Richard Stallman's Political Notes' Journal

Jan 8 coup, Brazil

Brazil has sentenced the first of hundreds of Bolsonaro supporters who attacked the government ministries on Jan 8 this year.

The Pope knew in '42

A letter proves that Pope Pius XII received information in December 1942 from a close associate about mass murder of Jews by the German regime.

This refutes the claim that he could not be sure that Hitler was carrying out mass murder.

I can't dispute the point that the pope, living in the middle of Rome, which at that time was the capital of Hitler's ally Mussolini, could not overtly oppose Hitler.

Amazon tactical growth: e-magazines

Amazon has used its near-monopoly power to force e-magazines out of operation or under its exclusive monopoly.

This is clearly an injustice. However, the article does not take notice of the context — based totally on injustice, because these magazines were distributed for the Amazon Swindle.

Amazon identified each reader — an injustice — and, I suspect made them sign contracts not to share copies — another injustice. They may have had DRM — also an injustice.

Within this unjust context, Amazon's treatment of those magazines was wrong. But the injustice of the Amazon Swindle is a far bigger wrong.

Pirola variant, UK and US

The UK is facing another wave of Covid-19 from the multi-mutation Pirola variant. Reducing the harm calls for wearing masks, but the government is too timid to promote them.

The situation is similar in the US.

I wear masks by choice, to protect myself and others. So can you.

Key diversity spots to safeguard

* From the Sargasso Sea to the Costa Rica thermal dome, scientists are identifying key diversity hotspots to safeguard under a new UN treaty.*

Biden's age covered as scandal by US news

* US news organizations have turned Biden’s age into a scandal and continue to cover Trump as an entertaining side show. With democracy on the ballot, the mainstream press must change its ways.*

Short supply of various produce in UK

UK supplies of tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, peppers and citrus fruits ran short this year due to unnatural extreme weather caused by global heating.

The danger is predicted to extend to bananas, grapes, avocados, cashews, cocoa, peas, canned tuna and tea.

I expect this problem to be global, more or less.

UK thugs delighted by facial recognition

UK thugs are delighted with the idea of identifying "suspects" by facial recognition in all sorts of footage of crowds.

These "suspects" may very well be protesters charged with grave crimes that are disguises for "causing inconveniencing with a protest" — or "damaging corporations' profits with a protest."

Substances from marijuana useful medicines

A study found that some substances from marijuana are useful medicines, but that aside from that young people (including teenagers and a little older) and those who are pregnant should not take it.

Thugs stop family rushing dog to vet

A white family in New Mexico was rushing to bring their badly injured dog to a vet, when some thugs stopped them and (for no reason at all) decided they were threatening someone somehow.

The thugs made some get out of the car and pointed guns at them, as they did nothing but say, "Our dog's gonna die."

The article does not say how many minutes the thugs delayed this trip to the veterinarian, so we can't try to guess whether the dog might have survived without their intervention.

Another commentator pointed out that it is rare for whites to get this horrible treatment, but blacks learn that for them it is standard.

This instance clearly illustrates how thugs can perceive threats and defiance where there are none at all.

British NHS waiting list

120,000 people in Britain died in 2022 while on NHS waiting lists. That is double that dies while waiting in 2017/2018.

The cause of this is simple: bad policies imposed by the government. Especially the policy of refusing to tax the rich so as to raise enough funds to do the NHS job right and thoroughly.

I would have suggested voting for Labour, except now Labour is committed to be just as bad.

Tories dropping separation of UK and EU standards

The Tories are dropping, step by step, their plans to separate UK regulations and inspections from EU standards. It is not clear that they will alter the policy changes that hurt individuals, such as the plans to discard EU human rights requirements or the burdens of not being EU citizen. Ultimately, they care about British businesses, not Britons.

Crown Prince Bone Saw imprisons dissidents

Crown Prince Bone Saw has put several dissidents in prison, and sentenced one to death after a parody of a trial, for posting criticism of the prince and other members of the royal family.

That regime is comparable in its evil to China, though some details differ.

(satire) Instacart Valuation crashes

(satire) *Instacart Valuation Crashes As Americans Realize They Can Do Some Things For Themselves.*

Every "service" that requires each customer to identify perself is an injustice simply for that. So I am glad to see any of them lose demand, whatever the reason. However, shopping delivery services are especially important to abolish, since their success threatens to eliminate supermarkets and make life harder for those of us who want to buy anonymously.

Maria Ress and Rappler innocent of tax fraud

Philippine journalist Maria Ressa, and the news site Rappler, have been found innocent of President Do-Dirty's tax fraud charges.

People suspected those charges were fabricated.

They still face other charges that are explicitly political.

From neoliberalism to right-wing populism

Under years of Tory rule, dooH niboR has evolved from neoliberalism to right-wing populism that drives down the meager incomes of the non-wealthy.

Upgrade in US-Vietnam relations

*China concerns drive historic upgrade in US-Vietnam relations.*

Some time after 2000 I learned that Vietnam had given the US a military base. I assumed this was support against Vietnam's enemy, China. China has been Vietnam's principal enemy ever since China first conquered Vietnam, about two thousand years ago. Since Vietnam conclusively won independence, about a thousand years ago, it has always had to watch out for China.

This is increase in relations is obviously good strategy against the broader Chinese threat. What makes me sad is that this is one more dictatorship that the US supports, added to a long list.

Air capture of CO2

Direct air capture of CO2, though only rudimentary, is absolutely necessary for curbing global heating — as long as our reductions in emissions remain hopelessly inadequate.

US accounts for more than third oil expansion

* The US accounts for more than a third of the expansion of global oil and gas production planned by mid-century, despite its claims of climate leadership,*

I suspect these figures are skewed by not including increases in coal mining. China is building new coal-fired generators at a prodigious rate and must be planning a comparable increase in the rate of coal mining. Whether the US or China comes out worse overall when all kinds of fossil fuel are counted, I don't know, but they must both be very bad.

*World Bank spent billions of dollars backing fossil fuels in 2022, study finds.*