Sunday, 1 April 2018

Post No. 1,144 – Gnwmythr’s News Ed. No. 208


For the sake of my health, until I retire or change to an easier day job , I have cut back these posts.
Also, I have decided to stop choosing tags, as searching through the content of posts has improved, and is almost as good …
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 and mentally, more BPM Æther;
           a plot of the elemental influences on a causal/spiritual level follows, and shows a need for more BPM Earth;
(d)   I’ve created a bindrune for this week’s work, which is:
(e)   dealing with the 45th 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 in Yemen South Sudan and Iraq, 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   the savagery of the mob is still with, going beyond holding people to account to attacking anyone who is weak or flawed, and using that to hypocritically generate feelings of smugness and superiority;   short-sightedness (laziness / the easy way out) and addiction to gaining and keeping power at all costs;  impatience;   out of sight, out of mind;   fear of difference;   extreme expectations leading to mental health problems;   the life of others continues to be viewed cheaply;
(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 (as so many of us try to do with food preferences), 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;
(i)   may all people apply themselves to patiently taking “the long view”, and working collaboratively with all;
(j)   may all desire to enquire;
(k)   may we all think of ourselves as potentially being in others shoes;
(l)   may the hidden prices of our demands be realised, and our demands of others tempered accordingly;
(m)   may we recognise the unit of all.
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:
       -   a call for help to meet health needs;
       on the North Korean and general nuclear tensions this week:
       -   “a session to prepare for the first-ever High-Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament, scheduled to occur May 14-16, will happen this week”;   optimism ahead of the proposed USA-DPRK talks – at which China will be key;   the UN has banned dozens of ships and shipping companies over oil and coal smuggling by North Korea;
       on other matters requiring particular attention:
       -   China is continuing to implement its Big Brother social engineering scheme;
       -   “we need to focus on limiting human population growth, reducing resource consumption, and cracking down on government corruption, if we're going to stop the global loss of species known as the sixth great extinction”;
       -   my nation, Australia, has joined  more than 20 western nations in expelling Russian diplomats alleged to be spies – and Russia has retaliated - following the attempted murder of a former Russian intelligence official using a nerve agent, which is considered to be the largest coordinated diplomatic blow to Russian intelligence networks in the west since the cold war;   concerns that the recent nerve agent attack in the UK, suspected of having been Russian, could have exposed more than 130 people; - although that has subsequently been determined to have been achieved at the victims’ front door, and I wonder if that changes that number;
       -   students demonstrating for gun control in the USA have excoriated the pro-gun NRA as being fear-mongers, and politicians for their lack of action;  repugnant attacks by right wing gun supporters on those advocating gun control - see also this, by someone who is scarred from surviving a violent extremist attack;   white suburban liberals and minority activists are finally fighting together and overcoming the “empathy gap” where current suburban allies rarely showed up to fight for the lives of black and brown children unless their own children were threatened;   an interview tih a doctor who is suing over the lack of gun control;   Australian gun control advocates have called for federal intervention to save the national firearms agreement – which is ‘haemorrhaging’ through more than 50 breaches of the code by states and territories – see also here;
       -   an opinion that the tech giants are undermining democracy;   a comparison of the tech giants (which get their money through the Faustian bargain users make with their privacy) and their excessive market power to that of the US giant Standard Oil just before it was compulsorily broken up, with a question as to whether we should do the same now, for the same (economic) reasons – which is leading to pressure for anti-trust action from both right and left, but change won’t happen until the USA gets over its delusion that they have giant tech companies because they are more relaxed than Europe about large companies (it is more about the USA’s love of an economic law of the jungle – which, through politicians talking tougher than they acted, led to the GFC – versus the EU being aware of the intrinsic threat to consumers);   as users continue to delete their social media accounts in the wake of the data company scandal, a number are “discovering that the social network holds far more data about them than they expected, including complete logs of incoming and outgoing calls and SMS messages”;   tension over data mining is growing in India;   the data company at the centre of the current scandal has been “accused of potentially violating US election law by allowing its chief executive and other British citizens to play a significant role in US campaigns”;   the “trick” that social media uses to overcome people’s delusion that they’re immune to advertising;   the data company scandal has led to demands for an investigation into what the UK government knew;   the head of one major tech company has criticised the business models of others, saying that detailed profiles of individuals compiled by internet platforms should not exist, and they “elected not to do that … Privacy to us is a human right, a civil liberty” and that it is past time to regulate one social media platform;
       -   after a nice article was published about how junior sport can “help teach boys to be good men”, a scandal has arisen in the cricket world after an Australian team clumsily and blatantly cheated, leading to despair in local cricket, unfavourable commentary on our broader individual-above-society culture, and - justifiable - comments about hypocrisy (I am one of those people who have held such major concerns about Australia’s past abuse [i.e., “sledging”] that I haven’t followed the national team for years) - others are also getting tired of their “envelope pushing aggression”;   “Australia’s real leadership failures are in politics, not cricket ... where’s the national outrage over a terrified boy being abandoned to violent despair by our political leaders?”;   the cricket scandal has now cost the players – about whom there are mental health concerns - and the authority millions;
       -   a call has been made for fresh strategies to reduce global antibiotic consumption and the resultant rise in drug-resistant infections which now kill more than half a million people a year worldwide (and could claim millions of lives a year by 2050), together with major investments to provide clean water, sanitation and vaccines in countries where infectious diseases are rife;
       -   “we should not only look at creating new, bio-degradable materials (hiring new talent), we should also look at reducing our waste (talented people whose talents are under-utilised) in the first place” (social media link – sorry);
       -   from neochristianity: “Jesus wasn't white: he was a brown-skinned, Middle Eastern Jew”;
       -   an opinion that “negligent … parenting [is] to blame for boys' bad online behaviour” – but see also here, on other influences;
       this week’s atrocity alert at R2P lists Yemen South Sudan and Iraq;
  • 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 45th US President below
       analyses and commentary this week include:
       -   after noting that violent posturing is “thankfully something usually absent from British politics”, a comment to former US Vice-President that if he wants to secure sensible voters (including feminists), he’d do well to take a leaf out of the UK’s book and rein in the fighting talk;   an assessment of how net neutrality will play out in US politics;   an opinion that the President of the USA “is no longer the most powerful person in the world” (the Chairman of China is);   providing informed user choice, competition and contestability in human services is neither simple nor without cost;
       -   for other analyses see: Brazil;
       of concern this week:
       -   immigration is now the main source of Australia's population growth - and the debate is far from reasonable;   another article on the research which shows that companies paying less than 25% corporate tax are shedding jobs;   an analysis shows one Australian state’s regional forest agreement has been a financial disaster for their 20 years, with half a billion in “cash losses” and a write-down of $751m in value of forest estate;   single mothers could have no child support payments over Easter after problems with an outsourced and budget cuts afflicted IT system;   eight of Australia’s largest tax concessions and exemptions cost $135 billion a year in lost revenue, and all disproportionately benefit high income and high wealth households, and “in combination, these measures impose a cost on the federal budget that easily outstrips that of any single welfare recipient group”;   a pairing agreement has been breached to reject a proposed bill;   the USA may collect social media identities from all visa applicants;
       -   other concerning events have occurred or are developing in: Japan, my home state;
       and democracy/governance/political matters in my home nation this week:
       -   concerns that the debate over China’s underhanded influence in Australia has increased racism – and those who have so responded have a Newtonian worldview;   an opinion that “there is little sadder than watching business groups and companies attempt to lobby in public by promising that they’ll be good” – and how that reinforces just how weak the impact of the company tax cuts will be on the lives of most workers (also, “this week saw the government boasting of record level of employment growth ... non-mining investment in the past year grew by 10% – the best result in four years and double the 30-year average annual growth of 5%”);   the head of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has called for large Australian companies to be fined more for breaching the law, after a new report found Australian fines are 12 times lower than other developed countries, and are clearly failing as a deterrent;   after union pressure, Australia’s neoliberal government will finally legislate for (unpaid) domestic violence leave;   a union leader has made an unsubstantiated claim about high numbers of foreign workers on temporary working visas;   a union official’s trial for alleged blackmail will proceed;   a charity alleges that Australia’s foreign aid contribution - already its lowest on record at 22 cents per $100 of gross national income and cut repeatedly since 2013 – will be cut by another 10%;   a new, independent Senator who forced Australia’s neoliberal government to pause its business tax cut will seek an increase to the dole;   the censure of a former neoliberal government Minister who took a second job while he was still in Parliament is leading to pressure for an anti-corruption commission – which is being resisted by the neoliberal government over concern about “how it could operate fairly without impugning people’s reputations” – people like the censured former Minister?;   Australia’s government will fund an expansion of the Royal Flying Doctor Service to provide mental health nurses for remote and rural areas for the first time in its 90-year history;   youth unemployment hotpots in Australia;
  • With regard to the USA and their 45th 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 45th 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):
       -   concerns that the USA may repeat war crime errors under its 45th President;
       -   the USA’s 45th President has indulged in deceptive social media messages – using photos of repairs and replacement of existing fences to suggest his new wall along the Mexican border is being built;
       -   the woman who has claimed a sexual relationship with the USA’s 45th President several years ago has told how she was physically threatened (through her daughter) and then made to feel she had no choice but to agree to the non-disclosure agreement and subsequently to make a false denial (“they can make your life hell in many different ways”) – to which her lawyer added that the President’s current lawsuit was a form of intimidation (“you threaten someone with a $20m lawsuit, it’s a thuggish tactic”) … and there’s been another “cease and desist” demand – see also this assessment of the USA’s 45th President’s silence;
       -   despite his denial, the 45th US President –described as “the client from hell” - is having trouble finding lawyers to defend him in the matter of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election campaign;
       -   an opinion that the USA’s 45th President dangles hope in front of immigrants, but always snatches it away – because if he “doesn’t get his wall, no one gets DACA”;   allegations that a US border agent has committed sexual abuse and blackmail;
       -   the USA is heading towards privatised health care for its veterans;
  • 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 9 attacks in Iraq, 3 attacks in Afghanistan, and 1 attack in Syria (out of a total of 25 – and 4 this week in India);
       -   other violent extremist matters have also occurred in: USA;
  • With regard to refugees (noting the New York Declaration) and people seeking asylum:
       -   the devastating stories of refugees in Australia's gulags;   an article beginning with “no one denies that among those who initially supported “offshore processing” were many well-intentioned people”, goes on to comment that spin doctors have sought to convince the Australian public that empathy and common decency are naïve and that Australia’s treatment of these human beings and families – which since 2013 has demonised and punished people we know need help and protection, evidenced by the fact that the vast majority have been recognised as refugees - has long been “unwatchable”, continued suffering that is wrong and, when it knowingly and unrelentingly harms children for political ends, is an abomination;   another article on the unreported sexual abuse amongst refugees and asylum seekers;
       -   other refugee-related matters have also occurred in: Israel;
  • 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: Pakistan (good news);
       on white supremacist and other forms of RACISM / CULTURAL DISCRIMINATION and Indigenous matters generally this week:
       -   Canada has exonerated six indigenous chiefs, more than 150 years after they were executed by a colonial government after the killing of 14 white road workers who had entered the Indian territory without permission (as the article is written, I consider both sets of killings wrong);   my home state is moving closer to a treaty with our Indigenous people;   a dialysis machine has been donated to a remote indigenous community;   Australia’s neoliberal government has been criticised for offering a “pathetic [two sentence] response” to the latest report on reducing Indigenous incarceration;   an Australian TV network “is being formally investigated by the broadcasting watchdog over complaints it aired “a highly offensive, racist and divisive statement” in … [an all-white] panel show” discussing Indigenous child protection;
       -   other white supremacy / racism problems have also occurred in: China;
       on TRAFFICKING, and CHILDREN’s and associated human rights this week:
       -   the child protection operations of the Australian federal police will be expanded - a 30% increase in staff in each of the next two financial years - to create an Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation in the home affairs department;   in Australia, carers will be trained to recognise harmful sexual behaviour in vulnerable children;
       -   also on child abuse, particularly neochristian and other institutional, this week: here, chocolate industry, here, here, here;
       -   also on slavery / human trafficking this week: here;
       on SEXISM this week (keeping in mind the overblown influence given to testosterone):
       -   more male paternalism, sexist hypocrisy and stupidity in sport;   one in four relationships of UK churchgoers is violent;    a French brothel is using sex dolls, which has been described as “the pinnacle of the dehumanisation of the relationship between women and men” (which is also a touch of honesty about the customers, perhaps … ) –but it may help to cut trafficking;   unbelievably, a female magistrate has declared grabbing a woman’s backside is no longer sexual assault … ;   “a US government effort to fight online sex trafficking has cleansed many sites of personal ads and consensual eroticism, in a shift advocates say amounts to dangerous censorship”;   an airline has caught up with the early 20th century by allowing its female cabin staff to wear slacks;   the reason a health fund pulled out of an agreement with a beer company that was claimed would have assisted work against AIDS in Africa was concern over the risks for women promoting the beer, not ethical impropriety;   some mediaeval US states shackle prisoners during childbirth;
       -   on sexual harassment/misconduct/violence this week: here, here, here;
       -   other sexism matters have also occurred in: childcare, Indonesia (good news), Brazil, the Pacific;
       on RELIGIOUS rights this week:
       -   neochristians are planning to do more of spiritual, psychological and physical abuse in the form of its exorcisms;   in what used to be pogrom season, an opinion that “antisemitism matters: Jews are the canary in the coalmine”;
       -   other religious rights / Islamophobia matters have also occurred in: UK, France;
       on WORKERS’, PRIVACY, AGED, AND OTHER forms of human (and other – e.g., ANIMAL) rights this week:
       -   men and young people are more likely to be ageist )tell me something I don’t know – or, better yet, FIX THE PROBLEM);   “when it comes to diversity and inclusion, bias against [specific people for their] personality is often not part of the discussion but it should be” (up to a point, in my view – personalities such as bullies, psychopaths and sociopaths should not be tolerated);   “two aged care workers, who were sacked after being accused of assaulting an elderly dementia patient, have been cleared … of any wrongdoing”;   investigations are continuing into a case of animal cruelty;
       -   other workers’, privacy, differently abled, animal, and other forms of human or other rights matters have also occurred in: sport (privacy), Thailand, Thailand, India, the Philippines, Qatar (see also here):
       -   opportunities to take action here;
  • With regard to war, violence and hate generally:
       -   “one of the largest US makers of firearms [has] filed for bankruptcy protection”;   some psychiatrists are turning away former soldiers with PTSD;   use of geographic information to improve peacekeeping/protection of civilians;   concerns over unrealistic demands on peacekeeping;
  • 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):
       some interesting reflections on the lineage/history/future and art of Paganism;   another article on a neochristian report on mediumship – see also here;   the surprising experience of shared NDEs;   “simply watching someone else do a good deed inspires us to help out too” (I can vouch for that from my driving experience);   an interesting evidentiary statement (in a video) on physical mediumship;   a call for pro bono engineering;
  • 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:
       -   the staggeringly serious problem of light pollution;   a group of sawmilling companies has - stupidly - decided to try to get permission to log our pristine water catchments – which would be catastrophic for yields - and national parks;   a call for Australia to have a national EPA  see also here, on overcoming political paralysis;   the damage done by the creation of artificial islands;   mangroves and seagrasses for carbon sequestration;   Australia’s two main opposition parties have launched a fresh attempt to disallow proposed cuts to marine parks, proposing individual motions to boost the chances of scuttling at least part of the proposal;   “renewables generated more electricity than brown coal over summer” (for a portion of the summer), but prices are up;   plans for another coal mine may be revived;   a proposal to raise the height of an Australian dam “would flood 4,700ha of … world heritage area, destroying more than 50 recognised Aboriginal heritage sites and wiping out pockets of threatened plant species”;   the majority of Australians - 50% of neoliberal voters and 67% of Labor voters - support phasing out coal power by 2030 and striving to cut greenhouse gas emissions;   an article alleging “a lack of quality control in marine science” fails to mention that many of their criticisms have been raised previously and have been thoroughly addressed by the original authors;   an Australian neoliberal government Minister has “backed greater exploitation of resources such as an expansion in oil and gas drilling, including in the Great Australian Bight, and land-clearing to develop agriculture in northern Australia” – see also here;   proposed and implemented bans on plastic bags are reminding people of how we used to live (although I would comment uncontained rubbish in unlined bins used to smell terribly);   the Tasman Sea experienced a “marine heatwave” over summer;   the US EPA will roll back car efficiency and emission standards, and has ordered employees to lie by telling them to say there is uncertainty about climate change;
       -   other environmental matters have occurred in: USA, China (good news), Brazil, central Africa (good news);
       on technology and science matters this week:
       -   concerns over sports’ use of facial recognition technology;   cautions about “smart” household appliances;   an Australian state is looking at whether digital asset laws are needed;   the growing problem of ransomware attacks;   a tech company’s employees are taking action against in-house cyber-bullying;
       on economic and financial matters this week:
       -   compensation is urged for energy grid “gold plating”;   some of the reasons it is good to have an emergency fund, if you can;
       -   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?):
       -   a call for Australia’s housing market to be “recalibrated towards home ownership” so that it pits wage earners who aspire to be owner-occupiers against other wage earners, not investors - or else it risks 'grotesque' inequality (and we still need to consider smaller houses!);
       on health and medical this week:
       -   a criticism of the health claims around chocolate – claims which may have been started to distract from child slavery;   an Australian billionaire has received much public praise since quitting his business empire due to mental health reasons: “the competitive culture of the corporate world - with its "quite brutal measurement and demands" - often sets up high levels of pressure. This means that mental health can sometimes become tied to continued success”, and “only around a quarter of people with mental health issues in the UK seek help, meaning that the vast majority soldier on without getting the help they need” out of fear of reputational damage (I can vouch for all that);
       -   other health and medical matters have occurred in: Australia (good new);
  • 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 … ):
       -   media / freedom of expression matters have occurred in: Mexico, Mexico, Mozambique, Europe;
  • With regard to education:
       -   the underpaid and undervalued educators in childcare are going on strike for better pay;   the controversial history of paying catholic schools (and when do the neochristians teach their students that it is illegal to be violent against women, abuse children or discriminate against LGBT people?);   concerns over universities forming links with weapons companies;
  • With regard to crime, judicial matters and policing:
       -   an Australian state’s proposal to ban degrading and dehumanising routine strip searches and solitary confinement in youth detention centres “is a “landmark” move that would leapfrog it ahead of other Australian states”;   multiple concerns over one Australian state’s police complaints procedures;   criticism of phone companies for charging police hunting down child abusers (they’ve also charged thousands of customers for ringtones and games they didn’t want);   most defamation cases do NOT involve the rich and famous;   a caution against militarising police in my home state;   contrary to US police claims, a black man was killed by being shot in the back;
      -    other crime, judicial and policing matters have occurred in: Brazil, Brazil (good news), Australia (good news).
Location based News:
  • With regard to Africa, the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (and other sources) has:
       on Africa generally:
       -   an agreement has been made to protect the world’s largest tropical peatlands, located in central Africa, from unregulated land use and prevent its drainage and degradation;
       on specific African nations:
       -   the son of a former President of Angola has been formally accused of fraud;   political tensions are growing in Angola;
       -   the human face (including 18 members of a family killed and children slashed with machetes) from a recent massacre in the DR Congo, and the problems addressing these events: “The international community prays that President Joseph Kabila will accede to elections before the end of the year but is preoccupied with North Korea and the Middle East. There is no appetite for scaling up the UN military presence - at the moment there are just over 15,000 troops in a country the size of western Europe. But to label what is happening simply as “ethnic violence” is too reductive. It cannot be separated from current politics and a bloody history stretching to the 19th Century and the age of empire” (I recently read some of the daily briefings to John F Kennedy, as the DRC was a problem then, nearly 70 years ago … why the failure?);
       -   thousands of Ghanaians have protested against a defence deal with the USA:
       -   fear that white people will enslave blacks in Liberia after a proposal is floated to removal the limitation on citizenship to only those of African descent (on the basis that it is “unnecessary, racist and inappropriate”, and “contradicts the very definition of Liberia”, the name of which is derived from the Latin word for free);  the UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia has ended;
       -   an activist journalist has been kidnapped and beaten after criticising Mozambique’s President;
       -   cattle thieves have murdered 15 herders in Nigeria;
       -   the nine rebel groups that make up South Sudan’s opposition alliance have agreed on a joint consultation at the upcoming peace deal revitalisation;
       -   Zimbabwe’s President will meet his predecessor as tensions escalate at the latter’s instigation as the very old former leader appears to change his mind;
  • With regard to South and Central America:
       -   a police operation in a poor area of a Brazilian city has “left at least eight people dead amid allegations that some of the victims were innocent residents executed in a revenge mission after a police officer was killed there this week”;   an interesting new Brazilian TV series gives some insight into corruption and its detection (through good, basic police work) in a non-Anglo culture;   “a bill being rushed through Brazil’s senate would lift a ban on the cultivation of sugarcane for ethanol fuel in the Amazon, driving more deforestation”;   female Brazilian sports reporters have spoken out about the sexual harassment they suffer in the course of their work;
       -   Ecuador has cut Julian Assange’s communications with the outside world from its London embassy for breaching “a written commitment not to issue messages that might interfere with other states”;
       -   the Mexican city where “killing reporters … is [allegedly] only one element in a campaign of state terror” … ;   in a rare case, two police officers have been sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay compensation for the murder of a Mexican journalist – but there are concerns that this is inadequate, as “the local mayor – who is accused of ordering the murder – remains a fugitive, and six other police officers – accused of forming a drug-dealing gang and acting on the mayor’s orders – have not been prosecuted”;   Mexican Presidential candidates have vowed to get rid of corruption;
       -   in Paraguay a raped child has died during childbirth;
  • 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, 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, which is currently the largest consumer of coal, will step up its already extraordinary efforts to implement renewable power;   the US delegation has rejected a UN Human Rights Council resolution that it said sought to glorify China’s President (good);
       -   other events concerning China have occurred or are developing in: the Pacific;
       -   Taiwan is boosting its diplomatic connections;
       elsewhere in Asia:
       -   paternity leave has reached Indonesia;
       -   Japan’s cronyism scandal has led that nation’s Prime Minister apologising (many think he should go), and “promising to change the constitution”;   Japan may be forced into a trade deal with the USA;
       and in the Pacific:
       -   “teenage pregnancy – the biggest killer of girls and women aged 15 to 19 in the world – is growing in the east Asia-Pacific region, the only place where the rate is climbing”;   plans to address homelessness amongst children in PNG’s capital;
  • With regard to Europe and the European Union (EU) (which need to step up, as the USA steps down):
       -   Denmark is aiming to remove what have been officially designated ghettoes to promote integration and protect “Danish values”, but critics argue that this will undercut equality before the law;
       -   a suspected anti-Semitic murder of an 85-year-old Jewish woman in France has led to calls for better application of laws – at her funeral, the Muslim who saved Jews during a violent extremist attack was warmly welcomed;
       -   dismay after the Netherlands sends an attaché to Iran;
       -   protests after the arrest (in Germany) of a former separatist leader from Catalan on a Spanish warrant;
       -   claims that the world is tired of Russia’s President and is uniting behind UK;   “rules matter, and if Vote Leave cheated [by breaking spending limits], that’s a scandal”, and brings the result into question;   despite an apology, Jewish groups have accused the UK’s opposition of “repeated institutional failure” to properly to address anti-Semitism;
  • 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:
       -   after a fire alarm was switched off, a fire in a Russian shopping centre has killed scores of people, including many children;
  • With regard to South Asia (aka the Indian sub-continent), The Hindu and other sources have:
       on India:
       -   more on the problems being created by India’s new identification system, with many poor being deprived of subsidised food from the lifeline of India's vast public distribution system because their ration cards have not been linked;   “India has launched an inquiry into its national school exams after questions were leaked, forcing 1.6 million students to re-sit their tests”;   India is acting against “illegal immigrants” … (is that the start of US-style abuses under an increasingly hardline nationalism?);   Dalit activists have confronted the leader of the governing party;   a call to look after floodplains;
       on Pakistan:
       -   “a Pakistani news channel has hired the country's first transgender TV newsreader”;   Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai has returned to Pakistan for the first time since misogynistic violent extremists shot her for speaking in favour of educating girls;
       elsewhere in South Asia:
       -   after a bus crash killed two people and injured dozens more, Nepalese have rioted over frustrations with the bus “service”;
  • With regard to West Asia (aka “the Middle East”) and Northern Africa, the Middle East Eye, the Times of Israel, and other sources have:
       on Israel and Palestine:
       -   Israeli police have questioned Israel’s Prime Minister over one of three corruption cases weighing on the leader’s political future;   16 Palestinians have been killed and over a thousand injured as tens of thousands protest for a right of return, leading to an emergency UN Security Council session, claims of attempted terror attacks amongst protestors (and claims of disproportionate response – I note the photo of slings being used by Palestinians), a Palestinian solidarity protest in Lebanon, and scattered protests in the West Bank where scores were injured;   a right wing Israeli settler has been convicted of being a member of a violent extremist organisation, and an Arab Israeli has been convicted of killing a rabbi in a violent extremist attack;
       -   I’ve just come across a New York Times magazine article from a couple of months ago about Israel’s attempts to kill Yasser Arafat: those attempts failed, and it is easy to gain an impression that Arafat was Israel’s version of what Castro was to the USA and, in both cases, there are actions which verge on extremist overreactions (including Israel killing Israelis, a problem the USA has had to come to grips with recently) ... just as, in both cases, there are decent people who step in and prevent catastrophes (and there are a couple of Russians who deserve to be noted on this topic) – such as preventing the shooting down a plane of wounded Palestinian children or blowing up a stadium full of civilians … and there are, sadly, times when prevention doesn’t occur, such as the Bay of Pigs  fiasco, and Israel’s (alleged) secret operations in Lebanon … it all goes to show the need for independent oversight of ALL intelligence/secret activities (Sharon’s change of heart is also a particularly apt part of this story: it is helping such changes of heart, and the good people mentioned earlier, that the work advocated by this blog is aimed at – and, although  won’t write about, I have experience from the 80s that is good enough for me personally [although not necessarily others] to be convinced that such work CAN be effective, although some of it was planting seeds that bloomed a couple of decades later … );
       -   violent incidents this week include:
       -   other events concerning Israel/Judaism and/or Palestine have occurred or are developing in: UK, France;
       on the conflict in Yemen:
       -   Saudi Arabia has shot down seven missiles launched into Saudi territory by Houthi rebels in Yemen, leading to one death when fragments landed in a suburb;   the Houthis have been accused of disrupting the peace process in Yemen;
       on Syria (where the Assad Dictatorship has lost all pretence of legitimacy, and partition is needed):
       -   a former soldier’s commentary on the savage tactics of the Assad Dictatorship – see also here;   the USA’s 45th President wants the US out of Syria;   France will back the Syrian Kurds;   the Syrian border with Turkey has been fenced (using EU money), blocking refugees;
       elsewhere in the region:
       -   Egypt’s President’s (the façade of power – and “the second veil of authoritarian obfuscation is the Egyptian military’s complicity in thwarting democratic mechanisms”) only concern ahead of his little election is voter turnout (it was low), as the only competition is only running out of concern about Egypt’s image as “a democracy” … ;   a call for the West to pressure Egypt into holding the military to account;
       -   in Iraq, a proposal has been made to recycle the massive amount of rubble left from conflict in western Mosul (enough to build the Great Pyramids of Egypt) to provide work for the thousands of returnees who are struggling to survive;   confirmation that an Australian airstrike one year ago killed civilians;
       -   Saudi Arabia “has delivered a small dose [a “fake veneer”] of cultural and economic openness in order to avoid demands for political liberalism”;
       -   a violent extremist attack has occurred in Turkey;   Turkey is cracking down on social media.
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.
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