I refuse to use cabs in NYC). However, there are also legitimate grounds for some kinds of taxi regulation. One of them is to make sure there aren't so many taxis that each driver is idle most of the time. In several cities in Australia, taxis have microphones that record the passengers' conversation. I silently showed cab drivers a note which said, Don't speak

Cab is bugged followed by the destination address.

30 October 2012 (US Rules) Why the US tends to have ridiculous rules that can be gamed: powerful companies have blocked the simpler reasonable methods.

30 October 2012 (NY thugs beat up homeless man) New York thugs beat up a homeless man who they found sleeping inside a synagogue-attached school. When he explained that he had permission to sleep there, the thugs were not interested in checking. Even if resisting arrest justifies something, it can't justify this violence, which was not necessary for any legitimate purpose.

30 October 2012 (Treatable cancer kills the poor) In Greece, as in the US, treatable cancer kills those who don't have money. The families of these people should use their funerals as political rallies to condemn the politicians responsible for killing them.

30 October 2012 (Sexist bullying vs gentle invitations) Rebecca Watson writes about the sexist bullying that she received after complaining about sexist bullying in the skeptical community. The page mentions threats, insults, criticism, and gentle expressions of attraction. To think clearly about these issues, we need to distinguish them clearly. The insults are mean and nasty; the threats are mean and nasty and maybe illegal too. I see no excuse (or even basis) for them in the events described here. The gentle expression of attraction was a different matter entirely. Some men find a woman attractive for knowing what she stands for and acting capably and firmly to achieve it. I don't think he did her any wrong by suggesting coffee as an excuse for sitting and talking and perhaps going further. It was an harmless offer of something she didn't want. Repeated offers of something unwanted can get to be annoying. In some countries, if I have a small bag in my hand, numerous people ask me if they can carry it for me. I call this "obsessive hospitality" and I find it burdensome — but I realize it is not mean or nasty. Occasionally I can't take any more and I am short with people who offer me this absurd help, but afterward I feel sorry because I was too harsh with them. If Ms Watson finds gentle invitations for sex or romance burdensome because they are so frequent, I will restrain my envy and say the same thing to her that I say to myself. When a practice is meant in good will, but turns out annoying, we ought to explain without rebuke why we want others to change their practice. To say "You must change the way you treat me" does not require "You're being mean to me." Dawkins criticized her for complaining about the invitation, saying it was a small matter compared with the oppression some women suffer. It certainly was. I don't know whether her complaint was made in a way that called for this criticism, but he could have said it without the sarcasm. All in all, the insults and threats are the more important issue. Having discussed the complex but minor issue of the invitation and responses to it, I suggest the skeptical community focus on rejecting verbal bullying.

30 October 2012 (Fracking increases overall CO 2 emissions) Burning natural gas makes less CO 2 than coal, but supposing that remains true when the other effects of fracking are considered, the global effect of fracking in the US is to increase CO 2 emissions. This is because the substitution of gas for coal in the US has led to a glut of coal, driving down its price and leading to a boom in coal exports. The coal that the US used to burn is still being burnt, just elsewhere. This reinforces my conclusion that taxes on fuels and activities that lead to greenhouse gas emissions are the only way to slow global heating.

30 October 2012 (Woman accused of smuggling heroin faces execution) A woman is facing execution if convicted of smuggling heroin out of Pakistan. Ms Shah says other people (in her family?) gave her the luggage to carry. She might be telling the truth, and might be lying. If she gets a fair trial, the outcome cannot be based on certainty; at best it could be based on plausibility of the various possibilities. Even if she is guilty, the death penalty is barbaric. It would be much better to end the War on Drugs. Heroin is somewhat dangerous, so I don't recommend legalizing its sale to the public, but making it available legally to registered addicts would wipe out most of the black market as well as any romantic attraction the drug has. That would nearly get rid of smuggling.

30 October 2012 (Sentenced to prison for defaming Morsi) An Egyptian tv commentator was sentenced to prison for defaming president Morsi. He is said to state support for the dictator Mubarak. If so, I disagree with him, but he has a right to say it.

30 October 2012 (Greek gov't arrests journalist) The right-wing austerity-imposing government of Greece has arrested a journalist for publishing a list of rich suspected tax-evaders. The Greek government's policy is to impose suffering on ordinary people, but apparently it intends to protect the rich. As for attacking whistleblowers, that is the finest Obama tradition.

30 October 2012 (Urgent: Limit the catch of menhaden) US citizens: sign this petition to limit the catch of menhaden. These small fish, which many larger fish eat, are down 90% from what they used to be.

30 October 2012 (Petrochemical factory in Ningbo) Environmental protesters in Ningbo pushed the Chinese state into saying it would suspend construction of a petrochemical factory. But they do not trust the government.

30 October 2012 (US's systematized killing system) Obama has systematized the US's killing system, now called "the matrix", making it massive and likely permanent. Of course, the criteria can easily be changed. In the absence of judicial control, whether your name goes on the kill list is up to the president alone — this president and any future president.

29 October 2012 (Use of high technology to attack) Criminals and terrorists can use high technology to attack, just as states can.

[Reference updated on 2018-03-02 because the old link was broken.] Here are some comments on the article. A rich drug gang can afford to set up a cellular telephone system, but the harder problem is to prevent the towers from being shut down. Cell phone towers are radio transmitters, thus trivial to find. Perhaps these towers are set up only for short periods of time, then turned off and taken away. Otherwise, I suppose that Mexican gangs spend even more on paying agents of the state not to find the towers than what it cost to set them up.

Comparing Mumbai with Mexico shows that the violence of the Mumbai terror attacks had such a big effect because they were unexpected and shocking, and perhaps because the victims included the very rich. Violence of that level happens from time to time in Mexico, but Mexico is a big place and it doesn't touch most people there. So life goes on. The violence is bad, but it doesn't bring the whole country to a stop.

Who will be the first to make viruses to kill an individual person? My guess is that it will be the US government.

29 October 2012 (Advice from rich CEOs) A bunch of rich CEOs who are already ripping off the US treasury gave advice to let them take more.

[Reference updated on 2018-03-02 because the old link was broken.] Like Reagan's absurd "trickle down", this is supposed to magically make us better off. And like Reagan's absurd "trickle down", it won't.

29 October 2012 (SWAT team shoots teen to protect him from himself) A mother in Atlanta called 911 because she thought her son might shoot himself, so a SWAT team came and a sniper thug shot him from a distance.

[Reference updated on 2018-03-02 because the old link was broken.] How did this happen? Here is a guess. Once Atlanta had a SWAT team, it had to decide when to use it. It wrote rules for when to send a SWAT team, such as, "Whenever someone has a gun and is likely to shoot it." So they sent the team. The SWAT team's mentality is dedicated towards shooting people, so they shot. Such harm has happened many times, and will happen again and again until there are fewer SWAT teams. A friend said this reminded him of a joke, "Save police time — beat yourself up."

29 October 2012 (UK prudes looking to prosecute 1960s pop stars) UK prudes are looking to persecute 1960s pop stars for having sex with possibly underage groupies. The idea that stars generally "manipulated" their groupies into having sex is ridiculous. Groupies crossed hurdles to get sex with stars. Mr Roffey gives no reason for prosecuting these stars except the existence of a prohibition, which begs the question of whether the prohibition is justified. His idea of "child protection", which he applies to teenagers who were hardly children, is as hypocritical as "protective custody".

29 October 2012 (Eviction of people from their lands in Brazil) Guarani-Kaiowá people in Brazil who were kicked off their lands by violent farmers now face court-ordered eviction from their lands. I wonder whether these farmers have a connection with megacorporations.

29 October 2012 (Indonesian thugs shoot Papuan protesters) Indonesian thugs shot Papuans protesting for independence. Papuans never wanted to be part of Indonesia, which has sent large numbers of Javanese to colonize West Papua.

28 October 2012 (The lesser of two evil candidates) Another argument against supporting the lesser of two evil candidates.

28 October 2012 (Jamaica's law against homosexual acts) Two Jamaican homosexuals have asked an international commission to criticize Jamaica's law against homosexual acts, calling attention to entrenched bigotry in that region.

28 October 2012 (Bain threatens to close factory early) Now that workers are protesting against moving the Sensata factory to China, Bain (which Romney still owns part of) is threatening to close the plant early. What's most pitiful here is that it is possible to threaten American workers with closing their plant a few weeks before it was going to be closed anyway. They should respond by saying, "Shut it today!" The workers should have walked out immediately as soon as Bain told them to help ship their jobs to China, telling Bain, "If you do it, you'll do it without our help and without our knowledge — and we hope the business fails as a result." Then, instead of helping their oppressor, they could have done their best to make Bain regret this decision.

28 October 2012 (Personal data on web sites) A UK politician is getting flack for advising people to give false personal information to web sites. I think his only mistake was to suggest that people trust large commercial sites. Nobody should trust Facebook with personal data. If a social networking system requires correct personal data, we should reject it on principle.

10 October 2012 (FOI Requests) The US government has outsourced handling of FOI requests to companies. This seems to be an attempt to evade the law. However, even aside from that, privatization of government work is just an excuse to degrade working conditions.

10 October 2012 (Right-Wing Extremists) An Islamist fanatic shot an outspoken 14-year-old Pakistani political activist in the head. These right-wing extremists hate women who show any independence.

10 October 2012 (President Morsi) President Morsi has pardoned all protesters accused of crimes during the protests that brought about Mubarak's ouster.

10 October 2012 (Man in UK jailed for joke) A man in the UK was jailed for posting a sick joke about a kidnaped and possibly murdered girl. The UK's censored media don't dare tell you what the joke was, but it is shown in slashdot. The joke is gross, with too little wit to rate a groan. (I'm not one of those who considers mere grossness humor.) However, people should not be imprisoned for their jokes, not even lousy, tasteless jokes. The judge said the joke is offensive. It is, but imprisoning people for saying something offensive is tyranny. Putin demonstrated this point by defending the imprisonment of Pussy Riot on the grounds that their name is offensive. Of course, there are many differences between a puerile and unfunny joke about a kidnaped child and a protest against a tyrant. Those differences are relevant to other judgments, which is why we admire Pussy Riot and not this humorist. However, those differences are not relevant to the question of whether these people should be in prison. Freedom of speech includes the freedom to offend anyone.

10 October 2012 (US ISPs acting as anti-sharing police) The main US ISPs have begun acting as unofficial anti-sharing police. This is designed to stop people from cooperating — in other words, it is divide-and-conquer. It is not just nasty, it is completely mean-spirited.

10 October 2012 (Protests banned in Greece) Greeks protested Merkel's visit to Greece, intended to "support" the flunkies carrying out her austerity policies, so the same flunkies banned protests.

10 October 2012 (Warning for pregnant women) Pregnant women are warned not to eat birds killed with lead shot. I've read that the California condor has the same problem: it is a scavenger, and when it occasionally eats an animal killed with lead shot, it can be poisoned.

09 October 2012 (Rwandan civilians tortured) Rwandan civilians have been tortured into false confessions. It sounds horribly like the US.

08 October 2012 (Urgent: Free unjustly imprisoned Yemeni journalist) US citizens: Call on Obama to allow a pesky Yemeni journalist to be freed from unjust imprisonment. His supposed crime is interviewing members of al Qa'ida. If Obama acts to keep someone in jail over that, it shows the plaintiffs worried Obama will imprison them without trial are right.

08 October 2012 (Cuban journalist kicked out of Spain) A Cuban journalist was arrested and taken back to Havana when she tried to cover the trial of the driver who accidentally killed Oswaldo Paya.

[Reference updated on 2018-03-02 because the old link was broken.] The driver is associated with the right-wing Partido Popular in Spain. That party, now in power, also represses dissidents. In addition, it obeys the banksters' orders to make life horrible for most people in Spain. Given the choice, I'd prefer repression under Castro to repression plus exploitation under the PP.

08 October 2012 (Romney's financial disclosure reports) Calling for a criminal investigation of Romney for lying in his financial disclosure reports.

[Reference updated on 2018-03-02 because the old link was broken.] I predict that the Republicans that tried to impeach Clinton for lying about a private matter will claim that Romney should suffer no penalty for this lie.

08 October 2012 (Jeremy Hammond) Jeremy Hammond is accused of obtaining and leaking the Stratfor files. Here his defenders explain their support for him. Here for comparison purposes is a statement of the indictment against him. If Hammond and/or others did indeed make charges on some credit cards he obtained this way, I would consider that wrong unless they can show some specific justification for it.

07 October 2012 (Vatican sentences whistleblower to prison) The Vatican has sentenced its corruption whistleblower to several years in prison, focusing on punishing the messenger so as to ignore the message. I wonder if Obama's persistent attacks on whistleblowers was an inspiration to them.

07 October 2012 (Why US gov't doesn't want Iran to have nuclear weapons) A politician admits the real reason why the US government doesn't want Iran to have nuclear weapons: it would deter US attacks and increase the regime's influence. It would be unfortunate for those murderous tyrants to get more influence, and I would stop them from getting nuclear weapons if I could do it by snapping my fingers. However, doing it through an attack that would kill thousands of civilians from the toxic chemicals alone would be wrong even if it had a chance of working — which it doesn't. I suggest that we Americans instead put more effort into restraining our own government from acting like Iranian tyrants. Obama claims the power to kill or imprison anyone without a trial — different in detail from the Iranian tyrants, but fundamentally the same evil.

07 October 2012 (Does marijuana fight cancer?) Marijuana helps people cope with the intense nausea caused by cancer therapies. Does it also fight cancer? Thanks to US laws, there is no way to follow up on promising research.

04 October 2012 (Destruction of Great Barrier Reef) As the Great Barrier Reef's coral dies due to human-imposed stress, the US Export Import Bank finances coal projects around the world, including one likely to attack it even more.

04 October 2012 (Climate scientists' private emails) Climate scientists complain about attempts to subpoena their private emails. In general, I think scientists should publish more of their data and the software they use to analyze it, as part of doing good science. However, they should not have to publish their conversations about their work.

30 September 2012 (US Unemployment) One of the Federal Reserve governors says the US unemployment problem requires spending, not just money expansion. It's too bad Obama talks about compromise with the Republicans to cut the deficit.

30 September 2012 (Ted Koppel) When Ted Koppel criticizes media falsehoods, his starting premise is that there must be equal criticism for Republicans and Democrats. Except sometimes there can be a little more for Democrats.

30 September 2012 (US: Old Men Kept In Prison) Old men are kept in prison in the US even when they are paralyzed or can hardly hold a pen. And often they can't get the medical treatment they need. A major reason for imprisoning criminals is so they cannot commit more crimes. An old man is not likely to commit a crime of violence. A paralyzed old man could hardly even try.

30 September 2012 (Afghanistan) Afghanistan: Violence stalks women workers. Karzai's government reflects the sexist attitude of Afghan society. It is a step forward compared with the Taliban, but not that big a step. If it could be kept in power by something less than unending war, I might be in favor of that. But this small gain can't justify the unending war, which likewise exposes Afghan women to violence.

30 September 2012 (Bahraini Protester Killed) Another Bahraini protester was killed by the thugs. It isn't wrong for Bahrainis to fight the thugs with violence, just as it wasn't wrong for Libyans and isn't wrong for Syrians to do so. It may or may not be a wise idea — that is a different question.

30 September 2012 (Nabi Saleh) The Freedom Theater performed in Nabi Saleh, which has held a weekly protest for almost 3 years against the theft of their land by an Israeli colony.

30 September 2012 (Greece) A right-wing anti-immigrant party is gaining power in Greece by helping poor Greeks and bullying immigrants for them. When powerful rich knock the people down, they get angry. But if they don't know to focus their anger directly at the rich, demagogues can use it by scapegoating others who are even weaker.

30 September 2012 (Megan Stammers And Jeremy Forrest) Megan Stammers and her lover, Jeremy Forrest, objects of an international dragnet for running away together, were arrested. Her family claims to be "elated". I doubt that Ms Stammers feels elated. Most people are not elated to be arrested, even if their jailers say it is for their "protection". She may not relish being "reunited with her father" against her will. When she envisions being forced to testify against him when he is trued for the crime of running away with her, she might feel despair.

30 September 2012 (Regulations) Many US states enforce regulations on oil and gas wells in such a perfunctory and slapdash fashion that it hardly does any good.

[Reference updated on 2018-03-02 because the old link was broken.]

30 September 2012 (Guatemala) The president of Guatemala will propose legalization of drugs to the UN General Assembly.

[Reference updated on 2018-03-02 because the old link was broken.] It is useful to try this route, but Guatemala and any other country that doesn't want to be at war with its own citizens should take unilateral steps to legalize drugs.

30 September 2012 (Quotes) Officials and executives in the US increasingly demand journalists get permission for quotes they want to use Since I have sometimes been terribly misquoted, I too ask reporters to verify their quotes with me — but only if they don't make an audio recording, which is the best way to ensure they quote what I really said.

30 September 2012 (Panama) Panama is proposing to fine people a hundred thousand dollars for file sharing, while giving them only 15 days to prepare a defense. The money thus collected is paid as a bonus to the staff of the agency that issues the fines, which don't go through any court. Obama pushed through the free exploitation treaty between Panama and the US. Is Obama responsible for this?

29 September 2012 (Boston license plate data) Boston police cameras recognize 3,600 license plates per day, and there are no real limits on what they do with this data. They store some in a corporation's server.

29 September 2012 (UK imprisoning squatters) The UK is imprisoning squatters who live in empty buildings. To call the sentence "disproportionate" is a grave understatement, since it grants some legitimacy to a law that is pure evil.

29 September 2012 (US drones terrorize Pakistani civilians) Civilians in parts of Pakistan feel terrorized by US drones. They are taking their children out of school and fear to attend funerals.

29 September 2012 (US military designates Assange and Wikileaks as "enemies") The US military designated Assange and Wikileaks as "enemies". This means that Assange might be imprisoned without trial if the US got its hands on him. It also suggests the US might to try to kidnap him or assassinate him.

29 September 2012 (The "wasted vote" argument) Rejecting the "wasted vote" argument against voting Green.

[Reference updated on 2018-03-02 because the old link was broken.] Voting for Obama is effectively voting Republican since on issues of concern to business he effectively is one. I think one minor point in the article is mistaken. The Democratic Party was never a third party; it was the first organized political party in the US, though at its beginning in the 1790s it was called "Republican".

29 September 2012 (Video made by NY thugs last November) Anonymous obtained 60 hours of video made by New York thugs as they shut down the protest camp of Occupy Wall Street last November. The thugs attacked journalists so as to prevent them from taking videos. A person who looked at the short clip for me says it shows thugs beating up on the protesters while handcuffing them and taking them a way. At one point, a gang of thugs abuse a man who seems to be screaming in pain. They rip people out of groups who have intertwined their arms by pulling on their legs. They push a guy from behind whose arms are cuffed behind him. It is possible that this video was obtained from the office of a lawyer suing the thugs. The article assumes that, if this is so, it would damage the rights of other protesters brutalized by thugs. I am skeptical of that conclusion. If you look at videos on youtube.com, take care not to access them by visiting the site in a browser, since that requires running nonfree software (either Flash Player or nonfree Javascript code). Use the youtubedl script to get the Webm file, and play that with free software. Here's a magnet link for the full set of videos.

27 September 2012 (Exploited gold miners pushing back) Gold mines in South Africa exploit their employees cruelly, but they are starting to push back. At the same time, it is clear that the other root of this problem is too high a birth rate. I support the miners' demand for higher pay, but they also have a responsibility: not to have so many children that it makes them slaves to the mine. If contraception is not easily available to them, the state has a responsibility to help.

27 September 2012 (Arrests in NYC for covering up ads) Protesters were arrested in NYC for putting paintings or stickers over anti-Muslim advertisements. I support the right to make such statements, even though I don't agree with them. I also support the right to criticize them by writing on the posters. Covering them up or tearing them down is on the borderline; to prosecute people for this is extreme.

27 September 2012 (US mortgages with invalid title) Large numbers of abusive US mortgages have invalid title, so cities and states can use eminent domain to seize and abolish the mortgages.

27 September 2012 (Internet censorship) Free Speech, the Internet, and a Very Big Lie. The problem of censorship begins when a site that the public depends on for communication — in other words, an effectively public virtual space that is formally private — blocks access to any material from any country. If a state installs filters to block the material, the state is clearly committing censorship. When a company does the state's dirty work, that disguises the censorship as an editorial judgment. Google says that it must comply with the censorship laws of the various countries where it has offices. That's true, but incomplete. For a time, Google complied with the censorship laws of China for this reason; but then it closed its office there and stopped complying. That was the right thing to do, but Google does not always do the right thing. When Google opens an office in a country that imposes censorship, it extends that country's censorship to YouTube.

27 September 2012 (Questions for US passport applicants) The US Passport Agency is trying to create the option to give any passport applicant an impossible set of irrelevant questions.

27 September 2012 (Criminal charges for not censoring video) A Google executive in Brazil faces criminal charges for not removing a video from YouTube.

[Reference updated on 2018-03-02 because the old link was broken.] To punish executives personally when corporations act illegally seems in general like a good idea. This particular law is another matter: it is a form of censorship. The words in the article suggest that the law was meant to apply to advertisements by election campaigns. Thus limited, it might be acceptable — and applying it to statements published by independent members of the public might be a legal error. However, only a Brazilian lawyer could tell if this is really true.

27 September 2012 (EU proposal to stop terrorist sites) EU proposal to stop terrorist sites even more ridiculous than it sounds. This is supposed to be a justification for trying to develop it in secret. That reminds me of "I believe because it is absurd".

27 September 2012 (Abolition of Palestinian Authority) By abolishing the Palestinian Authority, Palestinians could demonstrate that Israel's current path is an apartheid state.

[Reference updated on 2018-03-02 because the old link was broken.]

27 September 2012 (Urgent: Presidential debate on Corporations United) US citizens: sign this petition to raise the Corporations United (*) decision in the presidential debate. * These corporations called themselves "Citizens United", but there's no reason to repeat their spin.

26 September 2012 (Drone attacks in Pakistan boost Taliban) An academic study in the US concludes that drone attacks in Pakistan do more to boost the Taliban than to damage it. For a guerrilla movement, the limiting factor is its ability to recruit supporters. Leaders, even the best, can always be replaced if recruiting is good. Thus, to kill leaders in a way that stimulates popular support for the guerrilla only strengthens it. Thus, the study's conclusion is not surprising. However, it is good to see it confirmed in a way that may impede the attempts to ignore the point.

26 September 2012 ("Swearing" at thug causes scandal in UK) A high Tory official in the UK faces a scandal because he "swore" at a thug who would not let him leave the prime minister's office by his usual path. A Tory politician surely advocates policies that will harm the non-rich and damage the environment, but Britons are more upset that he insulted a thug?! This absurdity rivals that of the sex scandals that bring down right-wing US politicians after they have got away with policies that hurt most of their electorate. If he did treat a thug with disrespect, was that wrong? Persons and institutions deserve what respect they earn. After publicly lying to blame the victims of their own misconduct, sleeping with dissidents they were spying on, besieging thousands of protesters, beating and shooting innocent people, and killing numerous prisoners, I think the UK thugs should go and earn more respect before they complain. If there is a real wrong in what Mitchell is reported to have said, it is the arrogance — for instance, "learn your place" and "plebs". Those words suppose a society in which a few deserve to be served by the rest. However, if that attitude were unacceptable in a politician, it would exclude the Tories and New Labour in general, since both parties are subservient to the rich. As for the "swear word" Mitchell allegedly used, that merely indicates anger. People understandably feel angry when forcibly blocked from travelling on their usual paths. To arrest someone for displaying that anger is to kick him when he's down. Not even a politician deserves that. The UK should take this opportunity to ensure that no Briton will ever again be arrested for "swearing".

26 September 2012 (Proposal to "abolish prostitution" in France) France's new government proposes to "abolish prostitution". What these measures would really do is force prostitution underground, hurting both prostitutes and their customers. If you want to help people who feel they have been driven into prostitution, help them deal in other ways with the problems that drove them. That would be real help, and they would appreciate it. Some might then be able to stop doing prostitution. If others continue, voluntarily, why should you object?

26 September 2012 (Protests against the TPP) Protests against the TPP got through to the negotiators of other countries.

[Reference updated on 2018-03-02 because the old link was broken.]

26 September 2012 (Shell aiming to ban protests) Shell is suing Greenpeace International aiming to ban protests anywhere near Shell installations and activities.

26 September 2012 (Data refute "need" for exorbitant CEO pay) Data refute the theory that companies "need" to offer CEOs pay that is competitive with CEOs of other companies in the same size.

26 September 2012 (Facebook working with purchase-tracking company) Facebook has started working with a purchase-tracking company to cross-reference Facebook's data about users with data about their purchases. This can't affect you if you do as I do: refuse to use Facebook, block its surveillance of non-users (done via Like buttons), and pay cash. But it is nasty nonetheless.

26 September 2012 (Iran trade sanctions) Iran officially offered to halt uranium enrichment to 20% in exchange for relaxation of trade sanctions. The rational point of trade sanctions is to pressure a country into changing policies. If the US goal is that Iran not be able to make a nuclear weapon, Iran is now offering just that. In negotiations, it might offer more. So why would the US not make a deal? One reason would be if the real US goal is something other than a change of Iranian nuclear policy.

26 September 2012 (Camp David agreement) President Morsi of Egypt called on the US to honor the Camp David agreement by supporting Palestinian independence.

25 September 2012 (Second hand goods) Most of the world uses second hand goods that came from the rich countries. Therefore, our decisions in rich countries about what sort of goods to use have a long effect on others.

24 September 2012 (Companies perverting spirit of free software) Companies are perverting the cooperative spirit of free software and Wikipedia to get people to work gratis. When someone asks you to contribute to a joint project, think about whether it is being contributed to the public as it ought to be. The article refers only to "Linux" but it's clearly talking about the GNU/Linux system. The author probably does not know this is an error.

24 September 2012 (Romney unqualified for presidency, according to Romney) According to Romney's own words, he is unqualified for the presidency because in 2011 he intentionally paid more federal taxes than he had to. There is nothing inherently wrong in a person's making a gift to the national treasury, but it looks like Romney did this to avoid showing how low a federal tax rate he might have paid before. And since it is not presented as a gift to the treasury, but rather as not claiming the full deduction he could claim, he can get that money back next year. Now, I am in favor of a tax deduction for charitable donations, including to churches. His low basic tax rate is the problem.

24 September 2012 (Disappeared Chinese AIDS activist) A Chinese AIDS activist has been disappeared after going on hunger strike to protest his house arrest.

24 September 2012 (Québécois protest movement a success ) In Quebec, just across the border from the US, the student protest movement brought down the government and eliminated harsh restrictions on protests.

24 September 2012 (Peru's conduct towards protesters) Human Rights Watch makes recommendations for Peru regarding conduct towards protesters.

24 September 2012 (Sugar withdrawal) Sugar withdrawal can affect part of a rat's brain like opiate withdrawal.

24 September 2012 (Two-state solution explained) Uri Avnery explains to Romney about the two-state solution to the one-state problem.

24 September 2012 (Living standards in UK) A study predicts that most people in the UK will get worse off through 2020 even though the total economy expands. That's what happens if you promote economic growth by deregulating business and taxing the rich less — the growth is only for the rich, so why bother?

24 September 2012 (Syrian rebel headquarters) The Syrian rebels have moved their headquarters into areas of Syria that they control.

[Reference updated on 2018-03-02 because the old link was broken.] The existence of areas under rebel control means that it is now militarily possible for the West to aid them, as it was in Libya. Whether to do so is another question. The challenge would be to avoid making this a victory for Salafists that could be worse than Assad.

23 September 2012 (Ansar al-Sharia stormed) A crowd of citizens stormed the base of Ansar al-Sharia in Benghazi, whose fighters fled after some attempt at resistance. This may be a step forward in helping the state take power away from the various militias that control parts of Libya. But not necessarily.

23 September 2012 (Roundup promotes fungal growth) Glyphosate (Roundup) promotes gwowth of fungi, and its use has been associated with the appearance of a new fungal disease that causes abortions in farm animals. Whether Roundup is responsible for this disease is not yet established, but may be established by further study. Whether ceasing to use Roundup would eliminate the disease is a separate question, which experiments could answer. Whether continued use of Roundup is likely to make more such diseases appear is another question, which we can't answer with certainty, so we must not ignore the risk.

23 September 2012 (Victims of shooting in movie theater sue) Some victims of the shooting in a movie theater are suing the theater.

[Reference updated on 2018-03-02 because the old link was broken.] Isn't this nuts? If they win, theaters will adopt new "security measures" to make life more difficult for everyone (and, as a secondary evil, charge more). But I don't blame the plaintiffs. Due to the lack of a national health service in the US, and the lack of proper support for the disabled, they must be desperate to get money from somewhere.

23 September 2012 (Reggie Clemons) Reggie Clemons got a new investigation, which presented evidence that his prosecution was unfair. Thugs get lots of practice lying on the witness stand, so what they said must be disregarded. Aside from that, it looks like Clemons was guilty of something, perhaps participating in rape, if not murder. Some suspects are guilty, after all, but that doesn't excuse torture, or execution.

23 September 2012 (System of testing drugs broken) Our system of testing drugs for safety and efficacy is fundamentally broken. Pharma companies systematically manipulate it so they can sell drugs that don't work, are dangerous, or both.

[Reference updated on 2018-03-02 because the old link was broken.] The solution is to tax the companies and have the state fund the studies. This is one example among many of the harm done by the political power of business. That is why I support movements and candidates ready to take away that power. Democracy does not mean elections. Elections are part of the method, but they are not the point. The point of democracy is that the many non-rich unite to be stronger than the rich. The US doesn't do this, which means democracy is sick.

23 September 2012 (Guantanamo Prisoners) The US has published a list of 55 Guantanamo prisoners who are "cleared for release". Since the US government doesn't claim to have a reason to imprison them, they should be freed immediately. The rest of the prisoners should be freed immediately too, unless they are charged with some crime and tried. (I refuse to call prisoners "detainees". That word sanitizes the horror of being imprisoned.)

23 September 2012 (Violence used by Salafists) Violent protests against an insulting film are being used by Muslim extremists (Salafists) to build support for their extremism, much the way Christian extremists in the West used sometimes violent protest against abortion providers.

[Reference updated on 2018-03-02 because the old link was broken.] What is crucial is whether Muslims who respect freedom of expression organize to defeat the extremists. The world center of Salafism is Saudi Arabia, whose state the US has supported in repression for decades.

23 September 2012 (Removal of Mojahedin-e Khalq from "terrorist" list) Millionaires spent millions on lobbyists and campaign contributions to get the Mojahedin-e Khalq removed from the list of organizations arbitrarily labeled as "terrorist". This demonstrates that the list is a matter of politics, nothing to do with justice. It is prohibition of groups by decree, if they don't have political connections.

23 September 2012 (Obama as bad as Bush) Obama has become, on many fronts, as bad an enemy of civil liberties as Bush. The delusion that terrorism in the US is a significant danger is part of the cause.

23 September 2012 (Sleazy spamming company run by UK Tory leader) A leader of the UK Tory party runs a sleazy search engine spamming company. Many conservatives own or work for businesses that exploit people (consider Romney), so this should not be surprising.

23 September 2012 (Facebook censorship guidelines) Facebook censorship guidelines have been leaked. They include political censorship catering to various countries that do not respect freedom of speech.

[Reference updated on 2018-03-02 because the old link was broken.]

23 September 2012 (Facebook's system for getting real names) Facebook is experimenting with a system to ask people to rat on friends who have not given their real names. If I used Facebook, I would give my real name, but being denied the option of doing otherwise is enough reason for me to refuse to use it at all. There are many reasons to reject Facebook.

20 September 2012 (Fuel) A misguided policy of selling auto fuel with 15% ethanol, which can ruin a small engine, has made it necessary for the EPA to impose an impractical regulation about minimum sales that will make many purchasers unable to buy what they need. This Republican congressman's rant about the "free market" is invalid. Environmental protection regulations are necessary — and these regulations seem like a rational choice, given that the 15% ethanol fuel is being sold. The root of this problem is using ethanol made from growing corn in fuel for automobiles. This would be fine if there were plenty of corn, but nowadays the shortage, caused by global heating, means that billions of people are bidding up the price. We need to burn less fossil fuel, but replacing it with ethanol made instead of food is nuts .

20 September 2012 (Tired Of Facebook) Some kids are getting tired of Facebook. The author does not care how Facebook (or other companies) abuse his privacy; he does not mind how the iBad restricts him, let alone how the workers producing Apple products are treated. But even he finds Facebook unpleasant. I hope others, if they don't learn to be concerned about the important issues, at least follow him that far.

20 September 2012 (iThings) Production of iThings continues to oppress workers, notwithstanding Apple's attempts to pretend it has changed the conditions.

20 September 2012 (Aaron Swartz) Aaron Swartz faces 50 years in prison if convicted of crimes that amount to violating JSTOR's terms of service.

[Reference updated on 2018-03-02 because the old link was broken.] I've heard that the Injustice Department, which he filled with former RIAA heavies, is pushing hard to get Swartz, which is why they don't care that JSTOR has no complaint against him. If Obama wins this, people could be imprisoned for registering for Spotify with inaccurate information, or for lending someone else the music they "bought" from iTunes. Perhaps that is Obama's long-term goal.

20 September 2012 (Surveillance) William Binney went public about NSA spying on all Americans after working privately inside the NSA won him an FBI raid on his home. Here is a video in which he explains more [35 meg Ogg Theora]. Sworn Declaration of Whistleblower William Binney on NSA Domestic Surveillance Capabilities. Working within the system for reform occasionally works, but it depends on outside pressure that gives the rulers a reason to want to change. More often, the idea that you're working within the system to reduce the harm it does is merely an excuse to overlook the harm you are doing by not fighting against it.

19 September 2012 (Who are "the good guys"?) Should we consider the US and the West "the good guys"?

[Reference updated on 2018-03-02 because the old link was broken.] In the Cold War, the US was far less bad than the Russian Empire, and mostly deserved to be considered the good guys even despite the horrible things (such as overthrowing governments and arranging death squads) that it did in many countries, just because the Russian Empire was such tyranny. However, as the US moves toward tyranny, I don't see that it deserves to be considered "the good guys". China and Russia today are much worse, but the US may come to rival them in time.

19 September 2012 (US environmental regulations) The US bases environmental regulations on an underestimated figure for the harm done by CO 2 emissions.

19 September 2012 (US suspends joint missions with Karzai's men) So many of Karzai's men have shot Americans that things finally snapped: the US has mostly suspended joint missions with them. Panetta misrepresents the situation when he calls this the "last gasp of the weakened Taliban." I wish that were true, because the Taliban are loathsome fanatics, but it isn't true. There is no sign that the Taliban have been weakened militarily — their attacks increased this year. The attacks by Karzai's men occur in addition, not instead.

19 September 2012 (Urgent: Protect water supplies) US citizens: Call on Obama to regulate fracking effectively to protect water supplies.

[Reference updated on 2018-03-02 because the old link was broken.] Of course, we don't dare keep depending on these fossil fuels.

18 September 2012 (US ban on Mujahedin-e Khalq) It looks like Iraq is cooperating with a push to remove the Mujahedin-e Khalq from the US list of arbitrarily banned organizations. (I think People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran is another name for that.) The Mujahedin-e Khalq are accused of working with Israel to kill Iranian scientists involved in nuclear weapons research. I am not convinced that is a horrible thing to do; I regard it as low-intensity continuation of a long-existing war. Whether the organization should be considered terrorist, I don't know. However, it is clear that what the US government says about this or any other organization is a political decision. It is unlikely that your bowling league will be designated as "terrorist" and banned, but Obama could do it if he really wants to. To ban any organization without a trial is tyranny.

18 September 2012 (Netanyahu trying to pressure US) Netanyahu is trying to pressure the US government to commit itself to war with Iran.

18 September 2012 (Danger of nuclear power) Whistleblower Richard Perkins says the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is covering up the danger that a nuclear power plant in South Carolina could have a meltdown if a dam breaks and floods it. Thirty thousand people protested to block loading nuclear fuel into a reactor in India. Some argue for nuclear power as a way to prevent global heating. But this is a dangerous bet. If civilization collapses, all the dirty used nuclear fuel rods, stored in a manner that requires frequent high-tech maintenance, will leak into the environment.

18 September 2012 (Killing of US ambassador to Libya) The killing of the US ambassador to Libya may have been done by a militia linked to al Qa'ida. If true — the US or the Libyan government could be lying — this reflects the fact that various militias that participated in the revolution against Gaddafi remain armed, and pursuing their own agendas, including in some cases Islamist extremism. US surveillance drones are flying over Libya now, probably with the state's approval. What does this imply? Such groups are not like the army of a state. The army of a state is limited by the state's funding for the troops, training and arms. Killing some of the troops makes the remaining army smaller and (unless it was victorious) weaker in spirit. But these underground groups are limited mainly by how much they can recruit. The drone attacks seem to make them stronger, especially through the resentment generated when they kill civilians. How the US government talks about drone attacks while claiming it doesn't.

17 September 2012 (UK's new environment minister) The UK's new environment minister has no credentials except the support of a prominent global heating denier. The current government says it plans to be the "greenest ever" but has taken every opportunity to sabotage renewable energy and boost fossil fuels. I concluded long ago that its actions show us its true goals. Now this is confirmed.

17 September 2012 (Economic growth) Arguing that continued economic growth is now impossible and people must prepare for society on a broad scale to collapse. Although economic growth has, in the past, meant increased use of resources that are now scarce, that is not the only way an economic recovery for American workers can occur. Directing the US towards constructing renewable energy in the way it was once directed towards fighting World War II could provide jobs for millions while reducing our resource usage. But this possibility changes little in practice as long as our corporate rulers will not allow it to happen.

17 September 2012 (UK's plan for secret courts) The UN criticized the UK's plan for secret courts. Protecting torturers is not merely an accidental byproduct of this plan. It is the motive for the plan. The servile UK government will go to any lengths to help Obama protect US torturers.

17 September 2012 (Urgent: Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act) US citizens: phone your congresscritter to support the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act. The Capitol Switchboard numbers are 202-224-3121, 888-818-6641 and 888-355-3588.

30 August 2012 (West Nile Virus) The US is having its biggest ever outbreak of West Nile Virus, in its hottest year on record, and the trail points straight at global heating.

30 August 2012 (South Korea's Supreme Court) South Korea's Supreme Court decided that it is unconstitutional to require web sites to demand users' real names

30 August 2012 (The US Soldiers) The US soldiers in Afghanistan were warned that burning Qur'ans was a bad idea, that it was likely to make many Afghans feel offended. I mention this to correct an earlier note in which I supposed that wasn't so. I disagree with Greenwald's equating of an act that some took offense at with a killing.

29 August 2012 (Alternative currencies in Spain) Alternative currencies are springing up in Spain to help people cope with punishing right-wing economic policies.

29 August 2012 (Microfinance) Microfinance can help the poor, but can also exploit them. When someone told me she worked with microfinance, I asked her if they were visible to the naked eye.

29 August 2012 (Low wage prison workers) A Vermont man's lawsuit against being forced to work while in pre-trial detention was brought back to life on appeal.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-27 because the old link was broken.] However, the bigger threat to Americans' way of life comes from requiring convicted prisoners to work for low wages, competing with free workers.

29 August 2012 (US troops punished) US troops that carelessly burned Qur'ans, and others that made a video of urinating on corpses, were punished administratively. I think this is, for once, the just response. There is nothing inherently wrong in those actions, and the burning of Qur'ans was not intentional anyway, but I'm pretty sure all soldiers were ordered (for good reason) not to do these things, and they had no grounds to disobey.

29 August 2012 (US drugged prisoners) The US interrogated prisoners while under the effect of mind-altering drugs, and whatever they said is presumed true unless they prove it false.

29 August 2012 (Effect of marijuana on intelligence) A study shows that use of marijuana by teenagers permanently reduces their intelligence, but that adults are not affected.

27 August 2012 (Man blocked from flying because of shirt) Delta Airlines blocked a man from flying because his shirt set off fears in unidentified racist passengers. Ironically, the shirt's message criticized precisely these irrational fears.

27 August 2012 (World may be forced into vegetarianism) Population growth and water scarcity may force most of the world into vegetarianism. Limiting yourself to a small amount of meat is good for your health, but rather than being forced to go all the way, we should arrange to limit population growth.

27 August 2012 (Tourists convicted of blasphemy in Sri Lanka) French tourists were convicted of blasphemy in Sri Lanka for simulating the act of kissing a Buddha statue.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-27 because the old link was broken.] Like all laws against offending someone, this law is pure injustice. It is also a ludicrous travesty of what the Buddha said. If the Buddha could be reincarnated (impossible, according to Buddhism, since he attained nirvana), he would tell the authorities and people of Sri Lanka that their attachment to his statue and his relics is an obstacle to their spiritual progress, and they should try to overcome it through meditation and benevolence. But the Buddhists of Sri Lanka would not listen. Rich families there vie for the prestige of sponsoring a ceremony to adore his tooth, permanently enshrined in the Temple of the Tooth. Thus they convert his tranquil wisdom (albeit based on the then-general assumption that reincarnation occurs, for which there is no evidence) into competitive folly. I wonder if they would sentence someone for teaching Dr. Ambedkar's thoroughly rational version of Buddhism.

27 August 2012 (US-backed repression in Guatemala) Mining companies dispossessed indigenous people in Guatemala thanks to a US-backed coup, then took advantage of US-backed repression, and then imposed a "reformed" mining law to let them take what they want. Guatemala's president should be in prison for the repression he led. With him as president, the country is little better than Assad's regime in Syria.

27 August 2012 (US border license plate scans) The US scans all car license plates at the border and gives all the data to a private organization, including times and places. The border is a special case, and maybe it is legitimate for a country to record the licenses of all cars that cross the border. It is certainly not legitimate to show all those licenses to a private organization. Meanwhile, this method is wasting opportunities to block car theft. The appropriate US agency should have a list of stolen cars' license numbers, and check for those plates at border crossings — while the car is still there.

27 August 2012 (Leaked TPP draft) A leaked draft shows that TPP is planned to impose a regime of punishment by accusation without trial, and Internet filtering. "Free trade" treaties are meant to weaken democracy, by giving businesses more power than governments. They should all be torn up, for that reason. However, it's normal for these treaties to have additional requirements that directly attack the citizens, especially when the US gets involved. That is an additional reason to tear up these treaties.

27 August 2012 (Romney proposes "energy independence") Romney proposes "energy independence" for North America by extracting fossil fuels everywhere possible and never mind the damage. The downside is that thanks to global heating North America will cease to be food-independent, and there will be none available to import either.

27 August 2012 (South Africa's miners) South Africa's president Zuma faces intense criticism for taking the mining company's side against striking miners. The article places the emphasis on the possible effects on Zuma's political career, but what's really important is decent labor conditions for the miners.

27 August 2012 (Hot water from Illinois electric plants) Electric plants in Illinois are discharging water that is almost boiling, due to the unusual heat of the water they use for cooling. The result is almost to boil the fish. It will be far worse in 20 years. These plants may have to shut down.

27 August 2012 (Democratic Convention workers) At the Democratic Convention in anti-union North Carolina, sanitation workers are being driven into the ground with mandatory overtime.

27 August 2012 (Editors of student paper quit) The editors of the University of Georgia student paper have quit after corporate staff were put in charge of them and pressured them to avoid writing about "bad news". Don't they understand? This is was simply intended to prepare them for professional journalism.

26 August 2012 (NY thugs fire randomly on the street) New York thugs fired randomly at people on the street while chasing an armed killer. The killer pulled out his gun but did not fire it. Perhaps did that in order to get killed ("suicide by cop"). It is understandable that the thugs shot him, but hitting 9 other people means they must have fired all around.

26 August 2012 (Urgent: Campaign against arbitrary eviction) Everyone: support Amnesty International's campaign against arbitrary eviction from slums in Africa.

26 August 2012 (Haiti makes Vodou religion illegal) Haiti's new constitution made the Vodou religion illegal. Participants in a ceremony were recently jailed, though it is not clear whether that is mainly about their religion or instead for their political sentiments. Of course, it's a shameful act either way.

26 August 2012 (Urgent: Enforce net neutrality rules against AT&T) US citizens: call on the FCC to enforce net neutrality rules against AT&T. The issue is about banning a protocol set up by Apple, available only through nonfree software that (for your freedom's sake) you should never use, which runs only on the malicious iThings which you should reject also. But that doesn't affect this issue. If AT&T can arbitrarily ban one protocol, it can arbitrarily ban any protocol.

26 August 2012 (US-supervised Honduran troops) Residents of Ahuas tell how the US-supervised Honduran troops shot and killed without warning, brutalized people in the town, and refused to help rescue the wounded. And then they tried to cover it up in several ways.

25 August 2012 (London teen harassed by thugs 4 years) A teenager in London has been harassed for 4 years, including numerous arrests over false charges, because of hostility by the thugs. Racial prejudice may be the reason it started, but I think it developed into a personal prejudice against him.

25 August 2012 (Setback in LA lawsuit against FBI) LA Muslims who sued about FBI surveillance suffered a setback, thanks to the law that allows the government to say the magic words "national security" and quash any lawsuit.

25 August 2012 (Owner and user control over software) Cory Doctorow: between the owner of a computer and its current user, who should have what control? My view is that in the case of a long-term lease, the person who has obtained the computer by lease should have full control over the software, just as if he were the owner.

25 August 2012 (Minority groups' schools shortchanged) A loophole allows US cities to spend less on minority group students' schools.

25 August 2012 (Privatization of child welfare protection) Privatizing child welfare protection in Nebraska led to horrible mistreatment of children. Privatization of any state function is bad unless it gives the public a competitive market. The kind of privatization where the state gives the contract to one company should always be avoided, because the way the company profits is by shafting the state, the public, its workers, or all three.

25 August 2012 (US remains a bully even without Dubya) Getting Rid of Dubya Wasn't Enough. The US Remains a Bully.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-27 because the old link was broken.] Alas, I don't see any sign that reduced US power will lead to a better world order. Rising powers such as India and China are no better (India keeps getting worse). And Russia is turning into a overt dictatorship.

24 August 2012 ("We Built This," say Republicans) We Built This, Except That It Was Mostly Publicly Financed and It's Publicly Owned and Supported. Perhaps these Republicans were misled by the name Tampa Bay Times Forum. US cities nowadays consider everything to be for sale, even the names of public buildings. I think that some company must have bought permission to put its name on that building. The name might give the appearance that it was a private building, privately constructed.

24 August 2012 (Sentenced for rude email in UK) The lack of freedom of speech in the UK is demonstrated by sentencing someone for sending a rude email. The message was rude but made no threat. It only expressed an attitude of disapproval and rebuke. I have no opinion about whether that attitude was justified, but freedom of speech includes the right to say such things (and even harsher) about anyone.

24 August 2012 (UK law to help companies pay less taxes) The UK has adopted a law to facilitate moving money into tax havens. I guess the government thinks that companies pay too much taxes and wants to increase government deficits.

24 August 2012 (Dissident slogans written on court web site) Anonymous wrote dissident slogans on the web site of the court that imprisoned Pussy Riot. Writing a slogan on the wall of a nasty institution is part of opposition, and this is its virtual equivalent. It is legitimate, and should be legal. Please don't call this an "attack" or "hijacking" because that is propaganda for those who don't want democracy or opposition in the virtual world.

24 August 2012 (Fighting over use of land in Kenya) Farmers and herders in Kenya are fighting over use of land. Such conflicts have gone on for a long time, even in the US (see the movie, Shane). But they are likely to get worse in the future in Africa, since population growth makes the existing supply insufficient just as global heating reduces what is available.

24 August 2012 (US on wrong side of media cold war) The media cold war: states vs users of the Internet. The US attempts to kick Wikileaks off the net and prosecute Assange put it on the wrong side.

24 August 2012 (Urgent: Stop corporate sponsorships of political conventions) US citizens: sign this petition for the Republican and Democratic conventions to stop accepting corporate sponsorships.

23 August 2012 (Urgent: Make candidates face global heating) US citizens: call on Jim Lehrer to raise the issue of global heating in the presidential debate.

22 August 2012 (Over 1000 Tibetans arrested) China has arrested over 1000 Tibetans involved in a movement to preserve Tibetan culture. Some of them have been disappeared.

22 August 2012 (Tony Nicklinson dies) Tony Nicklinson, who was unable to get permission for anyone to help him die, died of pneumonia. Maybe his rejection of food since the court verdict, about 5 days before, contributed to his illness. It is also possible that he refused some treatment that could have cured it. Still, it seems like amazing luck to develop a fatal illness so soon.

22 August 2012 (Novartis patent lawsuit) If Novartis wins a lawsuit about Indian patent law, various generic drugs from India will be blocked and lots of people in many poor countries will die. They will have been murdered by the World Trade Organization, and the treaties that set it up. Their funerals should be protests to abolish it. The person in the article who criticizes the pharma companies for spending too much on research is mistaken. Actually they spend only a tiny fraction of their funds on research, and far more on marketing.

22 August 2012 (Kucinich on US interventions) Dennis Kucinich: the US seems to have learned nothing from 10 years of interventions that have created more enemies and inspired terrorists. I disagree about the intervention in Libya; that one was justified and didn't have this effect. (Libya still has conflicts, but few want to go back to Gaddafi and few blame the US.) The intervention in Afghanistan might have gone well if Dubya hadn't invaded Iraq, but it is hard to be sure. However, Kucinich's overall point remains valid.

22 August 2012 (Todd Akin) Todd Akin, the Republican candidate who said that real rape doesn't make women pregnant (as an excuse to ban abortions even after rape), has refused to quit even after Romney said he should. This provides an opportunity to reelect a senator who supports abortion and contraception rights.

22 August 2012 (Admiration heaped on tyrant) World leaders state their fulsome admiration of the Ethiopian tyrant who just died. Apparently in their view arresting the political opposition does not make him unworthy of admiration.

22 August 2012 (US homes taken to build pipelines) Oil companies are taking US homes to build pipelines. This is because the Supreme Court ruled that eminent domain can be used for companies.

22 August 2012 (Apple) Apple gets rich by paying very little taxes. I think products DRM should be subject to a special punitive tax rate of 1000%.

22 August 2012 (Butterflies) Butterflies in Massachusetts are moving north due to global warming. Some that used to inhabit the northern part of the state are now hardly present at all

22 August 2012 (Guantanamo) The US bans Guantanamo prisoners from telling their lawyers how they were tortured. The US says that knowledge of CIA torture techniques would cause the US "exceptionally grave damage". Indeed the US would receive lots of well-deserved condemnation. A large fraction of the prisoners in Guantanamo are acknowledged to be innocent, but still can't get out. The men being tried are accused of real crimes, so they deserve real trials.

21 August 2012 (Trans fat amounts on labels) Labeling that states the amount of trans fats in food has pushed US food manufacturers to reduce its use. But they fought to prevent this.

21 August 2012 (Assange) If Assange had sex with a sleeping woman, the morning after they had sex and then slept together, was that rape? MP George Galloway says no. Waking up your lover with sex is a tradition that has given pleasure to many, and prohibiting it by designating it as rape is absurd. If that's what the law says in some country, that law is absurd. On the other hand, waking up someone with sex who is not your lover (or has recently been disinclined to have sex with you) is properly considered rape. Thus, the conclusion depends on circumstances. The circumstances described for Assange are borderline, but the couple were lovers at the time. Their last interaction, a few hours before, was to have sex. Based on the circumstances described in the article, I agree with George Galloway's conclusion. I don't know whether that description fits what happened, of course. I agree with him also that the empire's crimes are a bigger issue than this one. However, there is no need to make that comparison. Handing Assange to the US is one thing; investigating the sexual accusations is another. If the two issues are to be tied to one single decision — if the only choices are to permit both or prevent both — that would raise the question of which issue is more important, which issue should be the basis for the choice. However, tying the two issues together is in itself incorrect. The UK and Sweden want to do that because, for them, the sexual accusations are only an excuse to deliver Assange to the US, but there is no valid reason to tie them. The two issues ought to be kept separate, so that each one can be handled on its own merits. That's what Ecuador is doing: protecting Assange from the US, while offering to cooperate with Sweden in regard to the sexual accusations.

21 August 2012 (Paul Ryan sponsored anti-abortion bill) Paul Ryan sponsored a bill to declare that fetuses are persons, which would have banned abortion and some kinds of birth control.

21 August 2012 (Israeli soldiers attack protesters) Palestinians in Kufr Qaddoum held a peaceful protest against the theft of a third of their land and the siege of their village. Israeli soldiers attacked them and journalists; some journalists had broken bones.

21 August 2012 (Thwarted from studying West Bank) Four women from Gaza, who want to study in the West Bank, won a court victory in Israel, so the military invented a "security reason" which is too vague to answer.

20 August 2012 (Ohio election commissioners fired) Republicans in Ohio fired Democratic election commissioners for not following orders to vote against allowing early voting on the weekend.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-27 because the old link was broken.] Voter suppression is the general strategy of Republicans in this election, and it shows their intent to force themselves on the country.

19 August 2012 (Attacks on Palestinians) The US listed attacks on Palestinians as "terrorism". These attacks are becoming more frequent, and Israel does almost nothing to discourage them.

19 August 2012 (Freedom to burn books) All the Christians living in a suburb of Islamabad were chased out, after a girl was accused of burning a copy of the Qur'an. The accusation sounds so implausible that it must surely be a lie. However, ethically it would make no difference if the accusation were true. There is nothing wrong with your burning any book, as long as it's yours and it's not rare. You have the right to burn a copy of the Qur'an, or even Free Software, Free Society, if you wish — and anyone who tries to stop you is an enemy of freedom.

19 August 2012 (French thugs arrest masked protesters) French thugs arrested protesters supporting Pussy Riot, because they were wearing balaclavas as Pussy Riot does. This demonstrates that the law against wearing face coverings in public, which Sarkozy pretended was aimed at a handful of Muslim women, was really an attack on everyone's rights. With face recognition surveillance, the only way to have any privacy will be to wear a mask. More masked protests are needed to demand this freedom.

19 August 2012 (Use of unregulated customer data) US businesses use unregulated data to decide who is a desirable customer, and this could result in big discrimination.

19 August 2012 (Obama requests more money for teachers) Obama asked Congress to spend money to help localities hire more teachers. Stimulating the economy like this is a good idea. I wish it were not such a rare thing from Obama.

19 August 2012 (Arctic summer sea ice getting thinner) Arctic summer sea ice is not only retreating, it is getting thinner, so fast that in 10 years it might be totally gone.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-27 because the old link was broken.] This is extremely dangerous since that will cause the Arctic Ocean to absorb a lot more heat from the sun in the summer.

19 August 2012 (Planet-roaster pipeline) Construction of the planet-roaster pipeline started in Texas and was met with protests.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-27 because the old link was broken.]

19 August 2012 (NPR presenters protesting banks fired) NPR has fired several radio presenters for protesting against banks, but it is happy to let one large bank underwrite the Planet Money show, whose host makes a business of giving speeches to banks. These two policies might seem contradictory if viewed in ethical terms. However, if viewed in terms of selling out, they fit together perfectly.

19 August 2012 (Phony copyright trolls) Copyright trolls, who threaten lots of people with lawsuits unless they pay a medium-size sum for possibly real copyright infringement, have inspired a phony copyright troll whose activities are pure fraud. The funniest part is, this is not very different from what the real copyright trolls have done. Some of them have been shut down by courts for abusing the legal system.

18 August 2012 (Sioux tribes to buy back Black Hills) The Sioux tribes plan to use some of their settlement money for the US theft of the Black Hills to buy back parts of it.

18 August 2012 (Former eagle scouts protest) Former eagle scouts returned their scouting medals to protest the anti-gay stance of the Boy Scouts, but the organization is unmoved.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-27 because the old link was broken.]

18 August 2012 (Censorship in Pakistan extended) Pakistan has extended its Internet censorship to blocking political scandal. The previous censorship, of sex and criticism of religion, is also an injustice and in no way excusable.

18 August 2012 (Bain Capital moving US factory to China) Bain Capital is moving a profitable car parts factory in the US to China so it can pay workers less. If these workers had had guts, they would have gone on strike and told the company to ask Romney to train their replacements. Romney is fibbing when he claims to have disassociated himself from Bain in 1999. However, it makes no great difference that Romney is no longer running Bain. He built this monster and set it in motion, so he's responsible for what it continues to do, no matter who is at the controls now. Romney is profiting from behavior that the US economic system was set up to encourage. The system is to blame — and Romney is also to blame. So are the politicians who set up or preserve the system, including nearly all Republicans and many Democrats. In general, when a system leaves you vulnerable to mistreatment, that doesn't excuse the people who take advantage of it.

18 August 2012 (Time Wars) Time Wars: how precarious employment, misuse of technology and domination by the rich have turned all time into work and crushed creativity.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-27 because the old link was broken.]

18 August 2012 (Women of Pussy Riot sentenced) The women of Pussy Riot were sentenced to 2 years in prison. Hundreds of supporters protesting outside the courtroom were arrested. Other Russian dissidents are accused of obviously bogus crimes too. It is misguided to argue that some of these people are really innocent of the crime of protesting, since it would not be bad if they were "guilty". Prosecuting protesters, whether in Russia, the UK or the US, only proves the state is guilty.

17 August 2012 (Privatization of public services) Privatization of public services is a recipe for inefficiency, failure, and even oppression. No public service should ever be privatized unless the result is to offer competition directly to citizens.

17 August 2012 (Paying the rent) Dead Woman Working: the greatest hope for working-class Americans is to keep paying the rent.

17 August 2012 (Tyrannical gov't persecution) Nabeel Rajab, already in prison for criticizing Bahrain's government, was sentenced to three years in prison for an "illegal demonstration". Obama shamelessly continues propping up Bahrain's tyrannical government. The US has committed acts of persecution and aggression for a long time, so it is appropriate that Julian Assange has been granted political asylum for fear of oppression by the US.

17 August 2012 (US teens listen to music via YouTube) US teenagers mostly listen to music via YouTube. This makes it even more unfortunate that the YouTube site cannot be accessed in HTML5 without running nonfree Javascript code from the site.

17 August 2012 (American cities neglected) The US prefers failed reconstruction of nations it has destroyed to reconstruction of American cities that have been pushed into poverty. Another possible cause is that it was easier for corrupt interests allied with Dubya to divert money in Iraq than in the US.

17 August 2012 (Journalist on trial for insult in Egypt) Egypt's government is putting a journalist on trial for insulting the president. That change is effectively a confession of failure to respect freedom of expression.

17 August 2012 (Ethiopia repressing Muslim protesters) Ethiopia is repressing Muslim protesters who objected to state interference in their mosques. The Ethiopian government represses anyone in Ethiopia that gets in its way, and has the backing of the US in doing so.

17 August 2012 (Tony Nicklinson) Tony Nicklinson lost his lawsuit demanding not to punish people for helping him to die. The judge may be right that this is beyond the authority of a court, but Nicklinson deserves to be helped somehow. He has the right to travel, and the right to travel to Switzerland since he does not need a visa to go there. Does the state pretend to deny him this right merely because he might use it to avail himself of the services of Dignitas?

17 August 2012 (Prostitution) Clothing designer Zahia Dahar was a prostitute for a while, and one of her customers when she was 17 faces prosecution. The term "child prostitution" calls to mind the troubled girls and boys, in their early teens or even younger, who are lured and pushed into prostitution. Treating them that way deserves prosecution. However, there is no reason to prosecute the customers of people like Ms Dahar, who chose their path and are not under anyone's thumb.

17 August 2012 (Olympic game sponsors sin-washing) What Olympic games sponsors buy is sin-washing.

17 August 2012 (Urgent: Reinstate workers fired for objecting to mockery) Everyone: call on Hyatt Hotels to reinstate two workers who were apparently fired for objecting when their coworkers mocked them with pasted-up photos.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-27 because the old link was broken.] Nobody should have 5 children — even 3 puts too much of a burden on the Earth — but that doesn't excuse what Hyatt did.

17 August 2012 (Military spending cuts exaggerated) The usual figure cites for the sequester's reductions in military spending increases is exaggerated by 100 billion. Too bad — the US needs to cut more.

17 August 2012 (Republicans in Florida want voter purge) Republicans in Florida want last-minute voter purge. Non-citizens are not entitled to vote in the US, and there is nothing wrong in principle with making sure they don't. However, we know from experience what Republicans are really up to. They will get a long list of names of non-citizens, lots of them Hispanic, and exclude all voters whose names resemble those, including lots of Hispanic US citizens who are entitled to vote.

17 August 2012 (Romney against welfare recipients) Romney wants to force those lazy, greedy welfare recipients (mostly single mothers, nowadays) to work. But not the lazy and greedy banksters, of course. Since Romney and friends have shipped all the jobs to China, what work would there be for these women to do? He'd have to send them to China too.

16 August 2012 (Corrupt union tied to Paul Ryan) Paul Ryan's family company is closely tied to a corrupt union that supported Ryan's candidacy and punished members who objected to this.

16 August 2012 (Poland investigating CIA torturers) Poland is investigating the CIA torturers who operated a secret US prison.

16 August 2012 (Urgent: Preregister for anti-TPP protest) US citizens: preregister now to participate in an anti-TPP protest in Leesberg, Virginia, on Sep 9. Please do NOT use Google Docs to inform Public Citizen that you have registered — that requires running nonfree software. Instead, please tell Public Citizen some other way.

16 August 2012 (Urgent: Preservation of a free Internet) US citizens: sign this petition to the Democratic and Republican parties to adopt preservation of a free Internet in their platforms.

16 August 2012 (Storage of used nuclear fuel rods) A US court ordered the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to stop assuming that it is safe to store used fuel rods along with the reactors and that this will only be a temporary stopgap. However, it is a long way from there to any practical effect, such as denying licenses to old or new power reactors. In the absence of a permanent solution, perhaps we should start moving and/or converting the used fuel rods to a kind of storage that is safer than pools next to reactors. The Fukushima meltdowns demonstrated that that is a very bad place for them.

16 August 2012 (Google uses threats to shut down sites) Google has shut down YouTube download helper sites, by technical means and by threatening to sue them. Streaming anything from YouTube requires running nonfree software, which for your freedom's sake you should refuse to do. To view a recording on YouTube without running nonfree software, you need to download the recording. There are free software scripts to do this. Whether the sites that are now being attacked can be used without running nonfree software, I do not know.

15 August 2012 (Idealized view of soldiers and war) The US military-entertainment-industrial complex reinforces an idealized view of soldiers and war that facilitates war. It also helps the arms spending lobby.

15 August 2012 (High schools as marketing platforms) Most US high schools have turned themselves into exclusive marketing platforms for either Coca Cola Company or Pepsico. Now studies find that selling junk food in school promotes obesity.

15 August 2012 (Censorship of racist advertisements) Racist advertisements calling Palestinians "savages" face censorship pressure. In certain periods in the past, Palestinians committed plenty of acts of savagery. In recent years those are more commonly carried out by Israelis, as Gush Shalom ably documents. These ads are clearly mistaken. Nonetheless, I defend people's right to express that political view (or any other). There is no place for censorship in a free society. Progressive views face censorship too in the US, and we must continue to fight against it.

15 August 2012 (Victory over tobacco pushers) Australia has won a victory over tobacco pushers: cigarettes will have to be sold in plain packages to reduce marketing (especially to teenagers).

[Reference updated on 2018-02-27 because the old link was broken.] Note how the tobacco companies tried to use the vague, almost meaningless term "intellectual property" to argue that the state must compensate them if it does anything to limit their ability to market tobacco. This term is harmful and we must reject it. Slashing value from famous brands ought to be adopted as a goal in itself, because those brands' marketing power and the outsourcing system they support facilitates many abuses. We must reject the idea of logos or trademarks as investment vehicles, and return them to their original purpose: identification so that purchasers can know what they are buying.

15 August 2012 (Fracking pipeline in NYC) Protesting a fracking pipeline in New York City.

15 August 2012 (Mississippi sending students to prison) Schools in Meridian, Mississippi, are sending students to prison for wearing the wrong clothing. These schools are clearly prisons, and the only thing the students could learn from them is resistance. They should protest by wearing prison uniforms to school.

15 August 2012 (Banks win by default) When banks sue people over credit card debts, most of the time they have no proof they are owed any money; but they win by default.

15 August 2012 (EU rules for handling of e-waste) The EU has adopted strict new rules for handling of e-waste. I don't know whether the rules are good ones, but the goal is important.

15 August 2012 (Superstition can kill) Superstition can kill: children in the UK accused of witchcraft by credulous relatives have suffered abuse that sometimes is deadly.

14 August 2012 (Tripwire surveillance system) There are claims that a system called Tripwire is in use in the US to carry out widespread surveillance via TV cameras and license plate recognizers.

14 August 2012 (Nonsectarian Syrian rebels) Interviews with some nonsectarian Syrian rebels. Unfortunately, their existence does not make the Islamist fanatics not exist.

14 August 2012 (Israel might attack Iran) Israel might attack Iran before the US presidential election figuring that Obama would not dare refuse to join in. US voters don't want war with Iran. But it's not the voters Obama is concerned about, it's the rich people who demand war and might threaten to use their money against him.

14 August 2012 (Brainwashing treatment for Manning) A three-star general explicitly ordered brainwashing treatment for Bradley Manning. This demonstrates that the repeated official claims that this treatment was for Manning's own protection were not merely absurd and false. They were deliberate lies told by a cruel and arrogant state that takes pride in its callousness. We have no proof that the orders came from even higher up, but Obama surely heard the world criticism of this brainwashing for a long time without stopping it. Do the US government and US army have enough courage and integrity to prosecute those responsible? I'd applaud if they do, but I don't expect it. I do not expect Manning's judge to dismiss the charges. The flaw of all military trials is command influence: the judge is an officer whose future career is under the control of the army command. In this case, the judge's own superiors (up to Obama) ordered the prosecution of Manning, and his brainwashing. He knows what verdict they want, and he knows what will happen to him if he does not deliver it. To refuse would take considerable courage. I use the term "brainwashing" because what the US did to Manning resembles what North Korean captors did to US GIs during the Korean War to break their will.

14 August 2012 (Facebook virtual town square) Facebook wants to present itself as a virtual town square … a censored one.

14 August 2012 (Pseudo-copyright for broadcasting) WIPO is once again pushing a treaty to create a new pseudo-copyright for broadcasting, that would give broadcasters a monopoly over the works that are transmitted. As usual, the US is the bad guy.

14 August 2012 (Vermont single-payer health care system) Vermont voted to set up a single-payer health care system, but it needs US government waivers to start before 5 years from now, and the medical/financial interests are campaigning to prevent it.

13 August 2012 (Louisiana schools) Thanks to school vouchers, Louisiana pays schools to teach that humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time, that slavery was kind, and that the great depression wasn't very bad.

13 August 2012 (Plans to deactivate Hadopi) The French government plans to deactivate Hadopi, the law to punish people with Internet disconnection. This is a step forward, but not enough. That unjust law must be abolished.

13 August 2012 (TSA racial profiling) Supposed TSA "behavioral detection" turns out to be just plain old racial profiling. Even worse, it focuses on issues that have nothing to do with the safety of flights. In effect, this article admits that the TSA's main activity is an unwarranted fishing expedition, with safety of flights as a mere excuse.

12 August 2012 (Melting Arctic Ocean ice) A new satellite shows that Arctic Ocean ice is melting faster than predicted.

12 August 2012 (Karzai's corrupt government) Afghans in Karzai's government's uniform have carried out two attacks on government forces in two days. In one case, the attack was led by the commander of a unit. We've known for years that Karzai's corrupt government cannot inspire loyalty, except in exchange for money, so its army would never be able to fight very hard. Now it is becoming clear that his soldiers are likely to fight for the enemy.

12 August 2012 (Americans without health coverage) Americans without health coverage sometimes must choose to die of cancer rather than accept expensive treatment. A doctor recounts an example.

[Reference updated on 2018-02-27 because the old link was broken.] With such advanced lung cancer, the best medical care possible today might not have extended this man's life for very long. However, even one extra year would have been a very good thing for his daughter.

12 August 2012 (Votes of homeless Americans) Homeless Americans (their number is increasing) face difficulties in registering to vote. I disagree with the article's claim that local elections are more important than national ones. Back when Cambridge had rent control, I voted in local elections for candidates who were in favor of it. Ever since Cambridge rent control was abolished by voters outside Cambridge, I have never heard of a single local issue that would affect anything important. However, that might be different for homeless people.

12 August 2012 (Israel's phony peace-negotiation demands) Israel is trying to bribe and threaten the Palestinian Authority into dropping its bid for statehood. The peace negotiations that Israel demands are phony, since Israel demands impossible terms and thus ensures they make no progress. In effect, they are an excuse to let Israel do whatever it wants to Palestinians.

11 August 2012 (US corporate media distortion) Senator Reid said someone had told him Romney paid no taxes for years, but that he (Reid) had no way to tell whether that was true, and Romney should release his tax returns to show the truth. The US corporate media are distorting this, and accusing Reid of acting like Joe McCarthy.

11 August 2012 (Implanted hormonal IUDs) 1/4 of US pregnancies are due to failure of contraception. Implanted hormonal IUDs have the potential to put an end to this failure, but the US government has not approved them for women with no children.

11 August 2012 (Brunt of sanctions on Iran) Americans who are interested in foreign affairs generally have no wish for a war with Iran. So why are Obama and Romney speaking talking tough? Because they are paid to. The influence of the "fat cats" referred to in the article does not come from conversation with thee candidates. The brunt of the sanctions falls on ordinary Iranians, but they don't have enough influence on the Iranian government to alter its policy on such an issue — even if they wanted to surrender to foreign pressure.

10 August 2012 (LendInk shut down) LendInk, which connected users to practice the limited "lending" allowed by the Amazon Swindle and the Barnes & Noble Shnook, was shut down by a campaign of intimidation aimed at its hosting provider. I would not endorse or support the use of LendInk, because to use it you'd first need to be a user of those freedom-trampling products. That's what you must not do. Something like LendInk was hardly enough to make the Swindle or Shnook ethically acceptable, so closing LendInk doesn't make them substantially worse than they were. However, I mention this to underline how nasty those companies are. These products are the enemy of your freedom, and you should fight them until they are dead.

10 August 2012 (Bradley Manning trial) Bradley Manning's lawyer has asked for dismissal of all charges, on the grounds that he was illegally punished through humiliating treatment before his trial. I don't expect the judge will do it, though.

10 August 2012 (EU gov'ts want mechanism to censor) EU governments want to set up an informal, extralegal mechanism to censor unwanted opinions without even a trial. Freedom of speech means freedom to express any and all views. Even hatred has a place in our thoughts — for instance, that's what governments that practice censorship deserve.

10 August 2012 (Healthfulness-based food labeling) A simple system of food labeling based on healthfulness turned out to be quite effective at moving people towards better eating. I dispute what the article says about "illusion of control". It is not an illusion; it is real control. To have control does not require being immune to anyone else's influence (that would be impossible anyway, in a society). Looked at from the other side, saying things that influence people does not mean trampling their freedom. This note doesn't deprive you of any freedom, but it may (or may not) influence you.

10 August 2012 (Antibiotic resistance of Gonorrhea) Gonorrhea has developed resistance to all but one antibiotic. Resistance to that one is surely on the way. I think Christian theocrats will rejoice at this. They will be happy that thousands will be killed as long as it might make some people scared to have sex. If gonorrhea did not exist, they would want to invent it.

10 August 2012 (Plan to reduce paying employment in UK) Another plan to reduce paying employment in the UK: running call centers inside prisons. I have nothing against hiring prisoners, as long as it isn't an excuse to reduce workers' wages. If they paid these prisoners what the workers make on the outside, I would not criticize it.

10 August 2012 (Urgent: Fire Ed DeMarco now!) US citizens: Phone the White House at 202-456-1111 and say, "Fire Ed DeMarco now!" Ed DeMarco is head of Fannie Mae, and is blocking mortgage relief for US homeowners for the sake of the banksters.

10 August 2012 (Lawsuit against illegal wiretapping) The last lawsuit against Bush's illegal warrantless wiretapping scheme has been dismissed.

10 August 2012 (Search warrant for network server data) A bill proposed in Congress would require the government to get a search warrant to examine users' data stored in network services. I think this bill is a good idea, but let's not use the nebulous term "cloud" to describe these network servers.

10 August 2012 (Maryland surveillance system) The ACLU warns that Maryland has set up an integrated system to record license plate scans indefinitely, and explains why this is dangerous. A similar system in the UK has already been used to sabotage democracy by pre-emptively arresting dissidents believed to be on the way to a protest. The US already persecutes dissidents as "terrorists", so we can be sure the US will abuse this system.

10 August 2012 (Denying education to pregnant students) A school in Louisiana illegally forces female students to take pregnancy tests, and expels them if they are pregnant. I think schools should help and encourage students to use contraception and abortion, but punishing someone with a denial of education only makes a repeat of the problem more likely.

10 August 2012 (Balinese language and gamelan music) The Balinese language and Balinese gamelan music are threatened by the effects of mass tourism. If you want to go to the beach, go to one nearby. Traveling to Bali is a total waste, for that.

10 August 2012 (White-supremacist groups) The Wisconsin massacre shooter was a neo-Nazi, and was connected with white-supremacist groups that have grown fast in recent years. I would guess that the tremendous increase in poverty and suffering in the US is partly responsible for this. People are naturally angry at the events. When they don't grasp who is really responsible (the 1% and the politicians they have bought), perhaps because of propaganda that tries to discourage this awareness, or when they feel that blaming the true culprits is useless because they are strong enough to crush protests, some may place the blame on convenient vulnerable scapegoats such as immigrants. The harsh anti-immigrant laws in some states are another aspect of this.

09 August 2012 (Social Security) As the US shreds the safety net, poverty for old people will become common once again. Before Social Security, a large fraction of old people in the US were poor, even though most of them were healthy (because those who got sick just died).

09 August 2012 (Aquifers being emptied fast) Around the world, humans are emptying aquifers fast. This will cause major problems in a few decades, even as many areas become much hotter and more arid.

09 August 2012 (War on the Suffering) In the US, one forbidden painkiller pill can ruin your life. And the War on the Suffering keeps on escalating. I dread what will happen next time I need surgery.

09 August 2012 (LSD experiments) Experiments with LSD in the 1960s, before the US cracked down, enabled many scientists and engineers to 