Post No. 1,274 – Gnwmythr’s News Ed. No. 250

For the sake of my health, until I retire or change to an easier day job , I have cut back these posts.
Throughout 2019, these posts are likely to be cut back even further as a family illness is dealt with.

Information and Summary of News with Opinion / Advocacy / Analysis:

Notes:

(1) I am NOT a journalist (this blog was created for spiritual reasons, including a course), 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. 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” 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 his mind-set, and strengthening 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);
      4. Ensuring opposition to POTUS45 is unified, cohesive and FOCUSED, NOT fractured or divisive;

(d)   the major events this week are:
       (i)   as attraction to violence continues to be inadequately addressed, the search for humans rights abusers continues, and further to the current map of genocides, this week there are risks of mass atrocities in   Venezuela, Yemen and Zimbabwe,
       (ii)   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;
      (iii) 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,     accusations of hypocrisy amongst the ultra-rich (not all can be so accused);     flawed media coverage (possibly because of my limited time);     good assessments of beneficial - and not - alternatives;     a reminder that we are seeing the early stages of cyber warfare;     former (and some current) conservatives are holding their former colleagues to account over prejudice and climate change, as some conservatives shutting down their critics;     lazy “solutions” in bureaucracy over problems;     the problems of climate change and environmental overuse are becoming more apparent;     failure to properly hold those with power to account;     misogyny and other bigotries, with some capitalist corporations recognising the long term benefits of supporting human rights and doing so;     social divisiveness is REVERSING a trend towards less war and violence;     actions taken to hold a despot to account – which may not help, as the acquittal of another from charges threatens to result in violence;     powerful nations continue to quest for yet more power and dominance;     personal and other IRRATIONAL biases in governance;

(e)   may no-one be blind to their good fortune, nor ungrateful or exclusionary/greedy/selfish about same;

(f)   may all people think clearly and true;

(g)   may those with “petty power” never make the mistake of being “negligent in trifling matters”;

(h)   may all people have the BPM courage to face the future as it is;

(i)   may those who are divisive come to BPM realise the cost of same, including to themselves;

(j)   may all people and groups be free of the addiction to nonBPM power or nonBPM exercise of power;

(k)   may all people BPM know themselves, and thus never be subject to “unconscious bias”;

(l)   may all people be BPM willing to BPM change;

(m)   may all else that should BPM asked for, also be 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; those without news deleted each week):
   -   Permanent Issues and Thematically Arranged News:
          permanent issues;     particular attention;
          democracy, freedom, governance, and ethics;     the USA and POTUS45;
          violent extremism;     refugees and migrants;     human rights
           (including homophobia/transphobia, white supremacism, trafficking
          and children’s rights, sexism, religious rights, workers’ rights, animals’ rights,
          and privacy, differently abled and other rights);     war, violence and hate;
          peace;     spirituality and psychism;     natural and other catastrophes;
          modern lifestyle (including climate change and environment, technology
          and science, economic and financial, housing, health and medical);     media;
          education;     crime judicial and police;

   -   Location-based News:
         Africa;     South and Central America;
          mainland China, East and South East Asia, and the Pacific;     Europe;
          Ukraine;     Russia and Central Asia;     Afghanistan;     South Asia;
          West Asia and northern Africa;

   -   Other Sites;

   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 and their Significant Others be kept BPM safe, undetectable and inviolable against indirect  psychic attack, and may they have all the BPM resources (including an assured income), opportunities and assistance for them to be BPM effective, 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 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 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, and 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 Dutch historian has gone viral on social media after accusing the wealthy attendees of the World Economic Forum of hypocrisy, and arguing they should be taxed more”;
     on other matters requiring particular attention:
     -   this week I found nothing in the news on  the Rohingya,   Ukraine;
     -   a good assessment of tiny house living;
     -   “research suggests that rather than transforming us, the sharing economy simply repackages our same old consumerist impulses in a more appealing message”;
     -   an assessment of cyberwarfare, which is at its early stages – the equivalent of the Wright Brother’s early plane in the development of flight;     another article on the myths and dangers of Internet trolls;     “logging off [social media] causes ‘small but significant improvements in wellbeing’ ”;
     -   a former long-term member of Australia’s Liberal party is standing as an independent to try to start a people power movement where “citizens need to take out their environment ministers when they occupy the portfolio but fail to protect the environment and the climate”;     as Germany expedites its exit from coal, funding for renewable energy projects;     “the Murray-Darling Basin Royal Commission has found Commonwealth officials committed gross maladministration, negligence and unlawful actions in drawing up the multi-billion-dollar deal to save Australia's largest river system” – more water for the environment (or from farms in Queensland?) would close at least 12 towns (do we need to get more water into the system?);    “a growing global movement is urging electronics giants to make devices that last longer and are easier to fix to cut the environmental fallout of the tech boom”
     -   the wife of a Bahraini professional soccer player granted asylum in Australia and recently arrested and possibly facing a lengthy trial in Thailand (after a wrongful tip off by an AFP officer – has he been sacked yet?) because Bahrain wants him back (possibly to torture and/or kill?) has begged world leaders for help – see also this call for soccer organisations to do more to stop this possible breach of the non-refoulement principle, this, and – solely for those on certain types of social media – this call for action;     an anti-Semitic incident in my home city;
     -   more child abuse in the USA in the form of a school strip searching young girls;
     -   a test for potential domestic violence: see how the prospective partner responds when you say “no”;     the USA still doesn’t have equal pay legislation!;     a police officer with PTSD who threatened to rape the daughter (still a girl) of a female MP, leaving the staff member traumatised, was fined, put on a good behaviour bond, and remains in a psychiatric care facility (and presumably is still a police officer?);     a “global attack on gender studies”;
     -   a media commentator has resigned after she was disciplined for calling out Australia’s neoliberal, evangelical  zealot prime minister, a member of a notoriously “homophobic, anti-women, climate-change denying“ neoliberal political party, for a transphobic tweet;
     -   mining companies “have become big supporters of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples over the past two decades largely because, as profit-maximising entities, it’s in their long-term interest to do so” (one “lost the Bougainville mine in the late 1980s and sparked a civil war because it didn’t properly compensate the affected community for the impact of the massive mine”) and “are now leading the way in advocating for constitutional change to recognise the unique place of Aboriginal peoples in this nation”;
     -   “measured by long-term trends, the number of war and assault victims was at a historically low level by the turn of the century, but in the last ten years, there has been a trend reversal towards more political violence” – increased domestic polarisation, economic decline, and repression are key factors;
     -   as exiled Venezuelans yearn for home but fear a long wait before they can return and Venezuela's top military envoy to the USA defects, the USA - and Australia and some other nations – have recognised Venezuela's Opposition Leader as interim President (leading to Russian accusations that the USA is attempting “to engineer a coup d’état”, and attempts by the self-appointed president to wrest control of the nation’s state oil company, shortly before the USA imposed sanctions), while Europe has gave an eight day ultimatum for free and fair elections and then recognised the Opposition Leader as interim leader (he said his family have been threatened by security forces) and New Zealand has also called for free and fair elections (in my opinion, the current incumbent has lost all claims to legitimacy, but acting on flawed elections is not the solution: I am concerned this is heading for war [a war that is likely to be more like Syria than situations where despots have been successfully]deposed – sanctions already exist. If war comes, one question is the extent of international involvement: arming one side of an internal civil war only, or more active. The best solution would be for the incumbent to go peacefully, and for that, he would need a place of refuge – but that may hinder him being brought to justice, which discourages other despots and would be despots from perpetrating abuses . . . );
     -   US-Russian tensions over the INF treaty that the USA will leave (temporarily at first), with respondent threats of retaliation from Russia, and a new Russian missile, continue to grow;
     -   China has tested a missile it claims can strike moving ships (NOT just warships) in the disputed South China Sea;     the Chinese company and its executive detained in Canada have been charged by the USA with stealing trade secrets – see also here and here;     a Chinese human rights lawyer has been sentenced to jail for alleged subversion (another politically driven show trial?);     “why businesses should care about the use of forced [labour] in Xinjiang”, western China, home to “re-education” camps used to suppress Muslim Uighurs;     rumours of peace in the US-China trade war . . . ;     concerns over China’s work on machine learning (aka “Artificial Intelligence”);     China has opened a “rescue base” in the South China Sea;
     -   an interesting YouTube geopolitical analysis of the Asia-Pacific region in the coming year (most of this is available and known to those who are interested in such matters, but this pulls it all together for those who aren’t able or willing to put much time into the news);
     -   “after the International Criminal Court . . . acquitted [a] former president of Côte d’Ivoire, of crimes against humanity and war crimes, the fear of renewed violence is growing” – there, and in Liberia;
     -   an analysis of a film about a US Presidential candidate who withdrew in 1987 after distrust caused by Nixon led to an unwillingness to continue turning a blind eye to macho “dalliances”, suggests that increased media focus on private lives prevents high-quality leaders from standing and has facilitated an obsession with leaders as celebrities, leading to POTUS45;
     -   the irrational history behind why some drugs are legal and others aren’t – alcohol remains the most harmful;
       this week’s atrocity alert at R2P lists   Venezuela, Yemen and Zimbabwe;
• With regard to democracy (which can be measured [as can goodness],     requires  protection of minorities and the vulnerable   -   and are you fighting to change things [by 198 nonviolent methods], or to punish),     freedom,     governance (e.g., here, here, here, here, here)     and     ethics:
  Note: I have a section specifically for POTUS45 below
     analyses, research and commentary this week include:
     -   the bewildered political dinosaurs are digging their heels in;     a call for Global Fund Must Back Up Impact Claims with Transparent, Rigorous Methods to “back up [its] impact claims with transparent, rigorous methods”;     “yesterday’s radicalism can become tomorrow’s common sense”;     promoting mental health in workplaces;     the costs of online trolling;     research needs relating to the gig economy;
     of concern internationally this week:
     -   more doubts over Libya’s ability to move towards democracy;     concern over possible corruption has led to the closure of the visa office at Australia’s Embassy in Iran;
     of concern in my nation (Australia) this week:
     -   concerns that “coalmine planning works ‘could desecrate Indigenous sacred sites’ ”;     in a gravely concerning breach of departmental guidelines, “single mothers placed on a compulsory welfare program for disadvantaged parents allege they were pressured into allowing private job service providers to collect their ‘sensitive information’ ”;     the cashless (and restricted) credit card is being rolled out further . . . (a lot of this concerns, but having been in a relationship with an alcoholic, I can also see benefits – especially if children are depending on this: overall, though, I consider it a backward step);     a right-wing wannabe populist (who has been criticised for claiming a link to previous Prime Ministers) politician’s “mobile app could track voter data and there's no law that can stop it” (every time one of his ads appears beside something I’m watching, I immediately shut that down);     privacy experts and the government are still at odds over Australia’s online medical records system;     Australia’s declining global corruption ranking has led to calls for an anti-corruption body;     one State fears the “homophobic, anti-women, climate-change denying“ neoliberal Commonwealth government’s “ ‘big stick’ legislation will compel the sale of state-owned assets”;     “medical clinics have been pocketing up to $50,000 a year in bonus payments to sign people up to the [government’s online health records] scheme, amid concerns patients have been registered without their informed consent”;
     also of concern this week:
     -   other concerning events have occurred or are developing in:   Nigeria,   Australia,   Italy;
     good news this week includes:
     -   Canada has fired its ambassador to China after foolish remarks on the case against a Chinese company’s executive who has been detained;     Australia’s opposition leader will not kow tow, as all others have in recent decades, to a notorious US-based, Australian-born, ultra conservative media baron;
     on development (in an “end poverty/thirst/hunger” sense):
     -   the increasing frequency of “food shocks, or sudden losses of crops, livestock or fish, due to the combination of extreme weather conditions and geopolitical events like war” “makes it nearly impossible to recover and prepare for the next one”;     “obesity, undernutrition and climate change are the biggest threats to the world population, linked by profit motives and policy inertia”;     “new evidence on the role of Social Impact Investment in financing sustainable development”;
     and democracy/governance/political matters in my home nation this week:
     on the Royal Commission into banks, and similar matters:
     -   an opinion on the key issues that need to be dealt with, and another that the “Royal Commission[’s] report alone can't change banking's greedy philosophy”;     the “banking commission's tight deadlines worsened [the] legal profession's overwork culture”, leading to a discussion on that style of destructive work culture (shared by the medical profession, amongst others) and an OHS complaint;     “the world's biggest litigation funder has set up shop in Australia to get a slice of the booming class-action business, including some high profile cases stemming from the banking royal commission”;     “the banking industry's chief lobbyist concedes that civil or criminal referrals to Commonwealth prosecutors are a live possibility, when the final report of the banking royal commission is released”;     the history of the big four banks;
     on other matters:
     -   corporate Australia is approaching the 30% target for women on Boards;     Australians are visiting hospitals because of the cost of going to GPs, combined with poor access to GPs;     some local councillors who voted to suspend a colleague have been accused (not proven, and denied by most of those accused) of a conflict of interest;     more strong female candidates are standing for election;     (strongly disputed) allegation of sexist behaviour by an MP have led to him being expelled;     mandatory activities and appointments are making life impossible for single parents;     Australia’s neoliberal government welfare system has moved towards cutting off payments to people at risk of homelessness;     “disadvantaged Australians [are] twice as likely to die from diabetes”;     a law setting limits on “big-money election campaigns from third-party groups” such as unions and charities has been struck down;
• With regard to the USA and their schoolyard BULLYING, unpresidential, uncomprehending, delusional 45^th “President” (“POTUS45”) (see here on actions for US residents; the VP is at least as bad):
     -   as the most recent indictment “directly links the [POTUS45] campaign to Julian Assange and WikiLeaks and the hacked Democratic emails that helped sink Hillary Clinton and showed Russia’s hand in the 2016 election”, firm indication that the Special Prosecutor’s investigation “is in its final stages”;
     -   a US “national park ‘may take 300 years to recover’ from [the] shutdown”;     a political assessment of the shutdown and its ending;
     -   the sometimes lethal impacts caused by a numbers-focused bureaucratic approach at the US-Mexico border;
     -   an apparent hate crime with links to POTUS45 slogans is being investigated;
     -   yet another spat by POTUS 45 “after leaders of the US intelligence community contradicted his views on major foreign policy issues during their congressional testimony”;
  From a political point of view, there is no question that POTUS45 ending the shutdown as he did is disastrous for him – the massive suffering caused by the shutdown, the emotional ineptness shown by people in POTUS45’s administration, and the political ramifications of POTUS45 have harmed his chances of re-election (provided a credible alternative is found, and that opposition to POTUS45 is reasonably united). Of course, all that means that the USA and, indeed, the rest of the world, is better off.
  But there is a gain for POTUS45 in this disaster as well. Keeping in mind that the purpose of existence is to grow spiritually, this event, which has forced POTUS45 to admit that his world view and approaches are not unbeatable, is the chink in his defensive barriers that will, possibly in several lifetimes down the track, lead to genuine honesty and thus genuine BPM spiritual growth.
  Of course it is likely that he will need to undergo more setbacks, and genuine suffering, until he learns genuine empathy – and he is likely to react, in the short term of the next few years at least, with an increased viciousness as he tries to re-seal his denialist and delusional armour, but it is too late, and he should thank Speaker Pelosi for the chink in his armour that has started the process of growth;
• 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 as well as 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.     Also, I don’t name groups in order to reduce their publicity):
     -   according to this Wikipedia page, there have been 7 attacks in Iraq, 5 attacks in Afghanistan,   and 9 attacks in Syria   (out of a total of 55),   including   the Philippines;
• With regard to refugees (noting the New York Declaration), people seeking asylum and migrants:
     -   suggestions on how Columbia can get the best for its Venezuelan refugees from the Global Concessional Financing Facility;     a book by a refugee about his experiences in Australia’s refugee gulags has won a literary prize;
• With regard to other human (and other) rights and discrimination     (incidentally, bigots clearly have flaws of observation and thinking – shown by the fact that NOT all people choose to discriminate [and there’s this]):
     -   a woman has narrowly avoided 'shock' therapy without consent;     Human Rights Watch has released its annual assessment of human rights around the world;
     on HOMOPHOBIA/TRANSPHOBIA     (including heteronormativity and cisgender-normativity and noting that trans kids are the same as cis kids of the trans kids’ true gender):
     -   experience that protection of LGBTIQ teachers in religious schools in the last Australian state to decriminalise same sex attraction actually work;     unbelievably, a public LGBTIQ festival in repressive burma;    “how companies can ensure [LGBTIQ+] inclusion is practice, not just policy”;     yet more  homophobia from an idiotic jerk former celebrity;
     -   other homophobic/transphobic (and heteronormativity / cisgender-normativity) matters have also occurred in:   Singapore,   UK,   some US states;
     on white supremacist and other forms of RACISM / CULTURAL DISCRIMINATION and Indigenous matters generally this week:
     -   Invasion Day events;     a call to use indigenous names;     the “pub accused of banning ‘blacks allegedly tried to block [an] Aboriginal man from collecting pokies winnings”;     a commercial TV celebrity has been accused of racism after she made an exaggerated and unbalanced of the problems of rape and child abuse (yes it happens, also in Anglo cultures, but not to the extent her demeanour suggested, and that is no reason that other problems – i.e., racism - cannot be looked at) – see also here, and here;     a police bashing;
     -   other white supremacy / racism problems have also occurred in:   Australia;
     on TRAFFICKING, and CHILDREN’s and associated human rights this week (from Thomson Reuters Foundation, Freedom United, and other sources):
     -   a notorious child abuser has been convicted for a fourth time . . . (why is he being released?);     fighting sex slavery at major sporting events;      a call for governments to clean up their own supply chains;     a Guardian Australia exclusive reports that British children sent to Australia, who often experienced servitude and abuse, have been offered compensation (the amount seems low, given the devastation caused);     an abuser who made a callous denial has been jailed;
     -   also on child abuse, including institutional, this week:   here;
     -   also on slavery / human trafficking this week:   India (good news),   Malaysia (good news),   Asian fishing industries,   UK fashion,   Brazil,   Greece (good news),   UK,   UK;
     on SEXISM this week (keeping in mind the overblown influence given to testosterone, and the potential value to women of using anger):
     -   The Guardian reports that “an African practice of ‘ironing’ a girl’s chest with a hot stone to delay breast formation is spreading in the UK, with anecdotal evidence of dozens of recent cases”;     moronic and HYPOCRITICAL attitudes towards women swearing;     society may be backsliding on healthy body self-images for young women;     in a move of unbelievable hypocrisy and stupidity, the United Arab Emirates has awarded all its “gender balance” awards to men . . . ;     “Sierra Leone has banned female genital mutilation as part of a wider clampdown on initiation ceremonies by secret societies”;     Northern Ireland’s ban on abortion could be in breach of European human rights;     the abuse of women working in ride sharing services;
     -   on sexual harassment/misconduct/violence this week, see:   Zimbabwe,   Bosnia,   France,   Australia;
     -   other sexism matters have also occurred in:   advertising;
     on RELIGIOUS rights this week:
     -   religious rights / Islamophobia matters have also occurred in:   the Philippines,   Kenya,   Pakistan;
     on WORKERS’ rights this week:
     -   a court case by naturopaths for underpayment and bullying against a natural alternatives company;
     on ANIMALS’ rights this week:
     -   two gutless wonders in Alaska who killed a hibernating mother bear and her two cubs, thinking they would never be identified, were, after a camera was used to identify and convict them, fined, forfeit a “pickup truck”, boat and trailer, weapons, skies and cell phones, had their hunting licences revoked, for years, and one was ordered to take a hunters' safety course;
     on PRIVACY, AGED, DIFFERENTLY ABLED, AND OTHER forms of human rights this week:
     -   limits on biometric data collection in one US state;
     -   other differently abled and other forms of human or other rights matters have also occurred in:   a fringe festival;
• With regard to war (noting that economic ties do NOT prevent war), violence and hate generally:
     -   another mass murder by gun in the USA;     a move to expand Sarajevo's War Childhood Museum to include children in all wars;
• With regard to natural and other catastrophes:
     -   as the possible collapse of a second dam hinders the rescue efforts from last week’s dam collapse in Brazil that killed at least 65 people, arrests have been made;     a landslide in Peru, where a wall collapse has killed 15 members of a wedding party and injured dozens;     a “polar vortex” is bringing life-threatening cold (12 dead) to the USA;     the 2009  bushfires in my home state (which led me to write this ritual) “have had lasting impact on primary school students”;     flooding (although the rain is relieving the drought), a landslip, flood storages at 200% of capacity, and evacuations in a northern Australian state as monsoonal rains continue and bushfires  continue in one  southern state and start in another, threatening my home city’s water supply, ;     a tornado in Cuba has killed four people;
• 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], addiction or unthinking pro-technology bias [new is NOT always good],     second thoughts,     social media making people miserable or envious,     work and lifestyles causing depression and burnout,     being duped by modern mantras and  management  fads,     “failing“ at being well,     life options,     AI ethics, corporate misuse of mindfulness as a distraction from working conditions,     embedded emissions,     plane pollution,     bigger, flashier homes/cars and financialisation,     the need for agroforestry,     insisting on busy-ness,     raising Prince Boofheads,     trying to force everyone to have children,     the “Earth3” model [SDGs + 9PBs]):
     on climate change (our World War III?) and other environmental matters:
     -   a “warming world gets older, wiser, richer activists hot under the collar”;     in response to falling water levels, an Australian city has started using a desalination plant (this is more than just an indication of climate change – even without that, Australia’s population capacity is limited to around 20 million, making us, with an overall very low density of people, overpopulated);     what a renewables-only power system in Australia would look like;     the environmental crisis cause by Australia’s current heat wave – which is a sign of things to come - now includes an even worse fish kills (except for invasive carp) on the Murray-Darling River (the debate over which is missing indigenous voices), and a National Emergency over the deaths of endangered flying foxes;     farmland may wind up being used for both solar and crops;     as drone data show threats from sharks are overblown, attempts to legally protect sharks;     the water shortages that small farms are facing across ther globe;
     -   other environmental matters have occurred in:   Pakistan,   Thailand,   India (good news),   Alaska,   Peru (good news),   fast food chains;
     on technology and science matters:
     -   an investigation into internet trolls;     a professional (bus) driver was using a mobile phone during a fatal crash;     “cyber trolling [is] costing Australians $3.7 billion”;     a social media platform’s app (currently shut down after warnings had been ignored) bug is expected to be fixed this week;     facts about data privacy;     yet another hacking problem;
     on economic and financial matters:
     -   “how to avoid being fleeced by direct billing mobile phone scams”;
     on affordable, sustainable and decent housing and homelessness matters    (why are politicians with “investment properties” not admitting a conflict of interest and staying out of housing affordability debates?):
     -    affordable housing and homelessness matters have occurred in:   UK;
     on health and medical:
     -   more suspected drug overdoses at another music festival;
     on other matters in the category:
     -   another article on idiotic and intrusive obsessions about other people’s sex lives – this one another intergenerational one;     a reminder that “if you have a genuine hoarding problem, [a glitzy TV show] will not help you”;
• 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 UK newspaper “has apologised ‘unreservedly’ and agreed to pay damages to America's first lady . . . after publishing an article it said contained many false statements”;     approaches to funding online journalism;
     -   other media / freedom of expression matters have occurred in:   Australia,   Australia;
• With regard to education:
     -   the challenge of getting teachers to go to regional areas;     the problems of monoculture have shown themselves in a US university;     a principal has been “stood down over video of student being dragged by [the] arm”, but 2,000 people have signed a petition in support, and call for his side to be told;     “a serial scam artist who defrauded vulnerable international students out of tens of thousands of dollars is facing deportation”;
• 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 I 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 about crimes against farms in my home state;     an exclusive by The Age reports that “more than two years after police initially and wrongly declared that there was insufficient evidence to charge police”, police in my home state “have made a confidential payout of more than $500,000 to settle a case involving an ex-policewoman who was handcuffed, stripped of her underwear, stomped on and kicked by fellow officers in a police station”;     despite the police-praised efforts of the organisers, a music festival appears to have been “taken over” by a drug syndicate;     a “community struggles for support after [a] mass murder”;     “a video showing a heavily pregnant woman being [roughly handled, needing hospitalisation afterwards,] by guards on the Stockholm metro has prompted an angry response in Sweden”;
    -      other crime, judicial and policing matters have occurred in:   France,   Australia.

Location based News:

• With regard to Africa, the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (and other sources) has:
      on Africa generally:
     -   attempts to use art and drama to help the child victims who survive violent extremists;
     on specific African nations:
     -   fears of Islamophobia in Kenyan schools after hijabs were banned;     changes for better and worse after an oil discovery in northwestern Kenya (no mention of environmental impact . . .  );
     -   “international observers have expressed concern about the suspension of Nigeria's chief justice - just three weeks before a general election”;
     -   “rapes by Zimbabwe troops go unreported as victims fear reprisals”;
• With regard to South and Central America:
     -   another article on the threats to Brazil’s indigenous people and rainforests;
     -   the experience of one of the children adopted after Argentina’s brutal military dictatorship murdered his parents, who is now “recovered grandchild 121”;
     -   a reminder of the long history of violence, including some by the USA, pre-dating the drugs crisis, and mismanagement that is behind people fleeing El Salvador;
• 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:
     -   the disappointment of the last three years in burma;
     -   “at least 68 people have been killed and nearly 7,000 forced to take refuge in emergency shelters after floods, landslides and a tornado battered [an] Indonesian island”;     “why nearly 2 million people are demanding an independence vote for West Papua province”;
     -   Japan is starting to deal with its bigotry against tattoos (a bias which is partly because of criminals’ use of tattoos);     elderly Japanese are committing crimes to be jailed so they can survive;
     -   “Malaysia has been stripped of hosting the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships for refusing to let Israelis compete”;
     -   a week after “a new autonomous area was endorsed in hopes of ending about 50 years of separatist rebellion”, “bombs kill 20 at a Catholic cathedral in the southern Philippines”;
     -   the military is likely to retain their influence over Thailand’s part-democracy after forthcoming election;     “more than 400 schools in Bangkok have been closed for the week due to increasing concerns over dangerous air pollution”;
• With regard to Europe and the European Union (EU) (which need to step up, as the USA steps down):
     -   as a group calling itself the red scarves (“foulards rouges”) marches to demand an end to the violence - see also here, a “gilets jaunes leader hit in [the] eye during [a] protest ‘will be disabled for life’ ”, with disputed allegations that a police ‘flash ball’ weapon caused the injury;     France is boosting ties with Egypt, but is still refusing to sell military jets;
• With regard to the conflict in  sexist Afghanistan (noting that Afghanistan was once a peaceful and modern society, even allowing women in miniskirts, before the Russian invasion – see here):
     -   two thirds of men in Afghanistan are sexist, with young being worse than old;     reports that the USA and a misogynist violent extremist group “have made ‘significant progress’ in talks aimed at ending the 17-year-old conflict in Afghanistan”; . . . followed by reports that a draft framework for peace has been agreed (note: “draft framework for”, not peace); - but Afghanistan’s younger generation are wary;
• With regard to South Asia (aka the Indian sub-continent), The Hindu and other sources have:
     on India:
     -   “India's opposition Congress Party has promised to guarantee a minimum income for the [nation’s] poor if it wins the general elections”;     “six men in India have been arrested for killing a woman and her four children, including a 10-month-old baby, over suspicion that she was a witch”;     “game-changer for millions in India as three former bonded labourers elected to village councils”;     “a revival of traditional weaving means women can earn a living at home rather than trekking each day to find work, as a warming climate hits rice harvests”;
     on Pakistan:
     -   confirmation that a Christian woman convicted, sentenced to death, and then acquitted of blasphemy can leave Pakistan;     Pakistan is moving towards more solar energy;
• With regard to West Asia (aka “the Middle East”) and Northern Africa, the Middle East Eye, the Times of Israel, and other sources have:
     -   “at least one person has died and 10 have been injured after an angry crowd stormed a Turkish military camp in Iraq's Kurdish region” to protest against deadly Turkish airstrikes;
     on Israel and Palestine:
     -   the staggering promotion of tourism to settlements created by war crimes;     the trouble facing Israel if its Prime Minister is indicted but refuses to resign;     the USA has cut all aid to Palestinians;
     -   other events concerning Israel/Judaism and/or Palestine have occurred or are developing in:   UK (STAGGERING ignorance about the Holocaust),   Thailand;
     on the  conflict and the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis in Yemen:
     -   a call for Australia's “generous” aid to Yemen to not be “undermined by its weapons sales . . . to Saudi Arabia . . . if we are serious about ending the four-year war that has killed 85,000 children”;     an artillery attack on a camp for internally displaced people that killed eight civilians and injured 30 may signal a risk to the partial truce;     landmines in Yemen;     the lost generation in Yemen;
     on Syria (where the Assad Dictatorship has lost all pretence of legitimacy, and partition is needed):
     -   a unique mudbrick construction technique is being preserved;     “the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad has been held liable by a US court for the extrajudicial killing of the Sunday Times war correspondent Marie Colvin and ordered to pay $300m dollars in punitive damages”.

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.