Post No. 1,067 – Gnwmythr’s News Ed. No. 178

Exhaustion from my day job has resulted in this week’s Gnwmythr’s News being cut back: my apologies, but I have to pay the rent and bills, and anticipate the pressure will ease up in a month or so.

Information and Summary/Analysis:

Note: I am NOT a journalist, and make NO claims to objectivity or freedom from bias. Furthermore, I do not hold copyright to any of the articles I link to, nor do I claim authorship, except for those links to material I have written for this and my related blogs, and my commentary in these posts. (I try to make sure quotes are shown using quotation marks.)
The purpose of posting these news links 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.
As part of that, note that there are key uncooperatives to be cleared (rescued): you should ONLY address those that are within your ability – if you get a sense (e.g., through meditation) or are told by your BPM Guides/Higher Self to back off, do so, and content yourself with clearing the smaller nonBPM units within your capability – which will weaken those uncooperatives. More importantly, there are many people doing this sort of work, and others are quite likely to be able to clear the uncooperatives concerned.
That is also one of the many reasons it is OK to take a break or cut back this work if you need – in fact, doing so will help you deal with the next point, which is …
… the energies we use and manifest in our daily lives contribute to the larger soup of energies that influence world events, so it pays to address those as well, to the extent that one can, or to at least stop oneself projecting them into the psychic soup.
The reminders / explanations about Sunday’s meditation-clearing are here;   see also here,   here,   here,   (here and also here and here are interesting),   here, here,   here,   and   this post reminds us to be patient and persistent, like a “speeding oak”.
There are some notes at the end of this post about other options for those who do not like this way of working.
Finally, one of the biggest concerns I have about spirituality in the world now is that the concept of agape type love has been perverted into both a quest for emotional warm fuzzies, and an excuse to avoid doing the hard work of improving oneself and all that one does. On that, it may help to consider the simplification that one cannot love perfectly until one has learned how to perfect. (And one of the concerns I have about those resisting change is that they are so shallow / superficial /stupid that they thing their actions have ONLY the meaning of their [limited] conscious intention … )

The themes that come to mind for my work this week, after I review all this news, are:

(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)   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, including spirit rescue, and healing the warped views, seemingly “inherent” biases, and other damage created. Also, remember that:
           1. the counter to fear is genuine  EQ and clear thinking, expressed through calm, de-escalating speech,
           2. where problems exist, advocating for BPM responses, and being as BPM as one can be, are constructive solutions,
           3. peace is powerful, but it is a process requiring patient, persistent and nuanced nurturing, and a blend of conventional spiritual work, clearing nonBPM units, and physical world activism;

(c)   viewing the overall emotional state of the world, I will continue using Wolfsangle;

;

(d)   dealing with the 45^th President of the USA (aka the USA’s CEO) requires:
           1. eroding (i.e., slow, patient and persistent clearing of the little bits one can SAFELY cope with – remember, you are but one of many) the nonBPM influences feeding his arrogance and mind-set, and strengthening the USA’s CEO’s BPM Guides and giving them whatever BPM help they need to present a BPM alternative – for which my “changing the personality of oppressors” post is useful – with a view to promoting what would seem to be a change of heart,
           2. lifting the nonBPM influences from the shoulders of the USA’s CEO’s marginal supporters, allowing them to “come to their senses”, which may result in them feeling bewilderment/shame, and simultaneously strengthening the BPM influences around them (e.g., their BPM Guides) to counter them backsliding,
           3. to address the others, physical world activism (especially education) is required. As well as doing what one can there, help those who are doing this work (e.g., sending them “positive vibes”) and look for nonBPM blockages that can be cleared (e.g., setting up a BPM vortex above meetings to draw away external nonBPM influences/energies/units, so that the audience can listen as they are, without any obsession/possession);

(e)   the major events this week are:   as attraction to violence continues to be inadequately addressed, there are risks of mass atrocities in Burma;   the ongoing insanity around the Korean peninsula;   more indifference/inadequate attention to imminent disasters in the wars in West Asia and the humanitarian problems there and in Africa;   as over a thousand people die in South Asia from flooding, a perhaps undue focus on the problems caused by tropical Cyclone Harvey;

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 past week follows:

   news items are presented in the following sections (there is overlap, and items may appear more than once):
    - Permanent and Thematically Arranged News,

    - Location Based News,

    - From a Range of Other Sites;

   opportunities/good news are shown in green;

   comments are shown in purple; and

   WARNING: some of these links may contain triggers around issues such as violence, sexual assault, discrimination, etc.

Permanent Issues and Thematically Arranged News:

• Permanent issue: may all actual and potential BPM 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 resources (including an assured income, given the power that nonBPM forces have in the structures of the material world), opportunities and assistance (including 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 actual and potential BPM Violence Interrupters (and Interrupters of hate / fear / anger) of be kept BPM safe, and may they have all the BPM opportunities and assistance (so-called “good luck”) for them to be BPM effective at containing and stopping – along the lines of the Cure Violence model - the spread of violence (and hate / fear / anger), all as is for the Highest Spiritual Good;
• 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;
• Permanent issue: may all humans be in better communication with the better parts of their nature;
• Matters warranting particular attention:
     -   Rohingya violence and fake photos are being used to justify an attempted extermination of the Rohingya, beginning with slaughter of an entire village of over 400 people (this seems to me to be a movement from stage 6 to 7 of the 8 stages of genocide, or 8, on the 10 stage sequence);
     -   the DPRK has fired a missile over Japan – which, notwithstanding the shrieking headline, is NOT unprecedented, but has caused consternation. In response to US macho posturing, China called for calm, and this analysis revealed a missed opportunity;   the US-led response to DPRK missile thumps the table, but does not impose new sanctions ... but the USA’s CEO has – stupidly - rejected talking (at which point this issue was upgraded to this section) and opened the door to sell more missiles to South Korea … ;
     -   homophobic parents and bullying drove a woman to being a violent neo-Nazi, and love of a black woman (who had a similar growing up experience) brought them both out, and helped get movements like Life After Hate;
     -   a report on actions by a smoking company to subvert efforts to reduce smoking (anyone working in the tobacco industry needs to do all they can to find an ethical job);
     -   nearly half a million pacemakers have been recalled after discovery of their vulnerability to hackers;
     -   $45 million has been released from the Central Emergency Response Fund to four nations (Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Chad and Sudan, where more than 21 million people need urgent humanitarian assistance) “struggling in crises away from the headlines”;
     -   this week’s atrocity alert at R2P lists Burma;
• With regard to democracy (which requires  protection of minorities and the vulnerable – and remember Gandhi’s question about whether one is fighting to change things, or to punish, and the list of 198 methods of nonviolent action), freedom and governance (e.g., here, here, here and here, and see also here):
  Note: I have a section specifically for the 45^th US President below
     -   of concern this week:   a for-profit prison company has suspended nine members of staff from an immigration removal centre in the United Kingdom after covert footage showed officers "mocking, abusing and assaulting" people being held there;
     -   other concerning events have occurred or are developing in: US aid, Venezuela;
     -   in the grey/mixed [good and bad aspects] or neutral area this week:   events have occurred or are developing in: Kenya;
     -   good news this week includes:   political conservatives have been human rights advocates and, according to a report, should continue to be;
     -   and democracy/governance/political matters in my home nation this week:   Australia’s national government is now spending as much on information technology projects as it is on its major social welfare program (for the unemployed), with at times embarrassing IT bungles;   employers have “robbed Australian workers of about $17 billion since 2009 by dodging their obligation to pay the compulsory superannuation guarantee” (there is also the issue of interest for delayed payments – which, ethically speaking, should happen with every pay);   appalling treatment of an injured veteran;   population growth will lead to two new, and the end of one existing, electorates in Australia;   a trivial fine to a contracted public transport company over a computer glitch that shut down my home city’s rail system - and yet the fault of old, patched together software and hardware may actually be a government organisation's fault;
• With regard to the 45^th US President (who I consider seriously dangerous, even if his administration looks like a Schoolyard Squabble Squad) this week:
  I deliberately avoid using the 45^th US President’s name for valid psychic reasons: however, to both simplify my typing and remind people that he is dangerous (actually, I consider him evil), I will use either “the USA’s CEO” or “Voldemort II” (or a combination – and the “II” is because the Harry Potter series had Voldemort I) or a variation thereof – in this section, at least - as an alias.
     -   (see the “matters warranting particular attention” section for missile and threat of war related links);
     -   the USA’s CEO tried to cut a deal to build a Trump Tower in Russia during the lead-up to the presidential primaries in late 2015 and early 2016;
     -   the USA’s CEO has been criticised by Republicans for pardoning a white supremacist (who used racial profiling) sheriff who ignored lawful directions from courts, in a move considered disrespectful of judicial process;
     -   concerns over the USA’s CEO 's apparent foreign policy ineptness;   prototypes of US CEO Chaos N. Churn's wall will be built;
     -   the USA’s CEO’s has blocked the reporting of pay data on gender and ethnicity, parroting uninformed/misleading/malicious claims by business;
     -   other matters relating to the USA’s CEO: policing, media freedom;
• With regard to violent extremism (VE) (aka, terrorism - e.g., Da’esh) (ALL people advocating hate or discrimination in response to violent extremism are actively doing the work of violent extremists. This 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 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):
     -   violent extremist attacks/acts have occurred this week in Afghanistan, and, according to this Wikipedia page, there have been 9 attacks in Iraq, 6 attacks in Afghanistan, and 2 attacks in Syria (out of a total of 38);   prevention has or may have occurred in Germany;   and actions (Note: there are many others that don’t reach the media I read) have occurred this week against violent extremists in Spain;
     -   following a recent violent extremist attack, half a million people in Spain rallied against violence;
     -   an analysis shows most of the violent extremists who have committed attacks in recent years in Europe were known to police or had a criminal background (including jail time), 64% were citizens of the nation the attack was committed in, less than 20% were converts to Islam, and 6% used being a refugee or asylum seeker as a cover (as a percentage of refugees, the number is MUCH lower);
• With regard to refugees (noting the New York Declaration):
     -   Australia’s neoliberal government is cutting benefits to a small number of refugees to attempt to bully them into going back to the gulags – see also here;   a reminder from history that Australia and the USA have tried once before to do a refugee swap, and that one didn’t work either;
     -   other refugee-related matters have also occurred in: Uganda;
• With regard to human (and other) rights and discrimination (incidentally, I consider it vital to identify people who are bigots as they clearly have flaws in their powers of observation and thinking – shown by the fact that NOT all people act hatefully without education/lobbying/the restraint of laws):
     -   on homophobia/transphobia (including heteronormativity, cisgender-normativity and the suppression of the religious freedom of those religions that support Equal Marriage) this week (noting that trans kids are the same as cis kids of the trans kids’ true gender) – and I am going to note that Australia’s current “debate” about the Equal Marriage postal survey IGNORES the FACT that there have been decades and centuries of distortions, lies, attacks and hate speech against LGBTIQ people – in the current debate gives equal air time within the debate, then it is UNFAIRLY biased against the “no” case:   schools in my home state have been told to support students who are upset by the postal survey on Equal Marriage;   as expected, the anti-LGBT “no” campaign in Australia’s has started their (slick) campaign of hateful deceit (technically, red herrings; also, the expected disgusting false equivalences) as promised protection is held back – see a FactCheck of the BS here, a rebuttal here, and "Claims legalising same-sex marriage will lead to sweeping education reforms are "patently ridiculous", Education Minister Simon Birmingham has said after the release of the first national TV ad from the No campaign" – and notwithstanding that politicians faith in Australian people, the FACT that such claims have been allowed into the political arena will lead to harassment for LGBTIQ people;   yet another article confirming what has been known for decades: trans youth are at risk of suicide – because of discrimination EXACTLY like that shown by the “no” campaigners, who can NEVER be counted amongst those who truly love their kids because of their “mini-me” desire to raise bigots;   this anti-Equal Marriage shows an ivory tower lack of touch with reality: denying Equal Marriage ACTIVELY promotes hate, abuse and violence;   some Muslims are trying to hide their anti-Equal Marriage stance;   a hate attack against the cast and audience of a gay play is being investigated;   the USA’s CEO 's hand-picked Defence Secretary is considering how to implement the transphobic ban;   fighting the bigotry shown to non-binary people in the workplace;
     -   on white supremacy and other forms of racism this week:   a ten day march against racism from the US city of Charlottesville to Washington is being planned;   a journalist who protected a right wing protestor from violent left wingers has some interesting thoughts, particularly on the two forms of violence not being equivalent (which I agree with, although I still maintain that both sets of violence are wrong – and not only for the political stupidity of the antifa idiots, for spiritual reasons as well). See here, on the protests;   a statue of the great Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., will be erected in his home city in the southern USA;   the courage of residents wanting change has led to problems in a troubled indigenous community being highlighted, although they also occur elsewhere, and debate about the causes and cures;   an Australian MP has described the Federal Government's Community Development Program as a "national shame", with fines imposed under the program leaving people with "no form of income or no stable income";   an actor has left a film in response to criticism of whitewashing (now to get them to not accept such roles, and then for the film studios to make appropriate offers in the first place … );   criticism of the time taken for native title processes;   more white supremacy in sport;   "ten localities in Queensland's north containing the N-word will be discontinued and renamed" - and others may yet be renamed (the negative impact of racism is also covered);   the ongoing anger over the killing of an indigenous teenager;   the Yaegl people have won native title over a 200 m width of ocean along 90 km of coastline, grating them rights to: access, traverse and remain on the ocean, take, use, offer, share and exchange resources in the area for non-commercial purposes, maintain and protect places, objects and areas of importance under traditional laws and customs, and to be accompanied by others on those areas;   Cooktown is planning to erect a series of statues to commemorate the first recorded reconciliation of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Australia in 1770;   an article on some of the indigenous knowledge of climate in Australia;   a call for honesty in debates over race;
     -   other white supremacy / racism problems have also occurred in: the USA;
     -   on male supremacist and other forms of sexism this week (keeping in mind the overblown influence given to testosterone):   online bullying and body-shaming of two Wonder Woman cosplayers has led to support, including from the actress who played Wonder Woman recently, and debate;   "the Royal Air Force has become the first branch of the British military to open up every role to men and women";
     -   other sexism matters have also occurred in: Egypt, the tech industry, the USA, India, a private school;
     -   on religious rights (including Islamophobia) this week:   a right wing Australian’s recent burka stunt attracted criticism from both sides of Parliament, but a Muslim scholar and human rights adviser (and author of “Women and Sharia Law”) says it is naïve — even racist — to regard the wearing of a burka as a sincere act of faith, as that is a tradition that came from the heart of Saudi Arabia “after the Wahabi regime came to power in the late 1970s”;   “the cartoonist behind the Pepe the Frog meme cartoon has taken legal action to force a self-published children's book that uses the character to promote anti-Islamic themes to give all of the profits to a Muslim advocacy organisation” - and any more distribution has also been stopped;
     -   on workers’, children’s, privacy, and other forms of human (and other – e.g., animal) rights this week:   digital archiving and human rights;   more than one quarter of nursing home abuse in the USA is not reported;   problems with retirement villages in Australia;   a man has been charged after brutally killing a kangaroo;   a wool classer has been able to return to work despite being left a paraplegic after a car accident;      the animal cruelty problems of “puffer” jackets;
     -   other workers’, children’s, privacy, and other forms of human or other rights matters have also occurred in: ride sharing, Sri Lanka via South America, politics, the USA;
• With regard to crime, judicial matters and policing:
     -   the USA’s CEO has moved to increase the militarisation of police;   in an extremely rare verdict, a jury in the US city Chicago has convicted a police officer, the first in 15 years to be charged for a shooting (16 shots into a stolen car full of black teens as the car reversed away after being stopped for speeding) while on duty,  of violating civil rights by using excessive force;   utterly unacceptable work conditions for French police;   an unfit to have been sworn in police officer has retired to avoid being sacked over unprofessional behaviour, with an utterly inept "attempt to de-escalate" a situation (by using sarcasm???);   a US police officer has assaulted a nurse who refused to allow him to illegally take a blood sample from an unconscious patient;
    -    other crime, judicial and policing matters have occurred in: the USA, Bangladesh;
• 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. Also, funding is an issue … ):
     -   The USA’s CEO is attacking freedom of the press and could incite violence;
     -   other media / freedom of expression matters have occurred in: India;
• With regard to overcrowding and “modern” lifestyle issues (is YOUR smart phone free of conflict  minerals, environmental harm and child labour? [IT manufacturers are making some effort in on those – in response to activist pressure.] Do you suffer from FOMO or addiction? Are you having second thoughts about technology? Is your social media making you miserable or envious? Are you being duped by modern mantras? Are you “failing” at being well? Does your AI use ethics? Does your corporation misuse mindfulness as a distraction from working conditions? Are you afflicted by management  fads? 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 and contributing to the problem of financialisation? Are you accursed with the “new is always good” groupthink of the computer world? Do you abuse workers by insisting on busy-ness? Are you raising a Prince Boofhead?):
     -   on climate change and other environmental matters this week:   following the recent tropical cyclone in the “Whitsunday Islands” (actually the Cumberland Group), tonnes of debris have been removed by volunteers;   seals relocated from salmon farms in the southern part of one Australian state to the north are causing havoc to the fishing industry;   a recent ban on plastic liners led to 31 per cent increase in sale of bin liners, less than half of the predicted increase;   Kenya has banned using (or even having, according to one report I heard, which sounds dangerously extreme) plastic bags, after years of delays;   another Australian state has FINALLY reinstituted a paid can and bottle recycling scheme (most of which were phased out in response to whinging by – and questionable claims by - soft drink manufacturers);   an article on the Reef-World Foundation, an organisation that educates tourists and community members about how to conserve tropical coastlines;   “anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd says Japan's use of military-grade technology to track its ships has ended its attempts to stop the Southern Ocean whale hunt” (by military grade technology, they mean the presence of armed navy ships);   finally, serious consideration of exporting solar power from Australia’s north west (see also here);   the appalling hunting of koalas only ended in 1927 in Queensland - which continues to lag behind the rest of Australia in protecting this endangered animal;   "massive farms off Queensland's coast could be growing tonnes of seaweed for the international market within the next year";   claims by farmers the Murray-Darling water plan is a failure (the lack of consideration of floodwater being a particular concern);   researchers have demonstrated the changes as Antarctic waters warm;   Queensland cane growers are working out ways to better cope with cyclones and reduce environmental impact;   urban beekeeping (having shared a home with a hive of bees for six weeks [I was never stung, but had to take action when a visitor was], I love the idea of urban beekeeping);
     -   other environmental matters have occurred in: coal mining, Indonesia, Brazil, PNG;
     -   on technology and science matters this week:   a ride sharing service will stop tracking the location of passengers it drops off;   some of the finalists for a science prize;   the pick-up-chicks-motivated inventor of social media has – hypocritically - posted a message to his daughter to “play outside” … ;   entrepreneurs had to invent a fictitious male to be taken seriously;   emergency services were called by passengers stuck inside planes on a hot tarmac for over three hours;
     -   on economic and financial matters this week:   with profound apologies for using a social media link (even if it isn't the big cult one), reduce/recycle/reuse by another name: "Circular Economy" (promoted as a news lens on an old problem);   allegations that an internet company should be stopping rip offs by ticker “re-sellers”;
     -   on affordable housing and homelessness matters this week:   Australia's housing affordability crisis is likely to continue for another 40 years unless there are major changes according to a report from the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (which recommended: prioritise shelter for the  most disadvantaged, increase housing density by relaxing planning restrictions, make planning and funding for transport infrastructure consistent, provide adequate legal protection for renters, improve incentives to downsize to free up more land for development [which also requires an AVAILABILITY of suitable, smaller houses!!!], replace stamp duty with an annual land tax, review pension, superannuation asset tests for housing, and increase capital gains tax to make investment less attractive), which acknowledged an increasing percentage of Australians would become lifetime renters. One of the report’s contributing authors blamed negative gearing, changes to capital gains tax and the introduction of HECS fees for tertiary students for making housing unaffordable and creating intergenerational conflict; Also, "build to rent" is being suggested as a solution to housing affordability, as if it somehow isn't obvious;   the insurance industry is about to stuff up another area of life: homebirthing, which may push people into freebirthing;
     -   on health and medical this week:   one quarter of heart attacks in my nation occur “mysteriously” in “healthy” people (try looking at overcrowding, stress, pace of life, etc … and there are also psychic influences;   the person who turned a hospital disinfectant into a widely used throat gargle is now looking at repurposing discarded cancer drugs - including an AML treatment;  the world's self-described "number one" anti-vaxxer has been denied a visa to enter Australia;   a coroner has recommended that schools teach students that drinking to excess can be fatal, after an 18 year old drank herself to death at her birthday party;   sex differences in responses to medication;
     -   on other matters in the category this week:   unions are fighting to overhaul 'unfair' rules for working carers after requests for time off have been knocked back (which is a fight I can get behind: the companies I’ve worked for have generally been good on this, but I know others aren’t);   the hiccups facing sharing schemes in China;   safety concerns have been raised over advertising on windows of public transport;   better designed parks as a counter to city-dwellers' "sensory overstimulation", and high rates of depression and anxiety;
• With regard to education:
     -   schools in my home state have been told to support students who are upset by the postal survey on Equal Marriage;   a school has adopted "failure week", to encourage its students “not to focus on perfection, but to embrace failure, to build resilience and teach them to learn from their mistakes”;   a survey shows that Australian schools are making “huge investments” in supporting the mental health and overall wellbeing of their students (which they are compelled to do, in one state), with programs ranging from mindfulness (always a bit overblown, in my view) and meditation practices to special buildings equipped with yoga studios and spaces of quiet reflection;   concerns that parents stop reading aloud to their kids too early;   an interesting idea: "degree apprenticeships";   an interesting way of advocating for student-based flexibility in the education system - and a warning that technology is NOT an automatic panacea;   stupid school is wasting time and resources teaching girls how to walk in high heels - and some parents don't understand why this is a problem;
• With regard to war, violence and hate generally:
     following a recent violent extremist attack, half a million people in Spain rallied against violence;   a concerning act of violence has stopped a cricket match in the UK;   an unexploded World War Part Two bomb has forced the evacuation of 70,000 people;
• With regard to natural and other catastrophes:
     tropical cyclone (aka “hurricane”) Harvey has caused “catastrophic devastation” in Houston, with predictions of an "800-year flood level" http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-28/tropical-storm-harvey-houston-flooding-tipped-to-worsen/8850396 , as flooding is forcing officials to release water from dams. Other stories include: a hawk insisted on sheltering with a taxi driver,   a tweeted photo led to the rescue of 15 nursing home residents who had been sitting waist deep in flood water,   some people were too poor to flee,   a night-time curfew,   reminders of the spitefulness of Texans towards relief after Sandy,  the closure of 24% of US oil refining,   concerns over flood insurance,   a chemical factory has exploded,   impact on the USA’s CEO's wall;   crises in poor areas of Houston;   and    the death of at least 40 people;   devastating monsoonal floods in South Asia have killed over 1,200 people – and monsoonal rains have also caused a building collapse in India, with at least 9 dead and 20 trapped;   how supermarkets maintain food supplies during crises;
• With regard to peace and/or spirituality generally, development (in an end poverty/thirst/hunger sense) and the occasional nice story (are you crippled by the fear of being single or asexual or off-grid or in any other way a rebel / innovator / non-conformist / true to yourself, or believe in management  fads and fashions? Do you distract yourself and fill your time to avoid finding real meaning? If so, you have a spiritual problem, and a need to constructively remedy that):
     “today's challenges requires seamless work across peace and security, human rights and sustainable development”;

Location based News:

• With regard to Africa, the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (and other sources) has:
     -   Kenya’s Supreme Court has ordered a re-run of the Presidential election;
     -   the pressures of the modern world on the Himba people in Namibia;
     -   work to help those displaced in Nigeria;
     -   the UN has extended the mission in Somalia, with steps towards a handover to local forces;
     -   Uganda is a leading example of “sustainable refugee response”;
• With regard to China (may her growing middle class bring a love of peace and freedom), East and South East Asia and the Pacific (noting the risks of atrocities in North Korea and Burma):
     -   on China and the DPRK (North Korea):  
     -   the hiccups facing sharing schemes in China;
     -   (see the “matters warranting particular attention” section for missile and threat of war related links);   the experiences of defectors from the DPRK, meting the internet and “cookies” for the first time;   the USA has finally managed to shoot down a missile with its defence system, and has conducted joint military exercises with South Korea;
     -   elsewhere in Asia:
     -   in a move reminiscent of the approach to a US criminal in the 1930s, the owner of a building that collapsed in 2013 in Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster (over 1,000 killed, more than 2.000 injured) has been sentenced to three years in jail "for unaccounted income";
     -   after – predictable and preventable - violence which killed over 90 people, thousands of Rohingya have fled Burma to Bangladesh;   a Rohingya “militant” group has claimed responsibility for attacks which have killed 100 people, and warned of a war against the Burmese government (sadly, such violent responses can happen when a people are violently suppressed);
     -   Indonesia's overstretched hospital system;      15,000 Indonesian seaweed farmers who lost their livelihoods from Australia’s Montana oil spill are trying to take legal action;
     -   the Philippines is increasingly divided over the President’s programme of mass murders;   Australia has made a politically dangerous – even if seems justifiable from a security point of view – offer to have special forces help troops of the violent and despotic Duterte regime in the Philippines;
     -   Thailand’s former Prime Minister is seeking asylum to avoid jail time after being found guilty of negligence;
     -   and in the Pacific:   "the Papua New Guinea Government has promised to finally shut down illegal logging leases that have enriched foreign companies and dispossessed traditional landowners";
• With regard to Europe and the European Union (EU):
     -   an "extraordinary" drought in Italy;
     -   concerns (including possible invasion) over imminent Russian military exercises by Russia – and responses have included more US jets;
     -   the European Union's chief negotiator has said he is “concerned at the slow progress of Brexit talks as his [United Kingdom] counterpart … called for "imagination and flexibility" to move forward”; 
• 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):
     -   Iraq’s military are making further gains against violent extremists, but resistance is increasing;
     -   and the Iraq Body Count project reports 159 civilians violently killed in the last week;
• With regard to Russia (which is currently supporting an – in my opinion, based on R2P principles - illegitimate regime in Syria), Russian influenced nations and eastern Europe, and responses (see also the section on Europe):
     concerns (including possible invasion) over imminent Russian military exercises by Russia – and responses have included more US jets;   tit-for-tat diplomatic measures between the USA and Russia are continuing;
• With regard to South and Central America:
     -   “a Brazilian court has suspended a government decree that would open up a vast natural reserve in the Amazon to commercial mining”;
     -   Colombia's leftist FARC rebel group has introduced its political party, a major step in its transition into a civilian organisation after more than 50 years of war;
     -   “Guatemala’s Constitutional Court [has] suspended an order by [the] President … to expel the head of an influential UN anti-graft unit investigating campaign financing”;
     -   in a further blow to democracy, Venezuela's new constituent assembly has voted to put opposition leaders on trial for treason;   the UN says human rights abuses indicate the repressive nature of the regime in Venezuela;
• With regard to South Asia (aka the Indian sub-continent), The Hindu and other sources have:
     -   claims India and Pakistan have been subjected to a sustained cyber attack;   devastating monsoonal floods in South Asia have killed over 1,000 people;
     -   on India:  
     -   politically motivated murders between left and right have tarnished one Indian state’s otherwise outstanding (in education, culture and arts) reputation;   here we go again: another child victim of rape in India has to go to court to get an abortion;   "a 12-year-old schoolgirl from southern India has killed herself after a teacher allegedly humiliated her over a blood stain from menstruation";   a self-proclaimed Indian “guru” has been sentenced to twenty years jail for rape – and the reason that millions of people remain so devoted to someone convicted of rape lies in their appeal to Indians who feel marginalised;   monsoon flooding in parts of India has led to disruption of transport, but also community responses;   India’s use of its foreign funding law as a tool to silence not-for-profit groups which have raised concerns about the social costs of India’s rapid economic development is now extending to groups which are against smoking, as tobacco companies target young Indians;   Adani has said, contrary to the Indian Government's policy of coal self-sufficiency, that India "still needs [high quality] imported resources";   India’s attempted crackdown on illegal cash (“demonetisation”) has been assessed as an “epic failure”;
     -   other events concerning India have occurred or are developing in: the cyber world;
     -   on Pakistan:  
     -   a visit by a US official has been postponed as small protests begin against US accusations that Pakistan is prolonging the war in Afghanistan;
     -   elsewhere in South Asia:  
     -   "human rights groups have filed lawsuits in Brazil and Colombia against Sri Lanka's ambassador in Latin America, accusing him of war crimes";
• With regard to Sudan and South  Sudan:
     -   unfettered humanitarian access is a key demand for easing US sanctions against Sudan’s war criminal-led government;
• 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):
     violent extremists have left an area on the Lebanese-Syrian border – and been blocked by US airstrikes;   risks are increasing for civilians in Raqqa;   the UN has called for a shift away from “the logic of war”;
• With regard to Turkey:
     the Turkish thugs who attacked protestors in the USA have been arrested;
• With regard to West Asia (aka “the Middle East”) and North Africa, the Middle East Eye and other sources have:
     -   on Israel and Palestine:   the UN has said the two-state solution is the only way to peace, and has called for Palestinian unity;
     -   elsewhere in the region:
     -   young women in Egypt are standing up to street harassment;
     -   Iran has rejected US demands for UN inspections;
     -   violent extremists have left an area on the Lebanese-Syrian border – and been blocked by US airstrikes;
• With regard to the conflict in Yemen (unlike Iraq, 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):
     a photo has caused outrage over the brutality of the war;

Other News:

• South Africa's boxing grannies;
• rescue of a koala stranded by floodwater;
• a challenge to the concept that knowledge is power;

General Comments/Information

(Dear Reader, please remember, I expect you to think when reading this blog, and I reserve the right to occasionally sneak in something to test 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' (see also here, 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 (running for decades);   the “Network of Light”  meditations;   and   also see here, here and here – even commercial organisations (for instance, see here), online groups (e.g. here and here – which I do not know the quality of) and even an app.    Thus, if you don't like what I am suggesting here, but want to be of service, there are many other opportunities for you – including secular opportunities: e.g., see here, here and here.   Again, activism in the physical world is also required - see here, here and here, here, and, of course, here.

(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 :). 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, there is a default plan.

I apologise for publishing these posts twice, but Blogger keeps changing my formatting.

No signature block for these posts.