Post No. 1,554 - In this week’s news

Stay safe - wash your hands, practice social distancing, and follow informed medical advice - and be considerate towards those at risk or in situations of vulnerability (including economic) while the COVID-19 pandemic is a problem.

This is a new, very cut down series of posts based on some observations on matters that struck a personal note: unlike the former “Gnwmythr’s News”, it is not trying to convey key events.

Content Warning: the linked articles and their descriptions here may be about violence, abuse, hate, and other problems.

My articles this week include:   spoons of courage;   working with other meditation styles.

On personal / spiritual matters:   the African concept of ubuntu;   criticism of some idiots who tried to project their neochristian bigotry into Paganism.

 

In this week’s news:   the problem of dealing with pressures to have children and moronic stereotypes around childless women;   a call for a national register to monitor deaths by suicide;   building inclusivity - particularly of women - to build peace;   there is a distribution curve of empathy;   “don’t regulate artificial intelligence: starve it”.

In the environmental arena, where we have been fighting World War III for some time now:   pandemic recovery plans MUST be green;   an opinion that Australia needs to take its practice at listening to experts on pandemics and apply that to learning to listen to experts on the climate crisis;   concerns about a marine ecosystem following a decline in sharks;   a belated review of the Wildlife Act after an appalling massacre of eagles in my home state;   “ ’compelling evidence’ logging native forests has worsened Australian bushfires”;   Europe’s coal industry may close because of the pandemic;   a renewable energy export project is closer to happening;   Brazil;   an objective critique of a controversial environmental film;   the children’s case will continue, despite the resistance of regressive governments;   “one billion people will live in insufferable heat within 50 years”;   the water consumption of the coal industry;   “climate change is shaping the future of conflict”;
other environmental matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   Cambodia.  

On human and animal rights:
   as a reminder is made that Jews (and Africans) fought in WW2, “marking the 75^th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany and our responsibility to prevent atrocities”;   a critique of the ICC;
   anti-Semitic behaviour by a US cemetery;
   a court has overturned the irrational (and, frankly, homophobic) assumptions of a tribunal about two gay refugees;   concern that a serious  breach of professional ethics in my home state’s police (who are also facing legal action over a conviction that was quashed because of the use of a solicitor as an informer) may have been due to casual / accidental transphobia;   a reminder TGD people are not a new phenomenon;
   hundreds of Rohingya refugees are stuck at sea “with no hope”;
   concerns about the possibly racist and certainly unprofessional behaviour of medical staff in the US associated with the death of a pregnant black woman - see also here;   the need for Indigenous self-determination;
   criticism of a controversial religious figure for not removing a child abusing priest, but he was cleared of bribery allegations;
   calls for Burundi to release four journalists - and media suppression in Cameroon;   the neoliberals’ attack on the ABC.
Immigration and refugee matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   Burkina Faso;
racism matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   Australia (access to dental care);   Saudi Arabia;   China;
trafficking/slavery/child abuse matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   Australia;   west Africa;   India;   Afghanistan;
LGBTIQ+ matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   South and Central America;   Lebanon (push for rights now);   Colombia;   parenting (good news);   UK;
sexism matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   ICC;   Hungary;   USA;   endometriosis;   South Africa (good news); and
other matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   Tibet;   Egypt;   USA.

In the related human rights arena of employment:   the pandemic might finally end the bloody open office;   the uncertainty of work after the pandemic.

Risks or occurrences of atrocities, mass violence and/or war(s) this week in:   the bodies of victims of violent extremists in Syria have been found;   the extremely high risks of war in the Gulf;   Mali;   Burkina Faso;   Nigeria;   CAR;   Gaza/Israel;   eastern DR Congo;   fighting has resumed in Thailand;   Sudan;   South Sudan;   Russia is exacerbating the fighting in Libya;   Egypt.

In the governance, politics, public ethics, and society arena:   Universities need to help students who fail (when I was at Uni we had some lecturers who brilliant at the subject, but poor teachers. I stopped going to their lectures and passed, but others who went to the lectures almost all failed. Fortunately, the lecturers approached me to find out why, and I pointed out the excessive side comments were losing us. These days, lecturers are better equipped to teach);   the economic benefits of immigration;   Australia will lose out economically if it does not transition to renewables;   autocrats are dropping their democratic façade;   weakened democracy in Eastern Europe / Eurasia;   Mexico’s “everyday war”;   a call to save democracy in Poland;   a call to allow remote evidence taking to continue;   a call to restore the public university;   favourable results from Finland’s trial of UBI - especially on mental health.

On disasters this week:   floods in Kenya;   emergency services need to start listening to social media;   “everyday humanitarianism during the 2019/2020 Australian bushfire crisis” - and a call for better evacuation planning in one state;   a train in India has killed migrant workers who were sleeping on the track as they returned home.

On humanitarian aid:   development vs. conflict.

Internationally:   a review of actions in Australia on the relationship with China, including pressure from two billionaires;   South and North Korean border guards have exchanged gunfire;   more on the tensions in Lebanon;   a mercenary caught trying to enter Venezuela to abduct a controversial political figure has admitted he is from the USA (people: the means shape the end!!!);   promising development on an Israeli-Palestinian prisoner swap;   an Israeli billionaire is working at bringing clean water to Gaza;   a rich boys’ spat in Syria;   violent extremists in Afghanistan are trying to gain legitimacy;   minimalism in China;   a Reuters exclusive reports that China is aware, as it tries to bully Taiwan, anti-Chinese sentiment is at its highest since the Tiananmen Square massacre;   more problems in Libya;   Iran (which is still abusing human rights) v. USA;   Russia might move into the security vacuum in Central Asia after the US leaves Afghanistan - and the USA is also starting to abandon the western Pacific . . . .

In Africa:   Malawi’s presidential election will be rerun;   Egypt has lodged a complaint with the UN over the Nile Dam;   Zimbabwe;   violence has marred campaigning in Burundi;   Mozambique’s “brutal” insurgency;   “forty percent of Nigerians live below [the] poverty line”;   more moves towards a lasting peace in Sudan.

On the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus (there are other novel coronaviruses) (seven major risks to watch here, and seven sins of thought to avoid here):
   “stopping deforestation can prevent pandemics”;   the woman who first discovered coronaviruses, decades ago;   cyber thugs are targeting  health workers;   “Isaac Newton invented calculus in self-isolation during the Great Plague. He didn’t have kids to look after”;   “fake news is being fuelled by the top and bottom of society”;

   good stories:   “chefs across the world are using their skills and resources to cook nutritious meals for the vulnerable”;   Brazil;   e-Vesak;   an Australian community has helped refugees struggling with home-schooling;   Ireland is returning the favour with aid for Native Americans who assisted during the Great Famine;   plant substitutes for meat; 

   medical aspects:   “resilient health systems can protect us from threats beyond COVID-19”;   the evidence supports the efficacy of lockdowns;   “eating well, exercising and managing stress can boost your immune system”;   advice on face masks;   a mutation of the SARS-Cov-2 virus could be worse;   more children have developed rare infections linked to COVID-19;   building ventilation needs to be addressed;   video meetings are more exhausting than face-to-face;   the pandemic is highlighting some long-known but ignored problems with public toilets;   lessons from nations that have eased restrictions;   learn from the 184 struggle to eradicate smallpox;   the evidence shows jet-setting humans transmitted the virus;   pledges - the money hasn’t arrived - for funding to research a vaccine;

   resources:   a guide to wider testing;   dealing with being overwhelmed;

   human rights aspects (crisis . . . running summary of impacts on elections here):   an employer sounds like he would have been right at home in the losing side of the Harvester case;   in response to racist incidents, “calls to simplify and strengthen Australia's racial discrimination and vilification processes”;   workers in the USA;   women;   parents of children with disabilities;   Uganda;   young workers;   media restrictions - e.g., in the Pacific and Liberia - will limit future media reporting;   “lessons from COVID-19 for 5G and internet security”;   “ ‘no excuse’ not to extend jobseeker to visa holders”;   domestic violence in Russia have doubled;   the privacy risks with unnecessary requests for information in the contact tracing app;   concerns about judge only trials;   an attempt to counter digital authoritarianism;   disability workers;   human trafficking;   a woman who miscarried was forced to stay in quarantine;   the need to record racist attacks associated with the pandemic;   an Israeli ethicist has been busy;   USA;   Mexico;   those without Internet;

   Australia:   as a staggering privacy breach is revealed, it also emerges the privacy risking COVID-19 app - which could also interfere with diabetes monitoring apps - couldn’t actually be used initially;   strong criticism of a bank for secretly accessing members’ funds;   the dehumanising jail-like experience of being forced into quarantine in hotels (this shows the problems of the “thinking” of people in security industries);   a critique of the neoliberal national government’s attitude towards helping the unemployment;   more prisoners are being bailed because of the pandemic;   many Australians are concerned about going out even if restrictions are eased;   not all workplaces can use physical distancing;   a neoliberal national Minister has had to back down over an attack on a State Premier over school closures;   the need to test unlawful migrant workers;   Australians support visitor bans at aged care homes;   Aussies want government, NOT business, to lead the post-pandemic recovery;   asylum seekers have lodged a legal claim for their safety;   “newly unemployed Australians [are being] ‘harassed and threatened’ by job agencies”;   testing of aged care staff will not be extended . . . ;   another attack on Universities;

   internationally:   a review of the approaches to implementing lockdown being taken by governments in Asia (some are using fun);   the basis for Jordan’s success;   POTUS45 has blocked the independently-minded expert from testifying to the US Congress;   more inflammatory insanity from one of POTUS45’s idiots;   India, which is notorious for privacy problems, has made use of its contact tracing app mandatory - see here for an international comparison of apps;   Spain will require masks and has set other conditions as part of easing the lockdown;   the science background of Germany’s leader has been an asset;   some expats are staying in Indonesia to give back out of a sense of moral obligation;   allege” murder of a security guard for ordering three people to wear masks - and a similar attempt in Singapore;   Spain has defined a quantitative basis for allowing easing of restrictions;   POTUS45 will deliberately put more lives at risk;   Pakistan is (validly) concerned at workers returning from the UAE with infections;   Afghanistan;   poverty setbacks in Indonesia;

   Africa:   Guinea;   Botswana will start easing its restrictions;   190,000 could die in Africa;   Somalia;   gender aspects of Uganda’s response;   the pandemic is threatening peace efforts;   pandemic related political concerns in Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, ;   ECOWAS has denied that they endorsed a shonky backyard pseudo-“cure”;   Egypt’s poor;   fatally violent enforcement in Nigeria;   Tanzania - where the president is being an idiot;   Morocco;

   globally:   criticism of the UN Security Council, which has been paralysed by US-Chinese tensions;   more pressure to open schools despite known risks;   supply chains;   cleaner cooking fuels.