Post No. 1,973 - Interesting reading, and on Uganda, Burma, and from the news

On psychic, spiritual and related matters, including interesting reading: 

• "Spiritual Warfare and the Need for a Pagan Worldview"; 
• a social media company is trying to extend its stranglehold on the world;

(Mægan)

 

On Uganda this week:

• Museveni is continuing his stay in, and abuse of, power; 
• students from a slum in Kampala have excelled at their"O" levels; 
• investigation of opposition MPs - but not government MPs ... ; 
• Burma's "ambassador to the United Nations, who has refused to leave his post despite being fired after the February coup, has alerted the world body to a "reported massacre" by the military junta";

On Burma this week:

• the protests and killing continue;
  
• the coup leaders have claimed there will be "elections" in a few years . . . ; 
• protests at Burma's embassy to Australia;

 

From the news this week:

• on the climate crisis and the environment:
  recent extreme weather events have foretold the "new normal" of the climate crisis;   baby turtles are hard hit by plastic in the ocean;   Indigenous people near our uranium mine have higher rates of health problems;   the need for consumer protection in the solar industry;   tree scammers;   investment in climate resilience in the UK and USA;    continuing concerns over the long neglected abandoned oil tanker off Yemen;  
  
  
  (responsibility)
  
  
  
• on international relations including war:
  the excesses in sport of China's maniacal nationalism;   Russia's most recent hack when longer than first thought (for a sense of historical context and scale, see here and here [the first hack was in 1903] );   some Biafrans still want independence from Nigeria - and may ally with anglophone separatists in Cameroon;   pro-government militias have increased their thuggery during the COVID-19 pandemic;   more child soldiers in Burkina Faso;   criticism of the USA's uncaring approach to Afghan welfare over the last two decades;   Iran has hijacked an oil tanker;   "South Sudan's vice president ... has been ousted as head of his party and its armed forces" for no longer representing their interests;   an opinion that the "Iranian regime will stop at nothing to ensure survival";   Ethiopia - which has been warned over its use of dehumanising rhetoric - has rejected mediation over the conflict in Tigray;   Rwanda and the CAR are building closer ties;  
  
  
  (BPM group leadership)
  
   
• on the COVID-19 pandemic:
  "COVID has deepened the 'housing crisis' in Indigenous communities";   fears of no or inadequate for survival income neolib-led in NSW are causing families to hide that members have COVID;   a satirical ad hits close to home;   our PR Minister's shiny new plan is just acknowledging what everyone else in the world knew a year ago;   the delta variant is more severe - and affects children;   the national neolib nitwits have admitted their plan for reopening is based on people dying;   big pharma is missing an opportunity;   vaccine hypocrites;   "workers are being slugged with tax bills after receiving the federal government’s COVID-19 crisis payments last financial year";   churches unethically received job funding;   an overview of the vaccine passport;   a food producer has banned unvaccinated workers and visitors;   plans to ease the vaccination burden;   allegations that a ride sharing service is pressuring drivers to break COVID rules;   essential workers are at risk of homelessness;   contact classification could put pharmacists out of action;   the delta variant has a high risk of outdoor transmission;   the RBA says the economic damage will be reduced if we all get vaccinated quicker;   digital inequality is affecting education;   heart complications in younger people;   police in Kenya have followed up killing two brothers who were breaching pandemic lockdown rules by killing one of those protecting against that;  
  
  
  (Berkana - healing & compassion)
  
  
  
• on genocides and other human rights issues:
  the need to consider mental health in professional sport;   in an extremely disturbing development, "an Australian court has set a groundbreaking precedent, deciding artificial intelligence (AI) systems can be legally recognised as an inventor in patent applications";   we need more than half a million social housing units;   calls for better regulation of social media and news outlets;   a man has - quite rightly - been arrested for a fake video impersonating a senior police officer (see here for another example of fake news on social media);   the urgent need to stop killer robots;   strong support amongst a small turnout for prosecuting former presidents of Mexico for corruption;   we are still training torturers;   the head of an NGO in Belarus appears to have been murdered;   a data breach by a sex offender will be investigated;   calls for an Australian Global Magnitsky Act;   "the Australian Defence Force has released a four-year plan to address systemic and cultural failings within the organisation as part of a long-awaited response to the Afghanistan war crimes enquiry";   "Australia may miss treaty deadline to establish torture protections for prisons";   yet another cybersecurity failure by the national neolib nitwits;   Ethiopia has shut down three aid agencies (including Doctors Without Borders and the Norwegian Refugee Council) in Tigray on flimsy pretexts;   atrocity warnings for Burma, South Sudan, and Bosnia-Herzegovina;   "the Victorian Ombudsman has detailed [dozens of] human rights breaches linked to enforcement of COVID-19 public health directions, including a woman who was forced to urinate into a bottle while being transported to hotel quarantine";   the High Court has thrown casual workers back on the no leave pile;   "Mexico [has sued] US gunmakers in [an] unprecedented bid to stop arms trafficking";   a disturbing revelation that a violent police officer had previously been violent;   the USA has offered Hong Kongers safe haven;   Australia's Global Magnitsky Act is inching closer;   legal concerns about the "no jab, no job" policy of one company;   a tech company will scan mobile phones - without decrypting them - for indications of child abuse;   as an attempt to hide medical advice fails, "call for Australia to declare spyware use as Pegasus outrage grows";   the AU has failed South Sudan on justice;   Sudan will (legally) murder the paramilitaries who murdered protectors . . . ;  
   
• from Human Rights Watch:
  evidence in Beirut port explosion implicates authorities; Belarus athlete refuses forced return (after a tip-off from her grandmother); Croatia’s border monitoring mechanism criticised; monsoons in Bangladesh puts Rohingya refugees at risk; Zimbabwe should investigate the 2018 post-election violence; a chance to ban killer robots; ending virginity tests in the Indonesian army; international pressure needed to protect rights in Nicaragua; Kyrgyzstan's "false information" law must be vetoed; Taliban forces execute soldiers and civilians; investigate the death of a prominent Belarusian in Ukraine; lead toxicity in Zambia; two high-profile Belarusian opposition leaders are to stand trial; China’s human rights record in stark contrast to Olympic ideals; two Belarus coaches asked to leave Tokyo Olympic Village; police abuses surge in Sri Lanka; space for free expression shrinks in Russia; civilians prevented from leaving combat zone in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province; US Ambassador to the UN expresses concern about crisis in Tigray; remembering the atomic bombing of Hiroshima; rights of Afghan women and girls at risk as the Taliban gain territory; Belarus increasingly unsafe for dissidents; UN envoy accuses Myanmar junta of massacre in township; failure to deliver justice in South Sudan; facebook allows its platform to be used for fossil-fuel propaganda; and the Beijing Winter Olympics and human rights;
  
  
  
  
  
• on democracy:
  the combination of climate crisis and pandemic may lead to a mental health crisis;   87 years ago hitler seized power - NOT by being elected, but by having parliament merge his position (chancellor) with that of the president (who had just died);   a call for voters to think harder;   more suppression of journalism in the Union of Soviet Socialist Russia;   concerns over the extent of Ministerial control over funding decisions;   democracy continues to disappear in Tunisia;   concerns about Zambia's coming elections include violence/military response and a possible Internet blackout;   a Brazilian court will investigate false claims of voter fraud;   spiteful, unethical, and unprofessional police officers in SA should be sacked;   a costly and wasted daily PR exercise (is corruption involved?);   a fourth US police officer who was at the attempted coup in January has died by suicide;   the neolibs do substantially more rorting than others - and the PR Minister has not denied knowledge of that;   an opinion that Nicaragua has returned to a dictatorship;   anger in Tunisia;   the value of investing in radio for PNG;   elitist lack of community mindedness by a rich club in how it distributed funds meant to be for community benefit;   glib and highly doubtful commitments by the national neolib nitwits in an area they have done no policy work for three years in;   an opinion that neochristians are losing policy influence;   as the national neolib nitwits show their contempt for voters, questions about the rorting potential of a scheme with Ministerial oversight;   concerns about the stability of South Africa;   tensions continue to build ahead of elections in Zambia;   a G7 organisation intended to protect the global financial system is enabling oppression targetting opposition figures;   
  
  
  (democracy)
  
  
  
• on LGBTIQ+ matters:
  mediaeval homophobia in Ghana - but see also this;   the founder of a notorious church of haters has been charged (which does NOT mean, no matter how nasty they are as a human being, that they are guilty - let alone guilty beyond reasonable doubt) with allegedly concealing child abuse;   violent anti-LGBT hate in Ukraine and Russia;   1950s style homophobia in Uzbekistan;  
  
  
• on racism:
  an Indigenous artist has paid homage to his culture with a sculpture on a walking tail;   white supremacism in Scotland;   funding for "Closing the Gap" - including compensation payments for Stolen Generation survivors;   11 people in the UK have been arrested over 74 illegal racist social media posts - with another 123 illegal posts from outside that nation;   an ex-police officer with a history of violence has finally been convicted;   a recent racist comment by a sports player was revealed by an official from that club - which is a pleasing break from past traditions of silence;   a Tasmanian war hero;  
  
  
• on sexism and misogyny:
  promoting body positivity;   USA;   the threats to life of an abortion doctor in the USA;   a "doll of [the female] scientist who designed Oxford coronavirus vaccine" has been created;   violent misogyny in PNG;   the need for rehabilitation of dinosaurs in mining;   Afghanistan;  
  
  
• on ableism:
  concerns over inadequate privacy protections in proposals to share data;  
  
  
• on other matters:
  the "demand for end-of-life doulas [is] on the rise as palliative care need increases" (I once considered this as a career - didn't pursue it for a range of reasons);   the use of AI to find jobs that have been lost to AI . . . ;