Richard Stallman's Political Notes' Journal

War crimes

UN investigators have reported evidence of many war crimes committed by the Putin forces, as well as a couple of instances of war crimes by Ukrainians.

Guardian view on Tory trickle up policies

*The Guardian view on the Tory trickle up policies: redistributing to the rich.*

Australian mobile phone company suffered data theft

An Australian mobile phone company suffered a data theft which took personal data about millions of customers. The company had lobbied against changes to laws about customers' rights over that data.

The harmful consequences of this breach are partly the Australian government's fault, since it required the company to collect and save various items of personal data for each customer. The reliable way to prevent the release of people's personal data is not to possess copies of it, but Australia did not permit this company to use that method.

Proposal to stop government contracts with businesses connected to tax havens

Labour proposes to stop giving government contracts to businesses connected with tax havens.

It would be a change for the better, but only a small one. It would be simple to require all companies that do business in in Britain to reveal their real owners, whereas this would only affect those businesses that get government contracts.

Giorgia Meloni and fascism

*Giorgia Meloni is a danger to Italy and the rest of Europe. The Brothers of Italy leader denies she is a fascist but clings to the Mussolini-era slogan "God, homeland, family."*

*Meloni appears the most dangerous Italian political figure not because she explicitly evokes fascism or the practices of the black-shirted squadristi (militia), but because of her ambiguity.*

Vanuatu

*Vanuatu makes bold call for global treaty to phase out fossil fuels.*

*Pope calls for courage in halting use of fossil fuels to protect planet.*

Attempted delays by the wrecker have been largely thwarted

*Attempts by [the wrecker] to delay the criminal investigation into his unlawful retention of government secrets have been largely thwarted after the Department of Justice regained access to about 100 documents with classified markings that the FBI seized from the former US president's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.*

Big businesses openly and shamelessly hires Congressional staff

Big businesses openly and shamelessly hire Congressional staff to lobby their former coworkers.

They hire former Congressional representatives, too, but they disguise that behind polite veils.

80% of US voters want National Paid Family Leave

*80% of US Voters Want Congress to Enact National Paid Family Leave: Poll.*

Politicians that call themselves "centrists" are opposed to this, but they are nowhere near the political center of Americans.

Tories borrowing big

*[The Tories] are borrowing big to fund tax cuts for the rich.*

Autumn in UK not as it used to be

*Autumn has arrived in the UK -- but the season is not [as] it used to be.*

US must end complicity in illicit financial flows

*The US Must Ends Its Complicity in Illicit Financial Flows Out of Africa.*

Climate activist held before trial

*UK climate activists held in jail for up to six months before trial.*

If they are convicted, their sentences will probably not be as long as they were in jail. They are moved frequently from one prison to another, and their friends can't find them.

I suspect this is an intentional practice of nonjudicial punishment.

Surveillance on US employees by employers reaching Chinese repression levels

The surveillance of employees by US employers is reaching levels reminiscent of Chinese repression.

We must establish the rule that by default surveillance systems are forbidden, aside from certain limited exceptions.

Federal Reserve raising interest rates too fast

The Federal Reserve is raising interest rates too fast -- not waiting to see the full effects of previous increases before moving on to another increase. This creates a risk of overshoot -- of raising interest rates so much that it producing a result bigger than the organisation wants. If you keep increasing a signal again and again, faster than results can possibly come back to you, you will overcontrol and cause a crisis.

The governors of the Fed ought to know this, since it is basic business economics.

Iranians enraged at the state protesting around the country

Iranians are enraged at the state, and keep protesting around the country despite 35 killings -- mostly protesters, it is clear, but not all.

They are angry about a lot more than the death of Mahsa Amini. Iranians, led by women, demand changes in laws to respect their rights.

California to ban gas heater and furnace sales

*California to Ban Sale of Gas Heaters and Furnaces by 2030.*

Museum bows to indigenous group's demand

Setting a sad precedent: a museum has bowed to the pressure of an indigenous group that demanded the "return" of four artifacts that the museum legitimately owns.

The group agrees that these artifacts were not stolen; that the anthropologist who gave them to the museum had acquired them legitimately. Why should the museum feel an obligation to give in? What justification can the group present for demanding to get them back? The article does not present any, it only cites someone who takes this for granted. The people in that group are not the only ones concerned here.

In general, should anthropologists obey demands to discard part of anthropological knowledge? I contend this should require a reason stronger than, "These artifacts are related to us so only we can have them."

Tories plan for increasing CO2 emissions

The Tories are adopting plans for greatly increasing CO2 emissions in the UK.

(Satire) Rigged elections results

(satire) *Putin Stays Up Late Constantly Refreshing Website For Results From Rigged Elections.*

(satire) UN disappears

(satire) *U.N. Mysteriously Disappears After Criticising Russia.*

The wrecker and "executive privilege"

There is a secret legal dispute about whether the wrecker can use "executive privilege" to block some of his henchmen from testifying to a grand jury about what appears to be a conspiracy to overturn part of the 2020 election.

To fix the US welfare system

*To fix its broken welfare system, the U.S. must move away from its fixation on fraud, exclusions by design, and the stigmatization of people in poverty.*

Britain to reform electoral system

Britain is ready to reform its broken electoral system, but the conservative leaders in control of the Labour Party refuse to advocate that.

Fast food companies want the power to abuse workers

Now that California has passed a law to protect fast-food workers pay and rights, the big fast-food companies want Californians to vote to restore the power to abuse those workers, in the name of low prices.

DeMentis secretly transported immigrants to Martha's Vineyard

DeMentis now claims to have sincerely transported immigrants to Martha's Vineyard to help them.

One could ask him, "If you really wanted to help them, why did you give them a false picture of the support they would find there?"

World Bank head is a global heating denialist

The head of the World Bank really is a global heating denialist, and it appears he was put in that position by the wrecker precisely to obstruct climate defense. The world needs to oust him.

California government and local governments took black citizens' land

The government of California, and local governments, took away black citizens' land and houses systematically in various parts of the state.

Corporate greed is behind inflation

*Corporate greed, not wages, is behind inflation. It's time for price controls.*

Rigid price controls cause a different kind of market distortion. I wonder if there is a way to get a similar effect but less rigid. For instance, what if any increase of X in the price of a product resulted in an additional tex starting at .9X and decreasing linearly over the following year down to .1X, then ending after that year. This might discourage price increases that are not meant to be long-term.

Crimean Tatars say Putin is targeting them

The Crimean Tatars, those that remain in the Crimea, say that Putin is targeting them for conscription as a method of getting rid of them.

Urgent: No one should be jailed or imprisoned for an unintentional voting error

US citizens: tell Congress and state legislatures that no one should be jailed or imprisoned for an unintentional voting error.