Saturday, 5 September 2020

Post No. 1,654 - 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.

To counter despots, abuses of human rights and incompetent governance, and enable responsible, inclusive and participatory democracy, which is the ONLY sustainable basis for liberty and freedom, all people must embrace, instead of fearing, uncertainty, and commit to clear and objective/dispassionate thought, goodwill, and competence at being human, including having emotions.

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, being an Australian, I am now going to start referring to specific Australian states using accepted abbreviations. Editorial comments / personal opinion by me in grey.

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

 

My Articles this week include:   thoughts on embracing uncertainty;   the genocide in burma.

On Personal / Spiritual Matters:   excellent thoughts of a Druid on rage.

Reading/Viewing I found interesting this week included:   distraction.

 

Overall Commentary on this week’s news:

what has really stood out for me this week is the depth of depravity and despotism of lyin’ 45’s regime in USA - especially now that the the surveillance programme revealed by Edward Snowdon has been confirmed to be illegal, and those defending it were lying. Lyin’ 45 has moved the USA closer to another civil war - but authoritarian despots elsewhere (such as our iron hearted Dutton) are also doing damage, and many have been enabled to do so by voters who allowed themselves to be duped by deceitful media (especially News Corpse). The climate crisis is existential for the human species, but between the despots and their unthinking sock puppet voters etc and the pandemic, I wonder how many of us will be alive to face the worst (which is yet to come!) of that crisis? Those enforcing the rules in my home state have done well mostly, but with some concerning lapses: are they suffering the police equivalent of shell shock/combat fatigue? Given their powers, we can’t afford that. Too many police overseas have been utterly appalling, and quite a few of those overseas police should be sacked and charged.

In This Week’s News:
   one of the few heroes from the Rwandan genocide, now a critic of the Rwandan government for authoritarianism, has been arrested on (disputed)  allegations of terrorism (my first reaction is that the charges are trumped up, given Rwanda’s history of violently  suppressing  dissent, but the arrest was under an international warrant, so there is either genuine evidence or Interpol was duped - either way, this will be watched closely);   “how the Catholic school system takes from the poor to give to the rich”;   a controversial social media platform with a history of promoting conspiracy fantasists/misogynists and other bigots and haters has thrown a tantrum and is making false claims about the proposed fair news deal and threatening to stop using Australian news - putting their profit ahead of our rights, but see also here, on a proposal to base news fees on the value placed on public interest journalism;   renewable energy technology uses minerals, and thus has a mining impact;   multiple crises facing farmworkers in parts of the USA;   a jerk with a jetpack chose to put hundreds of lives in a jetliner at risk;   some of the impacts of bright light at night from the moon (and possibly also urban light pollution);   a review of cyber security around two factor authentication;   globalisation and equality/inequality;   the need for scientists to communicate properly.

 

In the Environmental Arena, where we have been fighting World War III for some time now:
   a major business coalition has - after many years of actively resisting this - urged our neolib denialist conspiracy fantasist government to spend at least $3 billion on renewables over the decade;   a “construction and mining industry super fund … says it will slash emissions from its investments by 45% within the next 10 years, putting carbon-intensive companies on notice that they will need to demonstrate how they will cut greenhouse gas emissions in order to stay within the fund’s $54bn portfolio”;   concerns about our imminent and climate crisis worsened fire season;   a critique of hydrogen as a fuel;   “in the Murray-Darling: farm upgrades increase water prices more than buybacks”;   an assessment by Israel’s Environment Protection Ministry using OECD guidelines found that “the 570 biggest factories in Israel cost the state … $3.9 billion in damage to public health and the environment last year”;   house hunters are not told energy ratings;   a questioning of why the bushfire commission appointed by the national neolib nitwits has not addressed the critical link with climate change;   the national neolibs are trying to use an environmental fund for non-sustainable energy projects;   police from a US city with a history of hate and fatal shootings shot an unarmed black man who was riding a bicycle, handcuffed him as he lay dying, and then left his body in the streets for hours;   the history of when things started to go backwards, under our deads**t former  28th PM (who is still deads**tting away - the UK government is facing increasing criticism over hiring the misogynistic climate denial fantasist), who purged climate crisis warners;   the storage battery in SA will be extended;   20 reptiles facing extinction;   a retraction of a scientific paper over an error has given loggers fuel;   property developers want compensation for not being able to destroy a sensitive area (if they bought the land in good faith, and didn’t know it was sensitive, they actually have a good case, in my opinion);   six Portuguese youth are suing Europe over inadequate action against the life threatening climate crisis.

other environmental matters have occurred in:
   a long standing Qld. dam proposal;   NSW;   Argentina’s wetlands;   human health.

 

This week on the Protests in the Despotic USA and associated protests/issues elsewhere:
   as US Democratic Presidential candidate Biden accuses “toxic” lyin’ 45 of inflaming violence (and said the police officer responsible should be charged) and of defeating hate, and the deaths now include a right wing vigilante (fascist?), lyin’ 45 has insulted the Mayor of Portland and suggested the National Guard should be called in: perhaps the Mayor should do that, and use the guard to protect BLM protestors against the right wing fanatics, both in and out of (or without) uniform - see also this opinion that conservatives in the USA have a history of winning on law-and-order campaigns, so lyin’ 45 should not be underestimated on this. Following this, lyin’ 45 moved the USA closer to civil war by defending the murdering teenage vigilante, going to the city where he committed his murders, and refusing to condemn violence by his supporters. On that, “the former head of America's overarching counter-terrorism body is warning political violence could ‘spin out of control’ in the days leading up to the US presidential election, potentially resulting in ‘a lot of people getting killed’ ”;   the struggle facing social media platforms trying to address conspiracy fantasies;      a group led by a now 105 year old survivor is seeking reparations for a 1921 massacre of hundreds of black people in the USA;   “an elderly couple in [the USA] was arrested and charged after acting as vigilantes and shooting at three Black people they wrongfully believed were stealing”;   a review of evidence showed the BLM protests in Israel did not spread coronavirus (why doesn’t this mention the measures - such as face masks, some physical distancing, and hand sanitising - that were taken by many of these protestors? This assessment is either half baked or incompetently reported. I also wish to point out that protests are - quite lawfully and for excellent reasons - banned in my home state until we have the pandemic under control. Don’t Use [or advocate for] Street Protests - other people have a right to LIVE);   despite more than 90% of protests being peaceful, around 42% of people believe otherwise - largely due to false media reports;   the experience of one of the victims of a kidnapping by US secret police;   police are using dogs against blacks;

Internationally:
   right wing ideological zealots and conspiracy fantasists have tried to violently invade Germany’s Parliament;   an act of Islamophobia has led to riots in Sweden;   Israel;

Police:
   seven police have been suspended and are being investigated after a man they arrested asphyxiated in an anti-spit hood (for health reasons, I support the principle of having something to stop spit - I have long thought sports spectators who spat should be charged with attempting to cause an illness, but how does someone die from a hood if it has been applied correctly?);

attacks on and actions by the Media:
   a journalist has quit over racism in the media.

 

On Human and Animal Rights:

   “seven years after former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden blew the whistle on the mass surveillance of Americans’ telephone records, an appeals court has found the program was UNLAWFUL - and that the U.S. intelligence leaders who publicly defended it WERE NOT TELLING THE TRUTH;

   the USA has joined all other despotic regimes - including the Nazis - by sanctioning ICC prosecutors;   Turkey has cut off water to one million people in Syria;   the Philippines despot has ordered the head of government department to shoot and kill alleged drug criminals;   China is transferring its genocidal techniques (including forced abortions and sterilisations) used against the Uighurs to be used against Tibet, their “first laboratory” for genocide;   Australian soldiers are showing unprofessionalism, incompetence and contempt for the laws of war on social media;   more thoughts on improving sanctions in sub-Saharan Africa against North Korea (this is a talk on a set of suggestions I posted a link to some time ago);   Israel is investigating an incident where Israeli soldiers allegedly planted IEDs in a Palestinian village;   Belarus has called for help;   Inner Mongolia;   a social media platform tries to remove hate speech in burma;   Gaza fishing people have been allowed back to sea by Israel;   Kashmir;
   former First Lady Michelle Obama has called out lyin’ 45’s systemic racism;   an examination of the possibility of a backlash against actions against racism in sport;   how to fix unfair healthcare for Māori;   in Australia, a “mother who spoke out about racial slurs made against her teenage daughter by elite private school students has received an influx of global support”;   a town is closer to being returned to its Indigenous owners;
   “a former NSW coroner has revealed that [a] case could have been resolved much sooner if not for police treating the death as a suicide and closing the case (so why shouldn’t we, particularly in light of police history of violent homophobia, assume this wasn’t also homophobia, rather than incompetence?);
   a call for sexual harassment to be treated as an OHS issue - and transphobic behaviour such as misgendering / deadnaming is attempted murder;   the problems facing male victims of domestic violence;   “despite women facing the wage gap, eventual poverty and possible homelessness, the government is quite happy to blame us for our fate”;   a Qld. police officer who leaked the address of a domestic violence victim and encouraged and promised to protect her abuser has has a prior conviction overturned (what most people would consider a non-punishment [community service - not even a requirement to get counselling] has been imposed): do the courts and Qld police have ANY idea how chilling this will be to victim/survivors of domestic violence?! It will stop victims contacting the police-- especially if the police compound the staggeringly soft handling of this DV enabler by not sacking the still serving officer);   the need for survivors of sexual assault to be able to speak out;
   a call for an enquiry into the suicides of child abuse victims;
   refugees and asylum seekers have pointed out that they are not criminals;
   the head of an Australian spy agency has tried to defend spying on Australians by saying not all are good: from historical behaviour and the signs of backwardness and bias, that also applies to the spies, which is why we’re concerned;   a the former Timor-Leste president . . . has urged Australia to show wisdom, honesty and compassion by stopping the unfair prosecution of Witness K and [his lawyer], a case he described as “political” and one that had “profoundly shocked” the Timorese people” (sadly, I don’t think our cold hearted neolib government will);
   the eSafety Commissioner will be given powers to deal with cyberbullying of adults;   another staggering example of government incompetence on cyber data security, this time in NSW;
   the abusive use of solitary confinement in Qld. jails.

Genocide matters (good and bad) in:
   western China;   burma;

Torture, Disappearances and Execution/Killing matters (good and bad) in:
   Saudi Arabia has opened the door to potentially not killing children;   how the EU can help torture victims in Belarus obtain justice;   Yemen;   Nepal;   Iran;

Refugee, immigration, and migration matters (good and bad) have occurred in:
   Malta;

Racism/caste based matters including land rights (good and bad) have occurred in:
   USA;   a call for blackbirding history to be taught in schools;   science;

Child Abuse/Trafficking/Slavery & Extreme Worker Abuse matters (good and bad) have occurred in:
   Australia;   bystanders ignored a girl being assaulted in Australia;   Israel (good news);   Bangladesh;   Asia;

LGBTIQ+ matters (including internalised homo-/bi-/trans-phobia/hate) (good and bad) have occurred in:
   Cook Islands;   South Africa;   NSW;   Mexico;   USA (good news);

Sexism (including internalised sexism), misogyny/misandry and domestic violence matters (good and bad) have occurred in:
   Argentina;   Argentina;   Jamaica;   a limitation of sex education;   Egypt;   Afghanistan;   Afghanistan (good news);

Disability matters (good and bad) have occurred in:
   concerns over risks of suicide as a result of one part of recent changes to the NDIS;

Freedom of the Press / Expression matters (good and bad) have occurred in:
   burma;   Jordan;   Zimbabwe;   North Korea;

Privacy/Surveillance matters (good and bad) have occurred in:
   Australia;   the problem of AI governance;

Repression/Oppression / reduction of democracy and other civil & political rights matters (good and bad) have occurred in:
   Australia;   Hungary;   Hong Kong;   Tanzania;   USA;   burma;   Zimbabwe;   Turkey;

Other animal and human rights matters (good and bad) have occurred in:
   underpayment of foreign students in Australia;   New Zealand;   the Vatican in WW2;   schools in Lebanon;   DR Congo;   populism;

In the related human rights arena of Employment:
   a major tech company appears to be breaking Australian law by trying to prevent workers organising into a union using secret surveillance;   neoliberal ideologues are attacking superannuation for workers.

 

Risks or occurrences of Atrocities, Mass Violence and/or War(s) this week in:
   Israel/Gaza;   Colombia;   Sudan, China and the victims of enforced disappearance;   Cameroon;

And:
   media gatekeeping is limiting what people see of kidnappings and other violence;   a published UK policy on protecting civilians in military conflict refers to R2P: now to see how well it is implemented . . . ;   the economic damage of the war in eastern Ukraine;   Indonesia has been doing well with its presidency of the UN Security Council;   peacekeeping in Lebanon;   “the big lesson of peacekeeping in Sudan: beware of host-country obstruction.

 

On Disasters this week:
   a building collapse in China;   flash floods in Afghanistan have killed more than 100 people;   the devastation and deaths caused by Cyclone Laura in the USA;   a Panamanian registered live animal transport ship with 6,000 cattle and 43 people on it capsized and sank off Japan;   an explosion in a fireworks factory in Sri Lanka;

And:
   “COVID-19 and the consequences of cascading and compounding disasters;   devastation continues 15 years after Hurricane Katrina - especially of human rights;   a Reuters exclusive says fires in Brazil likely worst in a decade - data is wrong;

Bushfires have occurred in:
   Brazil;   Argentina’s wetlands.

 

On Humanitarian Aid and Development:
   “spending time in lower-income countries may lead to greater support for charity but less support for political change”;   “speaking truth to power about the SDGs”.

 

In the Democracy, Governance, Politics, Public Ethics, and Society arena:
General Matters:
   working at home during the pandemic has been possibly the biggest increase of productivity of the last century;   “4 things governments can do to help small business”;   the pandemic has shown the importance of good (not necessarily more) governance;

in Australia:
   a historical conservative icon used, contrary to the current neolibs ideology, government deficit budgets;   questions over a large pandemic loan and a grant to a company that is using a “legal technicality” to fight against the extent of compensation of a victim of an incident it has admitted liability for;   a billionaire is pumping tens of thousands of dollars into his “spoiler political party” to stop environmental consideration and human rights restricting his fossil fuel income - including paying employees of said fossil fuel companies to take political action;   a health union has called for an increase in the Medicare levy to pay for proper aged care;   “Australia’s top economists oppose the next increases in compulsory super”;   in what could seem to a variation of the police-clearing-police-they’re-investigating problem, an intelligence “watchdog” review has cleared spy agencies of neglecting the mental health of a secret prisoner (the victims says the watchdog was duped by professional liars);   a call for national education testing - which is causing bad writing - to be urgently reformed;   anger after the two main national parties join to avoid stronger political donations laws;   a Premier has said “parliamentary privilege should not be used as a ‘blanket shield’ to stifle a corruption investigation”;   our neolib national government, which claims to be focused on financial efficiency, is losing three quarters of all decisions to deny compensation to veterans on appeal (how about saving the costs of the court cases, the extra health and community costs, and not being so cold hearted in the first place?);   a call for the obvious: let Uni graduates claim their massive debts off their tax;   a charity appears to be hiding its status when getting business;   a criticism of the trend towards authoritarianism embodied in cold (so cold the word iron could be used) hearted Minister Dutton.

The Unexceptional (and despotic) States of America:
   an author has suggested Republicans who don’t want to vote for lyin’ 45 but are uncomfortable about apparent disloyalty simply don’t tell people how they really voted;   the leader of the House has foolishly given lyin’ 45 ammunition by a moment’s failure to observe pandemic measures;   a YouTube channel of - they say and seem to be - Republican voters against lyin’ 45;   a Reuters exclusive reports on campaigns to reassure voters on the integrity of the US election process and counter any campaign by lyin’ 45 if he loses;   lyin’ 45 has illegally urged people to illegally vote a second time by mail and continued his campaign against “mail-in” voting - and called military personnel who died in war “losers”;   lyin’ 45 is “is destroying democracy in broad daylight;

Elsewhere in the World:
   confirmation that the poisoning of Russia’s opposition leader was attempted murder using a nerve agent used by Russia previously;   pop culture references are being used by protestors to get around a ban on criticising Thailand’s monarchy;   Belarus has entered its fourth week of peaceful  protests demanding the resignation of their President;   more cyber-attacks expected in New Zealand;   Lech Wałęsa’s opinion is that “a dictatorship is being created in Poland;   after four decades, a possible change of government in Samoa;

other democracy, governance, politics, public ethics, and society matters have occurred in:
   Israel;   ASIC;   Lebanon;   Australia’s award system;   Iraq;   Libya.

 

Internationally:
   women victims of the misogynist violent extremist group in Afghanistan are present, albeit as a minority, in the team seeking to negotiate peace;   continuing tensions between India and China;   China has not matched Australia’s assistance to Pacific island nations on the pandemic;   as India bans 118 apps from China, an examination of the “decoupling” of China’s and India’s economies is published, as are details of the Tibetan soldier fighting for India who was killed on the border between India and Chinese occupied Tibet;   Russian activity caused a mobilisation in Sweden;

on China’s Communist Party (CCP) Regime and the reinvigorated  ideological Cold War this week:
   an Australian working in China has been detained without charge;   Germany is “diversifying” its relations in Asia to be less dependent on China;   “ ‘joint development’ is a misnomer when China has no legal stake in what is Indonesian territory;   “there are signs that [the CCP] recognises Australia’s positions on Hong Kong, Taiwan and Xinjiang are based on its own interests”;   a call for US support for Taiwan to be unambiguous;   an assessment of China’s military capabilities and strategies;

on Israel’s intended Annexation of the West Bank and other matters:
   as Palestinian artists lead the start of a boycott, the UAE say they have  assurances” from lyin’ 45’s regime that Israel’s annexation of the West Bank “won’t happen” . . . lyin’ 45’s regime also claim a two state solution will happen;   recognition by Kosovo appears imminent and Serbia will move it embassy to West Jerusalem.

 

In Africa - Democracy, Governance, Politics, Public Ethics, And Society and International Relations:
   the choice now facing Burundi;   talks may happen on a possible transition from the military back to democracy in Mali.

 

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!!!):
   “coronavirus has fuelled authoritarian trends around the world”;  a call for kids only pandemic briefings - like those in Norway;   an excellent rundown on the causes and prevention of pandemics (the commentary on the numbers of new diseases now being discovered each year is staggering);

   medical aspects:   a comparative study of how US cities handled the 1918 influenza outbreak which shows the importance of physical distancing and lockdowns;   some of the rarer symptoms;   mental health issues from the perspective of brain functioning;

   resources:   a guide to state by state restrictions;

 

Human Rights Aspects (crisis . . . running summary of impacts on elections here):
   massacres in Colombia may be by vigilante of those breaching pandemic containment measures;   the USA will refuse to pay money it owes to the WHO;   the increased use of new tech is creating serious privacy risks;
   also including

sexism:
   it is likely fewer women will be elected to local Councils in my home state;   DV survivors in India are helping other survivors;   rapes during lockdown in El Salvador;

housing:
   some renters are having problems getting mould fixed;   as a call is made to address the flaws in our social security that have been exposed by the pandemic, rentals will shortly become extremely unaffordable;   evictions in South Africa.

 

Environmental Impacts:   medical waste has deluged a river in Indonesia;

 

In My Home State:
   a counter view pointing out what a nurse considers the hotel quarantine scheme in my home state got right;   a slightly overblown (mental health is an issue) opinion on how well Victorians are handling the lockdown;   “public housing tenants vulnerable to coronavirus will be offered private rental properties”;   a call for mass testing;   the proposed 12 month extension of our State of Emergency has been cut to the normal six and approved;   fears in regional areas of eased restrictions;   questions after police powers were used to issue stupid fines (such as for not being home while in hotel quarantine), but there have been nearly 2,000 fines, total cost over $2.9 million, and many appear to be valid;   four arrests for inciting acts to put people’s lives at risk;   another day with a sad record daily death toll - but only six of those were from that day (the others had been misclassified), and most were still from aged care;   the enquiry into hotel quarantine is continuing;

Australia:
   a review of Australia’s ban on people leaving Australia;   continuing caution is urged (again);   NSW is improving its flawed hotel quarantine scheme, but resisting calls for facemasks in public;   Australian farmers will be allowed to hire international fruit pickers (they will be quarantined for two weeks on arrival, but this will also boost the Pacific);   supermarket employees are wearing badges to remind people they are human beings;   a graphical assessment of the economy;   slacking off on physical distancing (a work colleague in another state commented on the lack of spacing on a domestic airline flight);   company profits have jumped . . . (there is a graph on social media [here, if you have access] showing that the more deaths, the greater the contraction of the economy: unfortunately I cannot find a non-social media link to it);   the political quagmire;   no-one seems to know where funding for aged care is going;   the approaching job crisis;   the national cabinet is fractured;

Internationally:
   New Zealand is moving towards facemasks, as research shows “Māori are more likely to die from COVID-19 than other New Zealanders”;   the heartbreaking, devastating situation of workers from rural areas in Indian cities;   schools have reopened in the UK;   Indonesia appears to be continuing to put the economy ahead of people;   some teachers in the USA have resigned over safety concerns when schools are forced to reopen;   as it reopens, India has nearly 4 million cases;   40% of South Korea’s new cases are aged;   Israeli hospitals may be overwhelmed within weeks;   burma;   land theft is harming the indigenous peoples of the Amazon river basin;   Venezuela;   Syria is not protecting health workers;   boosting water security in India;

Africa:
   lessons from the eradication of polio in Africa for the fight against COVID-19;

Irresponsibility, Selfishness, and Unthinking Behaviour:
   UK;   a woman inciting breach of the regulations and thus putting others’ lives at risk has been arrested and charged.

WLNGRHDMT

And finally . . . Black Lives Matter!