Post No. 1,213 – Gnwmythr’s News Ed. No. 231

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:

Notes:

(1) I am NOT a journalist, and make NO claims to objectivity or freedom from bias.
(2) 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 March 2019), 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)   dealing with the 45^th “President” (i.e., CEO) 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 that person’s BPM Guides and giving those BPM Guides 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 that person’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);

(d)   the major events this week are:   -   as attraction to violence continues to be inadequately addressed, the risks of mass atrocities in   South Sudan, Burundi and burma, 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 all who put or keep them there;   -   and, specific to this week,     more people are leaving social media as right wing extremists try to use it;     as it grows, some surveillance has been found to breach human rights and other requests that invade privacy have been withdrawn;     flaws in media coverage and action – and benefits;     financial systems are stuck in the past, without effective or fair oversight;     limited comprehension of the biases that come with power seem to be on the increase;     negative aspects of anti-globalism continue to manifest in things like trade wars – and negative aspects of globalism continue to manifest in things like unfair prices for goods;     abuses of power may have been facilitated by inept investigations;

(e)   may all people continue (or start) to BPM think for themselves, and access and draw on the better aspects of their being;

(f)   may those who have power realise it always comes with obligations – especially to take the broader and longer term view - that are disrespected or ignored at the price of holding that power

(g)   mateship and friendship (and cronyism) do not outweigh principles and harm those who ignore or forget that and those near and dear to them;

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;     a powerful argument that the way to stop war and conflict – especially in central and east Africa – is to GO AFTER THE MONEY;     another person who left social media and “feel(s) better for it”;     “the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the United Kingdom's surveillance regime, revealed by Edward Snowden, violates human rights set out in the European Convention”;     “ICE has reversed position and is no longer seeking the immediate release of over 18 million voting records”;
     on the Rohingya  genocide this week:
     -   more details of the horrors committed during burma’s genocide against the Rohingya – see also here;
     on other matters requiring particular attention:
     -   sadly, this week, I found nothing in the news on Afghanistan, and    Ukraine;
     -   software that tracks social media usage and other details is being used by Australian political parties;     drones will be used for crowd control –ostensibly for violent extremists (and violence? Including drunken yobbos? I’m OK with those [provided no records are kept other than as legally allowed and with adequate security], but am concerned that police do not exert authoritarian views on behaviour);
     -   “ten years after the financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund remains largely beholden to policies that undermine human rights and exacerbate inequality around the world. In response to the global recession, the IMF pressured countries to restructure sovereign debt—in part by adopting austerity measures that eroded basic needs such as health care and income security. The resulting human cost was immense, and the organisation, while articulating more progressive policies, has been unable to heed the lessons of their failures”;     the abuse of workers – including “19^th-century working practices”, security checks to use the toilets (“74% were afraid to go”), and a pervasive “corporate, Orwellian form of double-speak” – has led to a working atmosphere compared (by someone who had worked in other warehouses) to “a low-security prison” in a major online shopping company, and support for US Senator Bernie Sanders’ “Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act”;
     -   as revelations are made of business and media interference in Australian politics (and business attacks on free speech), an opinion that the “Royal Commission Australia really needs is one into the spectacular – almost complete – failure of our regulators to protect the vulnerable from the greedy” (why are the watchdogs lap dogs? . . . “one of neoliberalism’s best tricks was to convince people that the more government services we privatised and outsourced, the less need there would be for regulation and enforcement . . . who would have thought that companies with a legal obligation to maximise profit would put the interests of their shareholders ahead of the interests of vulnerable people who were easy to exploit? Who would have thought that companies with armies of lawyers at their disposal would make better use of a ‘level playing field’ than people without the time or money to fight for their rights? Just because a boxing ring is a level playing field doesn’t make a fight between a heavyweight and a featherweight an even match . . . like the argument that corporate tax cuts fix budget deficits and wage cuts help workers, there is simply no evidence to support the theory that bank customers, aged care customers and detention centre ‘customers’ are so good at looking after their own interests that regulators can abandon random inspections and rely on a ‘light touch’ instead . . . (neoliberals) were wrong. Dangerously wrong”;
     -   unsuccessful Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has unleashed “a blazing attack” on POTUS45, accusing him of “cruelty, negligence, corruption, dishonesty, racism and malevolence that have combined to put democracy in America into crisis”;     a filmmaker has asked “are we going to be like the “good Germans” who let Hitler rise to power?” (interesting interview, including comments on the benefits of solidarity, a Nuremburg prosecutor’s opinion, and a terrifyingly insane bit of invasive, patronising “management”);
     -   as POTUS45 threatens more tariffs on Chinese products, an opinion is expressed “that the US-China trade war could last 20 years” by a Chinese billionaire who has backed away from claims “his e-commerce firm would spur the creation of one million jobs in America” – see also here;     China's top military envoy to Australia has claimed “freedom of navigation for aircraft and ships has ‘never been a problem’ in the hotly contested South China Sea”, and “it is up to Australia to decide whether to challenge China's claims to the South China Sea”. Meanwhile, as it claims to have shut down (presumably non-consensual?) pornography websites, China's *NEW(ish)* Revolutionary Digital Leap Backwards under Chairman Xi Winnie-the-Pooh may have already claimed victims (most Chinese “don't seem to comprehend the all-encompassing control social credit is likely to have” . . . “in private, there's been some disquiet in the educated middle classes about the citizen score being the only criterion for character assessment” . . . “the Party is using the system to win back some of the control it lost when China opened up to the world in the 1980s and rapid development followed. It's a way to silence dissent and ensure the Party's absolute dominance. Already, about 10 million people have been punished in the trial areas of social credit. including someone who exposed corruption” – it brings to my mind the disastrous “Great Leap Forward” and “Cultural Revolution”);
     -   a friendly start to the third summit between North and South Korea, aimed at advancing faltering nuclear talks and officially ending the Korean War (see also here), which has led to a conditional promise from North Korea to dismantle a nuclear complex “if the USA takes reciprocal action”, and an indication from the USA that it is “ready” to restart negotiations – see also here;
     -   right wing extremists on social media;
     -   two guards at an Australian immigration detention facility have been accused of sexual assault – with questions over the investigation(s);
       this week’s atrocity alert at R2P lists   South Sudan, Burundi and burma;
• With regard to democracy (which can be measured [as can goodness],     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” (i.e., CEO)  below
     analyses, research and commentary this week include:
     -   an excellent critique of the misuse of the word “leadership” in Australia’s recent political kerfuffle – and see also this follow up article;     against the background of a ludicrous stereotype that the dole pays beach bums to stay out of work when it most likely goes to middle age parents and a laughable $2/hr increase to the dole, the pros and cons of working for the dole;     a criticism of pharmaceutical companies;     an examination of racism in DVOs;
     of concern internationally this week:
     -   the inventor currently being sued for defamation is also reportedly anti-union (given what he has achieved, it this is a shame – did pressure get to him?);     thousands of public housing tenants in New Zealand will receive millions of dollars in compensation and an apology from the government for being wrongly evicted after incorrect meth testing of their homes (a “ ‘conservative and risk-adverse approach’ taken by HNZ was proved overzealous and unnecessary in a report by the country’s chief science adviser [and] the threshold for detecting meth was so low that in some cases, tenants were evicted as a result of the drug use of previous tenants);    a right wing politician in France has been ordered by a court to undergo psychiatric testing to see if she understood what she doing when tweeting offensive images . . . (I dislike the politician, but that order is a bit stunning . . . );
     of concern in Australia this week:
     -   in a “world-first examination of child protection reports, Australia's systems [have been] shown to be in meltdown amid unprecedented levels of child abuse and neglect”;     managed water allocations mean agriculture in water-rich area is water-short . . . ;     concerns that Australian prosecutors “sat on evidence for three years before charging former spy Witness K and his lawyer . . . to avoid a diplomatic incident between Timor-Leste and Australia during recently completed talks on their maritime boundary, which split up lucrative oil and gas reserves”;     “an anti-gun group has accused the firearms lobby of hacking its [social media] account” - which it “stopped using . . . some time ago due to ongoing harassment from the gun lobby” . . . “this is just another dirty tactic by the gun lobby to suppress the voice of concerned Australians who are proud of Australia’s gun laws and don’t want to see Australia become like America”;     ethical and abuse of power matters this week include ongoing concerns about the Home Minister’s use of his optional intervention powers, the failure to track and enforce obligations on government and military figures taking what are – or in effect are – aid lobbying positions, and a possible conflict of interest in the director of the Great Barrier Reef Marina Park Authority;     in a week when a female formerly Foreign Minister neoliberal MP (and a notorious former neoliberal PM) declares low numbers of women in the parliamentary neoliberal party unacceptable, another female neoliberal MP quits over her (strongly disputed) claims of bullying, a crucial crossbench MP reconsiders her support for government “unless it immediately resolves complaints of bullying and intimidation” and a “businesswoman who accused an MP sexually harassing her . . . hopes her experience will improve the way all political parties deal with complaints of sexual harassment” (the Prime Minister has called for a ‘rigorous and confidential’ process to do this), an opinion is expressed that “Liberal women should insist on quotas within the party, because they work”, and another article points out that, as yet, no-one has asked the new male leaders (who have small children) “how are you going to manage it all?”;     an Aboriginal man is facing deportation to PNG;     as “Aboriginal leaders make statements from the heart. Liberal leaders make statements from white supremacy”, a call for proper debate;
     also of concern this week:
     -   other concerning events have occurred or are developing in:   Mexico,   Australia;
     good news this week includes:
     -   a call to lower the voting age (I concur);
     -   other good news has occurred:   Australia (boost to Indigenous court),   Australia (recommendation for ban of ivory trade);
     and democracy/governance/political matters in my home nation this week:
     on the Royal Commission into banks, and similar matters:
     -   a financial company has admitted it charged thousands of dead people for life insurance . . . ;     more on insurance misbehaviour;
     on other matters:
     -   our economy is moving towards wages growth, but only because of growth (we have to get off that flawed model);     900,000 Australians have opted out of the Federal government’s controversial online health records system;     a Royal Commission into aged care, which has revealed to be a disgrace by multiple competent investigations, has been announced – but many can’t wait for another two years (the removal of nurse ratios has quite evidently been a failure: reinstitute them) -and a Senator has broken down “as he pleads for [an] inquiry into disability care”, as one into the preventable death of a pregnant Indigenous woman gets under way;     most young Australians “have little to do with organised religion in their personal lives, while a significant proportion are interested in different ways of being spiritual. Migration, diversity, secularisation and a burgeoning spiritual marketplace challenge the notion that we are a ‘christian’ country”;
     -   other events relating to my home nation have occurred or are developing in:   Malaysia (criminals using visa laws);
• With regard to the USA (which has some … “unique” characteristics that don’t exist elsewhere in the world)    and their BULLYING 45^th “President” (i.e. CEO  or POTUS45) (who is dangerous – see here on actions for US residents [and the useful principles]) this week (I avoid using the 45^th US President’s name for psychic reasons – I may use “Voldemort II” as an alias – and the VP is at least as bad):
     -   “a US Border Patrol supervisor [has been charged] with murder following what they called a two-week serial killing spree” (it is good that he has been charge, and this is only one person out of many, but I would expect this to raise more doubts about the USA’s already notorious border enforcement);
     -   the truth-lies divide in the USA;
     -   POTUS45 has stuck up for his controversial candidate for the US Supreme Court - who “shows how political power determines justice” (the article contains a comparison to the events around nominee Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill) and has been criticised for allegedly perjuring himself and for attempting to “politicise the judiciary” - ahead of public hearings on an alleged sexual assault - see also here and here;
     -   an assessment of the possibility that the US state of Alaska can “move beyond big oil”;
     -   as POTUS 45 “escalates his attacks on [the] Attorney-General”, the special Prosecutor’s investigation into Russian interference in the USA’s 2016 Presidential election has been jailing people, “but not for collusion”. Also, in “a highly unusual move”, POTUS45 has resorted to ordering “the release of classified documents as part of his effort to discredit the inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 election and potential links with his campaign team”;
     -   POTUS45 has shown his cluelessness on geography by suggesting Spain “manages” refugees by building “a wall across the Sahara” – despite Spain holding “only two small enclaves in north Africa”, stating “the Sahara border [which is 3,000 miles] can’t be bigger than our border with Mexico” [which is 2,000 miles];
• 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 7 attacks in Iraq and 5 attacks in Afghanistan   (out of a total of 28),   including   Mexico,   Iran;
     -   “a Muslim American who says he was tortured at the behest of US anti-terrorism officials can sue the government for placing him on the ‘no-fly list’ ”;
• With regard to refugees (noting the New York Declaration) and people seeking asylum:
     -   another stupid – and dangerous – suggestions for refugees entering Europe from far right wing nations;
• 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]):
     -   another article on the link between domestic violence and animal abuse;     “a UK university will atone for profits gained from historical slavery”;     an organisation helping survivors of torture has now completed its 25^th year of operation;
     -   in addition to opportunities below on child abuse and human trafficking, general opportunities to take action on human rights here, and, this week,   here;
     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 critique of a sporting body’s incompetent attempt to develop a gender diversity policy;     an explanation of the term cisgender;
     on white supremacist and other forms of RACISM / CULTURAL DISCRIMINATION and Indigenous matters generally this week:
     -   dozens of groups have pleaded for action on indigenous Australian in prison;     Aboriginal heritage is being preserved through video games;
     -   other white supremacy / racism problems have also occurred in:   Australia (boost to Indigenous court);
     on TRAFFICKING, and CHILDREN’s and associated human rights this week:
     -   one Australian christian church is horrified that the compensation framework of Australia’s neoliberal government will give survivors less money than the Royal Commission recommended;     “churches are still failing to take children's claims of abuse seriously”;
     -   also on child abuse, including neochristian and other institutional, this week:   UK;
     -   also on slavery / human trafficking this week:   UK,   Nigeria,   Scotland;
     -   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;
     on SEXISM this week (keeping in mind the overblown influence given to testosterone):
     -   an article on one of the flaws in Morocco’s new anti-sexism law: forced marriage;     the story of a woman who was trafficked at seven and is now “an inspiring UN advocate”;     a member of Saudi royalty has been abusing domestic workers while living in the USA;     “let's stop pretending working mothers are getting a fair go”;     a call to recognise dowry abuse as domestic violence;     for women to have equity in super “men must pull their weight in childcare” to even up lifetime earnings;     “of course girls feel miserable. They can’t move freely in the world Yet another survey tells us fewer girls are happy or confident. Let’s be honest – in the end, this is down to male violence” (that could and should be more clearly expressed, as not all men are violent);
     -   on sexual harassment/misconduct/violence this week, see:   China (against men),   McDonalds,   USA (doctor);
     -   other sexism matters have also occurred in:   here (DV),   here,   Lebanon,   here;
     on RELIGIOUS rights this week:
     -   the US government claims to be protecting (neochristian?) religious freedom;
     on WORKERS’ rights this week:
     -   some employers are treating employees well;     Bangladeshi workers tell global brands to pay more for clothes;
     on ANIMALS’ rights this week:
     -   Japan has been stopped from commercial whaling – but may leave the International Whaling Commission (if Japan stays in the IWC, it is subjected to some control: if it leaves, other nations will need to be prepared to impose sanctions [the arguments about traditional are farcical, in my view – did Japanese vessels hundreds of years ago leave the insular land of the rising Sun and go to the Antarctic Ocean to hunt whales and take the meat back? If not, then stop lying about that form of hunting being traditional – some traditional hunting may have happened around Japan itself, but stick to that, not lies);     animal cruelty in a public park, with baited food;     more animal cruelty against native Australian animals has been revealed on social media;
     on PRIVACY, AGED, DIFFERENTLY ABLED, AND OTHER forms of human (and other – e.g., ANIMAL) rights this week:
     -   a Royal Commission into aged care in my nation has been announced, with advocates expecting “appalling cases of mistreatment to surface” (I know people who work in that industry, and have had some exposure to it myself [e.g., through a grandmother, and when we were organising a place for my father]: it has room for improvement, partly because of the profit motive [which frustrates many in the industry who want to do good, and partly because of the neoliberal influence which is crippling it);     more attacks by dogs have reignited the ban breeds debate, with calls for more training (which I support provided the training is of the owners);
• With regard to war, violence and hate generally:
     -   a call for the USA to admit the vulnerability of its land-based missile silos and refocus its strategy on less-expensive deterrence;     “gun violence in the USA is a human rights crisis”;     “the overall murder rate in South Africa is very high, [but] the level of killing is lower than in all the conflict-affected countries considered here, even without taking into account non-conflict related murders in those countries . . . [but] several precincts have a murder rate higher than . . . most of the war zones”;
• With regard to natural and other catastrophes:
     -   the worst cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe in a decade;     preparing for disasters;     Tropical Cyclone (aka “Hurricane”) Florence has been devastating and deadly in parts of the USA, and Typhoon Mangkhut has killed scores and caused devastation – including ongoing landslides – in the Philippines and southern China;
• With regard to overcrowding and “modern” lifestyle issues     (such as conflict  minerals,     environmental harm and child labour in smart phones,     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 (our World War III?) and other environmental matters this week:
     -   as trees can promote rain, a suggestion to consider reforestation as a way of countering or preventing drought;     a coal mine has been ordered to repair a creek that it damaged and drained;     a controversial coal mine’s plan to take 12.5 billion litres of water from a river in a drought-stricken Australian state is a step closer after the Federal Government decided the project did not need a full environmental impact assessment . . . ;     “concerns are being raised about the [financial] viability of what has been billed as Australia's first commercial wave farm”;     “emissions reduction targets, even relatively ambitious ones, will not drive up power prices for Australian consumers”;     ongoing health problems for a suburb following a fire in a warehouse with illegally stored chemicals in my home city;     the heroes of the low carbon economy;
     -   other environmental matters have occurred in:   Guatemala,   Tibet;
     on technology and science matters this week:
     -   an Australian state will “review [it's] moratorium on genetically modified crops”;     Google may start to catch up with Mozilla on URLs (the article is a good overview of the ins and outs);     meal delivery drivers are stifling businesses;
     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?):
     -   an outreach service is helping to keep people off the streets;     a timely reminder to consider the structural elements of shipping containers when converting them to home (although the article is a bit alarmist, and overplays minor price differences);     mortgage stress is surging in Australia;
     on health and medical this week:
     -   a perspective on cancer (“not a 'battle', it's just part of me”);     the crazy pressures put on people dealing with cancer by well-meaning but dangerously ignorant people;     an urgent warning of silicosis problems has been issued to the engineered stone benchtop industry;     “common antidepressants could fuel the rise of superbugs”;     the problem of well-meaning measures that put the burden of opening up on people with mental health issues, with excellent, evidence-based suggestions on what to do;
     on other matters in the category this week:
     -   spectator abuse (including an assault of the players sister) has led to one professional sports player leaving;
     -   other events have occurred or are developing in:   allegedly irresponsible driver;
• 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 … ):
     -   balancing the benefits of investigative reporting against prejudicing trials;
• With regard to education:
     -   concerns that poor quality students are being admitted to teaching courses;     as an increase in sexual assault and harassment reports at an Australian University is attributed to increased awareness, “End Rape on Campus” has called “for more clarity around data”;     a convicted scammer is continuing to rip off vulnerable students;     a new funding model will give more money to religious schools in Australia – se also here (and at what point do religious schools tell their students discrimination against women, LGBT people and others is illegal? When do they deal with child abuse? This is public money!);
• 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):
     -   “the authority of [my home state’s Indigenous] court [has] received a boost . .  following a Supreme Court decision that a magistrate acted unlawfully in refusing a young Aboriginal man’s request to be sentenced by the Koori court in a nearby town”;     “the winner of the inaugural National Police Bravery Award is calling for more to be done to combat post-traumatic stress disorder among police officers”(which I endorse as, apart from the human need, unsupported and/or traumatised officers are more likely to be unprofessional in their conduct, and thus either ineffective or actively harmful);     reported crime in my home state “is down, but the reporting of sex crimes continues to increase” –possibly in response to new crimes and social media campaigns;     a former US police commander who tortured more than 100 suspects, mostly black men, from 1972 to 1991, in order to secure confessions (he was never prosecuted but was fired in 1993 and sentenced to prison in 2011 for lying in a civil case about his actions after the statute of limitations had expired) has died (if died unrepentant he will have to learn next live not to abuse power. In the meantime, what systemic, cultural or lack of support problems led to the pressure to get confessions this way?);     an appalling incident of sabotage of fresh produce has led to copycat incidents, preventative measures by growers and governments (but also job losses), removal of the contaminating items from sale, and consumers banding together to support growers;    “sniffer dogs at music festivals is almost completely ineffective . . .and could place them at greater risk of harm”;     “the problem with telling grown women that they need to adopt certain habits and behaviours in order to make themselves more safe is that you’re not telling them anything they don’t already know, and haven’t already known since they were old enough to understand the concept of stranger danger” – it blames the victim and deflects from focusing on men’s behaviour;
    -      other crime, judicial and policing matters have occurred in:   Australia.

Location based News:

• With regard to South and Central America:
     -   a video on reforestation, in Guatemala;
     -   “Mexicans have reacted with outrage after authorities . . . left a trailer full of decomposing corpses on the outskirts of Mexico’s second-largest city following a wave of violence which overwhelmed local morgues”;
     -   Venezuela’s President has been criticised for a lavish dinner as people in his nation starve;
• 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     (and 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:
     -   China is starting to go through the 1960s exploration of a softer, less toxic form of masculinity – and it is not coping too well . . . (mind you, neither did the West);     “the struggles of reporting on China's secret Uighur ‘re-education camps’ ”;     Chinese tourists in Sweden – and their nation – appear to be milking a non-violent police action;
     elsewhere in Asia:
     -   Cambodia has pardoned and deported an Australian journalist after he was convicted on ludicrous spying charges;
     -   an examination of the details of Anwar Ibrahim’s probable return to Malaysian politics;     a controversial former Malaysian Prime Minister has been arrested (again) and subjected to additional charges for abuse of power;
     and in the Pacific:
     -   “Australian soldiers could soon begin regular military rotations to Papua New Guinea as anxiety over China's growing influence in the Pacific region continues to rise”;
• With regard to Europe and the European Union (EU) (which need to step up, as the USA steps down):
     -   Europe’s home grown extreme right wingers;
     -   political pressure to sack Germany's domestic intelligence chief over his doubts about attacks on foreigners by right wingers;
• 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 to same (see also elsewhere):
     Russia:
     -   as more people fall ill in the UK near the site of the recent nerve agent attack, poisoning of a member in a Russian band which opposes Putin is “ ‘highly plausible based on symptoms”;     “Russian election officials have called for the result of a gubernatorial ballot in the country’s far east to be annulled because of widespread voter fraud, in the first decision of its kind in more than a decade”;
• With regard to South Asia (aka the Indian sub-continent), The Hindu and other sources have:
     on India:
     -   the colonial origins of homophobia in India, and “how Australia's Justice Michael Kirby helped India's first openly gay prince” overcome the same sex ban;     India’s law has caught up with another part of late 20^th Century family law;     despite “manual scavenging” (“cleaning human waste from latrines and unclogging overflowing sewers”) being outlawed for two decades, a Dalit man has died while doing so with utterly inadequate protection equipment (he had a rope around his waist: in the West, this would involve a harness and tripod with two people above ground, and instruments checking for dangerous gases before and during the work). This highlight’s India’s ongoing struggle for enough and adequate jobs (“a crowdfunding campaign has raised more than $100,000 for the family”) as well as the safety and enforcement problems;     the armyworm problem;     controversy over a decision to buy jet fighters from France;
     on Pakistan:
     -   “Pakistan's former Prime Minister has been released from prison (after a court suspended his and his daughter’s sentences), two months after he began a 10-year jail sentence for corruption . . . shortly before July's general election”;
• 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:
     -   a Palestinian actor has been barred from Egypt;     Russia has criticised US actions against on Palestinians;     Israel will withhold Palestinian salaries to the amount paid to a Palestinian who murdered an Israeli man;     JK Rowling has made another stand against anti-Semitism;     extremism on both sides of the BDS issue at a US University;
     -   other violent incidents this week include:   here and here;
     on the conflict and the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis in Yemen:
     -   Yemen’s bleak humanitarian situation;     petrol has become so rare it is being stolen by gunmen in one Yemeni city;
     on Syria (where the Assad Dictatorship has lost all pretence of legitimacy, and partition is needed):
     -   a Russian military plane has been shot  down, possibly by forces of Syria’s Assad dictatorship;     Russia and Turkey have “agreed . . . to create a demilitarized zone in Idlib province between the Syrian opposition and areas under the Assad's regime control . . . [which] . . . seems to save the region [where people are still wary of Russia] from a military assault and averts what was expected to be a humanitarian disaster”;     refugee Syrian girls in Turkey are trying to get an education while they are there;
     elsewhere in the region:
     -   cholera in Algeria;
     -   more belligerence from Iran in response to US threats;
     -   drought in Iraq.

Other News:

• Clydesdales (my favourite horse) have been helping residents of a nursing home.

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 [see Psychic Weather Report]. 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.