Post No. 728 – For Sunday evening’s meditation-clearing

For everyone’s convenience, I’ve shifted the reminders / explanations about Sunday’s meditation-clearing to this post. I have a simplified blogiography of posts related to this work here, a list of themes I have identified here, and my changing the personality of oppressors post, which I am contemplating expanding to include some key people to work on, is here.

The purpose of posting these news links is not only to inform: it is also to stimulate a connection to nonBPLF units that need to be cleared and BPLF units that need to be strengthened. That only works if you don’t let yourself be overwhelmed by this, so take it in small chunks if you need to, but remember to actively clear and heal! … including yourself.

Also, in the same way that activists used to argue that “the personal is political”, the energies we use and manifest in our daily lives contribute to the larger soup of energies that influence world events. If you want to, for example, improve the communication of nations, improve yours. To help stop abuses of power, be always ethical in your conduct. Want peace? Then work in an informed, understanding, intelligent and nuanced way for peace in yourself and your life.

Now, the themes – short, medium and long term - that come to mind for my work this week, after I review all this news, are (and no apologies if this repeats the themes of any previous weeks – in fact, given the size of this task, that is to be expected):

(a) based on my interpretation of information here and here with Jupiter in Leo contributing to an expansion of opinions, beliefs and perceptions (until 11^th August, 2015), Saturn in Sagittarius contributing to finding an authentic balance (until 20^th December, 2017), Uranus in Aries contributing to fresh and possibly radical starts (until some date in the Year 2018), and Pluto in Capricorn contributing to a transformation of power and business (and careers) (until some date in the Year 2024), conditions are ripe for a change for the better in world politics;

(b) overreaction, particularly with political attempts to curry favour with voters, can be a problem. On the other hand, losing opportunities by under-reacting or being too easy-going can also be an issue. Balance and appropriateness is almost always best;

(c) those who hold power should be held to account for their exercise, or failure to exercise, that power, to the extent that is commensurate with the power held;

(d) don’t trivialise or downplay surprising, unexpected or unwanted matters;

(e) trying to resist the trend towards greater inclusivity will ultimately those trying to resist more than anyone else;

(f) change is not always constantly for the better: beware of backsliding;

(g) be wary of legitimising those who are doing wrong (which is why I use the acronym Da’esh, rather than anything with the word "State" in it);

(h) nuance and opposing views are important to consider – difficult to resolve, but doing so successfully can lift an issue to a higher level;

(i) talking is still a key way to resolving many of these problems, but those can taking positive interventionist action (e.g., humanitarian aid, TRUE  peacekeeping, etc) is also needed;

(j) empire building is still a problem in the world, as is the desire for what is seen as “order”, which means both neat and free of anything different;

(k) being overwhelmed by this work is a real risk. If that happens, focus on what is happening around you – make that as BPLF as you can, and you will doing much of what you can to contribute to the “psychic soup” around this world being as good as is possible – and rest when needed.

News and other matters from this week include the following (opportunities/good news are shown in green; comments are shown in purple; WARNING: some of these links may contain triggers around issues such as violence, sexual assault, discrimination, etc).

•  permanent issue: may all actual and potential BPLF [1] Leaders be kept BPLF safe, including keeping them undetectable to the nonBPLF and keeping all their Significant Others inviolable against being used for indirect psychic attack, all as is for the Highest Spiritual Good;

• with regard to Da’esh and violent extremism generally:   an assessment that trying to counter the recruiting of violent extremism (VE) with facts about conditions in conflict zones (“mass counter narrative”) is likely to be ineffective, as beliefs tend to outweigh facts, and VE are using marketing and psychological techniques, and suggesting a similar personalised, targeted campaign against specific VE people, using, for instance, former violent extremists;   an opinion piece that, by using the military to return the bodies of the Tunisian massacre of tourists, the UK has “accorded Rezgui the status of a warrior and dignified his terrorist attack as an act of war”, with a broader analysis of the decision, including comparison to over-militarisation of the response to the IRA;   the United States has handed back to Iraq antiquities it said it had seized in a raid on Da’esh fighters in Syria, saying the haul was proof the militants were funding their war by smuggling ancient treasures;   an opinion piece that the USA is “fighting terrorists of its own creation by partnering with other terrorists of its own creation” (is this hubris on the part of players who think they can manage these successions?);   Tajikistan is concerned that it might be affected by the conflict in Afghanistan;   right-wing extremism is emerging as an equal, if not greater, threat than Muslim radicalisation in Australia and multiculturalism is "close to death" at a federal level, academics and police have told a conference on social cohesion;   an assessment of attempts to use humour against Da’esh, with some clearly being inflammatory, and others likely to be effective;   Tunisia's interior minister says an extremist leader has been killed and his group nearly wiped out;   the UN Secretary-General strongly condemned the suicide bombing targeting the central market in N'Djamena, Chad, and said that this brutal attack against civilians during the month of Ramadan serves as a reminder to all of us that the scourge of terrorism knows no bounds;   Turkey has arrested some recruits trying to join Da’esh (should there be a “finally” with that?);   Burundi’s army claims to have killed 31 rebels and captured 170;   Boko Haram has killed another 12 people in Nigeria - and another nine people in explosions at prayers for the Muslim festival of Eid in the Nigerian town of Damaturu as the Niger army claims to have killed 30 militants;   a “Da’esh affiliate” claims to have fired a rocket at an Egyptian naval vessel;   there have been suspected attacks on military bases in the USA which have killed 5 people;   a car bombing in Saudi Arabia;

• with regard to democracy, freedom and governance:   concerns over “victim blaming” stopping whistleblowers;   a deal is reported to have been met over Greece’s debts, but the matter is far from resolved: there are, in my view, issues of both sovereignty and accountability, but also of attitudes to tax evasion that amount to down right theft, selfishness and stupidity, denial (on the debt, Greece is a First World nation and chose to hide it when entering the “Eurozone”, which makes it, in my view, different to forgiving debt in Third World nations), and social divisions that Europe is stupidly ignoring (and I note that Australia’s banks apparently do not have enough reserves / buffer against future problems … although comparisons with Greece are, apparently, ‘dumb’ … and the current problems were apparently predicted in 1992 … ), and an article on the lost opportunity to resolve Greece’s debt problems in 2010, with comparison of the way Europe has handled the Greek crisis with the way the USA has handled similar problems in Puerto Rica;   the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Central African Republic, Aurélien A. Agbénonci, the High Commissioner for Refugees, and the humanitarian community have expressed deep concerns regarding the decision by the Transitional National Council to refuse Central African refugees vote in the forthcoming presidential elections and the potential impact of this decision on efforts to promote reconciliation and social cohesion in the country;   Malaysia is being coy over a corruption scandal that may involve its leaders;   challenges facing Uganda over coming elections;   the Prime Minister of Romania  Victor Ponta has been charged in an on-going corruption scandal;   former United Kingdom Independence Party  Member of the European Parliament  Ashley Mote has been  jailed for 5 years for fraudulently claiming almost £500k in European Parliament expenses;   a report on concerns that Kyrgyz politicians have connections with organised crime;   Brazil’s President may be impeached;   paramilitary forces have raided the headquarters of a powerful Karachi political party and arrested two members in a sign of deepening tensions between the army and politicians controlling the biggest and richest city;

• with regard to crime, judicial matters and policing:   a good news police story from the USA;   President Obama has visited a jail in the USA (the first sitting President to do so), and called for reform;   concerns over the Northern Territory’s “paperless arrests”;   standing up for the disabled;   the experience of a survivor of an acid attack in Bangladesh;   calls for criminal proceedings against those responsible for shooting down flight MH17;   for the first time, a sovereign government (that of the Central African Republic) has created through national law an innovative hybrid court where national, international judges and prosecutors will work together for victims to obtain justice for the atrocities they have suffered;   the suicide of Kalief Browder after he had spent three years of pre-trial detention in abusive conditions on Rikers has catalysed attention about the desperate need to reform New York City’s bail system;   former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré, who is accused of tens of thousands of political killings and torture, will finally stand trial this month;   the incomplete attempts to bring justice to the Srebrenica massacre;   a call for the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and United Nations peacekeepers to urgently act to arrest the rebel leader Sylvestre Mudacumura and transfer him to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague;   a report on a show trial in Azerbaijan;   a review of the mafia, in particular, in Australia;   concerns that the new human rights mechanism in Indonesia will preserve the culture of impunity;   there appear to be valid concerns that the trial of alleged terrorists charged with killing hundreds of cadets may have been a sham;   the importance of justice for crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, and the challenges of obtaining that;

• with regard to human rights and discrimination:   this is stating the obvious, as far as I am concerned;   standing up for the disabled;   concerns of violence by an extremist anti-Islam group if they are faced by an anti-racism protest;   the UN Human Rights Office in Geneva has expressed its deep concern over recent attacks, discriminatory treatment and incitement to violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Turkey;   the problems that female athletes have with “the femininity police”;   Sudanese women face being lashed for wearing trousers;   a call for Moroccan officials to stop making homophobic comments in the wake of a mob attack on a man in Fez on 29^th June, 2015;  a call for US President Obama to raise human rights on his forthcoming visit to Kenya;   a call for Burma to not ban inter-religious marriages;   a review of the hope that this week’s mass sacking of the Nigerian top brass offers the country renewed hope for a rights-respecting military;   the Indian stock exchange BSE has fined 530companies which do not have a woman director;   a trade union bill in the United Kingdom Parliament is seen as more draconian than Thatcher’s laws;   a review of the situation of trans soldiers in the US military, which is likely to remove its ban;   Ireland has become a world leader on trans rights;   two activists have been released from jail in Swaziland;

• with regard to media and freedom of expression:   China is reported to be targeting human rights lawyers;   a 10 year old steals the show in a debate over a controversial TV show last month in Australia;   a trio of grandmothers have been arrested for staging a peaceful protest against a military exercise;   two journalist are being tried in Thailand for allegedly defaming the Thai navy;   an interview with an Ethiopian journalist recently released from jail, but at risk of being reimprisoned;   a call for the European Union to stick up for journalists in the Western Balkans;   Jordanian authorities are curtailing media freedom by detaining and bringing charges against journalists under broad and vague provisions of the country’s terrorism law;   an editorial expressing concern over an Indian law on defamation;

• with regard to refugees:   the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Central African Republic, Aurélien A. Agbénonci, the High Commissioner for Refugees, and the humanitarian community have expressed deep concerns regarding the decision by the Transitional National Council to refuse Central African refugees vote in the forthcoming presidential elections and the potential impact of this decision on efforts to promote reconciliation and social cohesion in the country;   a post on Australia’s abuse of asylum seekers;   a report that thousands of migrants and asylum seekers on Greece’s Aegean islands face appalling reception and detention conditions as the humanitarian crisis for people reaching the islands by sea intensifies;   China has pledged to provide $10 million to Pakistan for the rehabilitation of people displaced due to military operations in the restive tribal regions;   a court case by a victim will challenge Hong Kong over its failure to legislate against human trafficking;

• with regard to overcrowding and “modern” lifestyle issues:   a human rights group has called for an investigation into xenophobic attacks in South Africa (I’ve put this here as I suspect fear of strangers is partly an outcome of competition for jobs as a result of too many people);   a report that mining is leaving farmers without water (included here because large scale mining is more pronounced as a result of the Industrial revolution);   the stress facing climate change scientists;   people in small towns have been found to be happier – which I attribute to not being crowded, and to less psychic pressure;   air quality and problems getting loans for businesses and other opportunities for the poor in India;

• with regard to education:   a debate on accountability in education;

• with regard to the conflict in Afghanistan:   the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Nicholas Haysom, has condemned in the strongest terms, the suicide attack in the Khost province where dozens of civilians, including children, have been killed (see also here), and in a statement on Afghanistan, the Secretary-General condemned in the strongest terms the recent attacks in the country that killed and injured more than 100 civilians, including women and children;   a review of the problems that the US military in Afghanistan has from the “perception” that it is an occupying power;   a message from a Taliban religious leader may help negotiations for peace;

• with regard to China:   China is reported to be targeting human rights lawyers;   a Tibetan monk who was probably one of China’s most prominent political prisoners has died in a Chinese jail;   China will release 11 Muslim tourists arrested on suspicion of being terrorists, but is holding 9 others who were probably watching a film about Ramadan;

• with regard to the conflict in Iraq:   according to a report released in Baghdad by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, the conflict in Iraq continues to take a terrible toll on civilians, with at least 15,000 killed and 30,000 wounded since January 2014, widespread human rights violations and massive displacement throughout the country, and a dire situation for civilians in areas under the control of Da’esh remains dire;   a hopeful review of life in Baghdad;   there appear to be valid concerns that the trial of alleged terrorists charged with killing hundreds of cadets may have been a sham;   Sunni criticism of inadequate training by the US;

• with regard to the Libyan civil war:   the Secretary-General welcomed the initialling of the Libyan Political Agreement in Skhirat, Morocco, on Saturday, noting that he looks forward to the speedy conclusion of the full agreement and its implementation;   the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Libya and head of the UN mission, Bernardino León, briefed the Security Council on the situation in Libya and, stressing that Libya is now at a critical stage, Mr. León urged all parties in Libya to continue to engage constructively in the dialogue process. He added that spoilers should be held accountable, as they bear the responsibility of hindering the political agreement;

• with regard to Russia:   a report on Russia’s witch hunt against “undesirables”;   an assessment that that a mass protest movement could force Putin into an impossible choice between popular support, political control, and the loyalty of Russia’s elite;   a Siberian military barracks collapse has killed 23 people;   Georgia has accused Russia of violating its sovereignty by placing border markers on the edge of the South Ossetia region, leaving part of an international oil pipeline in territory under Russian control. The area was the site of the Russo-Georgian war in 2008;

• with regard to the conflict in Syria:   the Special Envoy for the UN Secretary-General on Syria, Staffan de Mistura, has visited Jordan and met with the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Nasser Judeh, and he very much appreciated the Foreign Minister’s deep knowledge and analysis of the regional situation, particularly as Jordan is providing hospitality to a substantial number of Syrian refugees and is therefore heavily impacted by the situation in Syria;   concerns that Syria’s Kurdish forces are violating the ban on child soldiers;   government barrel bombs have killed 68 civilians this week in one town, which may be an attempt to turn them against the rebels;

• with regard to the conflict in eastern Ukraine:   the UN Children’s Fund has said that up to 1.3 million children and adults have little or no access to water in eastern Ukraine, and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has said that according to the Government of Ukraine and the UN Refugee Agency, the number of people fleeing their homes continue to rise, with close to 1.4 million people now internally displaced, and some 922,000 people, having fled to neighbouring countries. Aid organizations have been concerned about the freedom of movement for civilians in the past two weeks in eastern Ukraine. Long lines of people are reported at checkpoints for crossing to non-government controlled areas. According to the UN’s “humanitarian partners”, people are lining for up to 48 hours at these checkpoints and regulations put in place last month by the authorities may prevent commercial flows of food and medicine to non-government controlled areas;   a review of the problems caused by Russian propaganda;

• with regard to the war in Yemen:   the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said today in Geneva that at least 142 civilians, including 36 children and 27 women, were killed in Yemen, and 224 others wounded, between 3^rd and 13^th July, bringing the total civilian death toll since 26^th March to 1,670 with another 3,829 people injured during this period. Civilian infrastructure has also suffered, with at least 187 sites partially or completely destroyed as a result of the armed conflict. The World Food Programme has reported that 40 trucks have crossed into Yemen early this week. In July so far, more than 127,000 people have been confirmed to have received emergency food assistance in the southern governorates of Taiz and Lahj. This distribution happened through WFP’s local partners, including the Yemen Ministry of Education;   Stephen O’Brien, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, has said that he is even more deeply concerned by the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Yemen. Millions of women, children and men are facing terrifying violence, extreme hunger and little medical assistance as the fighting, shelling and bombing by all parties show no sign of abating;

• with regard to the natural and other catastrophes :   fears are growing in the Solomon Islands that a gold mine’s “toxic” tailings dam may overflow;   a stampede has killed over 20 pilgrims in Andhra Pradesh, India;   training for earthquakes in Bangladesh;   flash flooding has killed 1 and 7 are missing, in the US state of Kentucky;   300 people have been injured when two trains collided near Johannesburg in South Africa;

Also from the Daily Briefings of the United Nations (UN) (and other sources):

• at remarks at the commemoration of the genocide in Srebrenica, the Deputy Secretary-General said that the United Nations and the international community failed to protect the people of Srebrenica, and that this will, and should, haunt us forever. “It has fundamentally affected us and is, in many ways, altering our work”, he added (much as the Holocaust also fundamentally change the world);

• the Secretary-General welcomed the announcements made yesterday in Havana of the intention of the Government of Colombia and the FARC-EP to put in place new measures to de-escalate the current fighting in Colombia and to accelerate the negotiations in order to reach a peace agreement as soon as possible;

• the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and head of the mission in the country, Martin Kobler, updated the UN Security Council on the situation in the DRC. Regarding the security situation, he underlined the operations by the Congolese army, and supported by the UN Mission against the Front Patriotique Résistance in Ituri, the FRPI. He said these operations were the most effective since the fall of the M-23 and were a testament to what collective actions could achieve;

• at the opening of the Third Financing for Development Conference, the Secretary-General said that a successful outcome on this Conference is crucial for securing an ambitious post-2015 development agenda and a comprehensive agreement on climate change, and he urged world leaders and ministers gathered this week to agree on an outcome that is commensurate in ambition with the sustainable development goals, and to exercise flexibility and compromise and overcome narrow self-interest in favour of working together for the common well-being for humanity;

• the Secretary-General is aware of reports that two Israeli civilians who entered Gaza over the last year remain unaccounted for, and called on all Relevant Palestinian actors in Gaza to provide information as to their possible whereabouts and conditions and to take prompt action to facilitate their safe return to their families (there have been allegations that Israel is not acting on this as a result of racism);

• the World Health Organization has issued a new mental health atlas which says that huge inequalities in access to mental health services exist depending on where people live. The Atlas, on average globally, there is less than one mental health worker per 10,000 people. The report also shows that global spending on mental health is still very low and that the majority of spending goes to mental hospitals, which serve a small proportion of those who need care;

From other sites:

• Human Rights Watch also has:   a report on the abuse of women and girls in war, and another on the broken promises to women in Columbia;   an explanation of the difference between smuggling and trafficking;   a review of South Sudan’s situation;   the Dominican Republic’s ongoing violation of the right to a nationality;   a call for Bahrain to release imprisoned human rights activists;   a Philippines mayor has proudly admitted his connection to death squads, and boasted he would extend their use if he became president (this jerk got to the position somehow. He may have been hiding his preference for extrajudicial killing then, but if he goes any further politically, it is a sign of people’s desperate desire for stability, or what many consider “order” – freedom from violence and chaos, to be sure, but often it also comes with a desire to be free of anything “different”. This person is evil, and should be tried for his criminal activity – but those who put him there also have some accountability);

• the Middle East Eye also has:
   - allegations of a thwarted palace coup in the United Arab Emirates in 2011, which, if successful, would have transformed the country into a constitutional monarchy (and see here for some recent bad publicity that the UAE has created for itself);
   - a photographer has been “disappeared“ (my phrasing – refers to certain historical periods where this approach to dealing with dissent was widespread) in Egypt;
   - concerns that the Israeli public is no longer listening to the reports of ex-soldiers about misconduct;   a possible long term truce between Israel and Hamas;
   - a high level Hamas delegation has met with Saudi officials;
   - concerns that Britain’s treatment of Muslim children is now “Orwellian”;
   - an opinion piece which is critical of the US psychologists who assisted the US torture programme;
   - an opinion piece which critiques al-Maliki’s (disastrous) influence on Iraq;

• the Nonviolent Conflict site has links to:   an assessment of Hong Kong’s younger generation’s drive for self-determination;   an opinion piece arguing that the World Bank needs to ensure nations where it is funding projects do not take action against community activists;

• the US-based and -centric “War on the Rocks” blog (which I have found may also have other articles that I have concerns with - and thus do not provide links to, unless I want you to think … :) ) has:   an article on the potential for isolation of military personnel during times of peace;   a review of the UK’s consideration of and use of covert action in the early Cold War;   a well-written counter-argument to Global  Zero’s argument that having US nuclear missiles “on alert” reduces the possibility of good decision making, which is worth reading and considering (Global Zero has other arguments on this topic that are equally worth considering);   an article broadening consideration of the massacre at Srebrenica to protection of civilians during warfare generally;   a critical review of the US approach to training Afghani forces;

• the Justice in Conflict blog has:   an essay on balancing the need for justice and the problems of getting combatants to agree to peace and the agreement to use Truth Commissions in Columbia;   lessons for the USA in relation to military trials from the Nuremberg war crimes tribunals;   an opinion piece that the International Criminal Court’s recent decision to more vigorously pursue justice for Darfur is, effectively, a political decision;   the problematic relationship between Africa and the International Criminal Court (part 1);

• the Political Violence at a Glance blog has:   a cautionary piece warning to be aware of the possible effect the Iran unclear deal will have on hardliners on all sides;

• the International Crisis Group has:   a report on tensions in Macedonia;   an assessment of the conflict in southern Thailand;   the challenges facing the North Caucasus region, which includes Chechnya;

• the “Wronging Rights” blog has:   concerns that the promising changes recently in Sri Lanka have not lasted;   and, from here, “Russia predictably vetoed a Security Council resolution recognizing as genocide the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serb forces. It did so as a favour to its Serb allies, who felt that the resolution might make them look bad”, and “the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia has lost its fourth international investigating judge in five years. It’s almost like it’s hard to prosecute international crimes in the face of persistent obstruction by the national government”;

• The Hindu also has:   an editorial on a meeting of Kashmir and Jammu separatists;   concerns over a proposed caste survey;   a review of civil-military relations in Pakistan;   a report that, after banning weapons exports for 50 years, Japan has started doing so (which is greatly concerning to me);   a clerical error allowed the murderer who killed nine people in Charleston last month to buy his gun;   a call for India to be firm at negotiations with the World Trade Organisation;   Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton has put the fight for higher wages for everyday Americans at the heart of her economic agenda in the first major policy speech of her White House bid;   the Mayor of the city of Palu in Indonesia has apologised for past atrocities against communists and others;   a report on attempts to improve relations between India and Pakistan, with an editorial on the continuance of old patterns of behaviour and a report of more hard-line behaviour by India’s security forces on that border;

• the BBC also has:   concerns over Sri Lanka's former President Mahinda Rajapaksa standing in parliamentary elections on 17^th August as a candidate for the governing coalition;

• the (South African) Mail & Guardian also has:   Chenjerai Hove, a leading Zimbabwean writer and outspoken critic of President Robert Mugabe, has died in Norway where he was living in exile;   a review of what will happen in Zimbabwe after Mugabe;   a report on help given to a poor University student who was refused graduation over a small debt which was beyond his capacity to pay;   an interview with South African opposition leader Mmusi Maimane over his proposed reforms of the education system in that nation;

• Spiegel International also has:   a report that Germany’s Foreign Minister wants to push Greece out of the European Union, who, in an interview, claimed “there is no German dominance”, and an assessment that the Greek Prime Minister could lead Greece for years to come because of his handling of the crisis;

• Consultancy Africa Intelligence has:   a critique of Mugabe’s role in the African Union;

and from other sites:

• the (Christian) Roman Catholic Church’s Pope has been critical of global capitalism;

• a touching and hopeful story arising from the tragedy of MH17;

• http://www.theage.com.au/world/breakthrough-nuclear-deal-with-iran-imminent-diplomats-20150713-giarvd, and a later report that the deal has been reached (the UN Secretary-General warmly welcomed the historic agreement in Vienna and congratulated the P5+1 and Iran for reaching this agreement, calling it a testament to the value of dialogue, and said he believes that this agreement will lead to greater mutual understanding and cooperation on the many serious security challenges in the Middle East. As such, it could serve as a vital contribution to peace and stability both in the region and beyond);   an analysis of the implications of the nuclear deal with Iran;   a review of the challenges to get the US Congress to ratify the agreement, and Israel is furious (see also here);   a call not to forget the human rights abuses in Iran;   see here for a review of what this means for the region, and here for a review of what it means for the war against Da’esh;

• children can sense the fear of their parents who are in domestic violence situations, and stress can affect babies in utero, according to evidence presented to a Royal Commission;

• an independent report reveals that the American Psychological Association was complicit in the participation of its members with the use of torture during the Iraq and Afghan wars, such as in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. Many experts suspected that the bizarre torture and humiliation were not "a few bad apples" but meticulously planned techniques;

• Inkosi Kachindamoto, a Malawian traditional leader, annulled more than 300 child marriages in her district, ordered the children to school, and fired a number of village heads who sanctioned the marriages;

• lessons for Europe from Africa, where austerity measures in the 80s and 90s caused long term damage, and a call for a more balanced approach;

• an opinion piece claiming that “Greece might be financially bankrupt; the troika is politically bankrupt. Those who persecute this nation wield illegitimate, undemocratic powers: powers of the kind now afflicting us all”;

 

[1] BPLF = Balanced Positive (spiritual) Light Forces. See here and here for more on this. 

[2] Please see here, here and my post "The Death of Wikipedia" for the reasons I now recommend caution when using Wikipedia. I'm also exploring use of h2g2, although that doesn't appear to be as extensive (h2g2 is intended - rather engagingly - to be the Earth edition of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy").

[3] I apologise for the formatting: it seems Blogger is no longer as WYSIWYG as it used to be, and there are a lot of unwanted changes to layout made upon publishing, so I often have to edit it immediately after publishing to get the format as close to what I want as possible.

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr, Pagan Energy Worker, Wéofodthegn

(pronounced "new-MYTH-ear"; ... aka Bellatrix Lux … aka Morinehtar … would-be drýicgan or maga ... )

My "blogiography" (list of all posts and guide as to how to best use this site) is here, and my glossary/index is here.

I started this blog to cover karmic regression-rescue (see here and here), and it grew ... See here for my group mind project, here and here for my "Pagans for Peace" project (and join me for a few minutes at some time between 8 and 11 PM on Sunday, wherever you are, to meditate-clear for peace), and here for my bindrune kit-bag. I also strongly recommend learning how to flame, ground and shield, do alternate nostril breathing, work with colour, and see also here and be flexible.

Tags: activism, discrimination, energy work, magick, meditation, nonviolence, peace,  society, violence, war,

First published: Laugardagr, 18^th July, 2015

Last edited (excluding fixing typo's and other minor matters): Saturday, 18^th July, 2015