I stand in full support of the Free Software Foundation and its ethical and moral stance on free software. I oppose the misguided recent attacks against Richard M. Stallman, the accusations against whom are baseless and lacking in factual evidence. I am a signatory to the open letter in support of Richard M. Stallman.

The Quiet World, by Jeffrey McDaniel

Tuesday, Sep 7, 2021   Post   140 words   1 min read

In an effort to get people to look
into each other’s eyes more,
and also to appease the mutes,
the government has decided
to allot each person exactly one hundred
and sixty-seven words, per day.

When the phone rings, I put it to my ear
without saying hello. In the restaurant
I point at chicken noodle soup.
I am adjusting well to the new way.

Late at night, I call my long distance lover,
proudly say I only used fifty-nine today.
I saved the rest for you.

When she doesn’t respond,
I know she’s used up all her words,
so I slowly whisper I love you
thirty-two and a third times.
After that, we just sit on the line
and listen to each other breathe.

Jeffrey McDaniel, “The Quiet World” from The Forgiveness Parade.
Copyright © 1998 by Jeffrey McDaniel.

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Japan

Wednesday, Aug 25, 2021   Photo
Japan

Force and Opinion

Wednesday, Jun 16, 2021   Link   https://chomsky.info/199107__/

When political life and independent thought revived in the 1960s, the problem arose again, and the reaction was the same. The Trilateral Commission, bringing together liberal elites from Europe, Japan, and the United States, warned of an impending “crisis of democracy” as segments of the public sought to enter the political arena. This “excess of democracy” was posing a threat to the unhampered rule of privileged elites — what is called “democracy” in political theology. The problem was the usual one: the rabble were trying to manage their own affairs, gaining control over their communities and pressing their political demands. There were organizing efforts among young people, ethnic minorities, women, social activists, and others, encouraged by the struggles of benighted masses elsewhere for freedom and independence. More “moderation in democracy” would be required, the Commission concluded, perhaps a return to the days when “Truman had been able to govern the country with the cooperation of a relatively small number of Wall Street lawyers and bankers,” as the American rapporteur commented.

Noam Chomsky

China's Tianwen 1 probe send back Mars images

Wednesday, May 19, 2021   Post   182 words   1 min read

Two photos captured by China’s Mars probe Tianwen-1 during and after the country’s first landing on the red planet were released on Wednesday. The lander carrying a rover of the Tianwen-1 mission touched down in the southern part of Utopia Planitia, a vast plain on the northern hemisphere of Mars, on May 15, becoming the country’s first probe to land on a planet other than Earth.

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