Post No. 1,224 – Gnwmythr’s News Ed. No. 235

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 and the search for humans rights abusers continues, the risks of mass atrocities in   Yemen, Central African Republic and Human Rights Council Elections, 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,     growing recognition of the harm done by neoliberalism;     a reminder that “moral heroes” can be found in surprising places;    a reminder that simple expectations of unity or accord may not reflect reality;    patchiness in news coverage, as journalists continue to be assaulted, intimidated, and killed - one very much at the centre of public attention – and campaigns are launched to address this;    concerns that a possible superhuman breed created by DNA editing could wipe out the rest of humanity;    dirty, unethical politics;    a call for consumers to be ethical – which could be extended to citizens, and former (and current) soldiers;    the need to manage conflict minerals is still present, as is the need for better investment;    climate change and environmental degradation remain problems;    some belated attempts to prevent future abuses have been implemented;    xenophobia and other fears remain active;    history is not being learned from;

(e)   may all people recognise the importance of accurate information, and facilitate access to same;

(f)   may all people learn from history, and put the long term gain of all ahead of petty personal predilections;

(g)   may people never pre-judge others;

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;     as an article reports that “Britain fell for a neoliberal con trick – even the IMF says so” (“Britain’s finances are weaker than all other nations except Portugal, and says privatisation is to blame” – and other problems are outlined), a former governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia has said that neoliberalism – with a pursuit of “low-tax road to jobs and growth despite lack of evidence” – “has caused ‘misery and division’ “;     a Japanese “moral hero” who defied his government to save tens of thousands of Jews during World War part Two;
     on the Rohingya  genocide this week:
     -   Rohingya girls are being sold into slavery;     the complexity of responses from the Muslim world;
     on other matters requiring particular attention:
     -   sadly, this week, I found nothing in the news on   Ukraine;
     -   “the late physicist and author Prof Stephen Hawking has caused controversy by suggesting a new race of superhumans could develop from wealthy people choosing to edit their and their children’s DNA . . . that could destroy the rest of humanity”;
     -   appalling homophobic fake news abuse of a lesbian candidate;     “Israeli technology firms are selling spyware to countries with poor human rights records, who then use it to crack down on political, religious, and sexual minorities”;     how neo-nazis use the Internet;     as China tries to defend its re-education camps, a Chinese airport now “allows” facial recognition for checking in . . . ;     a major technology company might agree to a censored search app in order to return to China . . . ;     “authority creep” has resulted in more than 22 agencies now accessing metadata;     a “Russian woman [has been] charged with interference in US midterm elections”;
     -   a call for consumers to be ethical;
     -   as the USA’s (racist, lying, dishonourable, autocratic, dangerous, obnoxious, and misogynistic) 45^th “President” (i.e., CEO) defends Saudi Arabia then blames rogue elements (Saudi Arabia is reportedly considering blaming a “top intelligence official” . . . or a fight . . . and a possible change in royal succession) before a backflip (and, amidst all this, also endorses a physical assault on another journalist), the rest of the world moves towards at least imposing sanctions for the gruesome murder of a disappeared Saudi Arabian journalist (whose last column, on media intimidation, was published posthumously) . . . and the US will attend a Saudi security conference that the rest of the world has pulled out of . . . see also this (“this is called foreign policy realism, namely the belief that nations should act in their own interests regardless of moral considerations”) and this (on the “selective outrage”) and this analysis of the abuse of diplomatic privileges;
     -   allegations that former US soldiers have been hired as mercenaries to commit assassinations;     how the USA selected other nations to be complicit in its abduction and torture (aka “extraordinary rendition”) programme;
     -   conflict gold has been tracked from the DR Congo to Europe and the USA;     the connection between war and disease (this gets into something that annoys me in Western reporting on Yemen: deaths from war-caused famine are clearly part of the death toll in the war, so why isn’t it counted and reported as such??!!!);
     -   now that the war in Colombia has finished, there is a need to invest to overcome the poverty and inequality that led to it;
     -   climate change is forcing Cambodian farmers into brickmaking slavery;     an utterly moronic idea to replace streetlights in a Chinese city with “an artificial moon” – which will be a devastating increase in light pollution;     we will have more than two billion extra people by the year 2050CE – see also here;
     -   South Korea has exercised its xenophobia and denied refugee status to Yemeni refugees;
     -   as a campaign against a University’s proposed, conservative-funded course on “Western civilisation” (recently renamed) escalates, a critique of the breadth of a key part of that history, showing left and right were BOTH part of it, argues “perhaps history serves us better when it is able to contest, not confirm our certainties”;
     -   a global register has been set up to keep criminals (and, I hope, abusers) out of the international aid sector;
       this week’s atrocity alert at R2P lists   Yemen, Central African Republic and Human Rights Council Elections;
• 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:
     -   a weekly email I subscribe to includes a graph showing that greater gender equality is associated with greater political stability;     a call for politics to be about more than just looking busy;     a call for an alternative form of participatory democracy called “sortition”, where some MPs are chosen randomly, along the lines of selecting jurors (not the final selection in court);     the global extent of democracy is shrinking;     an interesting critique of US President Obama and his (probably main) speechwriter, Ben Rhodes, through the lens of the latter’s memoir, with a focus on foreign affairs, and the need of the US left to have a narrative on that, such as this;     a call for civil resistance to foreign meddling;
     of concern in my nation (Australia) this week:
     -   after Australia’s neoliberal, evangelical  zealot prime minister made quick and silly decision – despite, allegedly (it has been denied), a warning from ASIO - to reverse our stance and move our Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, he discovered that the Jewish people he was courting in a byelection don’t all think alike and some oppose the announced move (and likewise for the other voters there), and he also upset Indonesia (and a imperilled a possible trade deal), Palestinians and experts;     controversy over changes (allegedly to protect commercial interests, but there may have been valid criticism of the downplaying of regional benefits) to an Auditor-General report which is critical of an arms purchase (some of the controversy is over alleged lack of precedent, but that does exist);     poverty remains part of Australian life “despite 27 years of uninterrupted economic growth” (although widely accepted, the use of a statistical basis for poverty, rather than determining an actual amount required to survive, will limit acceptance of this – and, mathematically speaking, this measure (a) can only be achieved by stripping the wealth of the ultra-rich, and (b) could be achieved by cutting upper incomes without making lifer better for those on lower incomes);    food insecurity in Australia;     how Australia’s quarter century of constant growth destroyed housing affordability;     an admission by an executive that “executive salaries are too high across the whole of corporate Australia”;
     also of concern this week:
     -   other concerning events have occurred or are developing in:   Pacific Islands (marine drug trafficking),   Germany,   Hong Kong,   Cameroon,   Mozambique,   Comoros Islands;
     in the grey/mixed [good and bad aspects] or neutral area this week:
     -   the mother of a child who was murdered while in state care has commenced legal action;
     good news this week includes:
     -   some of US Senator Bernie Sanders’ former Presidential campaign team will be speaking in my nation;     “how New Zealand is trying to take on child poverty”;     as governance gets tougher, actions being taken by companies to improve their performance on environment and human rights, and sustainability;     “one emerging alternative to corporate self-regulation is worker-driven social responsibility, which aims to give workers a central voice in determining and monitoring their own working conditions” - see also here, on using something like that to counter fraud in banks;     despite US threats of vengeance, “146 out of 193 member states [voted] to affirm Palestine as the new [chair] of the 134-member Group of 77, the largest single coalition of developing countries at the United Nations”;
     -   other good news has occurred:   Germany;
     on development (in an “end poverty/thirst/hunger” sense):
     -   an address on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty;     a critique of evidence around the benefits of “Development Finance Institutions” over private industry;     an Eminent Persons Group set up by the Finance Ministers of the G20 has delivered a set of “22 recommendations which, if fully implemented, could result in a substantial improvement in the effectiveness and impact of the international financial institutions”;     foreign income for workers helps overcome poverty, but not economic growth;     a warning that “the potential benefits to developing countries of digital technologies are likely to be lost to a small number of successful first movers who have established digital monopolies”;     the “Journey to Self-Reliance” project;
     and democracy/governance/political matters in my home nation this week:
     -   an opinion that the biggest functional block of Australia’s neoliberal government is its denial of climate change;     an imminent byelection – which will not change the governing party - is “a vote on the Liberal party’s lurch to the right”;     how my home city may handle population growth as yet another speculation is published on why people are leaving rural areas (here’s something that has only been published many, many times: jobs, and regional small-mindedness [aka bigotry] . . . I’ve read such articles all my life, and know why I moved from a regional centre – and the many others I have spoken to over the years) and an article pointing out that history shows trying to force people to regional areas doesn’t work;     after a bipartisan agreement had been reached on banning foreign political donations, Australia’s neoliberal government has tried to insert a backdoor to get around the ban;     the absurdity of penalising “low-skilled unemployed who are already doing it tough”;     complaints associated with the compromised NBN continue to rise;     a young conservative party “has expelled one member and suspended two others after revelations the group had been infiltrated by members of Australia’s [neo-nazi] movement”;     “the exhaustion of caring is always in my bones”;
• 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):
     -   concerns about the impact of the new US Supreme Court justice - see also here;
     -   the USA will now pull out of a low cost postal delivery service which “it sees as unfairly advantageous to China” . . . ;
     -   a US Senator has claimed Native American heritage – which has been criticised (fairly) by Native Americans and (viciously) by Voldemort II, and suggests she will run for President;
     -   other matters relating to the USA or its 45^th “President” (i.e., CEO):   vandalism;
• 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 10 attacks in Iraq, 14 attacks in Afghanistan,   and   2 attacks in Syria   (out of a total of 51);
     -   concerns over “the release from jail of one of [the UK’s] most notorious hate preachers”;
• With regard to refugees (noting the New York Declaration) and people seeking asylum:
     -   as Australia’s neoliberal government tries to coerce agreement on a pre-condition from the opposition (who will make medical transfers easier, and based more on medical advice, if elected) before allowing refugees to be transferred from Australia’s refugee gulag on Nauru – which has arrested an Australian doctor - to New Zealand, revelations that some Liberal MPs also want children and families out of the Nauru gulag, medical staff on Christmas Island were also deeply distressed (and the key doctor pushing for resolution of the Nauru crisis is interviewed), and a legal case has been commenced against Australia;     a family being deported from the UK to Australia has refused to board the flight over medical concerns;
     -   other refugee-related matters have also occurred in:   Libya/Niger,   Europe;
• 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]):
     -   in addition to opportunities below on child abuse and human trafficking, general opportunities to take action on human rights here, and, this week,   Sudan,   Indonesia,   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):
     -   illegal secret “gay conversion” abuse;     as both the opposition and the Liberal Senator who was “the architect of the marriage equality legislation that passed the Australian parliament in 2017” call for “discrimination law protections to be extended to LGBTI teachers at religious schools”, and warning is made that neochristians have “a long list of sinners it wants to punish” (the list also includes “open adulterers, the unchaste generally, men or women in de facto relationships and unrepentant single mothers”), the next part of the gay-bashing-in-religious-schools saga is that some opposition Senators want “the ethos” of those religious schools preserved (which is impractical, counter to the proposed protection given that gay bashing is a key part of that ethos [there are other aspects, which are not threatened by the protection of LGBT people, so why is this being raised?], and downright STUPID;     same sex penguins;
     on white supremacist and other forms of RACISM / CULTURAL DISCRIMINATION and Indigenous matters generally this week:
     -   a week when a call is made to the apology for the Stolen Generations as “an urgent jolt to conscience”, a former Liberal Indigenous Affairs (and Social Security) Minister launches  “a scathing attack on the government’s controversial remote work for the dole scheme, calling it a ‘national disgrace’ [“based on ‘a denial of the facts’ ”] that is causing real suffering in remote Aboriginal communities”, and “Australia's largest native title settlement, worth about $1.3 billion, has been officially accepted for registration, more than three years after a deal was struck to resolve claims in the state's South West” is topped by a motion using the racist phrasing that “it is OK to be white” being rejected, but only after the government “accidentally” voted for it . . . ;     an examination of feminism – see also here;
     on TRAFFICKING, and CHILDREN’s and associated human rights this week:
     -   “the CEO of a US-backed academy in Liberia has temporarily resigned after a report found that dozens of girls were allegedly raped by an employee” (warning: disturbing evidence);     with male slaves sleeping on the streets, drug addicts coerced into crime, and slavery in hotels, a call for the UK to reform its anti-slavery law;    a call for cyber-patrols to combat selling babies on the Internet;     Hong Kong has suppressed a warning to banks over trafficking and money laundering;
     -   also on child abuse, including institutional, this week:   Mexico,   India;
     -   also on slavery / human trafficking this week:   India,   Mexico,   UK (good news);
     -   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):
     -   as domestic violence perpetrators use apps to stalk their victims (and a call is made for teaching financial capability to help women leave such situations), the return of women to work after childcare is “discouraged” by financial aspects, and it is revealed that governments and companies can do more to get more women into construction, a male sports star teaches his son it is OK to cry, abortion is finally decriminalised in one of Australia’s most backward states (which has an insanely vicious and violent history on this matter), an article on “gaslighting” (when someone manipulates you into questioning and second-guessing your reality) finds that an apology from a confronted perpetrator is of less importance than reclaiming control of one’s own narrative – “to know what you know and feel what you feel does not require outside validation”, and a UK enquiry into “whether offences driven by misogyny . . . should be treated as hate crimes” is broadened to encompass misandry (hostility towards men) and may be extended in the future to include ageism and hatred of certain alternative cultures (such as Goths or punks);     so-called “virginity testing” has been condemned as an unscientific abuse of human rights;
     -   on sexual harassment/misconduct/violence this week, see:   here,   India,   Israel,   Indian newsrooms;
     on RELIGIOUS rights this week:
     -   religious hate crimes in the UK have surged by 40%;
     on WORKERS’ rights this week:
     -   $1.6 million in back pay;
     on ANIMALS’ rights this week:
     -   this week has seen revelations on sales of horse racing's also-rans, a call for consumers to look for free range meat (isn’t that organic?), an animal abuser’s sentence increased, and further development of lab-grown meat (that actually tastes like meat);
     on PRIVACY, AGED, DIFFERENTLY ABLED, AND OTHER forms of human (and other – e.g., ANIMAL) rights this week:
     -   as financial problems increase among the elderly, this week sees appalling abuse of female prisoners with disabilities in my home state, a nursing home in my nation “too understaffed to feed its residents”, and a mental health scandal in South Africa where cost cutting led to the deaths of “nearly one in 10” of 1,700 “vulnerable and mentally ill people”;
• With regard to war, violence and hate generally:
     -   a gun and bomb attack by one person in Crimea has killed at least 19 people and wounded 40;     as a major international sporting event for wounded veterans is held, a questioning of the involvement of the arms manufacturers who are responsible for their wounding;     a man – possibly a misogynist – who committed multiple violent road rage attacks has been found guilty;     a hunter in France has been charged with “aggravated manslaughter” after shooting and killing a brightly identified cyclist;
• With regard to peace:
     -   events concerning peace have occurred or are developing in:   Liberia
• With regard to natural and other catastrophes:
     -   flash floods and landslides in Indonesia have killed at least 27;     a train has killed scores of people celebrating a festival;
• 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 Lebanon continues to have a waste disposal problem, a development is allowed in world heritage area against expert advice, a scientific report critical of a Crown of Thorns programme is altered, dairy farmers are hit by a drought, and “humanity’s ongoing annihilation of wildlife is cutting down the tree of life, including the branch we are sitting on”, one West Australian island is being restored to a re-European condition, sugar mills enhance their use of renewable fuel, some reassurance over bees and pollination, a reminder that “the future hasn’t already been decided”, and a high-level international commission is aiming “to rebuild the political will to act that was damaged when [POTUS45] rejected the global Paris agreement”, and thereby to do more to “protect people from the heatwaves, storms and floods being supercharged by climate change”;     “Australia’s chief scientist says the question facing the nation’s energy future is not about renewables versus coal but how best to create “a whole-of-economy emissions reduction strategy”;
     on technology and science matters this week:
     -   a call to fight current distractedness by learning to concentrate again;
     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 review of the history of Australia’s housing boom and imminent bust;
     on health and medical this week:
     -   an opinion that the review of the mental health sector by Australia’s Productivity Commission may be more effective at causing change because it also looks at broader impacts;     a funding boost for youth mental health;
• 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 US Treasury official has been arrested for allegedly  leaking information on the enquiry into Russian interference in the US Presidential election of 2016 – see also here (there is a balance between confidentiality and transparency, but whistleblowers  such as the second case, where action was taken because bigotry was biasing action -  need to be protected. I don’t know the details of the first case [could, for instance, the internal objections channel have been effective? Was it – IF it happened as alleged – motivated by concern or malice], but I hope the broader implications will be considered properly . . . possibly not, given the second);     “there are now three vacant positions at the top of the ABC as the public broadcaster faces four separate inquiries” - with a call for at least one to get the bottom of the political pressure allegedly exerted;     an awareness campaign to fight the murders of journalists – on average, one every four days;     an opinion that Murdoch has so much power his network is effectively a monopoly;
• 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):
     -   bullying in the legal system;     a police officer has died by suicide in Australia, and another attempted to do so twice while being “coercively examined” during a police misconduct investigation – leading to recommendations on witness welfare;     more allegations that a police officer interfered with a witness’ evidence in a very public case against a celebrity;     more concerns over a police killing of an unarmed autistic man;     a police officer has been praised for puling an ice addict off a child;
    -      other crime, judicial and policing matters have occurred in:   Pacific Islands (marine drug trafficking).

Location based News:

• With regard to Africa, the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (and other sources) has:
      on Africa generally:
     -   a video on understanding local perspectives on peace in the Sahel;
     -   “Africa must increase spending on health care, education and modern contraception”;
     -   the challenges of managing water along the Nile;     a conference on climate change – which is “a matter of life and death for Africa”;
     on specific African nations:
     -   tensions are growing between Angola and the DR Congo over the violent expulsion of refugees;
     -   allegations of a near assassination in Ethiopia;
     -   “the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace campaign”;
     -   “amid increasingly violent clashes between rival armed groups in Libya . . . the UN refugee agency has successfully airlifted 135 migrants and refugees to safety in Niger”;
     -   an airstrike in Somalia is claimed to have killed scores of violent extremists;
     -   South Africa’s economic slump is also harming neighbouring nations;
     -   calls for the hundreds of people who have been abducted and abused in South Sudan to be released;
     -   divisions in Zimbabwe over the President’s alleged involvement in massacres during the 1980s;
• With regard to South and Central America:
     -   “Ecuador has laid out a stringent new set of house rules for Julian Assange” (some of these were already in place, I thought);
     -   the challenges facing Mexico;
• 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):
     elsewhere in Asia:
     -   “high-profile Vietnamese blogger ‘Mother Mushroom’ has been released from prison and is en route to the United States”;
     and in the Pacific:
     -   marine drug trafficking is “devastating” Pacific Island nations;     an Australian company is trying to open a coal-fired power station in PNG;
• With regard to Europe and the European Union (EU) (which need to step up, as the USA steps down):
     -   against the background of a large march against right wing extremism, conservatives are doing poorly in a German election, but far-right extremists are gaining;
• 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:
     -   Russia has been building its nuclear weapons stockpile in its Baltic enclave Kaliningrad;
• With regard to the conflict in Afghanistan (noting that Afghanistan was once a peaceful and modern society, even allowing women in miniskirts, before the Russian invasion – see here):
     -   an existential crisis as violent extremists – who the USA have secretly met with - have assassinated two key officials;     Afghanis are – bravely – voting;
• With regard to South Asia (aka the Indian sub-continent), The Hindu and other sources have:
     on India:
     -   right wing protestors have violently blocked women from accessing a temple, as ordered by that nation’s courts;     a backlash in the courts against India’s MeToo - see also here;     violence has flared over alleged molestation of a tribal girl;     an interview hints at possible improvements in political attitudes (arising from the involvement of younger voters);     a call for India’s government to “revisit the pages of Kashmir’s political history and avoid its maximalist approach for short-term gains”;     an inadequate supply of suitable equipment is resulting in farmers continuing to burn stubble – despite fines for doing so;
     on Pakistan:
     -   an examination of why Pakistan has repeated macroeconomic crises;
• With regard to West Asia (aka “the Middle East”) and Northern Africa, the Middle East Eye, the Times of Israel, and other sources have:
     -   “restoring [the] prospect of peace in [West Asia] is ‘our shared responsibility’ [the]  UN envoy [has told] Security Council”;
     on Israel and Palestine:
     -   Israel is again trying to impose itself outside its borders on other nations' citizens;     an examination of Gaza’s “Great March of Return”;     a call for protests to be kept nonviolent;     “most American Jews say you can support Israel and criticise its government”;
     -   other violent incidents this week include:   here,   here;
     -   other events concerning Israel/Judaism and/or Palestine have occurred or are developing in:   USA,   UK/Germany,   Poland,   the Netherlands,   Argentina;
     on the conflict and the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis in Yemen:
     -   “Yemen could be facing the worst famine in 100 years [with 12 to 13 million civilians at risk of starvation ] if airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition are not halted”;
     on Syria (where the Assad Dictatorship has lost all pretence of legitimacy, and partition is needed):
     -   “the Syrian government is unlawfully preventing displaced residents from former anti-government-held areas from returning to their properties” – see also here, on the reopening of borders;     “Russia and Turkey have said that they will allow ‘more time’ for opposition groups to withdraw from a de-escalation zone in Syria’s Idlib, which [has three million civilians and] has been spared air raids for more than a month”;     more than 340 civilians have been killed by US-led airstrikes;
     elsewhere in the region:
     -   “a global financial watchdog [has] warned Iran to clamp down on terrorism financing by February or face a deeper squeeze on its sanctions-hit economy”;
     -   the financial challenges facing Jordan, which is hosting 650,000 Syrian refugees;
     -   one town in Turkey looks after its poor;
     -   “a British student [on a research trip which included interviews about security] has been charged with spying in the United Arab Emirates”.

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.

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