This was originally posted on my political blog at https://politicalmusingsofkayleen.blogspot.com/2021/03/on-uganda-burma-attempted-coup-in-usa_20.html.
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On Uganda this week:
- Bobi Wine has been arrested - again;
- the East Africa Law Society is suing Uganda for shutting down the Internet.
On Burma this week:
- dozens of protestors killed and anti-Chinese sentiment has led to arson as "the Quad nations" (USA, Japan, India, and Australia) allegedly vow to restore democracy in Burma;
- martial law has been declared in Burma's capital;
- as more calls are made for sanctions, and look more likely, a UN expert says the coup leaders in Burma "belong behind bars";
- the UN is seeking evidence to build a case against the human rights criminals in Burma;
- "blunt" criticism from Indonesia;
- the despots in Burma are using facial recognition tech;
- women are taking a leading role in protests - and there is also this, which was effective in 2007.
On the attempted coup in the USA:
- police exhibited sympathy for right wing extremists long before the attempted coup (and where there is one form of bigotry, there will be others).
From the news this week:
- a step towards the evils of "The Matrix" . . . ;
- climate crisis induced disasters have displaced 10 million people in the last six months; one billion people live in cities shifting away from fossil fuels; carbon emissions from trawlers match aviation;
- the UK plans of stockpiling 40% more nuclear weapons;
- R2P concerns in Afghanistan, Cameroon, Central Sahel, China, DRC, Ethiopia, Burma, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen, and CAR, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Sudan and Sudan;
- a comment on historic verdict at International Criminal Court;
- from SIPRI: "The volume of international transfers of major arms in 2016–20 was 0.5 per cent lower than in 2011–15 and 12 per cent higher than in 2006–10. The five largest arms exporters in 2016–20 were the United States, Russia, France, Germany and China. The five largest arms importers were Saudi Arabia, India, Egypt, Australia and China. Between 2011–15 and 2016–20 there were increases in arms transfers to the Middle East and to Europe, while there were decreases in the transfers to Africa, the Americas, and Asia and Oceania";
- the Tigray conflict may lead to a border war between Ethiopia and Sudan;
- a combination of Kim ⅓'s ill health and a staggeringly sexist power structure may see no-one leading North Korea;
- the decade long disaster in Syria - and Libya;
- in a disturbing parallel with Burma, the Sudanese army has business organisations;
- an assessment of Nigeria's demilitarisation/integration programme for former VEs;
- a call for sanctions against Cambodia's "dirty dozen";
- US President Biden has criticised Putin as soulless and a killer, and warned consequences for Putin's actions will come;
- “Why the Chinese Communist Party Sees Tibetan Monks as ‘Troublemakers’ ” (and is thus “sinicizing” Tibetan Buddhism); China is breaking up Uyghur families by stealing children; the USA has warned China - which has been telling pork pies about talks with the USA - against "coercion and aggression", and threats from China against a US island may lead to a new US military base; the USA has told China to stop attacking Australia;
- an opinion that Israel's next war might be multi-front;
- dozens of lawyers have been murdered under the Philippines' current president marcos-lite;
- now New Zealand may refer us to the UN over Scott's policies of hate . . . ; accusations that ASIO's change of terminology was to protect RWNJs have been denied;
- the problem of "ahistoricism", which "refers to a lack of concern for history, historical development, or tradition" as compared to this, on the history of Taiwan;
- concerns over Bolivia;
- 13 police have been murdered in Mexico;
- Belarus has extended it's anti-opposition behaviour to its entry for Eurovision;
- Denmark has decided discrimination
against the poor from overseas is a "solution" to the risk of
radicalisation - not fixing poverty, not counter narratives, not
improving inclusion, rather it has chosen to manifest hate and fear . .
. ;
- elections will continue in the CAR;
- IGAD mobilisation of grassroots peace activists;
- on changing the world peacefully;
- a former Liberal PM has commented that "Like Howard, Morrison plays politics at the expense of good government";
- as NSW police admit they closed the investigation into an alleged sexual assault of a minor in the 1980s by the AG the problems without having received all the evidence (there are also concerns about police not passing on information about child abuse in the NT, police stopping protests in the UK, police in Malawi have been ordered to pay compensation to a women they raped, and arrest warrants have been issued for three police in Nigeria over an alleged murder, and police in Kenya have been found responsible for the death of a girl and for not arresting her killer); a massive backlash in the UK against police
over how they broke up a protests at the murder of a woman for which a
serving police officer has been charged; Qld's notoriously misogynistic police have decided women only police stations that have been so successful elsewhere won't work in Qld . . . ; a call for the enquiry into Parliamentary culture to be extended to government departments; the AG has commenced defamation proceedings against a media outlet (and will have restricted duties to avoid a conflict of interest . . . who will attend to the gap?) and journalist over reports on the allegations of rape and intends to
give evidence under oath;
calls for change in the Parliamentary culture enquiry to protect staff from trauma; a workplace threat of pack rape (claimed to be a "joke" . . . ) in Tasmania's ambulance service has been referred to police;
powerful speeches at the women's protest marches - which have met a stupid (non)response from the neolib government; (on social media - my apologies) how to call out sexism / racism in the workplace; from Twitter: "Today was the anniversary of when an Australian right wing terrorist murdered 51 people while they were praying in Christchurch. Meanwhile, the Australian prime minister observed that women are lucky they didn't get shot for protesting today. take a while to think about that"; Australia's representative to the UN has been stunned by Scott's comment that women marching should be grateful they're not shot . . . ; experts have said Scott's inaction on the allegations led to the victim being subjected to "trial by media"; claims of harassment of women and aggressive behaviour within the ALP have led to a shoot-yourself-in-the-foot response (women must be listened to, but wants them to come forward); victim robbing by the national neolib nitwits; misogynistic complaints in Russia about its pro-women song entry to Eurovision; the wives of former PMs have stated nothing has changed in a generation;
an elitist all-male private school has referred allegations of sexual assault and harassment to police; the stupid advice by authorities and police to women after the recent murder of a woman (for which a police officer has been charged) has been previously tried and failed (in the 1970s in northern England);
"What does a rapist look like?";
Mexico's ruling party has selected an accused rapist as a candidate . . . ; solar lighting is allowing women in Kenya to fish at night rather than be sex slaves; France's highest court has partially protected child rapists under an "archaic" law; a boost to fight against FGM in Kenya, - an Indigenous perspective on the Yoo-rrook Truth and Justice Commission - Aboriginal people do not have to forgive, and perpetrators should NOT set the terms of truth-telling; from the USA, eight ways white LGBTIQ+ people can be better allies to black people; calls to support a new national anti-racism plan in Australia; a partnership of descendants of former slaves and former slaveholders/slavers is seeking to raise US$100 million in reparations;
- confirmation of homophobia in neocatholic sect; homophobia still in Tasmania; the USA is continuing down its anti-LGBTIQ+ path - with the aid of Democrats who support the filibuster; a rebuttal of transphobia in sports;
- widespread violent Islamophobia against mosques in Australia;
- 50% of people are ageist;
- Amnesty International Urgent Actions in Xinjiang, Somalia, and Mozambique;
- Australians who are part of the evil world of mercenaries are undermining all of us;
- facebook has left anti-vaxxer nut job pages up - despite promising not to;
- journalists are FINALLY catching up to what the rest of us known for decades: the Press Council (for complaints) is utterly useless;
- a judge jailed a man "in error" (!) and is being sued (he
is claiming judicial immunity, but the legal case is trying a novel way
to get around that - if this case doesn't succeed, I hope he can bring a
case against the Commonwealth);
- more information on why the "dehumanising" independent assessments should be scrapped from the money-hungry neolib-afflicted NDIS;
- TV shows can be powerful tools for public health (I recall something similar in Brazil, where soap characters being shown having fewer children led to a reduced birthrate);
- a call to re-adopt the "full employment" policy; Scott and Pauline's attack on workers has been partly deflected; the victim of wage theft and assault in a workplace has, with supporters, been doxxed by gutless coward "apple123321";
- legal questions about the ALP's powers to investigate branch stacking;
- a spent convictions scheme - but police courts and unspecified (who???) "certain employers and third parties" still can access;
- belated evidence supporting what people like myself have known for years: some anti-bullying programmes in schools make things worse;
- psychopaths,
who cause billions of dollars in damage to economies as they climb the
corporate ladder, using techniques such as bullying colleagues into
obedience and justify poor behaviour as "hard decisions that had to be
made", can be protected against by "sceptical due diligence" during job applications and taking a harder line on behavioural standards.
