Richard Stallman's Political Notes' Journal
 
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Monday, July 14th, 2025

    Time Event
    2:38a
    Asian friends of US will increase trade with China

    Asian friends of the US are aiming to increase their trade with China as a replacement for the US.

    This is a natural consequence of the bully's tariff threats.

    </li>
    2:38a
    Democrats and climate groups "too polite"

    Senator Whitehouse accused *Democrats and climate groups [of being] "too polite" in fight against "malevolent" fossil fuel giants.*

    I agree. The planet-roasters have grounds to know that they are risking destroying civilization and most living humans for their own profit. We don't owe them the benefit of the doubt.

    </li>
    2:38a
    Soaring profits in private prison industry

    *The Private Prison Industry Looks Forward to Soaring Profits Thanks to [the persecutor]'s Budget.

    </li>
    2:38a
    Floods in Texas

    People in part of Texas have suffered a disaster that they partly brought on themselves. That includes the flood itself — many years of voting for climate denialists have permitted more global heating and that enabled the flood. And it includes the wrecker's efforts to weaken and abolish FEMA.

    How should we express our disgust for those political policies in relation to the resulting non-natural disasters?

    A doctor in Texas wished for Republican voters in the flood region to suffer the bad consequences of their votes. That is not the right ethical position.

    Many Kerr County voters are getting the consequences most of them voted for — but we should be sad for that, not wish for that. Their votes were foolish because of their bad consequences; we should regret both those foolish votes and their bad consequences.

    People get the government their behavior deserves, but people always deserve good government.

    We can say that people brought disaster themselves without wishing for disaster to harm them. We can wish that they learn to make wise decisions without wishing for a disaster so "to teach them" that lesson.

    Moreover, disasters don't always get people to be compassionate towards each other.

    Meanwhile, while she was being fired for wishing that right-wingers suffer the harm they have caused, a group of right-wing fanatics seek to impose that harm on non-right-wing Texans.

    </li>
    2:38a
    Scotland in drought

    Scotland is in drought, due to global heating, and the government has asked people to limit water usage.

    That is the right first step, but to avoid making things worse they must use less fossil fuel.

    </li>
    2:38a
    National climate assessment web site deleted

    The US saboteur in chief deleted the web site that published national climate assessments, including the most recent one which is from 2023. A copy of that is available here.

    Much worse, he has shut down the preparation of the next edition, due in 2027. This will surely please his sponsors, the fossil fuel companies.

    </li>
    2:38a
    Money for inaugural fund from fossil fuel industry

    *The corrupter's inaugural fund got $19m from fossil fuel industry, analysis shows.*

    The corrupter used the electoral fund as an opportunity to pressure the rich for bribes.

    If we ever win back democracy, we should make it illegal for any elected or appointed official to raise funds for anything similar in spirit to an inaugural fund. If its purpose is per glorification, perse must have no direct relationship with its operations, with its fund-raising, or its money.

    </li>
    2:38a
    Bangladesh's ousted leader charged with crimes against humanity

    *Bangladesh's ousted leader Sheikh Hasina has been formally charged [in Bangladesh] with crimes against humanity after being accused of ordering a deadly crackdown against anti-government protests last year that left more than 1,400 people dead.*

    </li>
    2:38a
    Tesla stays afloat as a seller of greenhouse gas offsets

    Greg Palast: Tesla stays afloat as a seller of greenhouse gas offsets.

    *So, my dear green friends, when you buy a Tesla, you're not reducing your carbon footprint by a quarter inch, because Musk is selling your good intentions to General Motors so they can pollute more.*

    </li>
    2:38a
    Charges against Mario Guevara dropped

    Charges against Mario Guevara have been dropped. When brought to court, they proved to be garbage.

    </li>
    2:38a
    Australia's oldest rock art

    Australia wants some of its oldest rock art to be listed as a World Heritage site.

    Advisors say Australia should first end industrial development and damaging air pollution, and then it could be listed. I agree Australia should end those, but I wonder if the committee could issue conditional approval.

    </li>
    2:38a
    Iran deporting Afghan refugees

    Iran is deporting 4 million Afghan refugees in a hurry. Many are single women, who under Afghanistan's repressive laws can't even leave the border post.

    With their prospects, death is an escape. Why, I wonder, do they obligingly walk to the border post, when they could instead drop on the ground and say, defiantly, "You can carry me or you can kill me"?

    There may be other opportunities to fight their guards, for those who would rather die fast than be driven to death or slavery.

    </li>
    2:38a
    Palantir's use of personal data from US government

    Everyone: write to Palantir's board of directors and call on them to explain what they are doing with personal data from the US government.

    In my letter I called on Palentir never to process that data together with any personal data obtained in any other way. That would include, for example, location data.

    I used the following Subject field:
    You must tell us what Palantir is doing with personal data from the US government and NEVER process it together with any other data you have.

    I used the following message body:

    Others are demanding that Palantir be transparent about what it does
    with personal data from the US government. I join in that demand, but
    that does not go far enough.

    Palantir must never combine, or process together, any of that
    government data with any other data it has or obtains about people.
    To do so would establish a China-like system of total repression.

    I want to be able to continue to love my country. I want it to remain
    "the land of the free and the home of the brave." I hope you don't
    want Palantir to be responsible for converting the US into a place
    that people must flee for their freedom's sake.

    Sincerely,

    It is most effective if you write your message in your own words. If you are in a demographic that tends to support the bully, it is good to mention that.

    Here's how to make the actionnetwork.org letter campaign linked above work without running the site's nonfree JavaScript code. (See https://gnu.org/philosophy/javascript-trap.html for why that issue matters.)

    First, make sure you have deactivated JavaScript in your browser or are using the LibreJS plug-in.

    I have done the next step for you: I added `?nowrapper=true' to the end of the campaign URL before posting it above. That should bring you to a page that starts with, "Letter campaigns will not work without JavaScript!"

    They indeed won't work without some manual help, but the following simple method seems adequate for many of them, including this one.

    To start, fill in the personal information answers in the box on the right side of the page. That's how you say who's sending the letter.

    Then click the "START WRITING" button. That will take you to a page that can't function without nonfree JavaScript code. (To ensure it doesn't function perversely by running that nonfree code, you can enable LibreJS or disable JavaScript by visiting that page.) You can finish sending without that code By editing its URL in the browser's address bar, as follows:

    First, go to the end and insert `&nowrapper=true'. Then tell the browser to visit that URL. This should give you a version of the page that works without JavaScript. Edit the subject and body of your letter. Finally, click on the "SEND LETTER" button, and you're done.

    This method seems to work for letter campaigns that send the letters to a fixed list of recipients, the same recipients for every sender. Editing and revisiting the URL is the only additional step needed to bypass the nonfree JavaScript code. I'm sure you'll agree it is a small effort for the result of supporting the campaign without opening your computer to unjust (and potentially malicious) software.

    </li>
    2:38a
    Urgent: Protect funding for public media

    US citizens: phone your senators and urge each one to protect the funding for public media.

    Here's a suggested script that I am passing along with changes. Of course, you can say what you wish to say.

    Hello! My name is [First Name]. I'm a constituent and am calling to
    ask Sen. [Name] to oppose any action that cuts funding
    to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

    Public media are among our nation’s most important media, with
    overwhelming support among people from all 50 states and all political
    leanings.

    If you phone, please spread the word! Main Switchboard: +1-202-224-3121

    </li>
    8:38a
    Contaminated flowers can ruin bees

    Wildflowers growing on contaminated soil can absorb arsenic, cadmium, chromium and lead from it, and pass them on to bees. It damages he bees' memory, which can wipe out the hive.

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