Post No. 1,178 – Gnwmythr’s News Ed. No. 221

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 of News with Opinion / Advocacy / 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), more BPM Earth;
      mentally, more BPM Water;
      a plot of the elemental influences on a causal/spiritual level follows, and shows a need for more BPM Æther;

(d)   I’ve created a bindrune for this week’s work, which is:

(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 in   burma, Nigeria and Syria, 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     continued growth of xenophobia and risk of a return to 1930s politics, and resistance to that;    the need for a political solution to inequality;     new powers to resist atrocities, but genocides continue;     more abuse of human and civil rights, and sexism – sometimes violent;     some current problems were created decades ago by powerful nations;     some violent conflicts are showing signs of easing or being healed, whilst other tensions are resurgent;     more problems from casual / careless use of technology, some of which are being fought back against;     continuing power struggles;

(g)   may all connect with the Higher Selves, and thus become comfortable with the notion of connectedness;

(h)   may all become comfortable with sharing reality with its inherent variety;

(i)   may all become patient with change, and dedicated to objectivity;

(j)   may all come to desire the dignity of service above the allure of power and influence;

(k)   may all be determined to see BPM justice done;

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 (if I have any this week);

   opportunities/good news (in my opinion) are shown in green;

   comments (by me) 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, may we all exercise our human characteristics of reason, self discipline and improvement to overcome the often evil flaw of seeking social status;
• 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 (see also here, here, and here) :     the entirety of this blog and all other spiritual work and physical activism I and many others do;     consider the “changes that have redefined us from citizens to government customers” . . . and then resist those changes – everyday, whenever someone in a government agency refers to you as a customer, correct them;     the administration of the USA’s 45^th President apparently “sees itself as headquarters of a xenophobic, right-wing International”, which is nothing new for the USA (and sometimes is good), but this current influence also should be resisted – by the way you vote, by the messages you send your elected representatives (and political parties), and by your active BPM energy work (I’d suggest a message along the lines of “ideas should be accepted or rejected on their merits, not because of who is pushing for them”);   -   a call for targeted wakefulness to see through the ‘national security’ smokescreen covering the erosion of civil rights, the curtailing of media freedom and the criminalisation of dissent “while we still can”;     the need for a political solution to extreme inequality – which creates global disorder (I’d forgotten about the Bretton Woods system, and the comments about that – and the history generally in the article – were interesting);     the problem of “distance disconnect”;
     on the Rohingya crisis and genocide this week:
     -   “harrowing accounts of Rohingya women tied to trees and raped for days by Myanmar’s military and men being pushed into mass graves, doused with petrol and set alight have been sent to the International Criminal Court”;     Amnesty International has named “13 senior military officers it believes are most responsible for human rights abuses against Rohingya”, and “urged Australia to immediately stop its $300,000 military assistance program with Myanmar and help build a case for international prosecution”;     a comic is being used to fight trafficking through education;     the camps;
     on other matters requiring particular attention:
     -   the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has won new powers to assign blame for attacks with banned toxic munitions – a victory for the UK, USA and European Union over the opposition of Russia, Iran, and Syria;
     -   a former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom has warned that a “return to the dark politics of the 1930s is no longer far-fetched today because of rampant nationalist populism and the widespread rejection of multilateral alliances”;
     -   the USA has – as expected – extended a so-called “state of emergency” against North Korea, using wording which undermines the recent conciliatory rhetoric – but North Korea is making rapid upgrades to its nuclear reactor, despite its pledges (a monitoring group says this shows why a denuclearisation deal rather than a ‘statement of lofty goals’ is needed);
     -   a case that US support for right wing extremists in Central America led to the violent cartels and thus the current refugee crisis on its southern border;
     -   the UN considers that the USA’s detention of children “may amount to torture”;    the nightmare that deported kids face;    one US state is suing the US administration over separation of children – see also here and here;     Australia is just as bad;
     -   yet another sexual assault on public transport;     “for women juggling work and family life, money is a more powerful argument than passion for staying in the workforce”;
     -   an app for medical appointments is sharing patient details with third parties – including personal injury lawyers – who have been criticised for the approach they take in getting new clients;
     -   a call for a “thorough response” to alleged unlawful killings by Australian SAS soldiers and the investigation into that;
     -   “Algeria has abandoned more than 13,000 people in the Sahara Desert over the past 14 months, including pregnant women and children, expelling them without food or water and forcing them to walk, sometimes at gunpoint”;
     -   the upcoming US-Russia summit, and European fears;
     -   one US state has – over the ire of the tech industry - given consumers more control over how companies collect and manage their personal information;     drones are being used to identify violent individuals, with high accuracy rates claimed . . . ;
     -   concern over Chinese influence over US start-ups;
       this week’s atrocity alert at R2P lists   burma, Nigeria and Syria;
• 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, research and commentary this week include:
     -   “government spending and taxes reduce income inequality by more than 40% in Australia”;     “the happiest places in the world are those where enlightened leaders shifted their focus from economic development to promoting quality of life”;    “even as Americans remain committed to the ideals of democracy, a majority see democracy in the United States as weak and getting weaker” (full report here);
     -   for other analyses see:   Indonesian democracy;
     of concern this week:
     -   a jogger who accidentally crossed the unmarked Canada-US border was detained for two weeks – and subjected to what was basically abusive behaviour;     two stupid footballers are being investigated for using an ethnically charged sign;     a whistleblower has said my home state’s child protection service is in crisis because of understaffing;     “the new [Australian] childcare package [see also here] is the final nail in the community service coffin”, and exemplifies “changes that have redefined us from citizens to government customers”;     a staggering bungle resulted in a government agency sharing private documents with a complete stranger;     a US State Board of Pharmacy is investigating a pharmacist who refused to give a woman the medication she needed to end her pregnancy after her baby stopped developing (I’ve also experienced a chemist who thought he knew more than my doctor);     more sexist abuse of female MPs – see also here;     some of the problems of the “prison-industrial complex”;     according to an independent MP, in an “insane development”, the whistleblower who exposed Australia’s unconscionable spying on Timor Leste – and his lawyer – are being targeted with criminal charges;     Australia has passed counterintelligence laws (that include bans on foreign interference in politics, stiffer punishment for leaking classified information, and criminalises damage to Australia’s economic relations with other nations) that exceed those passed by the USA and the UK after 9/11 [NY Times];     “British ministers and spy chiefs in power after 9/11 are facing new calls to explain their “inexcusable” actions after two damning parliamentary reports set out the scale of UK involvement in the torture and kidnap of terrorist suspects”;
     -   other concerning events have occurred or are developing in:   Ethiopia,   Zimbabwe,   China,   Cameroon,   USA,   PNG,   USA,   Poland,   China [NY Times],   USA (identify theft by a US ICE official),   India;
     good news this week includes:
     -   the names New Zealand’s Prime Minister has given her daughter include the Māori word for “love”;     a move (supported by progressive religious leaders) to scrap the “archaic” neochristian Lord's prayer from the start of Australian Senate sittings;     the growth of democratic socialism in the USA [NY Times];     the WTO has ruled in favour of Australia’s “plain packaging” tobacco laws;
     and democracy/governance/political matters in my home nation this week:
     on the Royal Commission into banks, and similar matters:
     -   another article on the destruction of farmers lives by banks – see also here, and one Cattle grazier has described bankers as 'bullies';     “the behaviour of receivers will not be investigated by the banking royal commission, despite a witness accusing them of causing a ‘massive destruction of value’ for farm businesses” – and others, including relatives of mine;     the “one-size-fits-all” approach to re-educating financial planners is said to be contributing to the imminent one third turnover of financial planners;     a bank breached the industry code of conduct by not telling customers why a disgraced banker had resigned;
     on other matters:
     -   connections between Chinese immigrants and Indigenous people over the last two centuries – and Chinese involvement in footy;     a call for Australia to become more “sophisticated” in its engagement in the Pacific;     an Australian salt lake could become a world source of “potash”, a form of potassium fertiliser (I trust there will be proper environmental investigations);     Australia’s Treasurer and RBA Governor have opposing views on how the economy is;     concerns over Australia’s economy, particularly debt;    a Chinese global tech company that is the centre of intelligence agency concerns “has become the biggest corporate sponsor of overseas travel for Australia's federal politicians”;     the current state of recycling during the crisis;     a new office block for MPs in my home state is “off limits” to journalists, apparently over “privacy concerns”;     complaints that Australia “has been too soft, putting pragmatism ahead of principle” in its relationship with the administration of the USA’s 45^th President;     another article on the threat to safety illegal deer hunters are causing;     most of Australia’s solid waste comes from commercial and construction sectors, not households;     Australia’s Parliament has started considering a Bill that will make calling out the military to help police during violent extremists easier;     Australia’s anti-slavery Bill has been described as “toothless”;     as one Australian state “lags behind in the euthanasia debate, a dying mother of two says her only option right now is ‘suicide or Switzerland’ ”;     “one of the architects of [Australia’s] National Disability Insurance Scheme says there is ‘no excuse’ for the staffing caps imposed on the Commonwealth agency running the scheme”;     concerns – including working in excessive heat, and an “inappropriate” overnight trip - about Australia’s “Prepare Train Hire” has led to the termination of four training providers’ contracts and the dismissal of one trainer;     concerns over management’s contribution to low morale at a regional hospital;     Australians have a ridiculously inflated sense (14%, as opposed to the reality of 0.8%, of the Commonwealth budget) of how much Australia spends on international aid;
     -   other events relating to my home nation have occurred or are developing in:   the Pacific;
• With regard to the USA and their 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):
     -   an interesting – and disturbing - analysis of Voldemort II’s – and the Republic Party’s – behaviour, including through the viewpoint of his past business behaviour (where he viewed relationships as disposable);     another analysis which finds that “Beneath the constant contradictions and reversals, the administration has a single through line: Its policies always serve to dehumanise those deemed not to belong”;     an opinion that Voldemort II needs to keep creating crises to maintain his support;     an opinion that Voldemort II is the “most un-American President in living memory”;     a comparison of Canada and the USA;     an example of some of the satire being directed at the USA’s 45^th President (and it is notable that (a) they can do so safely [as opposed to, say, North Korea], and (b) that the strongest opposition is probably in the USA);     a statement of the obvious: an opinion that Voldemort II should not get the Nobel peace prize;
     -   the USA’s 45^th President has called for “illegal immigrants to be deported with ‘no judges or court cases’ ”;     a rebuttal of Voldemort II’s claim that immigration is linked to crime (“immigrants commit crime at lower rates than native-born Americans, and scarcely any are gangsters”);    human rights groups have denounced the US Supreme Court’s decision to uphold his ban – which has been described as “may be good law but it's bad policy” - on travel from several Muslim-majority nations – see also this, on morality and Islamophobic aspects of the decision;     hundreds of people protesting against the USA’s current immigration policies –including a Congresswoman - have been arrested;     the former chief counsel at a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement office who opened credit cards and took out loans using the personal information of vulnerable immigrants has been sentenced to prison;
     -   the brutality of the USA’s 45^th President and his policies is causing Canadians to voluntarily boycott US goods;
     -   “the normalisation of gun violence in poor communities”;
     -   a stupid and unacceptable suggestion to harass aides of Voldemort II – this is morally wrong, as it is dragging oneself down to your enemies’ level - but see also this dissenting view;
     -   further to Senator Bernie Sanders, “a scrappy grassroots campaign [with] a platform based on economic justice”;    a call for the USA to “adopt a new humanitarian grand strategy”;
     -   black lung disease has returned to the US coal industry;
     -   the USA has denied it will leave the WTO;
• 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, and good old fashioned police work.  I don’t name groups to reduce their publicity):
     -   according to this Wikipedia page, there have been 1 attack in Iraq and 2 attacks in Afghanistan (out of a total of 18);     prevention has or may have occurred in   Africa;     and actions (Note: there are many others that don’t reach the media I read) have occurred this week against violent extremists in:   Syria,   Egypt;
     -   the UN says the complex and changing nature of violent extremism requires a response that is “agile” and multifaceted;
     -   an examination of the situation in the Sahara – see also here, here, ;    lessons learned in Somalia;     based on research into the “three waves” of violent extremism in Australia this century, experts have warned that real world influence is important – VEs are not created solely by online influence (which suggests to me how police have been able to do more preventative arrests, and that privacy-breaching legislation is questionable);
• With regard to refugees (noting the New York Declaration) and people seeking asylum:
     -   after an intense campaign, a dying refugee has finally been moved from the gulags to Australia;     a court has stood up against one of Australian Home Affairs Minister Dutton’s abuses of refugees;     “a humanitarian ship that has had about 230 rescued migrants on board for almost a week has docked in Malta, ending a stand-off with Italy which refused to let the ship into one of its ports”;     “in an excoriating letter written to the Australian Border Force”, the mother of an asylum seeker who committed suicide has begged for his body back, and blamed “those who held her son on Nauru for his long mental decline and ultimate suicide”;
     -   other refugee-related matters have also occurred in:   Indonesia,   Algeria (Sahara Desert),   Jordan / Syria,   USA;
• 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):
     -   a sporting code (rugby) has made an excellent response to homophobic rants by issuing “welcome to 2018 … can't wait for you to join us!”;     “Mexico’s electoral tribunal has disqualified 15 male candidates who pretended to be transgender to get around gender parity rules in the southern state of Oaxaca”;     the US Supreme Court is further undermining legal protection of LGBT people (this was an incredibly badly written, unclear and confusing article – it assumes that readers have a detailed familiarity with the intricacies of the US judicial system);     a response to absurd media stories and “perspectives” on trans kids (the US is about 20 years behind Australia – and the World Health Organisation);
     on white supremacist and other forms of RACISM / CULTURAL DISCRIMINATION and Indigenous matters generally this week:
     -   as part of $30m class action settlement, an Australian state government “has officially apologised to Palm Islanders for the violence and discrimination they were subjected to by police before, during and after riots on the island in 2004”;     concerns that police may have “explained away”, rather than properly investigated, suspicious Indigenous deaths;     a racist divide in attitudes towards children running stalls;     the parents of a Sudanese girl who has been sentenced to execution for killing her “husband” when he tried to rape her have denied disowning her;     an Australian territorial politician has said that the “policy for dealing with youth crime among Aboriginal children is ‘inhumane, costly and does not work’ ”;     one Australian state’s reconciliation chairwoman has been racially discriminated against by a taxi driver;     following a ban on alcohol in a remote community, half a dozen people have been killed in traffic accidents while walking home from the nearest pub, 20 km away;     one of the Stolen Generations’ story;     the sacred background to the ban on climbing Uluru;
     -   other white supremacy / racism problems have also occurred in:   an online streaming service;
     on TRAFFICKING, and CHILDREN’s and associated human rights this week:
     -   an illegal child surrogacy ring has been found in Cambodia;     “the National Library of Australia is being pursued for compensation by a Balinese [man] for publishing a book that reveals he was sexually abused as a child by [a] late artist”;     “a three-year investigation into worker exploitation by Australia's workplace watchdog has found some foreign workers on Australian farms are ‘bonded like slaves’ to dodgy labour hire contractors”;     Australia’s anti-slavery Bill has been described as “toothless”;     a New Zealand MP has spoken of her experience of child abuse;     a legal expert has called for all child marriage to be considered as child labour;     a call for a crackdown on organ trafficking;
     -   also on child abuse, particularly neochristian and other institutional, this week:   here,   Spain,   Peru;
     -   also on slavery / human trafficking this week:   India/USA,   India (good news),   India,   Thailand,   “natural” make up,   UK,   Malaysia;
     -   opportunities to take action   here,   here (which I found difficult – eyesight’s not so good these days,   and there’s only so much zoom),   here (great links to useful information),   here (perhaps not so useful for casual,   infrequent shoppers like me),   here (tremendous to see others acknowledged – and I stunned how many organisations are close by,   here,   here (if you are inclined towards creativity),   here (includes donation request for those who can),   here,   here,   here,   here,   here,   and here,   and,   this week,   here (“who picked my tea?”),   here,   here,   here,   here,   here,   here,   here,   here,   here,   here;
     on SEXISM this week (keeping in mind the overblown influence given to testosterone):
     -   “domestic violence offenders [are] no longer allowed to question abuse victims in Family Court”;     although women in the backward, violent theocracy of Saudi Arabia can finally drive, some activists have been arrested;     more women in my home state are taking self defence lessons following a recent, high profile murder;     much as pink used to be a male colour, so too did high heels;     a man has been protected from forced marriage;     what happened afterwards to some of the women who made public “Me Too” complaints [NY Times];     the vandal who left offensive graffiti near a memorial to a woman who was raped and murdered has been charged;     a sports commentator has been instantly sacked for a vulgar, offensive remark;
     -   on sexual harassment/misconduct/violence this week, see:   here,   here,   here;
     -   other sexism matters have also occurred in:   Kashmir,   Argentina,   an Australian University,   USA,   an Australian state parliament,   Sudan,   India,   Korea,   Israel;
     on RELIGIOUS rights this week:
     -   religious rights / Islamophobia matters have also occurred in:   USA;
     on WORKERS’ rights this week:
     -   a leading expert in labour supply and migration says unions and fruit and vegetable farmers can work together to end exploitation of overseas workers, despite many growers perceiving the “unionisation” of their industry as a threat;     in another backwards step (see also this), the US Supreme Court has “ruled that government workers who choose not to join unions may not be required to help pay for collective bargaining” [NY Times] (OK, but how about allowing those who do want to contribute to do so?) – see also here [NY Times];
     -   other workers’ rights matters have also occurred in:   India,   India;
     on PRIVACY, AGED, DIFFERENTLY ABLED, AND OTHER forms of human (and other – e.g., ANIMAL) rights this week:
     -   the problems when carers kill those they are supposed to be caring for – including the discriminatory diversion of inferring the disability is somehow an acceptable trigger;     a US state will try to end sexual abuse of people with intellectual disabilities;     “the subtle and not-so-subtle force of ageism”;     in my home state, students with disabilities are being turned away from schools;
     -   other privacy, differently abled, animal, and other forms of human or other rights matters have also occurred in:   Iran,   India;
     -   opportunities to take action here;
     on ANIMALS’ rights this week:
     -   as another case of cruelty against birds is investigated, a man who bludgeoned penguins to death has been given a trifling sentence;
     -   other animals’ rights matters have also occurred in:   China;
• With regard to war, violence and hate generally:
     -   interesting questions about technology and war in this video (from a few years ago);     a global map of armed peace monitor (aka “peacekeepers” – see here) operations;     another mass murder by gun in the USA – “newspaper shooting proves words have power and journalists shouldn't be targets”;     a backgrounder on the “rules of war”;
• With regard to natural and other catastrophes:
     -   the death toll from the sunken ferry in Indonesia is feared to be as high as 192;     a major moorland fire in the UK;
• 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:
     -   climate change is leading to crocodiles in Australia moving south – other shifts are expected;     a town where humans and kangaroos co-exist;     after nearly three years, an electric car has driven from the Netherlands to Australia;     community fears over asbestos contamination from a partial implosion of a power factory;     my home state's “chief veterinary officer . . . has downplayed concerns about the discovery of toxic chemicals in livestock”;     concerns that the risk of shark attack is subject to a “media beat up”;     “new and retrofitted green roofs and walls, will provide environmental, social and business benefits” – but Australia is lagging behind;     “a former CSIRO scientist has accused the Murray-Darling Basin Authority of ‘interfering’ in his research, around the time environmental goals were being developed for the Basin Plan”;    the push by conservative MPs for new coal-fired power stations does not stack up economically;     a US geologist has said “the rate of sea level rise is currently doubling every seven years, and if it were to continue in this manner . . . we would have 205 feet of sea level rise by 2095”;     Australia's Senate has called for a national container deposit scheme and the banning by 2023 of all single-use plastics;     the geographer who has played a key role in developing an appreciation of Tasmania’s relics of the Cretaceous period and other wilderness;     “Australia is missing out on billions in short-term health savings [reductions in premature deaths and problems such as heart attacks and asthma] that could come with tougher greenhouse emission targets”;     a fight for compensation is under way in my home state following a wastewater spill from a ruptured pipe that, in effect, shut down a dairy farm;     tropical forests lost an area equivalent to Bangladesh last year [NY Times];     “working with nature (avoid tall buildings turning streets into canyons) can help us build greener cities instead of urban slums”;    “the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster may have had a lasting impact upon even the smallest organisms in the Gulf of Mexico, scientists have found – amid warnings that the oceans around America are also under fresh assault as a result of environmental policies under” the USA’s 45^th President;    one company’s certification for sustainable palm oil has been suspended;
     -   other environmental matters have occurred in:   Indonesia;
     on technology and science matters this week:
     -   another story on social media data;     after delivering a lecture on how to deal with trolls, a Japanese expert on internet crime and a prolific blogger was murdered by a troll [NY Times];
     on economic and financial matters this week:
     -   the impossible complexity of electricity ills;
     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 to see homeless people as people, not outcasts;    after a successful grassroots campaign led to a housing tax on big business in one US city, big business fought back and politicians capitulated – showing that “strong housing movement needs strong politicians as allies”;    a philanthropist who took part in a Sleep Out is “disgusted” at how the public treated him;     after increasing homelessness by increasing housing prices, a tech company in one US city is compounding its lack of moral consideration by creating an app to help “get rid of” homeless people;     US architecture students are developing low cost rural housing;
     on health and medical this week:
     -   continuing concerns over sugar, despite a “diversionary” concession by the soft drink industry;    criticism of the simplified “armchair psychology” approach towards drug aspects of celebrity deaths by suicide;     a TEDx talk on reducing back pain by “primal posture”;
     on other matters in the category this week:
     -   the problems of going cashless (this is a seriously flawed article, in that it mentions nothing about privacy, and very little about social changes);     the story of a woman who chose to be a single parent;
• 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 … ):
     -   a call to consider press freedom “before it’s too late”;     the modern form of threats to free speech;
• With regard to education:
     -   a campaign educating on consent is underway at an Australian university;
     -   other education matters have occurred in:   Australia;
• With regard to crime, judicial matters and policing (noting that an uncle of mine resigned when corruption was not comprehensively cleaned out of the police force he served in, I also have high expectations of police [to match their powers], and consider all violence, abuse of power and failure to understand the impacts of their actions [e.g., see here and here] by police – who are under incredible pressure –is, nevertheless, undermining and weakening all police and what they are trying to achieve):
     -   concerns that police may have “explained away”, rather than properly investigated, suspicious Indigenous deaths;     the father of two brothers who died taking drugs wants the drugs legal and regulated;     a former police commissioner has been jailed for attempting to pervert the course of justice;     after civil liberties protests, a UC city’s police force has ended a trial use of facial recognition . . . for now . . . ;     a UC city’s police now has better access to data, but concerns remain around how it is used;     in the USA hundreds have been charged over healthcare frauds that contributed to the opioid crisis;
    -      other crime,   judicial and policing matters have occurred in:   Mexico,   Poland,   Iran,   Somalia.

Location based News:

• With regard to Africa, the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (and other sources) has:
      on Africa generally:
     -   ways to change urban fragility to urban stability;
     -   a backgrounder on the G5 Sahel joint force;
     on specific African nations:
     -   Cameroon continues to slide towards civil war;
     -   good progress at controlling the Ebola outbreak in the DR Congo;
     -   an explosion at a rally for the new Ethiopian Prime Minister has killed several people;     an amnesty law has been passed;     leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea will meet to discuss peace;
     -   Guinea is facing challenges over the provision of electricity;
     -   a fire has killed over a dozen people at a Kenyan market;
     -   some Libyan oil production will be shut down, as fighting continues in the east;
     -   more fighting between farmers and cattle herders in Nigeria has killed at least another 86 people, and led to 200 arrests – see also here;     hundreds of children have been killed by security forces and violent extremists in Nigeria;
     -   the lessons learned by the African Union Mission to Somalia, which “a combat mission fighting a terrorist insurgency”, not a “traditional” peacekeeping mission;     the growing risk of war in northern Somalia;     a new policing model;
     -   a set of analyses of South Sudan;     a ceasefire has been signed . . . now to see if it holds . . .  – see also here;     a call for a holistic peace rather than a deal between two leaders;
     -   the death sentence for a teenager who killed her “husband” after he attempted to rape her has been quashed;
     -   against a background of concerns of possible election violence, an explosion at a rally for Zimbabwe’s President has injured several people;     the possibility of future change;
• With regard to South and Central America:
     -   a strike against austerity in Argentina;     Ni Una Menos and other feminist action in Argentina;
     -   Brazil has failed to continue using solar panels in social housing;
     -   “State police have detained and disarmed the entire police force of the Mexican town of Ocampo, where a mayoral candidate was killed last week ahead of general elections”;     an outsider may do well in the Presidential election;
• With regard to mainland 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 increasingly totalitarian mainland China, and also 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:
     -   Uighurs are continuing to be traumatised in China’s re-education camps;     China is campaigning for people to use cremations, rather than burials, to ease its land shortage;     “in the Year of the Dog, Chinese animal lovers [are pushing] to end the dog meat trade”;     US threats are having an impact on the Chinese economy [NY Times];     the ideological “education” of China’s new communist leaders [NY Times];     doubts over US-Chinese trade;
     -   other events concerning China have occurred or are developing in:   the Pacific;
     -   South Korea must offer alternatives to military service for conscientious objectors [NY Times];
     elsewhere in Asia:
     -   an Indonesian village with a high proportion of people with mental illness has reformed its image - into that of a tourist destination;     the staggering complexities and challenges of holding elections in Indonesia;     seaweed could provide a “bio-plastic revolution” in Indonesia;     a volcanic eruption has stopped flights (see here on the various types);
     and in the Pacific:
     -   PNG, which has already declared a State of Emergency, has now sent troops to the highlands to stop “landowner violence and unrest” following elections;     Indonesia’s “slow road” to democracy (I recall reading an opinion that such changes take three generations, so this is probably a reasonable state to be in);     as Australia tries to curb foreign influence, we are also seeking to network and nurture to increase our soft power in the Pacific against increasingly totalitarian mainland China’s rising influence there;     polio has been found in PNG – 18 years after it was declared polio free;     Australia “will explore options to support Vanuatu with a high-speed undersea internet cable”;     the problem of violence in PNG’s capital;
     -   events concerning the Pacific have occurred or are developing in:   Australia;
• With regard to Europe and the European Union (EU) (which need to step up, as the USA steps down):
     -   the EU is facing an existential crisis over refugees, but has finally agreed a regional approach;
     -   French butchers want protection against (violently) militant vegans;     France has introduced a plan for national service for 16 year olds, with an initial service based on civic culture, followed by options of military or volunteer service;
     -   Poland is continuing to undermine justice;
• 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:
     -   the modern Russian “super-mafia”;
• With regard to South Asia (aka the Indian sub-continent), The Hindu and other sources have:
     -   appalling sexism against women in sport in Kashmir – which one woman is fighting against;
     on India:
     -   “India is the most dangerous country in the world for women because of the risk of sexual violence and slave labour”;     an anti-rumour campaigner has been lynched;    appalling abuse of a Dalit man;     ‘soft policing’ has stopped social media being misused for hate in one Indian state;     “the Congress [party] is being watched for how it plays the secularism card”;     a critique of India’s year old GST;     a growing “disconnect” between India and the USA;     a call for income support of farmers;     the High Court has stopped a rail strike;     human rights concerns over the collection of biometric data of migrant workers;
• With regard to West Asia (aka “the Middle East”) and Northern Africa, the Middle East Eye, the Times of Israel, and other sources have:
     -   concern over the “tragic shredding of . . . diverse religious, ethnic and cultural fabric” in West Asia;     Arab leaders have asked the USA not to reveal the details of its “peace plan” so as not to destabilise the region;     criticism of Arab jails by a journalist who was detained in an Israeli jail;
     on Israel and Palestine:
     -   “Prince William has voiced hope for lasting peace in the Middle East as he met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank in the first official British Royal visit to the Palestinian Territories”;     dissenting Jewish voices on how Arabs were treated in 1948;     a disturbing article on Jewish racial purists;     a Palestinian amputee soccer team;     continuing protests at the Gaza birder have seen two deaths;     raising aid for Gaza is proving difficult;     the Palestinian Authority has been ordered to pay compensation to tortured suspected collaborators;    an Israeli winery has lost its kashrut (food) certification over having Ethiopian employees . . . ;
     on the conflict in Yemen:
     -   “the United Arab Emirates says the Arab coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen was cooperating with a United Nations envoy to end fighting, but the [extremist rebels] must quit [a key port city] as a [pre]condition for any peace deal” – see also here;     the UN says the fighting in the port city of Hodeida – which is cutting off aid - must “de-escalate” before peace talks can resume;
     on Syria (where the Assad Dictatorship has lost all pretence of legitimacy, and partition is needed):
     -   an attack by Assad regime forces on reels has jeopardised the US-Russian agreement;     over 120,000 people have fled an attack by Assad regime forces in south west Syria, but neither Jordan nor Israel will not let them in (although Israel is delivering aid) – and hundreds of refugees have returned from Lebanon;     aid to Jordan has been cut by fighting in southwest Syria;
     elsewhere in the region:
     -   Algeria’s season of political scandal;
     -   an Italian firm will start exploring a gas field in Egypt;
     -   abuse of people with disabilities in Iran;     Iran is continuing to execute juveniles;     a financial monitoring group has given Iran a deadline to adopt reforms;
     -   Grand Sultan Erdowan ([ph.] “Erdogan”) has won Turkey’s – unfair, according to the OSCE - election – raising fears of what happens next (see also here, and this thorough analysis of Erdowan’s capitalisation of Turkish resentments);     Turkey has banned opposition politicians from soldiers’ funerals . . . .

Other News:

• a 13^th Century illustration of a cockatoo from the Holy Roman Empire shows that trade regularly reached northern Australia earlier than previously known.

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.