An executive order made by President Reagan, which ostensibly allows spying on foreigners, is [ used today mainly to collect data about Americans ]( http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/08/a-twisted-history-how-a-reagan-era-executive-order-led-to-mass-spying/ ) . The article repeats the absurd nostrum that terrorists such as al Qa'ida threatened the existence of the US. This is a ridiculous exaggeration — what they could directly do was too small to eliminate the US, and the only way they could do great harm was if the US reacted self-destructively (which it did). Since this ridiculous exaggeration was the excuse for Dubya's attacks on US human rights, and on Iraq, we must not let it pass as true. We must refute it even when someone else mentions it only in passing. President Reagan other horrible things. He betrayed his country by supplying weapons to terrorists as ransom for the hostages they had taken. He attacked the non-rich, setting the US on the path towards today's plutocracy and expanding poverty.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#30_August_2014_%28Executive_Order_12333%29

A thug in Texas killed a teenager who reasonably [ thought the thug was an armed thief and tried to drive away ]( http://abc13.com/news/navasota-officer-wont-face-charges-for-fatally-shooting-teen/281936/ ) . The thug faces no charges.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#30_August_2014_%28Texas_thug_kills_teenager%29

[ A US hedge fund ]( http://www.businessweek.com/printer/articles/220517-the-hedge-fund-and-the-despot ) appears to have given Mugabe the money for his terror campaign that undid the opposition's electoral victory.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#30_August_2014_%28Money_for_Mugabes_terror_campaign%29

States which had legalized medical marijuana, in 2010, had [ significantly fewer deaths from opioid pain-killers ]( http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/281527.php ) .
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#30_August_2014_%28Legalized_medical_marijuana%29

The thugs knew Shannon Renee McNeal was the wrong person, and so did the court, but they [ insisted on jailing her anyway ]( http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/08/06/insane-case-of-mistaken-identity-woman-arrested-told-shes-actually-dead-jailed-anyway/ ) . Anyone can make a mistake, but there should be zero tolerance for insisting on mistreating someone based on a mistake that has been recognized. All the people who did so should be fired.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#30_August_2014_%28Thugs_knowingly_jail_wrong_person%29

Canadian scientists are required to get [ 9 levels of approval ]( http://www.canada.com/news/Federal+government+puts+polar+briefings/10128511/story.html ) before they can tell the public how much Arctic ice has melted.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#30_August_2014_%28Canadian_scientists_silenced%29

Most Americans want it to be [ illegal to allow children to play outside alone ]( http://reason.com/archives/2014/08/20/helicopter-parenting-run-amok-most-ameri ) . This shows how far the American insanity about children has gone. Another foolish overreaction: a foreign tourist who climbed a tower on the Brooklyn Bridge faces [ criminal charges ]( http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/25/russian-tourist-climbs-brooklyn-bridge-arrested-new-york ) . He is likely to be jailed for years before trial.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#30_August_2014_%28Foolish_American_overreactions%29

A UK man was [ sentenced to about 3 years in prison ]( http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/08/british-man-sentenced-to-nearly-three-years-in-prison-for-movie-piracy/ ) for redistributing copies of a movie. Someone pointed out that this is as much as the usual penalty for convicted rapists. This redistribution was done commercially. I don't advocate legalization of commercial redistribution of copyrighted works without authorization. Works made to be used in a practical way should all be [ free ]( http://gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html ) but this was a work of fiction, not a functional work. So I don't think what Danks did has to be legalized. However, the companies that the UK government caters to would have told it to jail him just the same if he had not tried to make one penny. Please don't refer to unauthorized copying with the smear term, "piracy". Movie piracy is what you see in Captain Blood.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#30_August_2014_%28Prison_sentence_for_redistributing_movie%29

Uri Avnery: [ The War for Nothing ]( http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1409319940/ ) . It is interesting that the rockets fired from Hamas, although they rarely injure a person, made life so unpleasant in the farms near the border of Gaza that people began to move away. Israel has no right to order Gazans to stay away from the border on pain of being shot without warning. Israel does have the right to evacuate the land on its own side of the border. If Israel wants a buffer zone, that is the legitimate way to make one.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#30_August_2014_%28The_War_for_Nothing%29

Women report that men's verbal confrontation is occasionally followed by their physical aggression, often enough that the [ verbal confrontation makes them scared physical aggression will follow ]( http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/womens-blog/2014/aug/29/mary-brandon-beaten-groped-notting-hill-carnival ) . I don't understand those men's attitude towards women. It seems to be a mixture of desire, hatred and contempt. I have never felt that way towards anyone, but I am compelled by women's testimony to believe that some men do. Nonetheless, expressions of emotion are not physical attacks. The two are not morally equivalent. If some insults lead to an assault, that doesn't mean an insult is as bad as an assault.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#30_August_2014_%28Expressions_of_emotion%29

In the US: [ petition major organic dairies ]( http://act.credoaction.com/sign/vermont-gmo-lawsuit ) to drop out of the organization that is supporting the lawsuit to overturn Vermont's GMO labeling law.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#30_August_2014_%28Urgent%3A_Vermonts_GMO_labeling_law%29

Hillary Clinton went to a GMO convention and gave GMOs her full support, [ repeating the false talking points of the GMO companies ]( http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_30776.cfm ) .
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#31_August_2014_%28GMOs_get_Clintons_full_support%29

Kerry [ called for a "global coalition" to fight ISIS ]( http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/30/john-kerry-global-coalition-isis-iraq-syria-nato ) . Fighting ISIS in a way that is effective in the long term is not such a simple thing. Previous interventions backfired, and [ ISIS is the result ]( http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/26/isis-apocalyptic-cult-carving-place-in-modern-world ) . Although fighting ISIS can hurt it tactically, in the long term military [ opposition that enrages foreign Sunnis is what ISIS thrives on ]( https://firstlook.org/theintercept/?p=3867 ) . The leaders of ISIS seem to want to encourage a big US intervention, and that is why they publish provocative videos of real or pretended beheadings. They also [ want to encourage Shi'ite hatred ]( https://stallman.org/archives/2014-may-aug.html#25_August_2014_(Shi%27ite_militias_intend_to_expel_Sunnis) ) that will frighten Iraqi Sunnis.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#31_August_2014_%28ISIS%29

In 1950, the UK establishment confronted democracy to maintain its power. Nowadays, it has achieved such superiority over democracy that [ there is nothing to restrain its power ]( http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/aug/26/the-establishment-uncovered-how-power-works-in-britain-elites-stranglehold ) . In the US, the confrontation dated from 1932 to 1980, and some details of the establishment are different, but the result is the same. This is why [ none of the major parties proposes measures that would give poor Britons decent housing ]( http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/25/nightmare-renting-westminster-human-kennels-housing-policy ) .
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#31_August_2014_%28Power_of_the_UK_establishment%29

A Brazilian court [ ordered Apple, Google and Microsoft to delete the Secret app ]( http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Brazil-wants-no-Secret-on-app-stores-5701537.php ) (and a similar one) from their app stores. Nobody should use that app; it is proprietary software, so [ the users don't control it ]( http://gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html ) and it may well be malware (as many [ proprietary programs ]( http://gnu.org/philosophy/proprietary/ ) are). The Apple and Microsoft operating systems are proprietary and full of malware, too, as is Google Play which is part of [ Android ]( http://gnu.org/philosophy/android-and-users-freedom.html ) . Notwithstanding that, this court decision is oppression, pure and simple. But what makes the decision so damaging is that Apple and Microsoft have [ built censorship of apps into their operating systems ]( http://gnu.org/philosophy/proprietary/proprietary-jails.html ) . Now Brazil is using their censorship systems for its own purposes.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#31_August_2014_%28Court_orders_censorship_of_app%29

Even though economic growth is no longer tied strictly to energy use increases, many human activities are [ pushing absolute resource limits ]( http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/aug/28/debunking-chris-huhne-paean-uk-growth ) . Of course, our current way of doing things is [ not sustainable ]( https://stallman.org/archives/2014-may-aug.html#20_August_2014_(Earth_Overshoot_Day) ) . But ceasing to overload the Earth does not inevitably mean we must be poor and deprived. That depends on whether the plutocrats take it all.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#31_August_2014_%28Overloading_the_Earth%29

The proposed TTIP treaty has a [ back door ]( http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/08/28/eu-us-trade-deal-lets-corporate-interests-steamroll-food-safety-groups-warn ) which could be used, afterwards, to cancel out food safety inspection.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#31_August_2014_%28TTIP_treaty_back_door%29

[ The Pacific Islands Are Drowning, We Need the World's Help ]( http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/29/pacific-islands-drowning-samoa-climate-change ) .
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#31_August_2014_%28Pacific_Islands_drowning%29

Imposed poverty in the UK has reached the point where [ children suffer from rickets ]( http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/aug/30/child-poverty-link-malnutrition-rickets ) , which is caused by a shortage of minerals or of vitamin D. Vitamin D is made in the skin when it's exposed to sunlight, but the minerals must come from food.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#31_August_2014_%28Imposed_poverty_in_the_UK%29

Noam Chomsky: [ America's Real Foreign Policy ]( http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175863/ ) . It aims for security for state and plutocratic power, not for citizens.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#31_August_2014_%28Americas_Real_Foreign_Policy%29

An Australian of aboriginal origin has [ rejected the Australian state, its money, its passport, etc. ]( http://www.theguardian.com/world/postcolonial/2014/aug/26/-sp-the-man-who-renounced-australia ) , as a symbolic act.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#31_August_2014_%28Australian_man_rejects_Australian_state%29

Microsoft is [ playing the offshore game ]( http://www.ibtimes.com/microsoft-admits-keeping-92-billion-offshore-avoid-paying-29-billion-us-taxes-1665938 ) to dodge lots of taxes.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#31_August_2014_%28Microsoft_dodging_taxes%29

The New York Times endorses [ bending over backwards not to punish killer thugs ]( http://www.fair.org/blog/2014/08/25/give-killer-cops-a-break-says-nyt/ ) . The impunity is so complete that [ exceptions are very rare ]( http://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/08/28/courage-disarm ) .
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#01_September_2014_%28NYT_endorses_not_punishing_killer_thugs%29

The Islamist army that conquered Tripoli is also tied to particular Libyan tribes, and is [ terrifying residents connected with tribes it considers enemies ]( http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/31/tripoli-residents-libya-dawn-islamist-militias ) .
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#01_September_2014_%28Islamist_army_terrifying_residents%29

Britain Accused of [ Conniving at Torture of Maoists in Nepal's Civil War ]( http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/31/britain-accused-conniving-torture-maoists-nepal-civil-war ) .
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#01_September_2014_%28Britain_Accused_of_Conniving_at_Torture%29

When babies are born at the 23rd week of pregnancy, out of those that survive, [ almost 90% will have a disability. Often very serious ]( http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/31/abortion-media-reflect-real-world-right-to-choose ) . I think that implies a moral duty to abort these fetuses rather than let them become disabled babies.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#01_September_2014_%28Babies_ae_born_at_the_23rd_week_of_pregnancy%29

Hong Kong citizens plan a [ massive protest after China rejected free elections in Hong Kong ]( http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/31/hong-kong-activists-open-elections-ruled-out-beijing ) .
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#01_September_2014_%28Hong_Kong_citizens_plan_a_massive_protest%29

Designing munitions that [ reduce the environmental damage of war ]( http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/aug/31/what-is-the-environmental-cost-of-war ) . This is the [ opposite of depleted uranium munitions ]( https://stallman.org/archives/2013-nov-feb.html#09_November_2013_%28Five_reasons_to_ban_depleted_uranium_from_weapons_and_armor%29 ) .
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#01_September_2014_%28Munitions_that_reduce_the_environmental_damage_of_war%29

The decline of wild salmon populations is [ slowly wiping out the orcas of Puget Sound ]( http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/aug/31/puget-sound-endangered-killer-whales-decline ) .
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#01_September_2014_%28Decline_of_wild_salmon_wiping_out_orcas%29

Thousands in Australia [ protested Abbotts war on children and young people ]( http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/31/thousands-rally-against-tony-abbott ) .
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#01_September_2014_%28Thousands_protested_in_Australia%29

The high rate of arrest warrants in Ferguson — more than 1.5 per year per inhabitant — is due to [ systematic harassment of the poor ]( http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/28/1325453/-In-2013-Ferguson-gave-out-10-000-more-arrest-warrants-than-people-in-Ferguson ) . This is [ common across the US ]( https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jan-apr.html#08_February_2014_%28Privatized_probation_companies%29 ) , and amounts to an additional tax on the consequences of poverty.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#01_September_2014_%28Systematic_harassment_of_the_poor%29

California is about to pass a bill that in effect requires college students to [ explicitly ask "Do you want to have sex?" before doing so ]( http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/30/california-sexual-assault-affirmative-consent-bill ) . The article does not make it clear that this law will regulate how colleges handle accusations of sexual assault — not students directly. However, it is so common for people to have sex without explicitly asking each other "Do you want to have sex now?" that I fear students will consider the requirement for "affirmative consent" ridiculous, and systematically ignore it, so that they will nearly all be technically guilty if the school ever investigates them. Another point in the article, which makes the law seem unreasonable in a different way, describes it wrong. The law does not say that consent is invalid if "given under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs", as the article put it. Those words would seem to mean that if two people meet after drinking alcohol, and then have sex, then neither of them really consented — if the law said that. But the law really says that a person who is "incapacitated" by alcohol and/or drugs does not consent. That seems correct to me.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#01_September_2014_%28Bill_requiring_students_to_explicitly_ask_for_sex_before_doing_so%29

Massachusetts citizens: see how your candidates [ stand on abortion rights ]( http://www.prochoicemassvotes.org ) .
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#01_September_2014_%28Urgent%3A_Your_candidates_on_abortion_rights%29

Everyone: call on the Vatican to [ divest from fossil fuels ]( http://act.350.org/sign/divest_vatican/ ) .
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#01_September_2014_%28Urgent%3A_Call_on_the_Vatican_to_divest_from_fossil_fuels%29

ISIS and al-Nusra continue to get [ lots of funding from people in Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia ]( http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/31/combat-terror-end-support-saudi-arabia-dictatorships-fundamentalism ) . Those states may not be funding them directly, but they permit it to go on.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#01_September_2014_%28ISIS_and_al-Nusras_funding%29

The Pentagon has repeatedly covered up flaws in its weapons, flaws that kill US troops, and [ punishes the whistleblowers that reveal them ]( http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/23898-moral-robots-for-the-pentagon-let%E2%80%99s-work-on-pentagon-morality-first ) .
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#01_September_2014_%28Pentagon_cover-ups%29

Israeli society is increasingly flooded with [ dehumanization of Palestinians and threats/advocacy of sexual violence ]( http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=717908 ) .
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#01_September_2014_%28Dehumanization_by_Israeli_society%29

The US [ rebuked Israel ]( http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/01/us-criticises-israel-appropriation-land-settlements ) for seizing Palestinian land near Bethlehem. Israel admits that this seizure of land is meant as a collective punishment of Palestinians for a crime they have nothing to do with.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#01_September_2014_%28Seizure_of_land_near_Bethlehem%29

Erdogan has continued to [ arrest the Turkish thugs that are connected with trying to prosecute ministers for corruption ]( http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/01/turkey-police-detained ) .
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#01_September_2014_%28Erdogan_has_continued_to_arrest_Turkish_thugs%29

Everyone: call on Algeria and Tunisia to [ stop accepting marriage as an excuse to avoid punishment for rape ]( http://act.amnestyusa.org/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1839&ea.campaign.id=29715 ) .
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#01_September_2014_%28Urgent%3A_An_excuse_to_avoid_punishment_for_rape%29

Everyone: call on Dole to [ intervene to protect Andy Hall ]( http://action.sumofus.org/a/protect-human-rights-defenders/ ) , who reported on slavery in pineapple production in Thailand. [ Here is more information ]( http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/01/british-activist-andy-hall-thailand-defamation-trial ) .
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#02_September_2014_%28Urgent%3A_Call_on_Dole_to_intervene_to_protect_Andy_Hall%29

Don't blame low-paid working mothers [ for bringing along children to help ]( http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/01/parents-foxtons-child-cleaner-corporations-poor-families ) . Instead, blame the cruel right-wing politicians that make laws that make this the best option those mothers have available.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#02_September_2014_%28Don%27t_blame_low-paid_working_mothers%29

Thousands of Russian soldiers [ were sent to places near Ukraine ]( http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/01/russian-soldiers-ukraine-rights-groups ) , then stopped communicating with their families. Hundreds have turned up killed in combat, and the government refuses to say where they died. The only plausible explanation is that they have been sent into Ukraine to fight. I find it amusing that people who (rightly) distrust what the US government says about its own military operations are willing to believe what Putin says about his.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#02_September_2014_%28Thousands_of_Russian_soldiers_sent_to_places_near_Ukraine%29

Modi's government wants to [ preserve some of the coal mining licenses that were issued corruptly ]( http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/sep/01/coalgate-india-supreme-court-narendra-modi ) . Even if a mine is ready to produce, that is no obstacle to requiring the mine license to be auctioned properly to buyers. There is also the separate and vital environmental issue of whether India ought to burn so much coal.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#02_September_2014_%28Coal_mining_licenses_in_India%29

Madly overzealous UK thugs had the King family arrestd in Spain for [ taking their sick child out of a hospital ]( http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/01/ashya-king-parents-criminalised-caring-neglecting ) , hoping to give him a different treatment elsewhere. It appears [ doctors disagree about whether the proton beam treatment they hope to give Ashya King might help him ]( http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/aug/31/ashya-king-hampshire-police-defend-international-hunt ) . (See the end of the article.) In any case, the hospital he was in had given up hope for saving him, so there was nothing to lose by trying another treatment except what it would cost. The hospitals that say the proton beam treatment is better might have been exaggerating to get business. Or it might be true. Whether it is true or not, whether it saves Ashya King or not, it is clear that his parents were acting responsibly to try to care for him. The accusations of neglect, used to get them arrested in Spain, are impossible to justify. It appears that the European arrest warrant was [ issued without a valid legal basis ]( http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/01/ashya-king-hampshire-police-southampton-hospital ) .
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#02_September_2014_%28Madly_overzealous_UK_thugs%29

US citizens: call for an [ end to funding militarization of thugs ]( https://www.aclu.org/secure/communities-warzones ) .
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#02_September_2014_%28Urgent%3A_End_to_funding_militarization_of_thugs%29

Farm guards in Greece were [ acquitted, incredibly, of shooting Bangladeshi farm workers who were protesting ]( http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/01/greece-migrant-fruit-pickers-shot-they-kept-firing ) that they had been denied their pay. The farmer owners exploit these migrant workers rather than pay a Greek worker decent wages. I would support the Greek government completely in deporting the migrant workers — and prosecuting the farmers for hiring them. But that is no justification for denying them their pay, let alone for shooting them.
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#02_September_2014_%28Farm_guards_acquitted_of_shooting_Bangladeshi_farm_workers%29

Everyone: call on Dunkin Donuts to [ pay workers a living wage ]( http://lowpayisnotok.org/dunkin-donuts/ ) .
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#02_September_2014_%28Urgent%3A_Pay_workers_a_living_wage%29

New pun [ anteojos para dormir ]( https://stallman.org/spanish_puns.html ) .
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#02_September_2014_%28New_Spanish_Pun%29

Hong Kong legislators protested as China's representative declared that [ only submissive candidates would be allowed in Hong Kong ]( http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/01/hong-kong-voters-confused-many-candidates ) .
Ссылка: https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#02_September_2014_%28Hong_Kong_legislators_protest%29