Post No. 1,990 - Interesting reading, and on Uganda, Burma, and from the news

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

• "Spiritual Practice in Difficult Times"; 
• "Hurricane Magick Index: Protection, Opportunity, Action"; 
• "moral fatigue can weigh on your mental health but there are ways to strengthen your 'ethics muscle'"; 
• excellent comments on generational differences; 
• "quit the millennial bashing – generationalism is bad science";

(Mægan)

 

On Uganda this week:

• Museveni is continuing his stay in, and abuse of, power - and several  past land grabs are continuing to cause tensions (and regrets); 
• scepticism over Museveni's (attention diverting?) call - not backed by actions (although the police have disbanded the "flying squad" ... again) - for security forces to not violate human rights; 
• scores of opposition candidates have been murdered over the last four years; 
• Museveni has blocked a bill against sexual offences; 
• Uganda has shut down 50 NGOs;

On Burma this week:

• the protests and killing continue;

 

From the news this week:

• on the climate crisis and the environment:
  continuing work on a Great Green Wall south of the Sahara;   calls for "Australia's financial sector to change its approach to climate risks to avoid making the same mistakes that led to the 2008 Global Financial Crisis";   a call for coastal wetlands rather than seawalls;   "European carbon border tax is a warning to Australia to clean up or pay the price";   "BHP’s offloading of oil and gas assets shows the global market has turned on fossil fuels";   calls by Indigenous people to clean up land contaminated by asbestos mining;   "hypersaline water leaking into Adelaide mangroves again as 'horrible history repeats'";   a pesticide banned by Obama and re-allowed by the psychopath #45 will be again banned;   "green steel";   weed killing robots reduce or eliminate herbicides;   the despair of not listened to young people is leading to more direct action;   chemical spill in South Africa;   redirecting harmful subsidies would boost jobs;   "China will plant 36,000 square kilometres per year through to 2025 as part of plans to bring carbon emissions down to net zero by 2060";  
  
  
  (responsibility)
  
  
  
• on international relations including war:
  Afghanistan has emulated the collapse of morale and nation that happened in South Vietnam in the mid-70s (which is what happens when the USA backs its cronies ahead of the people of a nation) and fallen rapidly (which, deja vu-like, some intelligence analysts predicted ... ), together with international credibility, to extremists (along with US credibility - and some Afghans have fallen from planes or been found - dead - in wheel wells);   an opinion that the success of the violent-crime backing and human rights abusing extremists was inevitable for reasons including internal tensions;   excellent analyses of lessons not learned and potential opportunities here and here;  
   - the extremists are claiming to be different to those in power decades ago, and are trying to get that idea accepted - and there may be opportunities as a result (China - which inspired the extremist's approach - is onboard with that [and Russia and Pakistan are still there], but India is losing out), BUT there is still misogyny, killings (including of journalists and their families) and a need for hard choices (and lack of clarity over whether they need foreign investment or the nation's resources will make them rich);   an interesting interview with a journalist in Kabul;   LGBTIQ+ Afghans are in hiding;
   - millions are expected to flee (Uganda will take 2,000) - and the matter is urgent;   Australia is  belatedly considering evacuating both citizens and a tokenistic few of those Afghans who helped us - too belatedly, as our xenophobic bureaucrats' visa delays mean most will now be slaughtered, and everyone is having trouble getting through the extremists surrounding the airport (a small number have got out);   Germany has "urged Russia to communicate with the Taliban the importance of evacuating civilians from Kabul";
   - a warning that violent extremists in Somalia might try to copy those in Afghanistan - and Mali fears going the same way;   an opinion that the USA's withdrawal "leaves Europe exposed";  
   - "there are fears that government offices and aid agencies may fail to secure databases, leaving people vulnerable to attacks";    
   - places to make donations;  
  
  xenophobic riots in Turkey;   "Iran's 'hostage diplomacy' traps foreign nationals";   key lessons from George Kennan for current US (and other) politicians;   Iranian dams are cutting off water supplies in Iraq;   the human rights abuses of one of China's Belt and Road Initiative projects;   France has suspended military aid to Ethiopia;   China is holding live fire military exercises near Taiwan on a pretext;  
  
  
  (BPM group leadership)
  
   
• on the COVID-19 pandemic:
  threats to sabotage a food company requiring vaccinations;   risk of disaster amongst Indigenous people;   the NEED to think about vaccine hesitancy from the point of view of psychology, not "rationality";   the financial cost of avoiding lockdowns;   a call for caution on vaccine passports;   how to manage aerosol transmission in hospitals (and one idea applies to houses with power supplies);   "infectious disease experts say herd immunity is not attainable with the Delta variant";   yet more calls to not militarise the pandemic response;   a psychologist's experiences during the pandemic;   "the dangers of collective shame";   the need for portable air filters;   we NEED low community numbers before we can reopen;   a moment of accidental humour in the ACT;   students who had COVID are being bullied when they return to school;   a focus on protecting children in India;  
  
  
  (Berkana - healing & compassion)
  
  
  
• on genocides and other human rights issues:
  women's rights activists - and women's rights generally - in Afghanistan will be sexually enslaved and slaughtered under the mind-poisoning Taliban ("She said most of them were beyond help. They had crossed a line and their minds were poisoned, she said, making them a risk and unlikely to be reunited with their families") and very few are commenting on this;  
  "Afghan panic over digital footprints spurs call for data collection rethink";  
  
  a conservative dominated Parliamentary committee has warned against overreach in new security laws;   in addition to training human rights abusers, we are selling military weapons to military forces accused of human rights abuses;   sex work is being decriminalised in my home state;   the humanitarian crisis in Tigray continues to grow;   democracy dies a little more in Hong Kong;   a recommendation on how to stop companies snooping on their online customers;   11,000 Cameroonians have fled violence to Chad;   an opinion that "the laws on judicial impartiality and bias are fundamentally flawed and, if allowed to continue in its current state, can only damage the public confidence in administration of justice", and what needs to be done about that;   a call to crack down on right wing extremism;   a church has finally admitted liability for child abuse;   "a first-hand account of police brutality in eSwatini";   "Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission seeks extradition of accused former government officials indicted for corruption";   PNG may regress to reinstate the death penalty;   "Australia’s far right uses Google ads and cryptocurrency to fund their hate";    Australia's poor human rights situation;   harsher crackdown on dissent in Russia;   scores of refugees have died at sea near the Canary Islands;  
   
• from Human Rights Watch:
  Afghans at risk of persecution from Taliban forces in urgent need of evacuation; new report on decade of disappearances in Bangladesh; new UN cybercrime treaty could be very bad for rights; COCID-19 surge in Myanmar’s prisons; political homophobia ramps up; a cautionary tale on police violence from Brazil; civilians at risk in Afghanistan need to be evacuated; in Thailand, police and protesters clash; Iranian lawyers arrested over COVID-19 crisis mismanagement complaint; Zambia heads towards a peaceful transition after opposition win elections; a good step to alleviate food insecurity in the US; Ethiopian forces target Tigrayans; urgent police reforms needed in Sri Lanka; speaking out against sexual violence in China; Covid-19 highlights Somalia’s healthcare problems; COVID-19 in Myanmar’s prisons; Uganda court quashes problematic anti-pornography law; Taliban leadership’s vague pledges to respect human rights heighten concerns; more than 1,000 civilians killed in Myanmar since junta seized power; prominent labour rights activist sent to prison in Cambodia; Iran’s mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic has dire consequences; Brazil’s president blocks critics; government officials in Ecuador commit to eradicating sexual violence at schools; use of highly toxic pesticide on food crops finally banned in the US; Taliban reportedly step up searches for Afghan journalists and those who worked for NATO; COVIC-19 vaccine boosters are exacerbating shortages; First Nation people in Australia left dangerously exposed to the coronavirus; hunger and poverty made worse by pandemic in Nigeria; crackdown on journalists continues in Myanmar; new steps to resolve long-standing land conflict in Uganda; one billion children at risk from climate shocks;
  
  
  
  
  
• on democracy:
  crises in Lebanon;   secrecy-obsessed (to the point of damaging government) Scott is not a conservative;   revelations of the blatant lies made by journalists and politicians around the fabricated myth (lie) of "dole bludgers" in the 70s;   "great crises are a stimulus to right-wing political mobilisation";   the opposition candidate has won in Zambia's elections - which is good for democracy;   "right-wing extremism weaponises democracy against itself";   "with its tourism industry smashed, Vanuatu last year generated $175 million — 35 per cent of total government revenue — from its 'honorary citizenship programs' " - which has now been cancelled because of the unsavoury characters using it;   repression in Cuba;   Russia has shut down an independent vote monitoring organisation;   piracy off Nigeria;   the national neolibs are covering up their use of taxpayer funds to defend their legal abuses;   blocking dissent in Brazil;   democracy is still struggling in Tanzania;  
  
  
  (democracy)
  
  
  
• on LGBTIQ+ matters:
  Gay Pride in Romania;   staff at a supermarket allowed abuse by a homophobe;   an example of trans inclusion;   homophobia in sport;   homophobia in the Czech Republic;  
  
  
• on racism:
  how to overcome inadvertent racism in community gardens;   an aboriginal artefact has been returned to the people it was stolen from;   former US police officers have been charged with racist hate;  
  
  
• on sexism and misogyny:
  "superannuation tax rebates for time off work to raise children could lift women's balances";   more misogyny from spectators and security at an AFL match;   same sex couples in the penguin world;  
  
  
• on ableism:
  "Paralympians are leading the charge in a new worldwide campaign to end the discrimination faced by the 1.2 billion people with disability"  - "We the 15" (percent of all people who happen to also have a disability);
  
  
• on animal rights: 
  misogyny, racism, and animal cruelty - all in one barbaric event;  
  
  
• on other matters:
  "how to cut down on ransomware attacks without banning bitcoin";   "how hackers can use mirroring apps to see your texts — and bypass two-factor authentication security";   calls for consumers to know how long products will last;   my home state is looking for more mental health workers who have lived experience;