This was posted originally on my political blog at https://politicalmusingsofkayleen.blogspot.com/2021/05/on-uganda-burma-attempted-coup-in-usa_29.html.
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On Uganda this week:
- Museveni is continuing his stay in, and abuse of, power;
On Burma this week:
- the protests and killing continue - see here, here,
- the main opposition party in Burma will be dissolved;
- Thailand's government-owned oil and gas company is increasing its oil ties to the despotic coup in Burma;
- dozens of Burma's soldiers and police have been killed in the east of that nation;
- a review and recommendations to contain the damage done by Burma's coup-mad military;
- ASEAN is losing its potential influence over Burma's coup-mad military by failing to balance the carrot with a stick;
- two commentaries on one oil company's involvement;
From the news this week:
- on the climate crisis and the environment:
"mid-level" community power storage batteries; soulless Scott's claims of reduced GHG emissions "don't stack up"; the G7 will "end state financing for coal power plants this year"; a water supply agreement for a controversial coal mine has been overturned; we're STILL missing our potential to be a renewables superpower - and the time limit on the opportunity is approaching ... ; legal action and a proposed bill requiring climate crisis plans in Uganda; China (which gets 20% of its electrical power from hydro) is planning to dam ("the world's riskiest project" - which also potentially weaponises that water supply) Tibet's Yarlung Tsangpo (which later becomes the Brahmaputra) at the an earthquake- and landslide-prone "Great Bend"; a blow to Indigenous water rights; a Mexican cactus has become a noxious weed in my home state; more farmers are committing to positive change to address the climate crisis; oil spillages in Nigeria have reached a high; the neolibs are - yet again - failing to see that protecting species is protecting the ecosystem we need to survive; the Federal court has ruled that "the Australian environment minister has a duty of care to protect children from future personal injury caused by climate change"; more failures to access Indigenous water knowledge; in a world first, "a Dutch court made a landmark ruling ... that energy giant Shell must reduce CO2 emissions by 45 percent in the next decade"; heat is creating a risk of famine in Bangladesh; - on international relations including war:
a breach of international law and "act of state terror" by Belarus when it used a fighter jet to force a passenger jet to land (and then kidnapped and abused a journalist and his partner) has led to both official and unofficial aviation sanctions, and likely escalations;
"the UN rights chief warned the recent Israeli attacks on Gaza "may constitute war crimes" and said Hamas' firing of rockets at Israel was "a clear violation of international humanitarian law" "; after the ceasefire (stalemate), the misery in Palestine continues (although reconstruction has started) and the political position of the right wing agent of apartheid in Israel has been strengthened; there was an explosion at an Iranian factory manufacturing drones after Iran claimed it was supplying them to Palestinian groups;
Iran will shut out the IAEA; Iran's grip on militias in Iraq is weakening;
sanctions against some officials in Ethiopia and Eritrea over the abusive conflict in Tigray;
no likely to be implemented solution in sight for violence in West Papua; justice and the rule of law is key to Africa's security; we are NOT selling weapons overseas "responsibly"; a detailed examination of violence in northern Niger;
- on the COVID-19 pandemic:
some highly questionable - if not downright stupid - decisions around public events during my home state's latest outbreak (and a staggering list of sites that obviously über-social infected people have attended); the West - including my nation - is still banging on about the utterly illogical conspiracy nut allegations of COVID-19 being "released" from a lab in China (China's expertise including medical is both clearly apparent in how the pandemic was brought under control and what they've achieved in space and with military arms, so any "release" would have to be deliberate - in which case it is more likely to be tried in Tibet or Xinjiang); slow vaccine rollouts increase the chance of frauds and scams; a snap lockdown in my home state to handle a B.1.167.1 variant outbreak; an example of problems encountered by some small businesses; privacy breaches by some US pharmacies; privacy breaches by UK mass surveillance programmes; concerns about potential US Postal Service privacy breaches; - on genocides and other human rights issues:
residual tensions in Israel's Israeli-Arab communities; suspected use of illegal weapons in Tigray; Sudan will legally murder a (scapegoat?) officer for the killings of protestors; Maoists in Peru have committed a massacre; accusations of torture by an Australian in China's jails; after decades of pointless and sometimes vindictive resistance, working from home is "likely to stay"; calls for states other than mine to catch up with us and also ease the transition out of state care for young people; surveillance in Asia and blatant suppression in India and erasure of Native Americans; criticism of the inadequacies of gig work in the UK; homophobia in Ghana; Tigray is still being subjected to human rights abuses and is at risk of famine; a security vacuum in Darfur; suppression of freedom of the press in Burkina Faso; concerns at privacy overreach by a university; another mass murder by gun in the Unexceptional States of America; Belarus independent media and civil society need international support; a teenager will be prosecuted for insulting Thailand's monarchy; South Sudan arms embargo is still crucial for civilian protection; violence in Mexico; Germany has officially admitted it committed a genocide in Namibia in the early 1900s; France has recognised it had a role in the Rwandan genocide; an ex-cop in El Salvador appears to have murdered and buried DOZENS of women; a NSW police officer committed assault and misconduct against a trans woman and is now facing civil action (but is still employed); - on democracy:
how conspiracy fantasists "climb out of the rabbit hole"; a three decade nightmare legacy of privatisation in Uganda; a coup in Mali may lead to sanctions; the dangers of the USA trying to forget about the 6th January attempted coup; protests against more kidnappings in Nigeria; a funding boost for Sudan; the six month old farmer vs. government dispute in India is continuing; on soulless Scott's lies; claims of a coup in Samoa; "the decline and radicalization [sic] of the US conservative movement along demographic and ethnic lines ... will remain a potent cause of violence in the future"; dangerous situations - and what to do about them - in Bolivia, north east Nigeria, Ukraine, and Yemen; a former advisor to the USA's RWNJ potus45 has admitted - after a fact check - that he was wrong when he claimed nearly a million jobs depended on petroleum gas; a NSW ALP MP has resigned from a shadow Ministry over an unforgivably unethical "dirt dossier" which also saw a staffer sacked; measured inflation is not detecting the real increase in costs (of necessities); claims of an agreement over elections in Somalia (we've been here before ... ); more "exaggerations" by soulless Scott; - on LGBTIQ+ matters:
a life saving medical practitioner; more homophobia in Grand Tsar Putin's 1800s Union of Soviet Socialist Russia; US Pride marches have banned police marching in uniform, whereas my home state did not (partly to demonstrate that change is possible) despite similar calls; an MP has apologised for a rant but not for the homophobic aspects of the rant; - on racism:
Indigenous kids are still being removed; growing curtailment of "no knock" police attacks; an autobiographical documentary by a famous Indigenous person - "This film is about me. This is my story of my story"; a media channel has left vicious racist comments on one of its social media platforms for days; "almost 40 human rights groups and legal bodies have co-signed a letter that damns the Victorian government's bail laws for contributing to Aboriginal deaths in custody"; Indigenous blood samples stored without consent will be returned - after more than half a century; more racism from social media platform that looks like the worst parody of an immature teenager; better support for reconciliation; - on sexism:
"a family who survived domestic violence at the hands of a police officer is suing Victoria Police for allegedly breaching its duty of care in relation to the handling of the abuse complaints"; in their "weak" budget, the national neolib nitwits "spent 30 times more on tax cuts than women’s economic security"; "social service, human rights and domestic violence groups have warned against government plans to expand a welfare program aimed at single mothers, arguing the ParentsNext scheme is “punitive and flawed”" (only 3% have left for work); "mentoring for women risks propping up patriarchal structures instead of changing them"; a backgrounder on what the US Supreme Court can and cannot do, and what is at stake, in agreeing to review an abortion case; one Australian state has adopted affirmative consent laws; against a background of concerns about a cover up (or at least incompetent investigation - and what has been described as "an exercise in professional smear" and was certainly a breach of privacy), Dutton's office knew of the rape allegations over a year before the date Dutton admitted to knowing of the allegations - raising questions about the competence of those working in the office at the least; more on the sexual abuse of strip searches; the struggle for some cisgender women to get hysterectomies; a US school has been a digital dinosaur by altering what they and the mid-1800s considered "immodest" photos; period poverty; - on ableism:
catering for endometriosis under disability laws; inadequate mental health services for regional Victoria; more concerns that the neoliberal "independent assessments" of the NDIS do not comply with human rights obligations - and the stupidity of the NDIA is shown by a staggeringly moronic question as to whether an amputation was permanent ... ; - on other matters:
excellent reflections on slowing down, turning devices off, and tuning in to nature; a shepherd in China rescued six ultra-marathon runners from a storm that killed 21 others; call for increased awareness of palliative care;
