Post No. 1,138 – Gnwmythr’s News Ed. No. 206

For the sake of my health, until I retire or change to an easier day job , I have cut back these posts.

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 … ) See also here and here.

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 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:   -   (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 from an elemental point of view, this week we need:
           emotionally (astrally) and mentally, the openness of more BPM Æther;
           a plot of the elemental influences on a causal/spiritual level follows, and shows a need for the serenity of more BPM Earth;

(d)   I’ve chosen an Earth rune which has connections to (leads to) compassion for this week’s work:

(e)   dealing with the 45^th President of the USA 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 to promote 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. physical world activism (especially education) – e.g., this. 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);

(f)   the major events this week are:   -   as attraction to violence continues to be inadequately addressed, the risks of mass atrocities  Syria, the Central African Republic and Sri Lanka, and ongoing violent conflicts and crises in Syria, Afghanistan, Mexico, Iraq, Burma, Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria, Central African Republic, Libya, Sudan (Darfur and South Kordofan), Yemen, Egypt (Sinai), Kurdistan, the Philippines, Ethiopia, Mali, DR Congo, Burundi, Kashmir, Baluchistan (Pakistan and Iran), India (Maoist and other insurgencies), the Maghreb (Africa), Ukraine, and elsewhere;   -   refugee and humanitarian crises;   -   the political madness of regimes with authoritarian leaders;   -   and   half-promises of better things in Afghanistan and Korea;   continued hard-line mediocrity from the USA;   a resurgence in the politics of fear so effectively implemented by people like Howard, Hitler, Stalin, Trump and Putin;   Poland is going hammer and tongs at its revisionism;   genocide continues to be unacknowledged and unaddressed;   the concept of sovereignty continues to be misused, abused and disrespected;   elites – including fanatics - continue to hold themselves beyond all reproach;   diversion continues to be used by politicians;   most people hate and fear anyone different in any way;   those with power continue to grasp desperately at power, like a hand grasping at running water – and those without power but seeking it look similar, too often;   petty bureaucrats continue to outdo their masters;   cultural and gender stereotypes continue to blind those who are too comfortable or too cowardly to face reality;

(g)   as all actions taken in pursuance of social status are evil, may we exercise our human characteristics of reason, self discipline and improvement to overcome that flaw, and the viciousness and destructiveness that go with it;

(h)   may the social filter bubbles around all nonBPM people lead to hubris and all the associated flaws, weaknesses, lack of attention and other mistakes to enable BPM change for the better;

(i)   may BPM ethics become beloved by all;

(j)   may humanness, if not humanity and compassion, seep its way into even the most Vogon-like;

(k)   may balance, nuance, objectivity and a willingness to share pervade all thought and feeling;

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 – especially those who need that more than other, better people;
• Matters warranting particular attention:
     this week on reversing the deliberate, well-funded, long-term strategy (from about the 70s) to make self-interest seem normal and a commitment to fairness (such as former US President Franklin D Roosevelt’s Four  Freedoms) an aberration:   the entirety of this blog and all other spiritual work and physical activism I and many others do;
     on the Rohingya crisis this week:
     -   India is trying to claim the Rohingya refugees are different to other refugees … ;
     on the North Korean and general nuclear tensions this week:
     -   although some think a war may yet happen (and that is a possibility), and perhaps despite the USA’s commentary that a “deal with North Korea is very much in the making” provided North Korea takes “concrete actions”, the visit of that nation’s Foreign Minister to Sweden may be a promising sign – which will be to the relief of China, which doesn’t want millions of refugees from either war or economic collapse in North Korea;   South Korea is preparing for a summit, as evidence emerges that North Korea has been testing a nuclear reactor … (for power” They already have plenty of plutonium … );
     on the fallout from the USA’s recognition of (all?) Jerusalem as Israel’s capital:
     -   after 100 days, protests are still continuing;
     on other matters requiring particular attention:
     -   revisionist Poland has now demanded photos of Polish police guarding a Jewish ghetto during World War Part Two be relabelled … ;
     -   parallels between the genocide against the Kurds in Iraq exemplified by the Hussein ordered, Chemical Ali enabled attack on Halabja in the 1980s and “what we are witnessing today in Syria, South Sudan, [burma] and elsewhere”;
     -   an opinion that Russia may have made a crude and obvious attack –described as an attack on UK sovereignty by the USA, France and Germany - in the UK (leading to criticisms about preparedness and response – and more people have now been told to take action to address the lingering threat) to deliberately incite a row with the UK (which is on a hiding to nothing – see here over possible responses … they went with expelling diplomats), complete with chilling threats, and thereby get more people to turn out in Russia’s imminent pseudo-elections - and something was probably needed, as a video circulating in that subjugated nation suggests that not turning out would result in blacks at the door and gay men at the kitchen table;   another Russian exile has been found dead in the UK (another Putin victim?);   the USA “has imposed sanctions on 19 Russians, accusing them of interference in the 2016 US election and alleged cyber-attacks” … but not Putin’s pet oligarchs;   the USA has, for the first time, “blamed the Russian government for a campaign of cyber-attacks stretching back at least two years that targeted the US power grid”;   an examination of past cyber-attacks in Europe considered to originate from Russia;   concerns the USA is losing the information war against Russia;   the US Congress may be overriding their President’s desire to be pally with Putin to move the USA to a tougher stance;   concerns over media silence in response to “a new call for a US-Russia Strategic dialogue”;
     -   the appalling abuses and physical threats (including guns and knives) that come from tutoring the spawn of the über-rich – who don’t consider such abuse a problem … ;
     -   “YouTube will flag conspiracy theory videos with additional information from Wikipedia in an effort to tackle the spread of disinformation”;   concerns about the discrimination which can occur in “big data” – including “If you run your city off of data, you ignore culture, you ignore politics, you ignore social conflicts, you ignore history … you miss all the messy humanness of places”;   out of concerns that the web can be weaponised, we can't count on big tech to stop it – and that it is, in fact, dangerous to have a handful of companies control how ideas and opinions are shared, an opinion that a regulator may be needed;   “children are using fake Instagram accounts, called "finstas", to bully and destroy the reputations of their peers”;
     this week’s atrocity alert at R2P lists Syria, the Central African Republic and Sri Lanka (the 38^th Monitor list burma, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan and DR Congo as in crisis, South Sudan and CAR at imminent risk, and Iraq and Burundi of serious concern);
• With regard to democracy (which can be measured [as can goodness], and requires  protection of minorities and the vulnerable – and remember Gandhi’s question about whether one is fighting to change things, or to punish, and note this list of 198 methods of nonviolent action), freedom, governance (e.g., here, here, here and here, and see also here) and ethics:
  Note: I have a section specifically for the 45^th US President below
     analyses this week include:
     -   in a statement of the blindingly obvious, support (more in regional and outer metropolitan areas than inner cities) for minor, often radical parties is driven more by cultural anxiety than economics, with a call for a response to be the formulation of policies that respond directly to the declining trust in institutional politics (such as reforming donations and disclosure laws or transparent regulation of lobbyists), and “Politicians should also seek to dampen rather than inflame cultural differences … Language and symbols matter in these debates”;   a call for quotas to fix the lack of representativeness in Parliaments (which goes way beyond only ethnicity: gender, sexuality, social class, etc also need to be considered);   Australia’s slowly increasing, authoritarian suppression of democracy (the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders on his mission to Australia claimed he was “astonished to observe mounting evidence of a range of accumulative and persistent measures that have levied enormous pressure on Australian civil society”);   a call for Australia’s advice on PFAS to match scientific reality;   an opinion that US unions should resist tariffs;   from an article on the concerning obfuscation of the US people over 17 years of wars that are not of necessity or for survival: “societal degradation and democratic implosion, caused in part by endless phony war and the lies associated with it, are this country’s real existential enemies … the price tag for America’s wars may in the end prove not just heavy but catastrophic”;   a challenge to the assumption that “economic data are apolitically generated”;   an opinion that “the greatest moral challenge of our time is our flawed conception of morality itself”;   an examination of the role of experts in democracy;   parallels between 1968 and 2017;
     of concern this week:
     -   as concerns are raised about treatment of customers with mental illness and unscrupulous and unregulated mortgage brokers, some of the first day horror  stories from the banking royal commission … ;   an opinion that, the largest gambling losses per person of anywhere in the world, the pokies industry is Australia’s version of the NRA;   a factcheck found that claims that “a majority” or “many” of the 26,000 jobs in the South Australian hotel industry would be lost if pokies were cut back are gross exaggerations;   hypocritically, Australia’s neoliberal Prime Minister has defended state colleagues on the issue of foreign donations that he is trying to ban;   a blind girl with epilepsy was wrongly denied tens of thousands of dollars of funding for support workers and respite for her foster carer by the National Disability Insurance Agency;   another government department has been hacked;   a major sporting event may increase homelessness;   ethical questions over a partnership between a beer company and a health fund;   “the “Aramazon effect”: a short-sighted race to the bottom that sticks the winners with long-term curses their leaders, communities and institutions may live to regret”;   a silent workplace bullying epidemic in Australia;   when a past Australian Prime Dinosaur and the current Minister for Home Racism set up Australia’s Butch Border Force, complete with paramilitary uniforms and a suite of bolstered coercive powers, they chose a very butch leader – who has just been sacked, after an interminable investigation while on leave with exorbitant full pay, for an abuse of power;   “fines disproportionately affect disadvantaged people”;
     -   other concerning events have occurred or are developing in: Japan, Hungary, Europe/China, Russia, UAE, UK, Latvia;
     in the grey/mixed [good and bad aspects] or neutral area this week:
     -   Australia’s media are seeking a blanket public interest exemption for journalists from proposed changes to restrict reporting on foreign intelligence matters, as amendments to address the chilling restraint “do not go far enough”;   consistency in views on a controversial coal mine is rating better with voters than a changing stance;   after five years, efforts by the new leader of the neochristian catholic church at reform (the difficulty of which have been “likened it to cleaning the Egyptian sphinx with a toothbrush”) have “got stuck” between “millions of people in the pews … [and] conservative prelates”, with child abuse and the role of women remaining particular problems;
     -   other events in the grey or neutral area have occurred or are developing in: Mexico;
     good news this week includes:
     -   the US “Federal Election Commission, better known for deadlocks than decisions, has unanimously agreed to take a first step against anonymous political advertising on the internet”;   “large companies with significant digital revenues in the European Union … could face a 3 percent tax on their turnover”;
     and democracy/governance/political matters in my home nation this week:
     -   Australia’s neoliberal government is trying to get big business to advocate for its proposed – dodgy - corporate tax cuts, but Australians are too sceptical to be hoodwinked;   flammable cladding on medium and high-rise buildings has been banned in my home state;   a call for minimum wages to be increased to enable living off a normal work week;   South Africa has demanded that Australia’s blatantly racist Home Affairs Minister retract his comments (alt-right inspired) that South Africa’s “white farmers are being persecuted and deserve protection with special visas from a civilised country”;   Australia’s opposition will, if elected, take a shareholder scheme  back to its original form, which removed double taxation, rather than something to actively pay some rich people and 14,000 full pensioners and 200,000 part-pensioners;   proposed laws against foreign interference need tweaking, as they also currently pick up mundane activities;   surprisingly, Australia’s most socially backward state may become the first to have a majority of women in Parliament;   an issues paper for a review of the family law system;   “business leaders in health and consumer discretionary sectors are feeling less positive about the year ahead because consumers are feeling the pain in the hip pocket”;   allegations the Indigenous work-for-the-dole scheme is “failing abysmally” and worsening poverty;
• With regard to the 45^th President (who is dangerous – see here on actions for US residents [and the useful principles]) of the Unexceptional States of America (which has some … “unique” characteristics that don’t exist elsewhere in the world) generally this week (I avoid using the 45^th US President’s name for psychic reasons – I may use either “the USA’s CEO” or “Voldemort II” as an alias; also, the US Vice-President needs to be worked on – and typically takes about three times as much effort to clear of negativity):
     -   a successful campaign by a US Democrat was based on embracing unions and protecting working people, with aggressive defence of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid;
     -   Voldemort II’s addiction to violent rhetoric (i.e., war);   “a Republican-dominated committee of the House of Representatives in the southern US state of Tennessee has declined to pass a bill denouncing white nationalism and neo-Nazism”;
     -   an opinion that the US “White House’s immigration policies are designed to maximise suffering”;   some “immigrants, mostly undocumented, … have taken sanctuary in places of worship to avoid deportation”;
     -   the USA is progressing its bullying and anti-free speech threat to cut aid to any nation that doesn’t meekly back the USA as ordered;
     -   an opinion that the USA’s 45^th President’s “call to execute drug dealers [by which he may “mean Mexicans”] is bizarre and irrational, but so is our criminal-justice system”;
     -   after telling off politicians from his party for “being petrified’ of the [US] National Rifle Association (NRA)”, Voldemort II appears to have – cowardly - caved in to the same group (why? Financial pressure? Lobbying? Re-thinking the issue?);
     -   Voldemort II has fired his managerially inept Secretary of State, and appointed “Waterboarding Mike” Pompeo, former head of the US CIA – but the replacement to Waterboarding Mike at the CIA, a woman who is alleged to have tortured for the sake of torture, may be facing arrest warrants from Germany over torture;
     -   Voldemort II has stacked his animal “protection” board with trophy hunters … ;
• With regard to violent extremism (VE) (aka, terrorism) (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 “Cure Violence”, 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 don’t name groups to reduce their publicity):
     -   according to this Wikipedia page, there have been 5 attacks in Iraq, 3 attacks in Afghanistan, and 1 attack in Syria (out of a total of 14);
     -   “lessons will be learned” after an asylum seeker who blamed the UK for the death of his parents in Iraq was convicted of a terrorist attack;
     -   how to stop violent extremists exploiting international charities;
     -   other violent extremist matters have also occurred in: UK, Belgium;
• With regard to refugees (noting the New York Declaration) and people seeking asylum:
     -   after a Tamil family of asylum seekers were forcibly taken from a central Queensland town in a dawn raid by Australia’s Border Bullies over a visa expired by a single day, more than 40,000 people have signed a petition asking that they be allowed to remain;   China's best known dissident, one of the world's most famous artists, has – validly – criticised Australia’s treatment of refugees, pointing out that “people judge states on their acceptance and tolerance of people who need help”;   a refugee who has been waiting 18 months in Australia’s Nauru gulag - where unaccompanied minor refugees have faced significant violence - for critical heart surgery has finally been flown to Taiwan for the life-saving operation after the Australian Border Force finally allowed her son to travel with her;   an abusive refugee processing centre on an Italian island has been closed;
• With regard to other human (and other) rights and discrimination (incidentally, I consider it vital to identify people who are bigots, as they clearly have flaws of observation and thinking – shown by the fact that NOT all people choose to discriminate unless they have been educated otherwise [and there’s this]):
     on HOMOPHOBIA/TRANSPHOBIA (including heteronormativity and cisgender-normativity) this week (and noting that trans kids are the same as cis kids of the trans kids’ true gender):
     -   homophobic/transphobic (and heteronormativity / cisgender-normativity) matters have also occurred in: Israel (good news);
     on white supremacist and other forms of RACISM / CULTURAL DISCRIMINATION and Indigenous matters generally this week:
     -   the most blindly patronising, terrifying and dangerous words white people can utter are “saving the children” – which has been used as an excuse to ignore the legally required Aboriginal placement principle, actions which create a sense of powerlessness (such as giving parents recovering from a drug problem the choice of being either homeless or located in a drug-infested area of town) or the reality of violence (such as Tiahleigh Palmer, who was murdered while in foster care with a white family – and there have been other deaths), and blatant attempts (especially in tabloid media) at assimilation, all of which calls – including by Aboriginal people working in this area – for nuanced, evidence-based conversation that prioritises the need of children to not only be safe and healthy, but also to be raised in their culture and their communities (I’m a white woman who was adopted out because of the same sort of prejudiced, simple and downright STUPID “thinking”, and I KNOW how much damage can be done by that – and that was staying within my own culture. To comprehend the damage the linked article is discussing, consider taking a child from 1800s slum in the UK and sending them to Africa, or Australia, or from a modern industrialised nation to an isolated, desperate settlement on Mars or the Moon); All of this was compounded by the TV network at the centre of the problem hiding protestors in its coverage;   “Me Too” has reached an indigenous women’s shelter in Australia centre;   the pros and cons of intercultural relationships;   a social media platform has banned a racist group;
     -   other white supremacy / racism problems have also occurred in: Hungary;
     on TRAFFICKING, and CHILDREN’s and associated human rights this week:
     -   another warning that survivors of child abuse will face an “especially unrealistic” deadline to decide whether to accept offers of compensation;   after community outrage, a religious figure has withdrawn his support for a suspected child abuser hiding overseas;   the barrister of a priest charged over alleged  past sexual assaults has been accused of insulting the father of a victim;   “calls by human trafficking victims to a US hotline [have] revealed new types of exploitation, including children forced to sell candy or beg on the street”;   nearly two in three trafficking victims who are pregnant – many as a result of rape – lack adequate health care;   two baby abusers have been jailed: their excuse for not going to hospital was they didn’t want to lose a single parent pension … but how do they justify what they did to the baby?;
     -   also on child abuse, particularly neochristian and other institutional, this week: here, the neochristian catholic church, tech industry (still);
     -   also on slavery / human trafficking this week: Nigeria (good news), Qatar, USA, Indonesia (good news);
     on SEXISM this week (keeping in mind the overblown influence given to testosterone):
     -   more sexism in sport;   despite a 100-page report overseen by a QC that made four adverse findings against him, my home city’s former mayor is still trying to live in denial;   a warning that women must act to stop the white male bias and the lack of true intersectional thinking behind their creation showing in algorithms taking over – “If a non-diverse workforce is creating them, they are more prone to be implanted with unexamined, undiscussed, often unconscious assumptions and biases about things such as race, gender and class … The real problem is the governance of AI, the ethics underpinning it, the boundaries we give it and, within that, who is going to define all those. With that in mind, I think the next fight for us women is to ensure artificial intelligence does not become the ultimate expression of masculinity”;   several male Hollywood stars have adopted the inclusion riders recently recommended by an Award-winning actress;   Canadian doctors have rejected a pay rise, wanting the money instead to be devoted to nurses;   “setting women’s work at a lower value than men’s is not simply a characteristic of our own society. It has occurred in all human societies for which records exist” … “we never hear politicians or pundits arguing that men should be paid more than women”, yet that is a reality which is not explained by the pathetic excuses – and women’s participation in the workforce in World War Part One showed there was rarely anything innate to the work itself that made some jobs male and others female, it was custom and tradition that determined who did what, customs that were consolidated with the Industrial Revolution which shifted work outside the home;   an appalling incident where a sperm donor – he cannot be considered a father – allowed FGM to be performed as a punishment;   “sexism needs to be challenged in schools, not just workplaces”;   thoughts on why women don’t call out casual sexism;   Arab women artists are breaking stereotypes;
     -   on sexual harassment/misconduct/violence this week: here (vindication of a complaint), here (low pay of a TV series star), the neochristian catholic church, here, here, here;
     -   other sexism matters have also occurred in: business, Pakistan (good news), Uganda (good news);
     on RELIGIOUS rights this week:
     -   a UK doctor says “what makes my Muslim patients feel less integrated is inequality, not lack of English”;   concerns that the UK conservatives are preparing to use the politics of fear (specifically, Islamophobia) to maintain power at any costs to their morality (aka soul or heart);
     -   other religious rights / Islamophobia matters have also occurred in: USA;
     on WORKERS’, PRIVACY, AGED, AND OTHER forms of human (and other – e.g., ANIMAL) rights this week:
     -   a US airline has “accepted responsibility” after an idiotic attendant forced a pet puppy to be put into an overhead locker;   a disabled animal sanctuary is looking for a new home;   “contractors dealing directly with National Disability Insurance Scheme applicants were untrained and not equipped to deal with complex and emotional cases, an insider has revealed”;   protests at the head offices of the “only major fast-food chain that has refused to sign onto the Fair Food Program”, which aims to eliminate sexual harassment and abuse in the fields of suppliers;   a lawsuit over bank EFTPOS machines that are inaccessible to vision impaired people;
     -   other workers’, privacy, differently abled, animal, and other forms of human or other rights matters have also occurred in: Australia, Brazil, Australia, Colombia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, business, Mexico, UAE;
     -   opportunities to take action here;
• With regard to war, violence and hate generally:
     -   international sportsmen are continuing to behave like thugs –on and off the field (which is why I do NOT support some of our male national teams – mind you, the comment by another nation’s player should have led to a lifetime ban) - despite “forthright criticism” (“you might almost go as far as condemnation”) of their conduct;   after the owner of a Greek sporting club stormed onto the pitch with a gun, the entire league may be banned;   the sister of a US gun-using mass-murderer has been arrested for allegedly threatening gun control advocates;   “in most military conflicts worldwide, the ultimate winners are not one of the warring parties– but the world’s prolific arms traders, described by peace activists as “merchants of death” ”;   an arrest warrant has been issued for the daughter of Saudi Arabia’s king after one of her “bodyguards” assaulted a French worker;   interfaith leaders and youths have started another anti-gun movement in the USA;
     -   other war, violence or hate related matters have occurred or are developing in: the United States of Armaments;
• With regard to peace and/or spirituality generally (including revolutionary love, survival after death, and good religion), development (in an “end poverty/thirst/hunger” sense – and being mindful of “intimate activism”) and the occasional nice story (and to get people to constructively remedy: fear of being single / asexual / off-grid or a rebel / innovator / non-conformist / true to yourself, belief in management  fads and fashions, distracting themself aka filling their time, and accept extraterrestrial UFOs):
     interesting thoughts on changing understanding of magick from psychological to spiritual;   an interview and channel about lucid dreaming and astral projection;   a “former US Pentagon insider has accused the US Government of ignoring evidence of UFOs”;   “Bhutan, Kiribati, Sao Tome and Principe and the Solomon Islands have increased national earning power and improved access to health care and education, making them eligible to exit the group of least developed countries”;
• With regard to natural and other catastrophes:
     -   the UN has reported that disasters cost billions in agricultural losses, and poor farmers bear the brunt of these;
• With regard to overcrowding and “modern” lifestyle issues (such as conflict  minerals, environmental harm and child labour in smart phone , FOMO [which can be overcome] and addiction or unthinking pro-technology bias, second thoughts, social media making people miserable or envious, work and lifestyles causing depression, being duped by modern mantras and  management  fads, “failing” at being well or failing to consider life options, AI ethics, corporate misuse of mindfulness as a distraction from working conditions, embedded emissions, plane pollution, bigger, flashier homes/cars– which means actively abusing the environment and society’s cohesion and contributing to financialisation, the need for agroforestry, the accursed “new is always good” groupthink of the computer world, abuse of workers by insisting on busy-ness, raising Prince Boofheads):
     on climate change and other environmental matters this week:
     -   Australia’s neoliberal government is “helping” – with public money -  a property in Queensland specifically identified by experts as a risk to Great Barrier Reef water quality to do yet more clearing … ;   Jordan is taking action on marine litter;   an article on “green” growth in Thailand;   microplastic pollution in the oceans is worse than thought;   an opinion (a little simplistic on the war) that “climate change is a disaster foretold, just like the first world war” … paraphrasing Edward Grey’s comment just prior to World War Part One, “the lamps are going out all over the natural world … and no one will ever see them lit again”;   a push for all new cars in Australia to be electric by 2030 (and hopefully affordable, and with a range to suit Australia … );   increasing acidity of oceans - in response to climate change – could slow coral growth by one third;   “protesters who shut down part of Adani's north Queensland coal port have questioned [validly, in my view] why they were collectively fined almost $80,000 - more than six times what the mining company faces for dumping coal-polluted water”;   the US emergency authority has – probably in response to pressure from that nation’s reactionary dotard of a president – removed references to climate change;   renewables, which are now mainstream rather than alternative, are pushing prices down, but need to act to make sure the vulnerable aren’t left behind;   after half a century of delay, denial and obfuscation by dinosaurs, a call for climate polluters to be held accountable;   calls for recreational licences to help keep blue swimmer crabs at sustainable levels;   avoiding bird migration routes to avoid bird-plane collisions, which the Israeli air force has done successfully since the 1980s;
     -   other environmental matters have occurred in: India;
     on technology and science matters this week:
     -   child labour in tech companies’ supply chains (still);   “parents fear social media and technology more than drugs, alcohol or smoking”;   a robot “flipping burgers” has been stood down because other staff cannot keep up with it (and what do burger flippers do now? Will flippy-vocates think they all want and can do non-menial jobs?);   “Failure Nights”, which are “designed to help those involved in young firms and start-ups learn from each other’s' mistakes”;
     on economic and financial matters this week:
     -   offering employees flexible working hours, ostensibly for greater work-life balance, may not always be beneficial to either employees or employers;   although there are altruistic reasons for the rise of businesses allowing customers to pay as they want, research shows that this can sometimes lead to an increase in revenue;   thoughts on how to develop psychological safety (which promotes sharing novel ideas and thus more revenue and effectiveness) in a diverse workforce;   the assertiveness double bind;
     -   other economic and financial matters have occurred in: Australia;
     on affordable, sustainable and decent housing and homelessness matters this week (why are politicians with “investment properties” not admitting a conflict of interest and staying out of housing affordability debates?):
     -   “booming capital city property markets have seen a massive increase in youth homelessness”;   zoning raises house and apartment prices by 50- 70%;
     -   other affordable housing and homelessness matters have occurred in: Australia;
     on health and medical this week:
     -   another article on the health benefits of weightlifting for women;   the problem of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity;   a mother who is still limited by birth injuries caused by forceps wants them banned – and the insensitive response of the AMA ignores that issue entirely;
     -   other health and medical matters have occurred in: Australia, Australia;
     on other matters in the category this week:
     -   Australia is struggling to handle its swelling population;
• With regard to press aka the media, and freedom of expression (claims of presenting “both sides” of a debate can be WRONG if the other side is RUBBISH –as is the case on LGBTIQ issues. Also, media can be unprofessional, but funding is an issue … ):
     -   burma has been urged not to drag out legal proceedings against two Reuters journalists;
     -   other media / freedom of expression matters have occurred in: Australia, Kenya, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey;
• With regard to education:
     -   education matters have occurred in: Cambodia (good news);
• With regard to crime, judicial matters and policing:
     -   the self-lies and other damage phone scammers use to lie to themselves that they are not scamming people;   to address the gravely flawed judicial system’s approach to rape victims, a proposal to use restorative justice – which risks re-traumatising victims and giving rapists an “easy out” – especially as the majority of offenders know their victims beforehand, survivors may be vulnerable to emotional manipulation and feel forced to forgive;   there have been violent assaults and thefts in flooded areas of an Australian state;   in a damning assessment of an Australian state government’s overhaul of police oversight, the new authority said a severe funding shortage said a “continued increasing workload” had forced the agency to make “brutal” and “arbitrary” decisions, including ignoring more than 50 integrity complaints that “warranted investigation” in the past seven months (current investigations include was investigating five incidents of alleged unlawful conduct by officers in relation to a blacklist used by police to target children as young as nine, and allegations of sexual harassment and bullying);   concerns over half a million dollars of funding of legal costs for an alleged child abuser overseas (this raises issues such as the presumption of innocence and the right to a fair trial, but also to what extent should a government help its citizens overseas);   a man who basically committed murder – in my view: he doesn’t meet the legal definition, so the charge is dangerous driving, etc – was allowed to drive despite being caught speeding more than 20 times and slapped with 74 demerit points (he has been refused bail, but I know of other cases like this, which is indicative a need to tweak our systems, in my view);   after difficulty obtaining the drugs it wants, a US state will change the method it uses for executions (although the method they’re going to be may be physically more humane, the moral inhumanity remains);
    -    other crime, judicial and policing matters have occurred in: Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Uganda (good news), Australia.

Location based News:

• With regard to Africa, the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (and other sources) has:
     -   an opinion that water stress is the greatest threat to West Asia/northern Africa;   the African Peer Review Mechanism, formed in 2003 under the auspices of the African Union to help African governments rate one another’s’ performance, is being revived;   the lack of effective pain relief has led to an analgesic being the agency for an unacknowledged opioid problem;   a critique of the new German government’s approach to Africa;   -   Angola has charged a former central bank governor with attempted fraud;
     -   “Botswana is exporting power for the first time in 10 years, a far cry from the days when [it] was forced to import as much as 75 percent of its needs”;
     -   “Cameroon’s octogenarian President … , who has ruled the central African country with an iron grip for decades, held his first cabinet meeting since 2015”;
     -   the stigma of male rape victims in the Central African Republic leads to silence;
     -   the UN has reinforced its troops in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after more than 100 people were killed during ethnic clashes in the past few days;   mining companies in the DRC are discussing changed laws with the government;
     -   Kenya’s challenging path to stability;   more pressure on journalists;
     -   a political scandal in Mauritius;
     -   “pests and disease sweeping through Mozambique have destroyed at least a third of the country’s agricultural crops over the past 11 months”;
     -   “Nigeria's anti-trafficking agency has welcomed an order by a leading traditional ruler revoking a voodoo ritual, saying it should sharply reduce the number of people being trafficked to Europe and improve the chances of prosecuting traffickers”;
     -   the UAE “will train Somaliland security forces as part of a deal to establish a military base in the semi-autonomous region”;
     -   South Africa’s former President has been charged with corruption over an arms deal;
     -   the UN has renewed the peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (may they start to be effective);
     -   the UN is trying to get rebels in Darfur, Sudan to sign a peace agreement;
     -   some Ugandan police are speaking out against the killing of women;
     -   Incredibly Ancient and Relevance Deprived Despot Mugabe has been whinging about being eased out of his wealthy autocracy into wealthy retirement;
• With regard to South and Central America:
     -   a Brazilian human rights activist appears to have been assassinated;
     -   human rights abuses in Colombia;
     -   Mexican police have arrested the fourth of seven suspects in the notorious disappearance of 43 students from a teacher training college in 2014;
• 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):
     -   at the ASEAN  conference, “Indonesia has lobbied Southeast Asian countries to carry out maritime patrols in the disputed South China Sea”;
     on China, Hong Kong, the DPRK (North Korea) and South Korea (which need to accept their partition – for now – and sign a peace treaty), Taiwan, and the free but invaded and occupied nation of Tibet:
     -   China has crushed dissent as it’s rubber-stamp legislature prepares to abolish term limits for its Chairman-President;   a cautionary opinion that China needs to avoid ‘belt and road’ debt problems (for other nations);
     -   other events concerning China have occurred or are developing in: Europe;
     elsewhere in Asia:
     -   the Prime Thug of Cambodia – which is facing an uncertain future - has threatened to have ex-pats in another nation who protest against him tracked down (given the violence shown by the so-called “bodyguards” of Turkeys Grand Sultan Erdogan in the USA, I hope Australia has effective preventative plans in place to deal with any attempts by the Prime Thug or his underlings to implement the threat …  - see also here);
     -   Indonesia is taking action against human trafficking;
     -   a corruption scandal has reached Japan’s Prime Minister through his wife;
     -   a former Malaysian leader has labelled the nation’s current Prime Minister “a ‘monster’ who is ‘practically destroying the country’ ”;
     -   the Philippines’ President will withdraw that nation from the pesky ICC – which he had dared to charge him - so he can continue his human rights abuses untroubled by decency;
     -   “bank accounts for fishermen in Thailand can help end abuses”;
     and in the Pacific:
     -   speculation is still rife among the affected communities in PNG that the recent, devastating earthquake was triggered by the activities of oil and gas companies in the region (although I can understand their concerns, particularly given past connections, I doubt it applies in this case: past such events have been much smaller, and localised – this was a major regional event);
• With regard to Europe and the European Union (EU) (which need to step up, as the USA steps down):
     -   China’s undermining of European democracy;
     -   “Belgium’s government has ended Saudi Arabia’s lease on the Grand Mosque of Brussels over fears the house of worship was being used to promote radical agendas”;
     -   France’s President wants his new political party to spread through Europe;
     -   “Mutti” is back in charge of Germany, at the head of a new coalition;   a far right extremist politician has engaged in metaphorical refugee bashing;
     -   Hungary’s far right extremists Prime Minister is campaigning using racist rhetoric;
     -   hundreds of Latvians marched in remembrance of nazi SS – and one even carried a photo of Jews being murdered … ;
• With regard to the (forgotten or ignored and underreported) conflicts in Ukraine, particularly in the east:
     -   the UN has called for the protection of civilians who maintain critical infrastructure after attacks on water facility workers;   a safety and trauma workshop for Ukrainian freelance journalists;
• 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, Central Asia, and responses (see also elsewhere):
     Russia:
     -   Russia’s President has claimed “alleged” Russian interference in the US presidential election had nothing to do with them … ;   some young Russians support Putin (and many do not – pity the article didn’t pick up on that, which has also been covered);   “Russia's biggest independent pollster is not publishing its research because it fears being shut down”;
     in Central Asia:
     -   a call to end the weaponisation of water in Central Asia
     -   a call for Russia and China to work together to keep the peace going in Tajikistan;
• 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):
     -   after Uzbekistan says the main violent extremist group would skip peace talks they had been invited to, the EU and China urged them not to, and the USA – which is driving efforts to make Kabul secure - advised signs of interest;
• With regard to South Asia (aka the Indian sub-continent), The Hindu and other sources have:
     on India:
     -   India’s water crisis;   unbelievably, an Indian publishing house claims Hitler was a “great man” … they’ve been asked to fix their error;   11 people have been convicted over their murder of a man on suspicion of having beef;   protests over the language spoken by a state Governor in Parliament;   one Indian state will ban some plastics;   Indian scientists have been asked to spend time with children;   another Indian state has adopted the death penalty for raping children (which gives people an “out” for their rage, without compelling them to take REAL preventative action – and defers the problem of dealing with the abusers psychological flaws to a future time);   an editorial on “competitive politics”;   a Dalit girl has been harassed into death by suicide by two boys;   the long fight against TB;   a bushfire has killed at least 11 trekkers;   India’s Supreme Court has declared that the fundamental right to a “meaningful existence” includes a person's choice to die without suffering, and thus medical treatment may be refused;
     on Pakistan:
     -   a women’s march for rights;
• With regard to West Asia (aka “the Middle East”) and Northern Africa, the Middle East Eye, the Times of Israel, and other sources have:
     -   an opinion that water stress is the greatest threat to West Asia/northern Africa;
     on Israel and Palestine:
     -   an Israeli court has stopped forced deportation of African refugees;   a call for aid to Palestinian refugees;   Palestinians have – understandably - refused to have anything to do with the 45^th US President’s “peace plan/deal”;   the trauma and other consequences for Palestinian children who are jailed by Israel;   Israel says Qatar is trying to make sure its aid to Gaza does not go to violent extremists;   indications that a Palestinian extremist group has severe internal divisions - see also here;   the problem –irrespective of actual number – of payments to Palestinian suicide bombers;   Israel finally has caught up with the late 20^th century and appointed an openly gay mayor;
     -   violent incidents this week include: this, Latvia,
     -   other events concerning Israel and/or Palestine have occurred or are developing in: Poland, India;
     on the conflict in Yemen:
     -   a call for Yemen’s ports to stay open to all aid;
     on Syria (where the Assad Dictatorship has lost all pretence of legitimacy, and partition is needed):
     -   the first mass exodus from Ghouta has occurred;   the Syrian war has entered its 8^th year … (7 years, 11 vetoes, 500,000 dead, 11.7 million displaced, 13.1 million people in dire need of humanitarian assistance) (I once read [on the Political Violence at a Glance website, I think] that civil wars last, on average, 7 years – so this one is now getting into above average length … );   accepting Assad’s Dictatorship will NOT end the suffering of the Syrian people;   the UN has demanded Lebanese groups end their meddling in Syria;   Turkey has killed another 20 civilians in Kurdish-held areas in Syria;
     elsewhere in the region:
     -   “Egyptian authorities have avoided a transition and dampened the public’s desire for democracy by instilling fear regarding political instability and national security, while also playing to the country’s secular-Islamist divide”;
     -   the EU may adopt new sanctions against Iran in an attempt to keep the USA in the nuclear deal;
     -   the UN has urged international community to remain strongly committed to stability in Lebanon;   Lebanon will increase its army on its Israeli border;
     -   continuing concerns over worker abuses in Qatar;
     -   informed opinions are that the Saudi Crown Prince is hiding his mother because she opposes his possible inheritance of the throne;   if Iran gets “the (nuclear) bomb”, so will Saudi Arabia;   allegations of abuses and deaths in custody;   an arrest warrant has been issued for the daughter of Saudi Arabia’s king after one of her “bodyguards” assaulted a French worker;   (see also here);
     -   the top constitutional body of Turkey has ruled for a second time that the rights of a prominent Turkish journalist jailed in the wake of the failed coup in 2016 had been violated while in detention;
     -   the reality of torture in the United Arab Emirates.

Other News:

• Sydney is not so great.

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 “CE 5  ET contact” movement started by Dr Steven M Greer, which is the one which appears to me to most capitalise on the teachings of “The Nine”,   the “Network of Light”  meditations;   the 1 Million Meditators movement,   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.

(I 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.