The following was originally posted on my political blog at https://politicalmusingsofkayleen.blogspot.com/2021/04/on-uganda-burma-attempted-coup-in-usa.html.
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On Uganda this week:
- a new court challenge against the rigged election earlier this year;
- an opinion that Museveni is worse than Amin.
On Burma this week:
- the junta's brainwashed thugs continue to murder people, including 43 children, and by air strikes - see here, here, here (the thugs open fire at a funeral), here, and here;
- the murder of children by the junta's forces has "turned fear to fury";
- defence leaders in 12 nations have condemned the junta's violence, and the junta has been described as terrorists;
- protestors have creatively turned to a "garbage strike", and have secret locations to provide medical treatment;
- students from Burma studying in other nations fear being killed if they are sent back;
- Singapore is being unusually vocal on the coup (which is good, as I recently heard one of their business leaders struggling to address anything but maintaining profits and the safety of their workers);
- Burma is heading towards collapse as a nation;
- "the United Nations special envoy on Myanmar told a session of the UN Security Council that 'a bloodbath is imminent' because of the military's intensified crackdown on anti-coup protesters";
- the junta will temporarily stop fighting rebels in border areas (presumably so it can kill protestors more quickly).
On the attempted coup in the USA:
- thoughts on counter narrative approaches and lessons from other conflict zones against right wing extremists.
From the news this week:
- "renewable energy and batteries can secure Australia’s electricity grid as effectively as coal and gas"; questionable decisions by courts in the USA have put attorney-client privilege at risk and left a human rights defender under extremely prolonged house detention for a misdemeanour after an oil company resisted paying damages in another nation; Earth Hour was observed; Australia's environment is suffering - and it will get worse; multiple oil leaks in Russia; warnings from Europe over the Great Barrier reef; India has rejected carbon neutrality;
- the USA has told Israel that Palestinians should enjoy the same rights as Israelis;
- Niger's new President is trying to stabilise that nation;
- the DRC will host talks on Ethiopia's controversial Nile Dam;
- the EU will train African militaries (including in anti-VE activities);
- China has imposed retaliatory sanctions for being called out over one of its genocides, and formalised its 1984-style repression in Hong Kong; Chinese militia in vessels are swarming through and disrupting the Philippines fishing fleet; revelation of the onerous (including enforced secrecy) provisions of contracts with China have led to a call for the details of ALL public debt to be public;
- an opinion
that the Union of Soviet Socialist Russia's Grand Tsar Putin's deals
have left him in a weakened and perilous state . . . as they stock up on anti-riot gear ahead of opposition protests and build up forces in and near eastern Ukraine;
- suppression of the rule of law in the Philippines;
- a warning not to leave Afghanistan before a power sharing deal is reached or the misogynistic terrorists will regain complete control - and an interim government would be a repeat disaster;
- an attempted coup in Niger;
- extremists' violence in Mozambique threatens other nations;
- Kurdish forces have entered a refugee camp - allegedly to eliminate VE "sleeper cells" . . . (how are they going to identify VEs - ask them? Ask others and allow petty minded revenge over trivialities?);
- remembering the missing in South Africa;
- a nuanced examination of "religious opposition" in Bangladesh;
- the vulnerability of information security in the Pacific is exacerbated by social media monopolies;
- a warning the long continued trial of a whistleblower and his lawyer are undermining confidence in our justice system;
- transphobia and support in Germany;
- the long delayed emergence of women - who are NOT fighting a culture war - as a power in Australian politics; a neolib MP has been stood down until he gets counselling on being a decent human being - and responded by deciding to quit at the next election (while staying on full pay until then); the scandal over the culture in our national Parliament continues - see here, here, here, here, here, here, and here - and here (on Scott's appalling behaviour); toxic masculinity in Australia dates back to the early days of the white invasion; Scott has appointed a transphobe to a new position allegedly for women; stupidity and bigotry of judges and lawyers in rape trials continues to be a problem; bipartisan recommendations including secure funding for frontline services and a commissioner to protect women and children against violence; a reminder of sexism in the media (which I saw, for instance, in a heading in one paper yesterday); a call for Australia to learn from the UK's Parliamentary sexual "misconduct" scandal in 2017;
Saudi Arabia has spent $1.5 billion on sportswashing; misogyny in Qatar; sexism in Wikipedia is shown by the passing only reference to Eleanor Roosevelt's attendance at the 1940 Democratic National Convention to make the powerful and critical speech known as the "This is no ordinary time" speech; the victim of a sexual assault has won her appeal against a defamation claim by her attacker; misogyny in Egypt, Turkey, and the USA; improved inclusivity in police and militaries will improve the situation of women; - the "Supreme Court of Victoria finds that random urine testing, and associated strip searches, are incompatible with human rights";
- how to solve the ongoing deaths of Indigenous people in custody; allegations that racial profiling by police in WA is still being used; racism against Indigenous people in Indonesia; growing anti-Asian prejudice in Australia;
- police have admitted their focus on religious extremism led to them missing right wing terrorism; former NSW police have claimed one of their colleagues from the 1970s was corrupt (the risk of corruption is always there with police powers: the famous Fitzgerald Enquiry in Qld showed what the great flying peanut had allowed [but did not catch all the crooked cops, which is why a relative of mine left that force], Victoria Police introduced measures to address the cyclic nature of this problem, and that risk of corruption [which, together with bigotry, makes the police unable to serve the community] is one of the reasons I want police both better supported and monitored for the emotional and mental scarring their job causes); thugs trying to intimidate a jury in a court case will have to do so out of court after they were banned from the court (I don't consider adequate thought has been given to out of court protection in this instance);
- the problem of right wing extremists hiding in the US military and police;
- a call for improved aid to help Africa's recovery;
- problems with our electoral system have been exposed by an apparently shonky (going to move back to where you claimed to be living?) new MP in WA;
- a call for housing to be a human right in Australia - but MPs are still not listening to people's desire around smaller housing options; another call to raise the minimum wage; something Scott and his clique have not realised despite their empathy classes: stressing people who are struggling to make ends meet reduces their functionality - as do toxic workplaces for workers;
- retirees are trying to avoid going in to aged care;
- good parenting can offset the effects of growing up in a rough neighbourhood;
- abuse of workers at a major tech/online shopping company; "the guilt of not working more, when we’re done for the day"; another bank is in trouble on ethical grounds;
- new perspectives on the brains of people with autism (and an interesting comment that all people have a certain amount of autism).
