Richard Stallman's Political Notes' Journal
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Monday, April 29th, 2024
| Time |
Event |
| 8:44a |
Origins of QAnon
*
QAnon Was Born Out of the Sex Ad Moral Panic That Took Down
Backpage.com.*
I've seen a number of sex-related moral panic articles the Guardian,
and I generally find they are based on a series of exaggerations
of the likely magnitude of side issues — the tail wagging the dog.
I've read articles in which prostitutes say that legalization enables
them to look up information about the customer's behavior towards
other prostitutes. It makes sense that would be useful for them, but
it boggles my mind that anyone considering being a prostitute's
customer would agree to reveal per real name to anyone involved in the
transaction. Or pay by a credit card at all. That seems like asking
for trouble. If I were ever inclined to be a a prostitute's customer
(which is unlikely), I would pay cash and give no one any identifying
information. We can't help knowing the sorts of scandal that have
resulted when the wrong person found out, and anonymity is the only
plausible protection.
</li> | | 8:44a |
| | 8:44a |
Professors support for violated rights of arrested students
Professors at several US universities which have brought in thugs
to arrest students, steal their property and make them homeless,
are showing strong support for the violated rights of those students.
If those university presidents thought they were going to quickly crush
all opposition, they have now learned otherwise.
I expect to see some law professors bringing suit against the universities
from students who were suspended or made homeless.
Turning back to the reason all of this is so important, it seems that
Israel continues not to attack Rafah. Maybe Biden has brought
sufficient pressure to make Netanyahu change that plan.
However, I have not seen that Gaza is getting enough humanitarian aid
to prevent thousands of additional avoidable deaths.
| | 8:44a |
Ecuador ban on ISDS clauses
Ecuador has voted to affirm its constitutional ban on ISDS clauses,
which I call "I Sue Democratic States" clauses.
Some have criticized my term, saying that ISDS clauses are not
specifically limited to democratic states. That is true — but in
practice it tends to be democratic states that are targets for them.
That's because the kind of law that foreign corporations target that
way is a kind that tends to be passed by democratic states. Most
dictators rarely pass laws that would make foreign corporations treat
the populace better.
</li> | | 8:44a |
Justice Sotomayor
Justice Sotomayor had better retire now, so we can replace
her with another liberal, rather than risk dying in office
and be replaced by Republicans with another right-winger.
</li> | | 8:44a |
Revulsion against anti-abortion is splitting Republican party
The public revulsion against anti-abortion extremes is splitting
the Republican Party.
May the fragments fall on the ground and be trampled by Americans' boots!
</li> | | 8:44a |
Harvey Weinstein's New York trial
An appeals court ruled that Harvey Weinstein's New York trial in which he was convicted of rape, was
carried
out wrong. This does not mean he has been found innocent. It means the trial needs to be
done over.
I am no expert on trials, but I think the result of the new trial is likely to be the same as
the first trial. Nonethless, it is important to give each accused a fair trial.
</li> | | 8:44a |
How Google decided to enshittify search
Enshittification, and the
detailed story of how Google
decided to enshittify search.
It should be clear that making users depend on nonfree software
is a considerable part of what makes a company "too big to care".
So this is one more reason why we need to reject nonfree software.
The article makes a vague comment using
the incoherent term "IP
laws". Those laws have very little in common, so it is a mistake to
generalize about them by using that term; I carefully never use it, because
anything that is meaningful to say is a matter of one particular law, or
perhaps the subtle interaction of more than one of them. The article gives no
details, so I have no idea what actual events that vague comment refers to.
</li> | | 8:44a |
Unawareness of injustice of "modern digital society"
Unawareness of the injustice of "modern digital society" leads to thinking
about internet connections that misses half the point. Here is an example.
The concept of "digital inclusion" as a goal presumes that the ways
people normally participate in "modern digital society" are just fine,
and labors systematically to help people surrender to what is demanded
of them.
Most people judge every Internet "service" in superficial terms, and
know no other way because they have never learned about the
injustices: massive surveillance, demands for personal data,
addictivity, anti socializing contracts, DRM, and more. In addition,
people confronted with a demand to "use snooper.com now to do this"
tend to see the immediate inconvenience of refusing now more vividly
than the long-term harm of having an account on snooper.com.
In Spain, a friend has told me, banks are making it inconvenient and
expensive to withdraw cash from your own bank account. You can do
that only if you physically go to a bank branch when it is open, which
is some hassle outside of big cities. But he has decided now to
withdraw cash enough to last for some weeks so he can make a habit of
paying cash.
</li> |
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