Post No. 1,615 - In this week’s news

Black Lives Matter!

Stay safe - wash your hands, practice social distancing and wear a face mask in public, 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 news aggregation 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. Also, I am now going to start referring to specific Australian states using accepted abbreviations.

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

On personal / spiritual matters:   empathy vs. sympathy.

Reading I found interesting this week included:   “when people tell you algorithms make things objective, you say ‘no, algorithms make things work for the builders of algorithms’ ”;   stonemasonry at my home state’s Parliament.

Overall Commentary:
   the world continues to be scarred by the inadequacies, incompetence as human beings, and denialism of key influential people and their packs of remora (who are indulging in terrible dystopian violence, killings, and other abuses across ALL of the world in their determination to slide us back into fearful, limited states of being they personally found comfortable [including the so-called ‘white picket fence’ mentality of the ‘50s] - not to mention the graft and corruption), but some clear thinking and communication is highlighting new ways of thinking and being (and reminding us of some long past but better ways of living in harmony with each other and the world), and determined and courageous people are leading the fightback. There has been some insight, this week, which may help prevent such abusive personalities being created - at all levels of the power structure.

In This Week’s News:   holding or using a mobile phone while riding a bicycle or personal mobility device (PMD - scooters etc) will be banned in Singapore;   more court decisions against a tech company over negative online reviews;   staggering evidence that an MP listed his parents as directors without their knowledge, let alone agreement;   more on the drug cartel problems in Mexico (where 73,000 men are missing) - which are supported by every single person who buys their drugs, no matter where in the world they are;   concerns about a social media platform’s security;   quibbling over EU-USA data transfer tools;   tech companies vs. banks;   a tech company in India is emerging as a serious competitor;   the digital divide is exacerbating housing poverty;   #45 has made 20,000 lies;   a tracking of the sources of the lies that conspiracy NUTJOBS are spreading;   a good explainer on “Modern Monetary Theory” (which is NOT new, and the Jobs Guarantee idea predates Bill Mitchell by decades).

In the Environmental Arena, where we have been fighting World War III for some time now:   PROOF That Carbon Pricing WORKS;   a warning we may breach the critical temperature rise soon;   the need for an economic overhaul;   a video from last year on SLAPP lawsuits;   long term vulnerability of wildlife to smoke inhalation;   the blue economy;   dodgy manipulation of data;   better food for the poor will need to be balanced by reduced excess eating by the rich;   a tanker anchored off Yemen and unmaintained for FIVE YEARS is at risk of an oil spill that could wreck the environment and livelihoods for decades;   sustainable aquaculture by Native Americans for thousands of years;   dire risks associated with proposals to log fire damaged areas;   seaweed will be a sustainable and major crop for an African island.
   other environmental matters have occurred in:   Indonesia;   USA;   Australia;   Pakistan (good news);   the illegal wildlife trade.

This week on the Protests in the USA and associated protests/issues elsewhere:
   PEOPLE ARE BEING VIOLENTLY ASSAULTED AND SNATCHED OFF THE STREETS BY UNIDENTIFIED OPERATIVES IN ONE US CITY;   a black woman who was shot while sleeping by police lived for some time with no attempt to help her;   legal action over Mr Floyd’s death has commenced;   concerns over possible anti-Semitism (how much of that is triggered by Israel’s unfair and unreasonable treatment of Palestinians?);
   in Australia:   lived experience of racism in Australia - see also here, and here;
   Police:   a video from a few weeks ago;   a former police officer was blocked from reemployment over his assault of a teenager who filmed the chokehold applied by a colleague;   a US city council has ordered its police chief and mayor to provide remedy for the arrest and assault of journalists, in contravention of specific city ordinances;   French police who choked a man to death have been charged with murder;   an attempted suicide by a Dalit man after a beating by Indian police;   Kenyan activists feel isolated in their fight against police brutality;
   suggestions/recommended actions / noteworthy Responses:   a replacement statue;   a massive private funding boost;
   attacks on and actions by the Media:   a Guide by the CPJ for Journalists on Managing Risks;
   more on the very long History of the Causes of the protests:   an older video by a TV comedian on bias in medicine.

On Human and Animal Rights:
   burma’s military is continuing its genocide, including indiscriminate airstrikes that have killed civilians, and has claimed China - currently conducting “the world’s most technologically sophisticated genocide” - is arming insurgent groups and is building its ties with India as a balance - while religious leaders call for peace ahead of their third vote in sixty years;   as Russian and Syrian airstrikes are identified as war crimes, Russia and China have blocked an extension of aid to Syria - Again . . . and CUT access, which will kill people;   an examination of US sanctions against Syria;   more allegations of war crimes against Australian soldiers who served in Afghanistan;   Israel has prepared a list of HUNDREDS of officials who could potentially be arrested by the ICC for war crimes . . . ;   the UK is resuming the sale of weapons to human rights abusing despots;   the UN Security Council has adopted a resolution solely about R2P;   Australia has now been abusing refugees for seven years;
   Iranians are protesting  against  executions (and economic hardship) - see also here;
   no comment so far about transphobia in investigation of an appalling breach of privacy that showed transphobic bias;   more transphobic stupidity in the USA;   TGD people in the UK are twice as likely to be victims of crime;   a guide on survival - literally - for TGD academics (I’ve only read part of this so far);
   Sudan has banned FGM;   period and other pain in the workplace, and period poverty in Lebanon;   the UK has finally stopped the double assault of searching rape victims private data;
   how to fix science’s lack of diversity problem;
   concerns that a power company may be misrepresenting itself as acting on behalf of traditional owners;
   surveillance of protestors;
   an utterly moronic attempt to redefine human rights by #45 hangers-on.
 - Genocide matters (good and bad) in:   a search for mass graves in the USA has resumed;
 - Immigration, migration and Refugee matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   Australia;   Greece;   Libya;
 - Racism/caste based matters including land rights (good and bad) have occurred in:   Israel;   the US movie industry;   a dictionary of an Indigenous language (good news);   details of an Indigenous death in custody;   aid groups have “data holes”;   US housing;
 - Trafficking/Slavery & Extreme Worker Abuse/Child Abuse matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   Bangladesh;   UK;   fashion industry;   Lebanon;   UK;   African modelling industry;   Malaysia;
 - LGBTIQ+ matters (including internalised homophobia/transphobia) (good and bad) have occurred in:   homophobia in the medical industry;   USA;   Mexico and a social media platform (good news);   Pakistan (good news);   Sudan (catching up with the mid-late 20^th Century);   Austria (belated good news);   USA (surprising good news);   petitions here, here, here, and here;
 - Sexism (including internalised sexism), misogyny/misandry and domestic violence matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   Vic.’s legal system (good news);   a NZ political party;   Afghanistan;   US judiciary;   Israel;   Morocco;   Singapore’s Parliament (good news);
 - Disability matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   new disability housing options;   the film industry (a film calling for more diversity);   Australia (good news - visa rejection overturned);
 - Freedom of the Press / Expression matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   Lebanon;   Lebanon (good news);   Lebanon;   Malaysia;   Pakistan;   Ukraine;   Egypt;   Egypt/Spain;
 - Repression/Oppression / reduction of democracy and other civil & political rights matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   Thailand;   Russia;   Russia;   Australia;   Tibet;   Uganda.

In the related human rights arena of Employment:   a report on the gig economy is being considered by my home state;   the shipbreaking industry (good news);   universities;   an article on burnout (“If you have a relationship problem, if you say to your partner, ‘You go off and fix yourself and come back when you’re ready to be the way I want you to be and then we’ll be all fine,’ that’s not going to work, . . . but that’s what employers are saying when they send you off to yoga classes. ‘You go fix yourself there. We’re not going to change a bit.’ That’s not a relationship fix. That’s being silly and stubborn”).

Risks or occurrences of Atrocities, Mass Violence and/or War(s) this week in:   Iraq (rogue groups);   South Sudan;   Mali;   Gulf of Guinea (piracy);   Sudan;   Nigeria;   Somalia;   CAR;   Ivory Coast;   South Africa;
And:   doubts over future North Korea-USA nuclear weapons summits;   as we stupidly choose to exacerbate missile proliferation, examination of “understand willingness to use” defence forces;   recommendations on ending the cycle of violence in the DR Congo;   suggestions on ending the standoff in Somalia;   details of some of the recent deaths in Ethiopia - where the internet is still cut off, but some arrests have been made;   an ICC trial of the leader of an extremist regime in Timbuktu is underway;   claims a surrender will come in the eastern DRC.
Other atrocity/violence matters have occurred in:   Libya.

In the Democracy, Governance, Politics, Public Ethics, and Society arena:
   the history of employment commitments and flawed “unemployment” data - see also here;   the damage done by attacking whistleblowers;   the neolibs are now trying to protect business against being held to account by class actions;   valid questions about why we have a monarch;   a Guardian exclusive  warns the neoliberal government may not repay money it obtained illegally;   a reminder that we are still a constitutional monarchy - and a reminder of the political player who initiated the crisis in ‘75;   an opinion that “kinder and gentler” politics is emerging in Singapore;   examination of moves for independence in New Caledonia;   violent responses, including abuse, to anti-corruption protests in Israel (so police are allowing themselves to become stooges - puppets - for the powerful and corrupt, in contravention of their duty to the community they are supposed to serve - see also here) which now have a wider base of support;   as it conducts a war game simulating defence against a Chinese invasion and tries to portray itself as a democratic alternative to Hong Kong, violence in Taiwan’s Parliament;   a reminder that we face more risks than only the pandemic - far right extremism is a particularly nasty and urgent risk;   a call to wind back “the most restrictive” aspects of Australia’s counter-violent extremism laws;   Poland has voted for mediaevality;   health care in regional areas is less;   after watching this video about the status (no taxation without representation is ironic in this instance also) of Washington DC, the USA’s capital, I have to wonder why has no-one has floated the possibility of limiting the US Congress’ oversight powers to those matters related provision of a place and support services of a seat of national government - it would make the opposition a little more clearly ridiculous and harder to sustain, but defining the cut-off point would be a challenge.
other democracy, governance, politics, public ethics, and society matters have occurred in:   Australia;   USA.

On Disasters this week:   floods in China (which raised questions about the Three Gorges Dam - and has marooned pandemic PPE), Indonesia, India, and Japan;   pests are causing food losses in Nepal;   a possible surge in malaria in Africa;   Ebola is spreading in western DR Congo.

On Humanitarian Aid and Development:   the US Congress is attempting to restore aid to Palestine.

Internationally:
   the collapse of internationalism;   a debate over Turkey returning the Hagia Sophia to the status of active mosque;   a reminder that the USA, not China, is our largest foreign investor;    a commentary on Australia’s need to engage with Russia - and how;   a controversial Chinese-backed dam in Pakistan;   the USA is extending its sanctions against Venezuela to include third party companies;   North Macedonia edges closer to the EU;   Egypt is threatening to interfere in Libya - where Russian landmines have been found;   as Israel experiences another cyberattack on water, Iran, which has experienced a series of strange fires, has put its air defences on high alert;
on China and the new ideological Cold War this week:   more than 600,000 have symbolically voted against China’s suppression of freedom law in Hong Kong;   in a staggering act of dishonesty, China has replicated the wording of Australia’s warning against travel in its latest warning to its citizens against travelling here;   the USA has rejected China’s claim to resources in the South China Sea, accused it of bullying, and sent aircraft carriers there - Australia also supports freedom of navigation in the South China Sea;   concerns about China’s involvement in burma;   China has vowed to continue the escalation, which now includes some US Senators, and may wind up including all 92 million members of the Chinese communist Party - see also here;   officials from Taiwan cannot get into Hong Kong unless they sign a “one china” document . . . (wow - blackmail of the basest sort);   a review of internal limiting factors on China’s growth/rise - see also here;   a review of China’s new foreign policy approach;   an unwise suggestion for India, which may rethink its nonalignment policy, to blockade China’s shipping in the Indian Ocean;   fears for academia in Hong Kong;   at least one newspaper is partly relocating its offices from Hong Kong . . . to Saudi Arabia . . . ;   Japan is boosting its defence spending;   the UK is bracing for a backlash from China after banning Huawei;
on Israel’s intended Annexation of the West Bank:   warnings from Egypt, France, Germany and Jordan;   a simulation by a think tank predicts that the escalation of responses would stop the annexation;   possible US impacts;   protests by women in Gaza;   UK;
on the Nile Dam:   filling has commenced and tensions have “reignited” . . .

In Africa - Democracy, Governance, Politics, Public Ethics, And Society and International Relations:   Zimbabwe is facing its worst economic crisis in a decade - possible aid is subject to better human rights and payment (how?) of debts;   a government reshuffle in Sudan in an attempt to appease protestors;   the challenges facing Burundi’s new President;   a power struggle in the DR Congo;   conflict gold;   sanctions on a Russian official for threatening Sudan’s democracy;   Gabon has its first female Prime Minister;   a court has ordered Tanzania to allow legal challenges to Presidential election results;   a political crisis in Tunisia;   the CAR is seeing an influx of foreign fighters;   mediation has started in Mali; - see also here and here;   concerns over bribery and corruption in support of a Chinese company for a 5G deal in Namibia;   the head of an anti-corruption body in Nigeria has been sacked and accused of graft;   demands for women governors in Sudan;   concerns about the potential for violence in the Ivory Coast presidential election;   concerns over Burundi’s new leadership;   an arrest over alleged corruption in Malawi;   how peace was achieved in a Kenyan village;   fake medicines;   Burkina Faso.

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), and Wear Masks!!!):
   those in the US receiving benefits for the pandemic SPENT MORE THAN WHEN THEY WERE WORKING;   “83 millionaires called for a permanent wealth tax to fund coronavirus relief efforts”;   a rebuttal of some of the common lies;   as WHO is warning we are nowhere near going back to “normal”, and my state continues to have major problems and some stupidity occurred throughout the nation, consideration of whether we should change to an elimination strategy;   Requiring People To Wear Facemasks IS Legal;   the loss of cultural capital and influence as international education is set back;   a 12 day old Palestinian baby has died of the virus;   more than 13 million cases now - 0.2% (1 in 500) of the world’s population (the 1918 flu infected one third of the world’s population, and killed 3 to 10% of those affected, and affected the world’s economy into the 1980s);   a warning of the consequences if the rich don’t help the poor;   hacking attacks by Russia;

   good stories/news:   Belgium;   one pharmaceutical company has committed to “no profit” COVID-19 drugs to low income nations;   grassroots help in South Africa;   “grandparent-grandchildren video calls are vital”;  

   medical aspects:   immunity may only last a few months;   the history of vaccine development;   on superspreaders;   “coronavirus-related syndrome surfaces in older adults”;   #45’s lies will now infect the world’s access to accurate data;   the floods in China have marooned PPE;

   Human Rights Aspects (crisis . . . running summary of impacts on elections here):   a racist proposal in the USA has been abandoned;   immigration detention;   an explainer on “eradication, elimination, suppression”;   violent enforcement of lockdown by armed groups in Colombia;   privatisation is harming land rights;
   sexism:   public safety for women;   first experiences of domestic violence in Australia during the pandemic;
   housing:   a land ownership crisis in Cambodia;
   increased opportunistic repression/oppression / reduction of democracy:   the Philippines;   South East Asia.

   Environmental Impacts:   out of work tour operators are helping find coral bleaching;   an evening curfew in Egypt could be made permanent;   a call for developing nations to maintain funding for climate crisis initiatives;   more battery back ups in the USA;

   Australia:   anxiety at schools in my home state (and nation), which is facing critical times as some people ignore safety measures (hospitals have been preparing), and where high risk students have been turned away, although there will also be some home-based learning - but praise for our Premier;   appalling rip offs by airlines for returning Australians as charges for hotel quarantine are introduced in NSW and caps of returns are criticised;   well-deserved fines for lying on cross border forms as other breaches also occur;   the history and shortcomings of towers for public housing (the original proposals for slum replacement used infinitely better cottages);   multilanguage factsheets on rights in full lockdown - on the towers in lockdown, which has left people with trauma, see also here;   the young are highly affected by recessions - at least there’s some extra support in my home state;   military personnel are being sent to my state to air or replace emergency services personnel (I hope they have enough sense not to wear uniforms);   some healthcare workers need to work despite being ill as they lack paid leave/savings;   an assessment indicates hotel quarantine, rather than at home, is “worth the cost” to the community;   questions about the pandemic safety of schools;   testing of elective surgery patients;   spending on the pandemic has far exceeded all other disasters;   a doctor has called for elimination, not suppression;   poverty is growing;

   Internationally:   Chile’s problems since reopening have included a surge in pandemic cases, and resultant economic devastation;   Iraq’s morgues are being overwhelmed;   a call for sanctions against Nicaragua over its woeful response;   Bolivia;   concern that South Africa is about to experience a surge;   economic pain as tourism stops in Vanuatu;   as going back into lockdown (possibly on weekends) looms, more protests against Israel’s economic (look at the photo: do any of of those IPOCs know how to wear a face mask, FFS?) management of the pandemic, and criticism of Israel’s reopening - and 12,000 mistakes in tech triggered quarantines, all leading to an attempt to buy approval;   Australia’s deportations will continue - after quarantine;   Italy is using soldiers to reimpose quarantine;   local outbreaks in Spain may lead to local lockdowns;   as cases and deaths surge, local lockdowns in some US states and one city risks a spike by reopening;   US financial aid has exacerbated market bubbles;   more on the impact of deferred health care for other conditions as a result of the pandemic;   Venezuela’s borders;   Colombia;   money making greed in Indonesia;   as international visitors (including from my home state) are directed to special facilities for quarantine, Singapore is warned of a possible second wave;   India’s pandemic problem is increasing;   the EU is trying to work out how to relaunch the economy;   a ban on alcohol sales in South Africa;

   Africa:   the varied responses and situations;   counting burials to track the pandemic;

   Globally:   lockdowns are being reimposed, including in Asia;   risks to food security;   an overview of global impacts, particularly on peace;   massive cut backs in education;   health workers are not being protected;   coffee is one of the many agricultural industries at risk;

   Stupidity:   the idiot Remora fish around #45 are trying to discredit their nation’s leading expert while he warns the young this could be as bad as the 1918 flu epidemic;   the Philippines;   USA;

   Praise:   praise for China’s handling of a potential second wave.

WLNGRHDMT

And finally . . . Black Lives Matter!