Post No. 737 – 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. (Also, see here for some investigation into evidence of the effectiveness of this type of work, which shows variability [and mentions causes] and cycles in the energetic/consciousness response.) A range of information on emotions is here, and suggestions on how to work with emotions 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 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) viewing the overall emotional state of the world from an elemental point of view, there is an excess of outward-focused fire and inward-focused water, with an absence of balancing elements. What is needed is more inward-focused air (e.g., self reflection) and outward-focused earth (e.g., noticing the devastation one is causing in the pursuit of one’s aims);

(c) in negotiating solutions to problems, one must avoid creating long term problems by adopting short term or superficial “solutions” – such as swapping populations in conflict areas;

(d) when the problems of an action that was well meant but unsound become apparent, the actions one should consider include admitting that one may have been wrong: please note, Burundian President Nkurunziza;

(e) police have greater powers than other citizens, and thus must be held to account more stringently;

(f) crime can be a major threat – as the recovery of uranium (albeit unrefined ore) in Ukraine shows;

(g) irrationality can make negotiating a rational solution to problems, whether racism, sexism or war, difficult (denial is a stupid choice, not irrationality). When it makes finding a BPLF solution impossible, BPLF restraint of the irrational becomes a necessity – just as one would a crazed gunman killing innocents. Nevertheless, talking remains the preferred and often most effective way of resolving problems;

(h) impatience and unreasonable expectations can undermine or even derail progress;

(i) those in power, or charged with a duty to maintain order, must learn not to confuse normal dissent, debate and associated displays with bloody revolution;

(j) economic and financial matters are often overlooked or downplayed by those trying to make the world a better place, but they have the power to do massive good, just as much as they have the power to do massive harm;

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:   the London School of Economics claims that the best way to fight Da’esh is by state building, aid and public economy;   US-led airstrikes targeting Da’esh in Iraq and Syria have likely killed at least 459 civilians over the past year, a report by an independent monitoring group said, along with more than 15,000 violent extremists;   the head of the Afghan Taliban's political office in Qatar has resigned, in the latest sign of a split in the group following Mullah Omar's death;   Nigeria claims to have rescued 178 people from Boko Haram;   a new Da’esh group claims responsibility for a bombing in Saudi Arabia;   Iran’s President has called for Turkey to work with Iran against Da’esh;   Da’esh has kidnapped hundreds of civilians to use as human shields;   analyses here and here of the recent kidnapping and possible murder of a Westerner in Egypt;

• with regard to democracy, freedom and governance:   the UN Secretary-General has noted with great concern the continuing deterioration of the security environment in Burundi, following an electoral period marked by violence and the violation of human rights, including the right to life. He spoke on Wednesday by telephone with Pierre Nkurunziza, President of the Republic of Burundi and urged President Nkurunziza to resume the political dialogue, which has been suspended since 19^th July, and to work closely with the Ugandan-led facilitation on behalf of the East African Community. Events there include the assassination of Burundi’s “number two" man and de facto internal security chief, and an attempted assassination attempt on Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, a leading Burundian human rights defender (five have now died), which the UN the Secretary-General strongly condemned. The Secretary-General spoke to African leaders, and expressed his full support for President Museveni’s efforts to facilitate an inclusive political dialogue in Burundi on behalf of the East African Community, but there are reports of problems in Burundi – and see here for a Human Rights Watch report;   the United Nations, together with the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, the European Union, the African Union Mission in Somalia, the United States and the United Kingdom have welcomed the electoral commitments made at the High-Level Partnership Forum in Mogadishu, Somalia;   an editorial criticising the suspension of Members of Parliament in India;   an opinion piece on the return of ideology to politics;   a critical review of the effectiveness of Australia’s current government;   the failure of Australia’s economic “reforms” of the last few decades;   public service fraud in Australia, and the co-workers who battle it;   the arrest of two high-profile officials on fraud charges in Kyrgyzstan has failed to convince the government’s critics that it is serious about cracking down on systemic corruption;   two former executives of Brazilian construction giant OAS have been sentenced to 16 years in jail for corruption;   a high profile corruption case has been thrown out of the South African courts because of delays;   the importance of a new Australian Speaker of the House in restoring faith in politicians;   a call to make rorting Australian politicians aware of the consequences of their misdeeds;   claims that the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and its political supporters in parliament are misusing the criminal justice system to punish people for criticizing its policies;   with apologies to those who cannot access LinkedIn, this is an interesting post, with a great sentence about political candidates;   the Secretary-General welcomes the upcoming presidential, legislative and local elections in Haiti, which constitute a major milestone for democracy in Haiti;   concerns that changes may entrench current leaders rather than opening up the system in Armenia; :   an editorial on the need to converse in order to have good governance;

• with regard to crime, judicial matters and policing:   the NSW Police force has agreed to pay a total of $1.85 million to scores of young people across the state who have been wrongfully arrested, imprisoned and in some cases strip-searched due to errors in the police database;   Ukraine’s security service has said it seized a small quantity of what appeared to be ore-grade uranium from a criminal gang in a peaceful western region, which is good policing, but raises major concerns about how they obtained the uranium;   a report states that the International Criminal Court (ICC) missed important opportunities to maximize the impact of its work in Côte d’Ivoire, and offers wider lessons for the ICC’s work around the world, such as court officials needing to engage a broader set of victims and local communities;  some of the testimony to the Royal Commission into domestic violence;   concerns over trials in Azerbaijan;   psychologists have shown that even the sight of a gun increases human aggression;   calls for an end to deaths of indigenous people in custody in Australia;   a backward step in Pakistan when the use of military courts to prosecute terrorist suspects was accepted;   former Argentine President Carlos Menem has missed the opening day of his trial over a huge bomb attack against a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires in 1994;   concerning allegations regarding police at Ballarat. I repeat my contention that strip searching is a form of sexual assault;

• with regard to human rights and discrimination:   the difficulty of trying to understand racism because of its inherent irrationality;   Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo has publicly recognized that Indonesia has a problem with rising religious intolerance and called on Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization, the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), to promote “moderate Islamic values” as a means of countering the country’s often-violent militant Islamists, which was welcomed by Human Rights Watch;   bureaucratic blocks in Texas to recognising some US citizens born there;   a leading Burundian human rights defender, Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, was shot and injured and is in intensive care;   a change of heart of a former anti-asylum seeker;   more on the racist abuse of Adam Goodes here , here and here;   a rebuttal of the claim that there should be religious exemptions around same gender marriage;   a rebuttal of some of the responses of racists;   court decisions in Botswana, Kenya and Zambia have advanced LGBT rights;   security camera footage of a woman in Saudi Arabia beating an attempted sexual harasser with a mop has gone viral;   women who move to Australia will be given advice on domestic violence;   valid criticism of the response by Australian Prime Minister Abbott to recent indigenous proposals regarding constitutional recognition;   insight into why women leave tech jobs – which I can vouch for, from my experience;   a somewhat simplistic analysis of why some men discriminate – with a few points that I disagree with, but it is worth a read and a think;

• with regard to media and freedom of expression:   despite claims otherwise to US Secretary of State John Kerry, an Egyptian photographer is still being held in jail, and the postponement of a trial of recently released journalists has caused concerns;   a journalist in Morocco is being blocked from working because of his work a decade ago to expose abuses in the Western Sahara;   an interesting site about cultural competence;   the relatives of exiled Azerbaijani journalists are being targeted;   concerns that new laws in Tajikistan may restrict public access to information;   a fiery debate in Germany about freedom of the press;   Tunisian authorities have brought charges against a journalist and a blogger under the country’s 2003 counterterrorism law;   a fourth blogger has been murdered in Bangladesh – see also here;   the growing concerns over media freedom in Germany;

• with regard to refugees:   a description of a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan;   hundreds more dead in the Mediterranean Sea;   an editorial calling for India to remain welcoming to refugees;   concerns about growing Danish resistance to refugees – and similar problems in Italy;   the World Food Programme (WFP) announced this week that it will focus its resources on the most vulnerable Syrian refugees living in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, following a comprehensive assessment of needs there;   the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports further population displacement in the Lake Chad region following fear of attacks by Boko Haram and appeals by the Government of Chad for civilians to leave areas where ongoing military operations are being undertaken against the group;   the need for the United Kingdom to learn from nations such as Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon on how to respond more effectively and with greater human decency to refugees;   the complex situation in Nakivale Camp in Uganda;   Officials from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) have visited Greece to assess the refugee crisis in the country, where some 124,000 refugees and migrants have arrived by sea this year, mainly on the islands of Lesvos, Chios, Kos, Samos and Leros – a staggering 750% increase leading to a humanitarian crisis requiring a European response;

• with regard to overcrowding and “modern” lifestyle issues:   US President Obama has declared climate change the greatest challenge to humanity;

• with regard to education:   an opinion piece reviewing the provision of higher education in India;   a programme aimed at preventing youth suicides – which needs to also include LGBTIQ issues and the effects of discrimination;

• with regard to the conflict in Afghanistan (noting that Afghanistan was once - to some extent - a peaceful and modern society, even allowing women in miniskirts, before the Russian invasion – see here):   the Afghan government has addressed the growing leadership crisis in the Taliban for the first time, saying it will not deal with the militant group separately from other “armed opposition” in the country;   the conflict in Afghanistan has taken a heavy toll on civilians in the first six months of 2015, said the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan - nearly 5,000 civilian casualties, including more than 1,500 deaths, in the first half of 2015, a 1 per cent increase in total civilian casualties compared to the same period in 2014;   a car bomb in Kabul has killed 8 and injured around 200 people;

• with regard to China:   China has objected to ASEAN being used to resolve the problems in the South China Sea, and an idiotic proposal to put tourists in that tense area;   an opinion piece suggesting that the USA may, in fact, be starting to transition towards viewing China as an adversary, rather than a competitor;   China claims to have stopped land reclamation work in the South China Seas;   the USA warns China it will not accept restrictions on navigation;   China and Iran may barter weapons for oil;

• with regard to the Libyan civil war:   Da’esh affiliates have executed a kidnapped judge;   the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has announced that the UN-facilitated dialogue will resume next Monday, 10^th August;   more rumours of Western military action;

• with regard to Russia:   Sweden has expelled a Russian diplomat;   Russia has resubmitted a claim to the United Nations for a 1.2 million square kilometres mineral-rich region of the Arctic shelf in a drive to secure more of the where other countries have rival territorial interests;   claims that Russia is attempting to forget about abuses committed by Red Army soldiers;   the US organisation NASA has extended its contract with Russia for transport to the International Space Station;   Russia suspected of hacking some US military emails;

• with regard to Sudan and South Sudan:   the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has said that restrictions by the authorities on the movement of barges from Bor to Malakal on River Nile, in South Sudan, as well as the lack of flight clearances to use the Malakal airport are threatening the aid operation in Upper Nile State, where 65,000 people are in a dire situation;   in Yambio, South Sudan, the Deputy UN Spokesperson said that the UN Mission there says that the security situation has improved and that the majority of the civilians have returned home;   South Sudan’s National Security Service has shut down two newspapers and a radio station this week, dealing a sharp new blow to freedom of expression as the country sinks further into a horrifically abusive conflict, including widespread rape of women;   IWPR Radio is back on the air in South Sudan;

• with regard to the conflict in Syria:   the USA has said it may take “additional steps” to protect its allies in Syria;   claims that the Syrian government’s barrel bombs are the greatest threat to Syrians, more so than Da’esh;   the UN will investigate the use of chemical weapons in Syria;   Da’esh has kidnapped hundreds of civilians to use as human shields;

• with regard to the war in Yemen:   claims the Houthis are ready for a political settlement, as Yemen’s Prime Minister returns to the country and aid groups warn of starvation;   the Houthis have left landmines in Aden;   an analysis of the possibility of secession of the south, which finds it unlikely;   Houthis have abducted a human rights activist;

• with regard to the natural and other catastrophes :   the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has said that, according to the Government of Myanmar, 39 people have died and more than 200,000 across large parts of the country have been affected by the heavy monsoon and the rains and the flooding. Acting Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Myanmar, Eamonn Murphy, has commended the ongoing efforts being led by the Myanmar authorities and military, civil society groups, and local organizations, as well as the Myanmar Red Cross Society, but later in the week, Myanmar admitted it needed help. The WFP is providing at least 150,000 people in the worst-affected areas with one-month rations of rice, pulses, cooking oil, salt and other supplies, but the UN Children’s Fund has warned that vulnerable children in Myanmar face a ‘double catastrophe’ as floods and the hardship faced by children living in poverty and those recovering from violence and conflict;   monsoon flooding in India has killed more than 100 people;   heat wave in the Middle East;   a “super typhoon” in the northern Pacific;   there is a risk of another earthquake in Nepal;   a flash flood has derailed two trains in India, killing at least 31 people;   the World Food Programme (WFP) says it remains concerned about the impact of extended drought on vulnerable communities in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua;

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

• the Secretary-General has welcomed the agreement achieved by Member States on the outcome document of the UN Summit to adopt the post-2015 development agenda;

• the Secretary-General has condemned the killing of a peacekeeper from the UN Mission in the Central African Republic;

• following the invitation made to the United Nations by the parties to the Colombian peace talks, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Miroslav Jenca has travelled with a small team to Havana, Cuba, and  held meetings with representatives of the delegations of the Colombian Government as well as the FARC-EP, particularly with the members of the technical sub-committee currently discussing end-of-conflict issues;

• the Secretary-General has met with the President of the United States, Barack Obama, and told reporters afterward that they had had an extremely constructive meeting. The Secretary-General congratulated the President on his announcement earlier this week of a Clean Power Plan, and they discussed ways to move forward on an ambitious agenda to deal with climate change, also discussed Syria, Yemen and South Sudan;

• the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Central African Republic, Babacar Gaye, has spoken to the Security Council, saying that the country had seen progress in the political process with the Bangui Forum, as well as an improvement in the security situation, although that remains fragile;

• the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) warned in a report to the Secretary-General that unless $101 million is secured by the middle of August, the Agency’s financial crisis may force it to suspend some education services across the Middle East;

• the UN is continuing to support efforts to advance reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka, in particular, initiatives to advance the process of reconciliation in Sri Lanka through the resettlement of internally displaced persons, national reconciliation, and the development of credible transitional justice mechanisms in line with international standards. UN support is always built on the basis of inclusive, transparent and participatory consultations with all key stakeholders;

• the Secretary-General has condemned the numerous rockets launched from Gaza towards Israel over the last few days, and is also very concerned over recent violence in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza;

• Sigrid Kaag, the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, has met with Prime Minister Tamam Salam to express the UN’s support for his leadership and his efforts to maintain the unity and effectiveness of the Government as it seeks to resolve key issues of interest to all the people of Lebanon;

From other sites:

• Human Rights Watch also has:   a report that some members of Guinea’s security forces used excessive lethal force, engaged in abusive conduct, and displayed a lack of political neutrality when responding to election-related opposition protests in April and May 2015;   a call for Thai authorities to end efforts to cover-up abuses committed by soldiers during the 2010 political violence;   a challenge to Bolivian laws which are claimed to restrict human rights;   the World Bank has released new draft safeguard policies that will vastly weaken protections for affected communities and the environment at the same time as the bank intends to finance more high-risk projects;   a report on the staggering scope of the problem of child marriages;   a questioning of the effectiveness of the counterterrorism dialogue between China and the United States when it excludes human rights violations t in the name of security;   an article on the underfunding of the International Criminal Court (ICC) which states the ICC is too important to let fail;

• the Middle East Eye also has:
   - President Obama has made a powerful argument for the US Congress to approve the Iranian nuclear deal – or risk war, including quoting former US President John F Kennedy, who cautioned against use of US power to bring about "peace of the grave or the security of the slave";
   - the United Nations has called for the unconditional release of an Iranian spiritual leader who was sentenced to death at the weekend after being convicted of spreading "corruption on earth";
   - a call for the Turkish government to engage with Kurdish groups other than the PKK;   an assessment of the possible reunification of Cyprus which suggests that, if that occurs, it may help Turkey’s bid to join to European Union;   an insightful analysis of Turkey’s military and political situation;
   - Israeli officials who have spoken out against the recent violent attacks that took place in Jerusalem and the West Bank village of Douma have faced abuse and assaults on their assets from other Israelis;   a review of current events and claims around the village of Susiya, which the Israelis have been trying to demolish for years;   a critique of Israeli culpability in attacks on Palestinians;
   - protests against the unreliability of electrical supplies in Gaza - and similar problems with power cuts in Iraq, which is crippling the economy;   unexploded ordnance has killed 4 people in Gaza (this is a problem in areas of former conflict, including Europe, where such unexploded ordnance is found from the world wars – 15 a day, on average, in Germany, 900 tons a year in France and Belgium, one million cluster bombs in Lebanon, but the problem is worst in Laos);
   - infrastructure problems in Lebanon which have their cause in the civil war, which ended 15 years ago, are now becoming apparent, with the collapse of the rubbish collection service;
   - a teenager has spent nearly a year trying to secure the release of her father, who was “disappeared” in the United Arab Emirates;
   - the US military is preparing for a century of wars over oil and climate driven emergencies;   a criticism of US failures to properly consider civilian deaths (so-called “collateral damage”);
   - senior diplomats from Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia could meet in Oman;
   - a US proposal to reintroduce an arms embargo on Bahrain;
   - a review of French academic Jean-Pierre Filiu’s new book, in which he argues that the conditions imposed by Arab states following the Arab Spring gave rise to Da’esh and other radical anti-democratic groups;

• the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect also has:
   - a current fortnightly report, aiming to give background, offer analysis, track international response and suggest necessary action, for four nations in immediate crisis (“mass atrocities are occurring and urgent action is needed”: Syria, Iran, Sudan and South Sudan), three nations at imminent risk (“the situation is reaching a critical threshold and the risk of mass atrocity crimes occurring in the immediate future is very high if effective preventive action is not taken”: Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi), and five nations for which there is serious concern (“significant risk of occurrence, or recurrence, of mass atrocity crimes within the foreseeable future if effective action is not taken”: Central African Republic, Burma/Myanmar, Libya, Yemen and Pakistan);

   Recommended actions are:

   in Iraq (I will work through other nations from the report in coming weeks):

• continue to support the Iraqi’s government military campaign against Da’esh, but the government and its international backers must actively ensure that Iraqi forces and Shia militia do not commit reprisals and comply with all international human rights obligations;

• the government must protect civilians and address the underlying sources of conflict between Sunnis, Shias and Kurds in Iraq

• the Kurdistan Regional Government is also in need of international support to defend vulnerable populations from attacks by Da'esh;

• Sunni, Shia and Kurdish political leaders should refrain from incendiary speech and work towards national reconciliation, including equal treatment and representation for all communities;

• 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 … :) ) also has:   a rebuttal of claimed historical reasons for opposing the Iranian nuclear deal, with examples of other times where the USA has failed to take opportunities such as this one, which limited its ability to oppose the rise of Nazism in the 30s, and currently restrict its ability to use international agreements to oppose the Chinese military build up;   concerns over proposals for a “safe zone” along the Turkish-Syrian border, based on historical failures of such zones – including the Srebinica Massacre;   an interesting critique of the conceit that the Cold War (should that be World War Part Three? There were, in fact, many deaths – apart from US military and related deaths, the Russian invasion of Afghanistan and the wars in Korea and Vietnam were, in part, part of this … ) was simple or stable compared to more recent times;

• the Justice in Conflict blog has:   the third (and final) part of a series on the relationship between Africa and the International Criminal Court;

• the Political Violence at a Glance blog has:   a review of the causes of vigilante violence in the West Bank, particularly the “Hilltop Youth”;   a review of lynchings in Guatemala, including the false claim that it is associated with indigenous people;   a review which found that economic ties are effectively similar to military alliances;

• The Hindu also has:   a report that the government has signed a peace accord with the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland, which has been demanding a unified Naga identity and a separate ‘Nagalim’ State for over six decades. There are two more groups which were not part of the accord, but they have signed a ceasefire agreement with the government until 27^th April, 2016. Prime Minister Modi claims the Naga problem was a legacy of British rule;   a review of the struggle for a Nagaland, credited as starting in 1918 – and also see here;   an editorial on the recent terrorist attack in Udhampur by militants from Pakistan, and a couples of related opinion  pieces;   a march has started seeking justice for Dalits;   an editorial criticising the suspension of Members of Parliament;   welcoming of the resolution of problems with Bangladesh;   major political parties in Sri Lanka have flatly rejected the Tamil National Alliance’s demand for federalism;   the Chinese state media is praising the opening of the fifth border meeting point between India and China as a major step to keep the frontiers calm, but “acknowledging that the process to strengthen peace and tranquillity was being incrementally and consistently strengthened, diplomatic sources told The Hindu that it would be “premature” to conclude that Sino-Indian ties have already been fundamentally realigned”;   “As an act of memory, of remembrance, as a battle against forgetting, the Narmada Bachao Andolan” – resistance against the Narmada Dam, the raising of which was championed by current Prime Minister Modi, who now “wo sees nuclear energy as the dawn of the second modernity … [and] … civil society and non-government organisations as potential agents of sedition” – “needs to be analysed and celebrated”;   calls for the abolition of the death penalty;   a trial into the use of unused TV spectrum to provide Internet to regional areas;   students are alleged to have lynched another;   an analysis of global finance;   an editorial in support of Parliamentary debate;

• the BBC also has:   gunmen in Mali have killed at least 5 people in an attack on a hotel;   Nigeria will establish a weapons factory;

• the (South African) Mail & Guardian also has:   an editorial on the need to converse in order to have good governance;   inhumane treatment in Malawi’s jails;   a review of entrepreneurship in Africa;   a protest at the University of Johannesburg became violent;   the possible need for a constitutional amendment in South Africa to deal with unemployment, as a result of ratifying the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;   the ANC has admitted it is ignoring its integrity commission;   an article on South Africa’s “public protector”;   a widening financial scandal;   an article on “why black women do not fully embrace feminism”;   the ANC Women’s League President has said women are not pawns;

• Spiegel International also has:   an article on the possibility of Turkey winding up in a civil war as a result of President Erdogan’s actions – see also this interview;   an article on the battle between Shiite militias and Da’esh in Iraq;   an insightful interview with Mikhail Gorbachev;   the growing concerns over media freedom in Germany;

and from other sites:

• a woman has sought to bring attention to the problem of women in some parts of the world being unable to access sanitary products by running a marathon while menstruating;

• an article about the more probable cause of the Japanese surrender during World War Part Two being the Russian declaration of war on Japan, rather than the nuclear bombs. Whilst this is quite possibly the case: (a) how open were the Russians about their intentions with the USA? (b) irrespective of the cause, as well as saving half a million or more US lives, not having to invade Japan also probably saved around 7 million Japanese who would have been taking part in downright stupid attempts at self defence (see Ken Burns’ TV series “The War”), and (c) whilst the use of the nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki looks increasingly  unjustifiable, the role of the Japanese themselves in creating the situation, and their atrocities which included killing between 5 and 20 million people and other appalling actions, must never be forgotten – but see also here, about the current nuclear threat, and here, and wanting to forget those events and evade responsibility, and, in a message to the Peace Memorial Ceremony on the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, the UN Secretary-General said that the commemoration in the Japanese city should reverberate across the world, reminding all people of the need for urgent action to eliminate nuclear weapons once and for all;

• emotional protests in Taiwan over new history textbooks that students claim will “brainwash” them with “China-centric” views are actually more about the future than the past, analysts say;

• a psychology-based appraisal of how to respond to racist behaviour;

• a study finds many parents are unaware of the problems of their children;

• a reminder that all phones and emails can be hacked;

 

[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, 8^th August, 2015

Last edited (excluding fixing typo's and other minor matters): Saturday, 8^th August, 2015