For everyone’s convenience: the reminders / explanations about Sunday’s meditation-clearing
are here; a simplified blogiography of posts related
to this work is here, a list of themes I have identified here; my changing the personality of oppressors
and other world leaders post is here; (see here for some
investigation into evidence of the effectiveness of this type of work … and
also here and here are interesting); a range
of information on emotions is here,
and suggestions on how to work with emotions is here; this
copy of a speech to one of the Parliament of World Religions has excellent,
helpful insights on generational transmission of harm, the cost of war, and
ways to heal our hearts; and this
post reminds us to be patient and persistent, like a “speeding oak” (and I like the comment about a sudden
“shift” being just another form of apocalyptic thinking).
Now, the purpose of posting these news
links (and,
incidentally, these posts are the equivalent of a re-tweeting service, or, at
best, a commentary site: I am NOT a journalist,
and make NO claims to
objectivity or freedom from bias or trying to cover all [there are often more
than two] sides of an issue – see here) is not only to inform: it is also to stimulate a connection
to nonBPM units that need
to be cleared and BPM units that need
to be strengthened, so that you can do the clearing / strengthening
that is required. 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.
Further to that, 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.
There are some notes at the end of this
post about other options for those who do not like this way of working, opportunities
for healers, and the default plan for any time I am late getting my Psychic
Weather Report up.
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 20th 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) there is an enormous need to clear nonBPM energy – the thought forms, unattached energy and scars of the collective unconscious created by millennia of violence. This need includes rescuing those who have been trapped by that history, and healing the warped views, seemingly “inherent” biases, and other damage done by the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual violence committed on scales large and small in that timeframe;(c) viewing the overall emotional state of the world from an elemental point of view, this week we need more of the discipline of BPM Earth, compassion of BPM Water, insight of BPM Air and values of BPM Æther;(d) I’ve created a bindrune for this week’s meditation, which is (apologies for being a bit wonky):(e) the major events this week are: Aleppo, Syria; Mosul, Iraq; Yemen; Nigeria, Niger and the Lake Chad region; internal events and interrelationships between Iran, Turkey, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, the Gulf States, the USA, Europe and Russia; Trump is winding up China, and it is leading to reactions (that is a general principle: if you stir, make fun of or otherwise try to get a reaction out of someone, (a) don’t be surprised if you succeed, and (b) be even less surprised if the reaction isn’t what you wanted);(f) failure to accept that events can sometimes go in ways one doesn’t want (e.g., one can lose an election, or be accused of rigging an election), and one needs to respond in a mature manner – and getting even is NOT mature;(g) there remains an ongoing need to find ways to adapt constructively to change, whether technologically or other, and sometimes that includes admitting that others may be in a greater need of help than oneself. Still, there is a need to avoid throwing out the baby with the bathwater, and things like keeping duties on goods from third world nations but using that to help develop those nations should have been considered – and maybe still should be considered. The recent use of drones for aid is good, but the cretins flying drones near jets are anything but;(h) good academic evidence (there is such a thing) has shown the need for nuanced, broad-thinking in response to all events, including violent extremism, civil wars and refugees;(i) the need for mature co-existence remains strong;(j) in the quest for peaceful resolution of violence, it is VITAL not to talk only to those one gets along with, or give them favoured treatment – otherwise you risk winding up with an out of touch puppet and surprise when it all falls apart or fails to cohere;(k) the counter to fear is genuine EQ and clear thinking, expressed through calm, de-escalating speech;(l) peace is powerful, but it is a process requiring patient (not impatient!), persistent and nuanced nurturing, and a blend of conventional spiritual work, clearing nonBPM units, and physical world activism;(m) where problems exist, advocating for BPM responses, and being as BPM as one can be, and constructive solutions - as is clearing nonBPM units;I also take this opportunity to emphasise that it is absolutely VITAL that this psychic / metaphysical / spiritual work be performed non-violently and as is for the Highest Spiritual Good – which is part of being BPM – on all levels and in all ways. Always remember (see here): Do you fight to change things, or to punish? See also here, here, here, here, here, and my comments about “authentic presence” in this post.
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 BPM [1] Leaders be kept BPM safe, including keeping them undetectable to the nonBPM and keeping all their Significant Others inviolable against being used for indirect psychic attack, and may they have all the BPM opportunities and assistance (so-called “good luck”) for them to be BPM effective at influencing the world’s direction, development and unfoldment, all as is for the Highest Spiritual Good;
- Permanent issue: may all humans recognise, irrespective of the appearance of difference, the essential shared humanness of other people, the inherent resilience, the dynamic power, the strength of BPM collaboration, and the opportunities of having a diverse, inclusive and welcoming population, and may all people choose fairness, when such decisions are before them;
- Permanent issue: may all humans choose to live modestly – to forgo outdoing others, or trying to have more than they need - for the sake of an easier, more manageable life, if they cannot do it for the sake of the planet;
- With regard to democracy (which requires protection of minorities and the vulnerable), freedom
and governance (e.g., here, here, here and here):
- analyses this week include: the CIA has found that Russia interfered with the US election – which President-elect Trump has rejected but other Republicans supported (and I note Hillary Clinton has been found to have mobilised Democrat voters effectively); US President-elect Trump is playing games with Taiwan’s status, indicating that China can buy his ongoing support of the One China policy (which I personally consider wrong) - see also here; some thoughts about sovereignty and monarchy - see also here; pets can help with mental illness (a factor governments need to take into consideration when planning rules around renting); background on Kyrgyzstan’s recent referendum; hindsight on lack of Western intervention in West Asia; a surprisingly interesting commentary on the life of economist (yes, economist) Thomas Schelling, who appears to have had people-based insights (e.g., “people are uncannily good at coordinating tacitly with each other, even when they are unable to communicate”, “in conflict situations it makes rational sense to escalate the stakes to get the other to back down”, “emergence”, and “the dominance of abstract, mathematical analysis has blinded game theory to the all-important context in which real people make decisions”); academics need to build public trust in their expertise - see also here, on “simple thinking in a complex world”; is there a new global ruling class?; a critique of the uses and weaknesses of online petitions; the “unparalleled” threat of corruption, and the hopeful example of Ukraine’s fight against it; the problem of “fragile states”; following US President-elect Trump’s appointment of ex-military people to military-oversight roles normally appointed to civilians (another example of the weakness of “ political conventions”),a call for “cross-national civil-military relations research”; an examination of Poland after one year of populist rule – which largely, in my view, identifies the same “angry voter” issues that afflicted the US and Britain recently; towards more effective digital diplomacy – see also here; “the affect [sic] of the size of government is different between developed and developing countries and that there is a lot we don’t know about the optimal size of government, and whether some parts of government should be smaller than others”;
- of concern this week: the candidate who lost Gambia’s election has rejected the result, and the army has seized electoral offices; Venezuela has seized toys to redistribute them for the poor, which has raised questions about the pretext used to justify this; concerns about Russia trying to increase its influence in the Balkans; Russian murderers have been committing assassinations of people from the former USSR; growing ethnic tensions in Bosnia are raising concerns of another war; arrests and assaults on audience members who do not (or cannot) stand for the anthem in Indian cinemas; US President-elect Trump’s comments about the cost of the new F-35 strike fighter have caused a share price slump (I’m always wary of companies being so dependent on the share market). That is something the leaders of nations normally try to avoid, but … what if the comments are justified – probably NOT in this situation [I haven’t looked at the sources I normally would to check that of late, but I know there have been considerable grumblings about the cost of that programme], but what about other situations? [On a minor note, how long will it be before someone tries turning the jibes about Nation X being the USA’s 51st state around, and starts referring to US President-elect Trump along the lines of president of the 16th SSR – which you’ll need a little history knowledge to understand, perhaps … along with an understanding of the view that Russia is possibly trying to recreate “flank states” … ]); more concerns about US President-elect Trump’s failure to effectively distance himself from business activities, and other concerns about his disinterest in regular security briefings; a consideration of the evidence from a range of studies, in a range of places, and what that indicates about the prospect of state violence under President-elect Trump (“We know, based on theoretical work in political science, that a willingness among the public to speak out against and resist abuses of power that do not directly affect them is a necessary condition for liberal democracy and the rule of law to function effectively. We would do well to keep that in mind over the next four years”); an examination of the issue of nuclear deterrence in Europe, and the uncertainties and tensions that the election of Trump has created; after two years of work, a Parliamentary enquiry into housing affordability has made no recommendations; Tanzania is suppressing whistleblowers (I had hoped for better from that nation under its President … );
- in the grey area this week: attempts are underway to use the insanely convoluted US electoral college system to block President-elect Trump;
- good news this week includes: Greece is proposing to give poor pensioners a bonus; a call for the next war in Iraq to be on corruption (“Da’esh and corruption are two sides of the same coin”); a call for more constructive engagement with US President-elect Trump;
- and in my home nation this week: Australia’s neoliberal party is in a tizz over the Prime Minister – from their party – talking to a republican (in the remove the monarchy peacefully sense) meeting; the reality that we are now in recession – and the elites do not notice that because of the growth in inequity; a sensible suggestion to have “how to vote” cards on display, rather than being handed out by volunteers – which may address the environmental problem of waste, more than problems of aggression (which I suspect may have been overstated … ); Queensland’s recent laws on mental illness are inadequate and regressive; strong criticism of the Australian Treasurer’s recent “inane” comments on household debt; evidence suggests a youth programme aimed at mental health has had uneven benefits, and is less successful than intended – see here for a defence of the programme, and also here; inadequate management of data is leading Australia’s welfare agency to make false accusations of welfare theft (there is also, perhaps, an attitudinal problem here similar to that which leads the ATO to cause so many problems with estimates of future tax); the best way to improve prosperity in the Pacific is to allow access to the Australian job market (this is a population of around 2.5 million people, or 10% of that of Australia. Travel is difficult, so a substantially lower proportion of those people would be able to travel to Australia, but it would potentially still be enough to have an impact amongst those who are struggling for jobs. Nevertheless, we should consider doing this, and aim to stimulate economic growth to provide the jobs, as, apart from the humanitarian benefits [on both sides] and [generally] greater needs of those in the Pacific, it would also assist with our ageing population issue. I have not read the report yet, by the way … having done so, the target population includes PBG and other places, so is larger, but the outcome could be 40 times the humanitarian aid we give, so perhaps another selling point would be being able to redirect aid [which, no doubt, someone will try to twist into cutting aid .. SIGH … ]); one of the many examinations of the US-Australian relationship in the light of the election of US President-elect Trump, which notes that we have had healthy disagreements with the USA before, at no cost to the connection; well-meaning sections of the NSW Bail Act are resulting in homeless kids being jailed; Australia has been found to have unreasonably delayed refugee applications for citizenship, as half of child abuse cases in Australia’s refugee gulags are found to have received an inadequate response;
- this week’s atrocity alert at R2P lists Aleppo, Syria; - With regard to violent extremism (aka, terrorism - e.g., Da’esh) (and, incidentally, I consider ALL people advocating hate or discrimination in
response to violent extremism to actively be doing the work of violent extremists. This PARTICULARLY includes those cretins [including in
the media, and Amnesty International] who use the acronym ISIS (see also here), which is actually the Greek name of the Egyptian Goddess Aset – and others (see also here and here) - and actively perpetuates the
patriarchal and sacrilegious evil that violent extremists are trying to
accomplish in this world – which will be countered, in part, by the sort of approach advocated by “Cure
Violence”,
and, in part, by addressing real and perceived disempowerment and acknowledging
the variety in what provides genuine, BPM fulfilment as a counter to fanaticism as a source of meaning. I also am
inclined, personally, to include here the last two millennia of neochristian
and colonialist social engineering, which has led to suppression of women,
child abuse, the Crusades, the Inquisition, etc, as violent extremism, but that
would take too much explaining. As a final point, I am deliberately avoiding the
use of specific names of violent extremist groups as much as possible to reduce
the publicity they get – I’m not
a primary news source, and thus consider I can do so: any names that are needed
are in the articles I have provided links to):
- violent extremist attacks/acts have occurred this week in Egypt, Turkey, Nigeria, Nigeria (2nd), Somalia, Germany (unsuccessful), and, according to this Wikipedia page, there have been 4 attacks in Iraq (out of a total of 28); prevention has or may have occurred in Indonesia; claims that violent extremists in Niger have been defeated have been treated sceptically;
- a UN meeting is being held on cutting off finance to violent extremist groups; fingerprints from adhesive tape used on the inside of IEDs has been used to screen refugees and other people at borders, but academics warn there can be problems (e.g., false positives), and thus this needs to be used with some caution; an airline official has commented that pre-ordered meal choices gives preliminary information about passengers – but I know people who order halal/kosher meals because they’re better than the other crap!;
- an analysis by US experts on what has been happening, and is likely to happen, with regard to pseudo-Islamic (my phrasing) violent extremist (VE) threats, what drives/enables those VE threats (the frailty of West Asia governments, “ideological upheaval”, the presence of violence [which is consistent with the findings that led to the “Cure Violence” model], foreign intervention [Russia in Afghanistan in 1979, the Western world in Iraq in the two Gulf Wars], socioeconomic problems [unemployment, poor education, etc], and technology [“However, terrorist groups also decline when they can’t communicate with their fighters. In the 1990s, al-Qaeda failed in Somalia partly because of problems with bad infrastructure and clan politics, but also because it couldn't effectively communicate instructions to its fighters”]), and policy issues to address those VE threats from a US perspective (the need to collaborate with local partners, the need for a political solution, the importance of measured responses, politics, human factors, religious issues, geography [we need topographic maps back in everyday use!], and the need for nuance, realism and perspective) (this analysis, whilst comprehensive and excellent in what it examines, suffers from limited consideration of human rights issues [not just privacy, but also the abuses created by Islamophobia], and I would like to have seen more – or perhaps more clearly identified - diverse views from inside Islam [it did include some] – especially the progressive Islamic voices. I’m going to start regularly visiting the website of the organisation that put this together – the US Institute of Peace) - see also here; an examination of what leads to tactical diversification by violent extremists; a consideration of the need for, and benefits of, ensuring those acting against violent extremism obey human rights laws, exemplified in Nigeria; a call for the next war in Iraq to be on corruption (“Da’esh and corruption are two sides of the same coin”); - With regard to refugees (noting the New York Declaration):
attitudes towards refugees have hardened in Serbia; the success of a refugee to Australia at school – and of another; Afghan refugees in Pakistan are being forced to return to uncertain futures and abuses such as arranged marriages; a call for Libya to stop abusing detained refugees; an appeal has been launched to support the 2.6 million refugees in the Lake Chad Basin region; a “humanitarian hub” has been established for refugees in north eastern Nigeria, and Niger, despite facing massive challenges of its own, has been praised for its support of refugees from Nigeria and Mali; Australia has been found to have unreasonably delayed refugee applications for citizenship, as half of child abuse cases in Australia’s refugee gulags are found to have received an inadequate response; - With regard to human rights and discrimination (including
associated violence / crime):
- on homophobia/transphobia this week: what was thought to be a suicide is now being re-examined as a possible homophobic murder; a young trans girl has transformed Malta’s attitudes; my home state’s opposition party is continuing to show it’s homophobia; a homophobic group has been handing out hate literature on school buses; an LGBTIQ group has had an attack of common sense and backed down from a connection to a homophobic paper; homophobia in the video games world;
- on racism this week: small minded and lacking in courage racists have been vandalising Australian of the year Adan Goodes’ plaque; a proposal for an indigenous memorial in Tasmania – with some fearful responses; a call for an indigenous state in Australia, as two existing states move towards treaties; Section 18C is being grossly misused by a Japanese group in Australia, in what seems to me to be a very political stunt; learning his language helped an indigenous man and transformed a small town; the family of a young Aboriginal woman whose 2014 death in custody was ruled preventable has pledged to make her death a rallying point for international racial justice campaigns, and will use the CCTV footage to do so;
- on sexism this week: an article on men bonding with cats as an antidote to toxic masculinity; a fairly typical example of violent male aggression and abuse; the women scientists who helped put India in space; a New Zealand University chancellor has been sexist against both men and women; calls for Australian laws against dowries; female athletes are being asked if they are pregnant when they sign up to Cricket Australia, which is probably illegal and may reflect older thinking about the early stages of pregnancy (I like the suggestion that male athletes should be asked if their partner is pregnant …); an examination of the need to include broader social issues in the campaign to stop the terrible and barbaric crime of FGM; the US will - finally - give survivors of military rape better protection; the incoming UN Secretary-General has appointed women to key posts; gender equality is CRITICAL in the fight against poverty and hunger; sexism is hindering the education of girls in India;
- on other forms of human rights this week: the top ten human rights issues for business for next year; the UK is moving towards a uniform definition of anti-Semitism; problems associated with mono-culture in my home city’s fire brigade; another example of poor treatment of workers; more good beach news for differently-abled (aka “disabled”) people in my home city; evidence of Burmese army abuses of the Rohingya; growing ethnic tensions in Bosnia are raising concerns of another war; arrests and assaults on audience members who do not (or cannot) stand for the anthem in Indian cinemas; Queensland’s recent laws on mental illness are inadequate and regressive; more on Russia’s crackdown on human rights and human rights groups; Colombia has unilaterally and brazenly given impunity to army officers; criticism of the World Bank’s assessment of nations as “improving”; a BBC show (“Muslims Like Us”) has been criticised (validly, in my opinion, based on what was written in the review) for Islamophobia; - With regard
to crime, judicial matters and policing:
Colombia’s President has called for a rethink of the “war on drugs”; the experience of a youth in a northern Australian detention centre, as he described to a Royal Commission (which, fortunately, has been extended) – see also here, for more on that case, and here, for more on another case in another Australian state. Now, neither case is necessarily about good people – I actively reject the naïve and dangerous view that “everyone is good”, as it actively prevents people getting the help they need to heal OR CHANGE: the youths involved have flaws, as many people of all ages do, and perhaps worse flaws than most (e.g., threatening rape), but one doesn't return evil for evil, and more and more hard-line behaviour just reinforces the “us vs. them mentality” – it is as bad (or worse!) than the naïve “everyone is good” view, and both leave the needs of all people involved – including for safety, in the case of security staff completely and utterly ignored; a beautician has been jailed for sexual assault; violence from people who were hired to clean at a party; a typical example of violent male aggression and abuse; Russian murderers have been committing assassinations of people from the former USSR; an official report finds drug problems in police creates a risk of harm for the public; police in a northern Australian city have warned against vigilante groups who may have performed (illegal) assaults on innocent people (there are a number of issues here – including concerns about young who date at least back to the Ancient Greeks and, in my view, probably since we botched up the transition from gatherer-hunter to domestication, another outcome of technology, and, above all else, the FACT that we are never totally secure, and need to stop thinking we can always ensure that – apart from this news story, natural disasters [including planet-killing asteroids] always have the potential to outdo our security measures: we are more in control of our lives than we realise [and I don’t mean the absurd notion of controlling reactions meaning one is controlling external events], but that is at levels and in ways that are alien to the physical violence of vigilantism – far better to clear one’s negative karma and create BPM psychic defences); arrests and assaults on audience members who do not (or cannot) stand for the anthem in Indian cinemas; an Indonesian traffic cop has been awarded for his calm response to a road rage incident; Philippines president Duterté has been big-noting himself as a former killer of drug users/sellers (either that, or he has been breaking the law and could be impeached), and the drug treatment system continues to crumble and details emerge that refute claims of killings only when drug users/sellers fight back (e.g., "A 17-year-old girl ("Miah") who was with a suspected drug pusher, and a seven-month pregnant woman (Yvonne Grace Tapales) and her live-in partner (Mark Jones Bacaluyos), both of whom were allegedly killed in a dawn shootout with police, but later found lying naked on their bed"); another major hack has been admitted, leading some common sense remarks here; children sentenced to youth detention before they are 13 in my home state have a recidivism (reoffending) rate of 86% … (the article says this reinforces being “locked out” of society); on-line theft sites will be blocked in Australia; in one northern Australian city, police will reward sober drivers with fuel vouchers; an examination of the impact of the ICC on partisan politics in nations; a consideration of the need for, and benefits of, ensuring those acting against violent extremism obey human rights laws, exemplified in Nigeria; the US will - finally - give survivors of military rape better protection; - With regard to press aka the media, and freedom of
expression (keeping in mind that claims of presenting “both sides”
of a debate can be WRONG if the other side is RUBBISH –as is the case
on LGBTIQ issues: having an “equal say”, or a “right to respond” MUST be
assessed in the context of what is happening overall in society – NOT solely in
one limited incident):
a rebuttal of a fake news story from a gutter media outlet; arrests and assaults on audience members who do not (or cannot) stand for the anthem in Indian cinemas; a report on Turkey’s growing crackdown on media which criticises the government line; an LGBTIQ group has had an attack of common sense and backed down from a connection to a homophobic paper; - With regard to overcrowding and “modern” lifestyle issues (is YOUR smart phone free of conflict minerals, environmental harm and child labour? I was recently pleasantly to find IT
manufacturers now making at least some effort in this regard. Do you suffer from FOMO? Are you being duped by modern mantras? Does your AI use ethics? Does your corporation misuse
mindfulness as a distraction from working conditions? Do you understand
embedded emissions? Do you want a bigger, flashier
home/car than people had 50 years ago – which means you are actively abusing
the environment and society’s cohesion?):
- a suggestion that work practices need to change during heat waves; cryogenic storage for energy; the bay my home city borders is doing OK at the moment, but warnings have been made about population growth and climate change; recommendations to include environmental considerations into humanitarian and resilience planning in Afghanistan; Australian cars have worse emissions than thought; growing food (rice paddies and livestock) appears to be increasing methane; finally, action against the lies of wipes that are “flushable”; farmers as stewards of the land (I’m not surprised by this, having seen the sort of consideration of soil properties that cane farmers were using half a century ago, worked on a project where cane farmers were seeking to minimise the environmental impact of floods forty years ago, and seen other recent stories on developments such as mixing crops. Some farmers and farming practices have unquestionably been destructive [for millennia – and some of those old, destructive practices are in widespread use in developing nations still], but not all farmers use or used those practices); a project to regrow sea grass for the Great Barrier Reef (I wonder if that can be done for the bays my city is on and near? The latter has very significant mangrove swamps … ); spy satellites from the Cold War are being used to document the loss of ice in the Himalayas; a mining company is resisting releasing air quality monitoring data (why isn’t the government doing this?); scientists in the USA are making copies of climate and environmental data out of fear that the next administration could erase it; carbon farming could be a financial windfall; a trial is looking at using solar panels and batteries in hundreds of houses as a “virtual power station”; a climate finance meeting has been held in Samoa; a call for bio-sensitive lighting in urban areas;
- criticism of the Internet for reinforcing comfort zones; hands-free phones are now proven to be a distraction (they needed to do a study to prove this???!!); another major hack has been admitted, leading some common sense remarks here; on-line theft sites will be blocked in Australia; a disturbing assessment of the use of “swarm intelligence”; the benefits of improved Internet access to getting people to move out of the major urban centres (addressing the rampant homophobia/transphobia, racism/xenophobia, sexism, etc in many rural areas would also help … ); how to be a healthy user of social media; proportionate responses to cyber-attacks;
- with apologies for using a social media link, a critique of Stephen Hawking’s comment about us living in a dangerous time; excellent commentary about changes in employment and unfair attitudes towards the young; a proposal for the restoration of commons as a counter to our economic woes;
- a project aims to save trade skills; pets can help with mental illness (a factor governments need to take into consideration when planning rules around renting), as suggestions are made to improve the media’s portrayal of people with mental illness, one town aims to be inclusive, and a story is published of one couple’s experience with disabled (adult) children; an article on the drive to work; the problems of mental illness in rural areas; the fear some elderly people who were abused as children have of going back in to care; autism may be linked to Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy; a promising affordable housing project in Sydney, where it is much needed; record numbers of Australians are homeless; another contaminated water supply in the USA, this one from a failed backflow prevention device (how did they let that happen???!!! I work in the water industry, and there are good standards on those – here, at any rate. Did someone cut too much money?); evidence suggests a youth programme aimed at mental health has had uneven benefits, and is less successful than intended – see here for a defence of the programme, and also here; - With regard to education:
class-based discrimination in the UK; a call for more trust in teachers; recent national test scores show the need to address equity in Australia’s education system; tests show Indonesia needs to use resources more efficiently; improved transparency on admission to Universities will NOT help equity; tension over schools in Uganda; bullying in Indian schools will be addressed; sexism is hindering the education of girls in India; - With regard to the conflict in Afghanistan (noting that Afghanistan was once a
peaceful and modern society, even allowing women in miniskirts, before the
Russian invasion – see here):
recommendations to include environmental considerations into humanitarian and resilience planning in Afghanistan; Afghan refugees in Pakistan are being forced to return to uncertain futures and abuses such as arranged marriages; Afghanistan’s Vice-President has been accused of sexual assault; the extradition of a convicted torturer from the UK back to Afghanistan has put witnesses at risk; - With regard to Africa, the Africa
Center for Strategic Studies (and other sources) also has:
- the candidate who lost Gambia’s election has rejected the result, and the army has seized electoral offices;
- an analysis of the obstacles to peace in the Central African Republic, and what can be done to overcome them;
- an appeal has been launched to support the 2.6 million refugees in the Lake Chad Basin region; a “humanitarian hub” has been established for refugees in north eastern Nigeria, and Niger, despite facing massive challenges of its own, has been praised for its support of refugees from Nigeria and Mali;
- a consideration of the need for, and benefits of, ensuring those acting against violent extremism obey human rights laws, exemplified in Nigeria;
- a call for the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s President, whose family have built a fortune, to commit to leaving power at the end of his second term – ahead of which social media is being blocked;
- tension over schools in Uganda;
- problems with the peacekeeping mission in Somalia;
- the Gabonese government has been accused of crimes against humanity;
- Tanzania is suppressing whistleblowers (I had hoped for better from that nation under its President … );
- Malawi has announced a corridor for drones to deliver humanitarian aid; - With regard to China and East and South East Asia:
- a review of security issues in 2016 in north east Asia;
- US President-elect Trump is playing games with Taiwan’s status, indicating that China can buy his ongoing support of the One China policy (which I personally consider wrong) - see also here; Chinese police have arrested artists who were protesting air pollution and one bystander; China has stolen a US marine drone in international waters;
- updates on the occupied nation of Tibet here and here, and an analysis of the Dalai Lama’s visit to Mongolia;
- crimes against humanity are continuing in North Korea;
- Indonesia’s religious tolerance is under trial; thousands of West Papuans have called for GENUINE self-determination; a call for more participation and transparency in land acquisition for infrastructure projects to protect the incomes and lives of those being displaced; Indonesia and Australia could become “ocean superpowers” … ;
- evidence of Burmese army abuses of the Rohingya – see also here; an analysis has found that the brutal suppression of the Rohingya has CREATED an insurgency – see also here;
- Philippines president Duterté has been big-noting himself as a former killer of drug users/sellers (either that, or he has been breaking the law and could be impeached), and the drug treatment system continues to crumble and details emerge that refute claims of killings only when drug users/sellers fight back (e.g., "A 17-year-old girl ("Miah") who was with a suspected drug pusher, and a seven-month pregnant woman (Yvonne Grace Tapales) and her live-in partner (Mark Jones Bacaluyos), both of whom were allegedly killed in a dawn shootout with police, but later found lying naked on their bed");
- Russia and Japan, who never formally signed a peace treaty at the end of World War Part Two, have held talks;
- Papua New Guinea will deploy its military to stop tribal fighting in the highlands, which has killed dozens of people; student protests may resume at the PNG University if promised funding is not delivered; a crowd funding campaign has been launched to improve the women only buses in Port Moresby; - With regard to the conflict in Iraq (noting that Iraq was once a peaceful and
prosperous society, before the UK / USA / CIA backed revolution – see here, and that it needs an emphasis on a secular society and citizenship – but also here, although based in Syria and here):
- a call for the next war in Iraq to be on corruption (“Da’esh and corruption are two sides of the same coin”); conflict in and around Mosul has displaced nearly 100,000 people – see also here; volunteers giving medical care;
- and the Iraq Body Count project reports 177 people killed in the last week; - With regard to the Libyan civil war:
an analysis of the imminent economic collapse of Libya, and the need to do more to heal divisions; a call for Libya to stop abusing detained refugees; - With regard to Russia (which is currently actively supporting an
– in my opinion, based on R2P principles - illegitimate regime in Syria):
concerns about Russia trying to increase its influence in the Balkans; Russian murderers have been committing assassinations of people from the former USSR; Russia and Japan, who never formally signed a peace treaty at the end of World War Part Two, have held talks; accusations that Russian President Putin was personally involved in hacks (whilst President Putin MAY well have been involved, this story smacks of desperation, and is unbecoming); more on Russia’s crackdown on human rights and human rights groups; a Russian reality show is taking a major step towards The Hunger Games by allowing rape and murder; - With regard to South and Central America:
- China has continued militarising disputed islands in the South China Sea;
- Venezuela has seized toys to redistribute them for the poor, which has raised questions about the pretext used to justify this; Venezuela will replace its highest denomination notes with coins to combat smuggling and shortages; Venezuela has closed its border with Colombia … again; an analysis of the problems in Venezuela and 13 recommendations to address them (including, for instance, talking, allowing aid in, building confidence and providing incremental reinforcement, international finance of expertise needed, etc);
- Colombia’s President has now formally received the Nobel Peace Prize, and called for a rethink of the “war on drugs”; Colombia has unilaterally and brazenly given impunity to army officers;
- the views of Cubans on the opportunities and risks following the passing of Fidel Castro; Internet access will improve in Cuba;
- more violence following Brazil’s adoption of a 20 year austerity plan, over concerns that the plan will punish the poor;
- Mexico has approved medical use of marijuana; a village has taken to vigilantism and counter-abductions to try to stem the actions of a local gang;
- calls for support of a new approach to cholera in Haiti;
- concern over possible US reaction to the re-election of Nicaragua’s President Ortega for a fourth (third successive) term; - With regard to South Asia (aka the Indian
sub-continent), The
Hindu and other sources have:
- a new lease of life for a 200 year old Indian library; India is looking to move towards a more sustainable use of water; a critique of India’s withdrawal of cash notes; a cyclone has killed several people in India; arrests and assaults on audience members who do not (or cannot) stand for the anthem in Indian cinemas; India has banned alcohol shops along highways; an analysis of what could happen to Indian-US relations under President-elect Trump; India’s cash crisis could continue for another couple of months – and has led to violent extremists committing bank robberies to get funds; a call for withdrawal limits to be waived for rural housing schemes; bullying in Indian schools will be addressed; sexism is hindering the education of girls in India; more needs to be done to protect women in public spaces – the lessons of a recent notorious rape case have not been learnt;
- Afghan refugees in Pakistan are being forced to return to uncertain futures and abuses such as arranged marriages; - With regard to Sudan and South Sudan:
- another analysis of the growing indications of an imminent genocide in South Sudan and what to do about it (arms embargo, targeted sanction, and give peacekeepers the ability to actually keep the peace); over 1,000 child soldiers were “recruited” in 2016; UN supplied arms were used in a massacre; protection of civilians has been increased; - with regard
to the conflict in Syria, where Assad’s regime has, in my opinion, lost all
claims to legitimacy, and it is time to consider partition (see here, here, here and here):
- a warning that the world can never say “we didn’t know” about the disaster in Syria (and I note that the disaster happening in Yemen may be around three times worse); dozens of people in a violent extremist held area have been killed by an attack which may have included poison gas; fears of reprisals for civilians from both sides as Aleppo falls – fears which seem to have been confirmed by later (credible) reports, as fighting continued before another attempt at a truce and evacuation (and may constitute another war crime – and the Assad regime’s attempted rebuttal has misused a photo from Iraq); an analysis of the situation in Syria, including the ongoing problems for the illegitimate Assad regime in trying to hold on to territory; a critique of evidence over the last 20years of civil wars, from Bosnia to Syria, and a warning against drawing what I would term value-less conclusions; the extremes of despair and debauchery that have arisen in Damascus (shades of Berlin in the 30s and 40sand the Ottoman Empire, perhaps … ); refugees from Aleppo have been robbed and killed by militia; - with regard to Turkey:
a Kurdish group has committed a violent extremist attack in Istanbul (the resurgence of violence by Kurds in south east Turkey was stupid – it undid gains to date, shut out possible future gains, brought hell down upon the Kurds, and has created a new cycle of tit-for-tat violence –and all for some immature or poorly judged decisions .. I hope it wasn’t simple impatience); a comprehensive examination of the historic and growing tension between Turkey and Iran – which may need a common cause to be overcome, as cooperation is not enough; a report on Turkey’s growing crackdown on media which criticises the government line; a review of ten years of deteriorating relations between Europe and Turkey; - with regard to the conflicts in Ukraine, particularly in
the east:
gold artefacts on loan from Crimean museums to Dutch museums have been ruled Ukrainian state property, and will be returned to Ukraine, not Crimea; the “unparalleled” threat of corruption, and the hopeful example of Ukraine’s fight against it; - With regard to West Asia / the Middle East and North
Africa, the Middle East Eye and other sources have:
- hindsight on lack of Western intervention in West Asia; calls for the USA to continue working to support movement towards democracy in “Arab nations”, including specific recommendations;
- the UN Secretary-General has called on the Israelis and Palestinians to rebuild trust in each other; warnings of chaos if the USA moves its Israeli Embassy to Jerusalem; an examination of Israel’s apparent moves towards annexation of the West bank;
- Iran is concerned at the growing closeness between Israel and Azerbaijan;
- a comprehensive examination of the historic and growing tension between Turkey and Iran – which may need a common cause to be overcome, as cooperation is not enough;
- confronting testimony before Tunisia’s Truth and Dignity Commission; a call for a deradicalisation strategy for returning violent extremists;
- economic reform in Saudi Arabia;
- diplomatic tensions after Egypt accuses Qatar of being involved in a recent church bombing; - With regard
to the war in Yemen (unlike Iraq and Syria, I cannot find a
source of regular information on casualties in Yemen, but the hardship and
deaths from food, water and medical shortages that concerns me just as much –
if not more, and I don’t know if such sites would report that; it is also
important to remember that there are multiple sides in this dispute – and
opponents to the government are not necessarily Houthi or violent extremist):
the USA will limit arms sales to Saudi Arabia over concerns about the conduct of the war in Yemen; despite the famine, wheat imports have been stopped!; no signs of peace;
as the tragedy of Syria happens, millions in Yemen continue to approach death unnoticed … ; - With regard to natural and other catastrophes:
disaster preparedness saved lives in the Solomon Islands during and after the recent earthquake, but some areas have still not been reached; recommendations to include environmental considerations into humanitarian and resilience planning in Afghanistan; the need for cost-benefit analyses of disaster mitigation to have a more broadly defined basis – see also here; a cyclone has killed several people in India; calls for support of a new approach to cholera in Haiti; - With regard to peace and/or spirituality generally, and
the occasional nice story:
a critique of evidence over the last 20years of civil wars, from Bosnia to Syria, and a warning against drawing what I would term value-less conclusions; an assessment of 7 main threats to peace in 2017;
and from a range of other sites:
- the experiences of a low-cost traveller who has been to every nation on Earth, and spent a night in all but one;
(Dear Reader, please remember, I expect you to think when
reading this blog, and reserve the right to occasionally sneak in something to
test that)
Now, some relocated notes and other
comments/information.
Remember that many others are very capably
doing this type of work – for instance, the Lucis
Trust's Triangles network (which has been running for many decades), the Correllian
Tradition's 'Spiritual
War for Peace' (begun in 2014, and see also here
and here), the Hope, Peace, Love and Prosperity Spell
(also from the Correllian Tradition, in around 2007 or 2008), the Healing Minute started by the
late, great Harry
Edwards (held at 10 AM and 10 PM local time each day, and has
been running for decades); the “Network of Light” meditations; and
also see here and here –
even commercial organisations are getting involved (for instance, see here), there are online groups (e.g. here
and here
– which I’m not members of, and thus do not know the quality of) and even an app. No doubt there are many
others, so, if
you don't like what I am suggesting here, but want to be of service, there are
many other opportunities for you. I also point out that more than
just psychic work is required – activism in the physical world, even if it is
“only” writing letters to politicians / the media will help, as will a whole
range of other stuff. To stimulate some ideas on this aspect of service, see here
, here
and here,
and, of course, here. On more
physical level, there is the United
Nations Online Volunteering page.
(Please
note that I now specifically have a role for (absent) healers on Saturdays, as
explained in the Psychic Weather Report posts. Anyone who wishes to be
protector has a role every day :) , including – perhaps particularly - the
first permanent issue I list below. At all times, on all levels and in ways, BOTH must ALWAYS be
BPM in the way they perform such roles.)
If I am ever late getting my Psychic
Weather Report up any week, the default
plan is to build up energy in the “Shield
of Hope” on Sunday, send energy to West Asia / the Middle East on Monday,
and then extend that to include Europe on Tuesday, the USA on Wednesday, East
and South East Asia on Thursday and Africa on Friday.
Regular sources include the Daily Briefings
of the United
Nations, Human Rights Watch, the Global Centre
for the Responsibility to Protect, “War
on the Rocks” (a very US-focused site
which also has articles I have concerns about, but also a surprising number of gems), the Early Warning Project blog,
the Justice
in Conflict blog, the Political
Violence at a Glance blog, the Institute for War and
Peace Reporting, the International Crisis Group, the Middle East Eye, The Hindu, the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, the BBC, Spiegel International, The Conversation, John Menadue’s blog, Wikipedia’s current events portal,
Wendell Williams’ blog, George Monbiot’s website, the Campaign Against Arms Trade, the “Cure
Violence” blog, the Inter Press Service Agency (IPS), the Lowy
“Interpreter” blog (which
occasionally has good links about what is happening in the Pacific), and
others.
I apologise for publishing these posts twice, but Blogger
keeps changing my formatting. I can either publish it and then correct the
altered formatting and re-publish it, or save and close the post and correct it
when I reopen it prior to publishing it, but that leaves an extra copy in my
"drafts" folder which I then have to clean up ...
No signature block for these posts.
