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. “Quotes are shown italicised and in quotation marks.”
Content Warning: the linked articles and their descriptions here may be about violence, abuse, hate, and other problems.
My Articles this week include: on knowing good from bad; a comment on the US Presidential election candidate’s “debate”; a collation of some quotations.
On Spiritual Matters: I was staggered and utterly appalled to read that some Westerners are trying to “reclaim” a nazi symbol.
Reading/Viewing I found interesting this week included: evidence shows we learn better when not told what we should choose; by biological anthropologists, “most anguish isn’t an illness but an evolved response to adversity” - I particularly liked the comment near the end “in traditional societies, healers help to resolve psychological distress by resolving social conflicts rather than treating ‘mental disorders’ ”.
Overall Commentary on this week’s news:
the stand
out issues this week have been that the fascist despot lyin’ 45 is a white supremacist,
his claimed business credentials are a lie, and his becoming infected with
COVID-19 show his known lying when denying the existence of the pandemic and the
need for containment measures have been a mockery. Others, unfortunately, have
also been indulging in unethical behaviour to varying degrees, including denying
Parliamentary responsibility, and have not been held to account by most mainstream
media. Violence has broken out in Central Asia, and there have been gains and
losses on violence in Africa - and democracy and freedom, although
accountability for human rights and other abuses is, again, a mixed bag but
generally poor. People continue to give up freedom over fears around security (often
false fears), or through silence being taken as assent by authoritarians.
Some attention is returning to the climate crisis and environment, but not
enough - and the issue of population growth continues to be ignored, as does
information on human rights issues such as inequality/lack of social equity and
justice. The response to the COVID-19 pandemic is a mixed bag, but some nations
are leading the way, and others are slowly learning that they cannot put the almighty
dollar ahead of all else, or their economy will actually be worse off - and
there is some long term thinking and questioning about fundamental values and
directions underway.
Special
News This Week:
after an aide was found to have
COVID-19, so too
- in a moment of ineluctable irony but rather
unsurprisingly
- was the white supremacist fascist despot lyin’ 45 and his wife, and they have
- in a major blow
to his re-election campaign (but see also this)
- begun quarantine (it is too
early to know if the USA’s 25th
Amendment would need to be invoked), and 45 has been hospitalised;
leading to messages of support
from both sides of the political divide and the world
(but no
changes such as wearing masks at the White House . . . ).
This raises concerns
about others, including Republican leaders
and the Democratic contender - who 45 was near shouting at
during their recent “debate”;
after the “debate”, it is clear that the USA is led by a lying white supremacist fascist who has just signalled his supporters for violence; - see also here (this “humiliated America in front of the world”), here (good action), here, here, here (on the new rules next time - which the jerk will refuse), and here; more on US Senator Bernie Sanders recommendations on stopping white supremacist fascist despot lyin’ 45 from stealing the 2020 US Presidential election; the importance of understanding that what white supremacist fascist despot lyin’ 45 is doing is an autogolpe, not a coup d’état; an evidence based assessment of the possibility of violence after the 2020 US Presidential election;
as US markets become increasingly nervous about the upcoming election and the US Democrat candidate releases his tax returns, revelations that white supremacist fascist despot lyin’ 45, who has claimed to be great at business, has chronic financial losses and years of tax avoidance.
In This
Week’s News:
something that needs to stand out and
be noticed this week: The
Pandemic Is A MAJOR Risk For Bushfire Season;
more on rescuing
loved ones from Internet conspiracy cults - see also this,
on the fear an émigré from behind the Iron Curtain has for current levels of
“brainwashing”; self-excluded
problem gamblers say they’re not being
stopped
- see also here, here,
and here; concern
over reissuing a licence to a ride sharing service in the UK; a jet
suit to give paramedics rapid access to remote
and difficult areas; some thoughts
on dealing with trolls; another
traveller has fallen
foul of another nation’s laws around defamation as a result of an online
comment (as presented in the article, the comments do seem extreme and
inappropriate - whether they reach that nation’s criteria of defamation is for
their courts to decide, but the lesson about caution should be noted [years ago
I had an argument about feedback on an online shopping site: I raised a problem
and the seller said they would fix it next time, and wanted me to change my
assessment on the basis of a verbal promise to do better next time: I refused,
but had to point out the policies about not bullying people about feedback
before he would back down] );
corrupt
police in Belgium were part of an international drug ring.
In the Environmental Arena, where we have been fighting World War III for some time now:
Sri Lanka has returned 21
shipping containers of hazardous
waste
allegedly delivered in breach
of international
regulations
to the UK; after 250 years of neglect, traditional
fire management has returned to part of NSW; Australia’s
neolib nitwit leader has joined
the white supremacist fascist despot lyin’ 45, leader of the USA, and the
despots leading China and the USA, in refusing
to join 60
other leaders who have committed to protect the biodiversity
that this planet relies
on, as the parts of the pledge are “inconsistent with government policy” - which,
ironically, given their appalling record and plans on the environment, is
probably true; Australia’s
neolib nitwit leader has also criticised
NSW’s Environment Minister for describing a controversial
gas project as “a gamble”; as is
probably inevitable, neoliberals
have started considering the impact of China’s commitment to having a liveable
planet on which some business is possible in terms of impacts now on our part
of the world economy; a shark attack victim
is acting to support work helping sharks; at risk mussels
that were taken before bushfires have successfully been reintroduced; more
on the
case
by eight Torres
Strait
Islanders
against
the
Australian government over climate change, which is being resisted
on the basis of global responsibility (although we’re not accepting our share) and -
unbelievably, given recent events - that is it’s a future problem
. . . ; a possibly faster
way
to break
down plastic; accelerating and
“unprecedented” loss
of ice in Greenland; an examination
of the status of our forests - which fails to consider the damage done between 1788 and
1990, but does confirm we need to do more and do it better; air
seeding to help burned areas recover; more nations
have laws protecting the rights of nature (or parts such as
rivers) to exist and flourish;
a call for different
basic food crops; drought adaptation in
Pakistan; shareholder
efforts to restrict deforestation in the Amazon have had only limited
effect;
other
environmental matters have
occurred in:
Vic.; regenerative farming
(see also here,
here,
and here; another
US water supply; a forest and a proposed minesite
in Thailand (good news); Malawi
(good news); Uganda; Chile; fossil
fuel lobbyists.
This week on
the PROTESTS IN THE DESPOTIC USA and
associated protests/issues elsewhere:
Police:
confirmation
that police is one city planned
to trap and assault peaceful
protestors.
On HUMAN AND ANIMAL RIGHTS:
a Guardian exclusive reports that UK MPs and peers plan to allow minorities in China
to take legal action in the UK - see also this
and this; allegations
in a UK court that “US-linked security sources” considered
kidnapping or poisoning a notorious whistleblower;
a student
from an elitist
school was bullied after an after alleged rape which was not reported by two now former teachers, despite legal
requirement to do so since 2009
- see also here,
here
(recommendations 6.4, 6.5, and 6.6 would apply, IMO), and here
(and this
suggests elitist schools have been on the nose for a while);
Australia’s
African communities are “fighting back”, and “need to be
heard”; science has rebuffed
the notion of racial genetic purity that white supremacists are blindly and
irrationally addicted to;
a young Dalit woman has died after a
mass rape in India
- see also this,
on the anger after the victim was cremated without her family’s permission, and
this,
on another similar death of a young Dalit woman after mass rape; Mexico has identified at
least one apparent victim of the reported mass, non-consensual hysterectomies
in the USA;
Belgium
has a trans
deputy Prime Minister;
“The Myth of Patriarchy is Unnatural
(but it’s also strong)”; a call to resume including a gender impact statement as part of the
budget (maybe for other minorities too);
in what is likely to be a divisive
decision, senior conservative politicians in India have been acquitted
of responsibility for the destruction of ancient mosques by a mob nearly three
decades ago, act which provoked riots which killed thousands;
data
shows the benefits of treatment of drug
offenders.
Genocide, War Crimes, and Crimes Against Humanity matters (good and
bad) in:
Guinea is still
waiting for justice from 2009; Yemen;
Torture, Disappearances and Execution/Killing matters (good and
bad) in:
Nigeria; more murders
by police in the Philippines; Turkey;
Refugee, immigration, and migration matters (good and
bad) have occurred in:
Greece; Cyprus;
Racism/caste
based matters including Indigenous, multi-culturalism, colonialism and land
rights (good and bad) have occurred in:
LGBT community in UK; Qld.
police; questions
about the claims of being Indigenous made by the founder of a program for
troubled children in the NT; Israel is “silently”
displacing Palestinians from their own land;
Child Abuse/Trafficking/Slavery & Extreme Worker Abuse matters (good and
bad) have occurred in:
NT; Vic
prisons; China; Australia’s fa’afafine community;
the more
hardline version of a programme
aimed at teenage mothers that the neolibs
adopted
has been reinstituted
- to the detriment of children; reports
of sexual exploitation by aid workers in the
DRC during the Ebola crisis; China; the
pandemic; Zimbabwe (good news);
Colombia;
LGBTIQ+ matters (including
internalised homo-/bi-/trans-phobia/hate)
(good and bad) have occurred
in:
on
leadership
in rainbow communities; Wicca; neochristian hate, viciousness and bigotry
in Australia; local
Councils in Australia (good news);
Egypt
- see also this; support from hundreds of writers and publishers for TGD people; Australian
sport
(good news); UK
(good news); more than 13 nations
in the UN are transphobic; Poland; Panama; a ride
share driver; condemnation of
intersex surgeries; Canada (good
step);
Sexism (including
internalised sexism), misogyny/misandry and domestic violence matters (good and
bad) have occurred in:
Vic.
(local Council elections - good news); social media; Malawi; Kenya (lack of
credit to female entrepreneurs); Kuwait
(good news);
Housing matters (good and
bad) have occurred in:
a call to make renting better; module homes for
the poor in Hong Kong;
Privacy/Surveillance matters (good and
bad) have occurred in:
another
digital
privacy
stuff up - this one by an Australian government department; USA; USA/artificial ”intelligence”; USA; Union
of Soviet Socialist Russia;
Repression/Oppression including Police Abuses /
reduction of democracy and other civil & political rights matters (good and
bad) have occurred in:
China; India; Canada; Chinese tech companies are enabling
the CCP’s repression; despite attempts to mislead the world, Saudi
Arabia is getting worse; despot
propping in repressive
Zimbabwe; Hong Kong; Chile; Nicaragua
- and see also this; Guinea;
Other animal and human
rights matters (good and bad) have occurred in:
the
problem of virtual violence includes
virtual violence against animals;
In the
related human rights arena of Employment:
Portugal; UK; UK.
Risks or occurrences of Atrocities, Mass Violence and/or War(s) this week in:
Nagorno-Karabakh; Afghanistan; Nigeria; Ethiopia; Somali-Kenyan
border; Chad; China,
Côte d’Ivoire and Nagorno-Karabakh;
Mozambique; Nigeria; concerns about security forces at an
upcoming festival in Ethiopia;
And:
a call for both sides to respect
civilians in Afghanistan; five
conflicts the EU can help in; in an example of
responsibility that Australia’s neolib national government should pay heed to,
the USA has commended
Italy for repatriating and prosecuting its citizens who have been part
of violent extremist movements;
Other atrocity/violence
matters have occurred in:
Australia.
On DISASTERS
this week:
a plane crash in Ukraine;
And:
calls for
bushfire warnings available in languages
other than English to help more than one
million Victorians;
Bushfires have occurred in:
USA; Brazil - where
destruction of the Amazon may end the “flying
rivers”
that bring
rain.
On Humanitarian Aid and Development:
the 2020 Global Multidimensional Poverty
Index and key findings (this measures the complexity of poor
people’s lives - who are, ten years from the target date for eradication of
poverty, 22% of the world’s population);
the need
to address five megatrends (“climate change; demographic shifts,
particularly population ageing; urbanisation; the emergence of digital
technologies; and inequalities”); Australia’s
neoliberal national government has quietly abolished
two well-regarded and effective aid evaluation bodies; online safety for women is crucial
for achieving the SDGs.
In the DEMOCRACY, GOVERNANCE, POLITICS, PUBLIC ETHICS, AND SOCIETY ARENA:
General Matters:
a nuanced
examination of “vaccine refusers” show they are well informed and
engage with research (and are likely to know more than those who do
vaccinate), but they have internalised false
beliefs - thus, although increasing
health literacy would be good, it may not be enough
to address this problem - see also this,
this,
and this,
on the limited effect of social media bots in spreading misinformation; the differences between, and effects of, the
USA's too showy and our too secret higher
judicial appointment approaches; a call for better civic education to prevent the
nonsensical, often debunked conspiracy
fantasist rubbish
of recent decades - see also this,
on female conspiracy fantasists; the
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has found resilience
is better than deterrence when it comes to cyber-attacks; interesting
evidence on the beneficial effect of social security on reducing poverty; an examination
of executive power; people in the UK have indicated they would pay more taxes for a “fairer, more caring and gender-equal society”; the differences
between national and household budgets;
a call for science to defend
democracy; a call to rethink
capitalism after the pandemic (I liked the comment
that value is not the same as price);
in Australia:
data shows that forcing people without
a specific severe impairment who want to access the disability payment to do 18
months of job search on drastically lower (by about $15,000 over that
period) payments is an
unnecessary imposition of suffering as only 6% are
subsequently rejected; a call for natural
history to be on Australia’s citizenship test
- and for changes to consider international crimes such as genocide, crimes
against humanity, or war crimes to be strengthened,
and similarly for corporate
crimes; the national audit office,
which has recently proven its effectiveness, needs
more funding - as does the NSW
anti-corruption body; a Senator has voted against proposed changes to the already
struggling University sector on the grounds that they “make it harder
for poor kids” (see also this,
on the part Universities play in our social fabric),
and sunk the proposal to ban mobile phones for refugees (her
evidence and reasoning is here - I disagree
that people do not ahve the right to seek asylum); a critique
of my home state’s Premier; the massive
corporate fine recently issued is a punishment, not
a cure for the problem; reports
that (young) unemployed Australians will be offered
“incentives”
to work on regional farms; common
out-of-pocket expenses and time losses arising from the outdated
rigidity of the specialist referral system have been highlighted by the Deeble Institute for Health Policy
Research, the research arm
of the Australian Healthcare and
Hospitals Association; austerity measures in Qld would cost the economy $9 billion over three years; on Scotty from Marketing
:( ;
an opinion
that current Attorney-General’s support for the Minister recently criticised
for “criminal conduct” renders him unfit for that position; to address the shortage of farm workers, an
amnesty on those illegally here may
be considered (presumably excluding asylum seekers . . . ); a warning
that so-called “budget
repair” could harm young workers - and see here
on the four head-in-the-sand issues that the Morrison-Murdoch regime is
ignoring; grave
concerns over a bill to allow troops to be used in Australia for “emergencies”
- including Giving Them Immunity; expanded
rorting;
The Unexceptional (and despotic) States of America and its white supremacist fascist despot
lyin’ 45:
the head of a major neochristian sect has refused
to meet
with the US Secretary of State as it would be political; the white supremacist
fascist despot lyin’
45 might be right when he says Roe
v. Wade could be overturned if he gets his way with a new Associate Justice
for the US
Supreme Court; as one
Republican-controlled US state shuts
the majority of postal voting stations, “the long
history of preventing minorities from voting in the US” - see
also this; thoughts from last year
on reforming the US Supreme Court (interesting suggestions); a Reuters
exclusive reports
that dozens of Republican former security officials will endorse the Democratic
candidate; a Reuters exclusive gives more
information on Russian influencing techniques (masquerading as a right
wing site);
Other democracy, governance,
politics, public ethics, and society Matters:
police used teargas,
stun grenades, arrests,
and abductions against tens
of thousands who were protesting for a seventh weekend in Belarus - from
which at least one police member has defected
(to Poland), after calling on colleagues to stop their violence - at
least the EU has finally imposed sanctions; a referendum against an agreement with the
EU on free movement of people may
lead to a “Swixet”; the tobacco
industry; the EU has watered
down a law aiming to link funding to the protection of democracy; the UK is now going down its version of the
deeply discredited robodebt debacle; USA.
INTERNATIONALLY:
civilians are amongst those killed
in (resumed)
fierce
fighting
between Armenia (which has fully mobilised and declared “martial law”)
and Azerbaijan over
separatist (it split
from Azerbaijan in 1991 during the collapse
of the USSR) Nagorno-Karabakh
(which also fully mobilised and declared martial law), threatening South
Caucasus oil and gas pipelines and the
region, and leading to Russia, with history
of effective mediation in the region, the UN
calling for a ceasefire and talks, and a call for local
solutions, but concerns
over Turkey’s influence - see also this;
an opinion that fear of weakness
may limit
nations willingness to talk - written over the China-India border dispute
(where cooperation over humanitarian aid may
be a better tool for beginning a dialogue), but also likely applicable to Nagorno-Karabakh; in a press conference for the opening
of the United Nation’s 75th General Assembly, the UN Secretary
-General referred to “our own 1945 moment” during a call for global
unity against the COVID-19 pandemic (the call for a global ceasefire remains
active), achieve the SDGs, and address the climate crisis - but there were
also parallels
between
US-China
tensions now and US-Russia tensions then.
The Palestinian Authority’s President also called
for a genuine peace, based on a two state solution and 1967 borders; as a
call is made for a new
approach by the USA towards Iran, Iran claims
to have a longer range surface-to-surface missile; Russia and China have blocked release
of a UN report criticising Russian meddling in Libya; the recently recovered opposition leader has accused Russia’s President
of being responsible for his
latest poisoning
- see also here,
here
(suggesting others in Russia may be responsible), and here,
and here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
and here; an examination of the
growing risks facing Taiwan - which nation the US will help
increase its influence by funding infrastructure projects (see also this
assessment that there is a legacy from China’s civil war [should Taiwan
renounce any claim over mainland China?]; Japan’s military has called for funding
to continue strengthening itself against China’s growing military capability; the EU has launched legal
action against the UK over a bill said to breach the terms of Brexit; growing mistrust
between the USA and Thailand; Iraq,
where anti-government
protests have called for reform, is juggling
its position between and ties with Iran (although some tensions
have grown) and the USA; another nuclear
inspection in Iran; ignoring lessons
from
history
suggesting that “the enemy
of my enemy
is my friend”
approach can lead to calamity, calls
for the USA to build ties with not free, human
rights abusing
Algeria to counter Russian influence;
on China,
China’s Communist Party (CCP) Regime and the reinvigorated ideological
Cold War this week:
the CCP has put itself into a bind
where it cannot afford to show weakness outside or within its borders; the CCP has denied
destroying
mosques
where Uyghurs live
- and endure genocide; the CCP’s subjugation
of minorities parallels colonialism elsewhere (the ending quote - “kill the
Uighur, save the man” - is particularly apt) - see also this, on reversing colonialism;
Other international matters
have occurred in:
diplomacy in South
East Asia.
IN AFRICA - Democracy, Governance, Politics, Public Ethics, And Society and International Relations:
Continent / Thematic Matters:
concerns
that democracy is backsliding in central and southern Africa; a report
on where Africa is on attaining the SDGs;
a call for good governance; recommendations have been made to protect
democracy in West
Africa; $830
billion of illegal outflow of capital happened from Africa in the first 15
years of this century; inequality is the
main factor behind the crisis in the Sahel;
Peace and Conflict:
slight
hopes for peace in eastern DR Congo, where an attack on a mine in the DR Congo
has been repelled; talks in Libya have ended with some
agreements; a militia in the Central African
Republic that signed a peace deal is actively
spreading terror before elections;
efforts to combine the two opposing forces in South Sudan into one
official army have so far failed;
Environment:
an oil project in Uganda has stopped people
using their land for food; China’s
demand for coal at any cost is harming
Zimbabwe’s environment;
Democracy and Other National matters:
the history
and legacy of military rule in Mali - which still hasn’t
satisfied regional demands over returning to democracy; an area
of eastern Ghana
has
declared
itself
a sovereign state - again; the African Court
on Human and Peoples’ Rights has
said Ivory Coast should
allow
a former
President, who was barred because to a 20 year jail sentence (being appealed
- he has been released on bail,
but only recently allowed to leave Belgium, but may not be able to return to
the Ivory Coast), to stand for election;
one woman’s extraordinary
efforts to fix problems in Somalia;
as holdout rebels in Darfur attack
the army and a mass disarmament campaign begins, women
in Sudan are pushing for democracy; Nigeria’s sixty year history; repression
in Cameroon; ahead of a turbulent election, Guinea has closed
its borders; hundreds arrested
in Egypt after anti-government protests;
no
follow up ten years after a report on human rights abuses in the DR
Congo; an agreement on debt relief for Somalia; Mozambique’s stability is at
risk because of violent extremism.
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!!!):
how to “build a more inclusive government and economy out of the
pandemic” after the pandemic; the very accurate term “chin
hammock”; the issue of
lawsuits over family members who become ill from infections taken home from the
workplace; the possibility
of major social change - “upending social hierarchies” - as a result of
the pandemic; a
call to be gentler on ourselves;
the white supremacist
fascist despot lyin’
45, in charge of the USA, has been the
world’s biggest source of misinformation;
good stories/news: seeds for neighbours; a laundry hiring to give people living with a disability and people from disadvantaged or migrant backgrounds has utilised untapped potential, including impressive overseas qualifications, in managing the loss of business from the pandemic; rural residents are giving soup, firewood and friendliness to isolated border control checkpoints;
medical aspects: the working conditions of medical staff in South Africa; the WHO says rapid diagnostic tests are coming; the vaccine may be needle free; the need for better data; some COVID-19 survivors are using social media to compare notes on mysterious symptoms; we didn’t have a flu season.
Human Rights Aspects (crisis
. . . running summary of impacts on elections here):
inequality has worsened; a summary of research
into domestic violence during the pandemic;
a report on the weakening
of democracy by the pandemic; Sartre
style reflections;
also including
racism:
a workshop
to help bystanders stop COVID-19-related racism;
sexism:
most
nations; period poverty has been exacerbated;
housing:
Qld.;
aid:
concerns
around IMF aid;
more
opportunistic surveillance:
Asia;
increased
opportunistic repression/oppression / reduction of democracy:
Colombia.
In My Home State:
the hotel quarantine enquiry is leaning
towards systemic problems being more significant than individual
blame; modelling has shown we face a “41%
chance of a third wave within four weeks if all
restrictions lifted now”; as numbers
continue to improve, the lockdown
has eased,
including lifting of the curfew, and future steps will be based on numbers
rather than dates (as should always have been the case) but works in
high risk industries will have
to be tested; reassurance
that admitting breaches when talking to contact tracers will not lead to fines
- which is good, given that some fines are not
being reversed despite valid evidence;
as carers
at one aged care facility say
they were pressured into delaying tests, an
admission
that
“earlier
federal action could have prevented some aged care deaths” in my home
state’s aged care system, and criticism
(which some think is mild)
from the
Royal Commission; more healthcare
workers in hospitals
are being infected; young people are being asked to have their say on rebuilding after the pandemic; debunking
of yet another claim, this one by a notorious conservative dinosaur, that Vic
lock downs were ”the worst in the world”;
another outbreak
in Melbourne’s south east, focused on a shopping centre; sub-contractors who were part of the hotel
quarantine programme have been stood down mid-shift
over infection control concerns (part of their duties were listed as “grocery checks” -
does that mean they check the groceries people have ordered? What does that
involve? And what sorts of infection control checks do they do?); regional Victorian business owners, where
there are three active cases compared to more than 200 in Melbourne, want to accelerate
reopening (the safety of this would depend on having a solid barrier around
Melbourne [which is likely], which is
also where many of their customers normally come from, so it may not help as
much as they think);
significant resistance
to a bill to adopt powers similar to those already existing in NSW and
Qld; additional
aid for those facing hardship;
Australia:
as a critique
of our aid against other nations finds we were OK (and it is a conditional opportunity
to reverse our brain drain) but have room for improvement, economists are against
the national neolib’s proposed mates rates tax changes, for smaller
projects, social
housing and support where
it is needed (the pandemic is hitting the
poor hardest) and generally - together with mental
health experts - for more
economic stimulus/support - and this
passing the buck to the weakest link in the chain, the consumer, doesn’t help
either. Meanwhile, a loophole will allow an airline to dump
its ground workers; the impact
of COVID-driven cuts (especially of staff) on universities; anger
at the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission over
deaths in aged care; Qld. has expanded
its border bubble with NSW; language translation services;
the RBA may
have to buy
state debt to maintain credit
ratings; the neolib national government
has been criticised
for allowing business
investment visa holders into the hotel quarantine programme ahead of
Australians trying to return;
Internationally:
a
city
vs. nation standoff in Spain; one UK government scientific advisor has
said mini-lockdowns/circuit breakers could control
the number of cases - but see also this,
this
and this; South
and Central America; allegations of
a contact tracing failure
in Israel, which is facing a second wave
amid revelations that ⅓
of infections are amongst the ultra-Orthodox, 12% of the total population, who
have been resistant
to pandemic containment measures, and as a controversial restriction
on protesting is adopted; in the USA, very high positive
test rates in some states (up to 25%) and amongst young people as
Universities open, and concerns
about a new unqualified advisor to the white supremacist
fascist despot lyin’
45; theories that a city in Brazil was
going to be the first to reach herd immunity have been shown to be a load of rot; some of those who are struggling in
India; tough rules in Morocco; internal domestic flights have resumed
in China; as the blanket internal
travel ban is lifted (some conditions remain), Germany’s Chancellor
considers a second wave can be avoided; legal action in
Brazil over alleged failure to protect workers; France may have to backtrack some of its
reopening; the fears of the unemployed
in Bangladesh;
Globally:
at least one
million deaths globally - that may be low
(e.g., there may be no doctor to certify the death in accordance with WHO
guidelines, nations may have limited medical infrastructure - the article
suggests the death toll may be closer to 1.8 million - and ignore the zombie
claim about the toll being lower); a comparison
of some nations’ approaches to international travel; the WHO says poorer
nations will get 120 million low cost rapid tests;
Irresponsibility, Selfishness, and Unthinking Behaviour:
Israel; an
Australian airline.
WLNGRHDMT
And finally . . . Black Lives Matter!
