This originally appeared on my political blog at https://politicalmusingsofkayleen.blogspot.com/2021/04/on-uganda-burma-attempted-coup-in-usa_24.html.
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On Uganda this week:
- Museveni is continuing his stay in, and abuse of, power;
- an article on the wave of abductions and torture.
On Burma this week:
- the protests and killing continue - see here,
- another warning that Burma "could be Asia's next failed state";
- Burma's opposition government is demanding inclusion in the ASEAN talks;
- a mining company is ignoring the hundreds of deaths to try t obtain mining rights in Burma;
- a call for ASEAN to uninvite Burma's despot-in-chief.
From the news this week:
- on the climate crisis:
"ecocide" is now an offence in France; the Torres Strait is feeling the impacts of the climate crisis; the utter "illogic" of committing to net zero emissions and also approving new coal mines . . . ; improved recovery of rare earth metals from old tech devices; the national neolib nitwits have been forcing censorship of internal ADF reports on climate crisis risks (likely to be overwhelmed from 2035 on); the national neolib nitwits' ultra-backward environmental standards legislation and pseudo-efforts are turning us into a petrol car dumping ground that is stopping the importation of electric vehicles - although some polluters are making genuine efforts and farmers have contradicted Scott's claims that farmers don't care; Thailand has nearly completed a floating solar farm; strong criticism of my home state's policy on electric vehicles; the climate crisis is driving the conflict between farmers and herders in Nigeria - and PREVENTABLE conflict elsewhere in Africa; climate crisis-induced displacement in Panama; a possibly more biodegradable plastic; solar panels in rural Mali; nearly 70 years after the Great Smog killed over 10,000 people, a coroner investigating the death of a girl from air pollution says legally binding air quality targets should be introduced; an exposé of the lies Scott told about the neolib nitwits running Australia and what they're (not) doing on the climate crisis;
- on international relations including war:
a warning over the growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine; a warning Russia "will face 'consequences' " if jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny dies - and protests are planned as Russia plans to attack and destroy Navalny's entire movement ... and the Union of Soviet Socialist Russia has arrested 1,500 people calling for the release of seriously ill opposition leader Alexei Navalny; the DRC's new government will focus on addressing violence in that nation's east; in an act of decency ahead of the West's abandonment of the nation, Germany will offer refuge to Afghans who aided the German military in that nation; a quantitative measure, in lost life years, of the staggering loss caused by the pandemic - and there is the loss of press freedom; Chad's term limit denying leader has died of wounds from anti-violent extremist fighting he was directing - causing concerns about the stability of the Sahel (but apparently no concerns about democracy, in the reports?) and the transition of power in Chad and associated risks; growing tensions between France and Pakistan; a car bombing in Pakistan MAY have targetted China's Ambassador; another tantrum from China over nations failing to submit to the CCP's twisted vision and evil expectations of domination; "accountability is the path to better governance in PNG"; the DRC is seeking reparations from Uganda over violent incursions from Uganda; Kenya is seeking improved relations with the DRC; there has been an exchange of missiles between Israel and Syria; a geopolitics based examination of the possibility of war between Russia and Ukraine;
- on genocides and other human rights issues:
crimes against humanity in Xinjiang - where China's genocide against the Uyghurs has reached at least Stage Three; the war in Tigray was a genocidal attempt to wipe out all Tigrayans; Azerbaijan has displayed gruesome "trophies" from dead Armenians; violence is continuing its decades long devastation in Darfur, Sudan; "kleptocracies like South Sudan can provide a safe haven for organised crime groups, smugglers, and suspected terrorist financiers"; killings and ‘disappearances’ during military operations in Mali; a "deeply flawed" trial of journalists and activists in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq; thousands of people subjected to the sexual abuse of a strip search have also been given a criminal record despite nothing being found, in a massive failure of government responsibility, armed gangs have held asylum seekers and refugees at gunpoint in PNG; anti-Semitism still exists in Germany - in sport; more than a hundred refugees are feared dead in the Mediterranean; - on democracy:
- calls for a Royal Commission into Rupert's media; for the right wing bigots in particular, thoughts on how to become more comfortable with uncertainty; our government will share personal data without consent; suppression of democracy in Thailand; a court case against social media platforms over the privacy of children; "independent" election observers failed Chad and Benin (and, earlier, Uganda); an assessment possible improvements of the USA's appeals against over-classification system; "one of Turkey's highest courts has ruled the president cannot refuse to issue press accreditation for arbitrary reasons";
- on LGBTIQ+ matters:
transphobia in the USA has caused several attempted suicides; solidarity in the campaign against Poland's LGBTIQ+ hate; transphobic police have been ordered to pay compensation to their victim; - on racism:
"Aboriginal deaths in custody reflect the poor health of Australia's democracy"; "No public outrage, no vigils: Australia’s silence at violence against Indigenous women"; against a background of lessons from Japan and consideration on the society police are recruited from, a trial into one US police officer's killing of a black man continues - and finds the officer guilty, police killings of US citizens have increased (see here for three decades of records of US police racist violence), and the fight for BLM justice continues - including here in Australia; Brazil weakens oversight of murderous police; another indigenous site has been damaged by a mining company - this one, though, apparently legally ... ; the non-violent Pilbara Strike of 1946 - and the legacy of Aboriginal stockwomen; a racial vilification complaint against a social media platform over failure to remove hate speech;
Biden has reversed his appalling decision to maintain 45's refugee limits; - on ableism:
the national neolib nitwit's ableist discrimination attempts to bring down the NDIS - details here - continue; - on sexism:
"inadvertent" sexism in our tax system; utter cluelessness of national neolib nitwits first gender stereotypical attempt to teach about consent (good examples of how to do this here); calls for the justice system to stop submitting sexual assault survivors to a second assault; Qld police - who have a history of failing or even enabling DV - will belatedly investigate how they failed another woman who has been brutally murdered;
the imminent disaster inAfghanTalibanistan; sexism about working mothers in Germany; the UN has demanded proof of life for the kidnapped UAE princess; sexist blocks to women in politics in India; - on animal rights:
the UK will ban importation of a notably cruel to ducks product;
- on other matters:
a list of all the times Scott has abdicated responsibility; a well-written correction of the assistant defence minister: only an executioner's core business is lethal violence - defence's core business is defence and protection, rather than killing people "willy nilly" (see also this); a warning to the national neolib nitwits to not muck up fixing aged care; welfare workers in some areas are advising struggling families to leave - and possibly move hundreds of km - or risk living in a car for the rest of their lives; more anti-democratic lies and blocking of transparency by Scott; Australia's alleged "skills shortage" is just a "confection"; the need to undo three decades of neoliberalism by hiring more teachers and paying them more to fix education.
