Post No. 2,032 - Interesting reading, and on Uganda, Burma, and from the news

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

• "Spiritual Science: Why Science Needs Spirituality to Make Sense of the World"; 
• the pandemic has led many people to re-evaluate their lives, and many may move away from being economic cogs in what is being termed "the Great Resignation"; 
• an article on asylums in France during World War (part) Two: "the antidote to this day-to-day fascism is not military but intellectual, emotional and communal"; 
• "caring for the vulnerable opens gateways to our richest, deepest brain states"; 
• very high agreement between reliable sources on what the afterlife is like; 
• a video on an OBE technique; 
• a statistical examination of characteristics of mediums;

(Mægan)

 

On Uganda this week:

• Museveni is continuing his stay in, and abuse of, power; 
• calls for a more accessible age pension (80 years old is too high); 
• the USA has called on Uganda to invest in its youth for the sake of its future;

On Burma this week:

• the protests and killing continue;
  
• Burma continues to move towards all-out civil war; 
• Burma moves further into religious bigotry; 
• the UN has warned of the human rights catastrophe in Burma;

 

From the news this week:

• on the climate crisis and the environment:
  another article confirming that renewables are cheaper than fossil fuels;   conservation fencing in the Mallee;   rich nations are not meeting their climate change prevention/adaptation funding goal;   "if the Congo Basin forest is lost then so is the fight against climate change ... Gabon now wants to be paid for its role as the world’s “second lung”, as the Congo Basin is known";   climate refugees are at greater risk of slavery;   in some mining areas in India, "some farmers are bringing contaminated agricultural land back to life";   "climate change is testing the resilience of native plants to fire";   demonstration that electric vehicles outperform petrol cars at normal road speeds;   yet another warning that the cost of not acting on the climate crisis will far exceed the costs of inaction;   in Uganda, "the State minister in charge of the Environment ... has accused fellow ministers and members of parliament of being some of the main culprits in the destruction of the country’s forests and wetlands";   "a group of nearly 60 mayors say they are doing what they can to make their cities greener, but a wider effort is needed to make a big enough difference to the climate";   what appears to be a SLAPP (but could also be poor judgement by an activist who let their emotions cloud their thinking);   an opinion that Germany needs to do more on renewables;   yet another warning - this one from the UN - that "climate change increases risk of violent conflict";   drought in Spain;   a call for small scale farmers, rather than multinationals, to control agriculture;   the states are - rightly - resisting Scott's "CoalKeeper" plan;   "Fridays for Future protests" in Germany;  
  
  
  (responsibility)
  
  
  
• on international relations including war:
  "Biden called for greater cooperation on climate change, global conflict and the coronavirus pandemic [as world faces "decisive decade"] ... UN chief Antonio Guterres warned of a rising "sense of impunity" in governments across the world" but "US snubs UN commitment to stamp out racism";   girls are being excluded from schools, female government workers are being to stay home in Afghanistan, the misogynistic violent extremists who conquered Afghanistan are still abusing children, and the murders have resumed;   "World Bank leaders pushed staffers to boost rankings for China and Saudi Arabia in high-profile reports";   extremism in the USA;   as neighbours warn (our response discussed here) of a possible regional arms race because of our nuclear submarine decision (and North Korea makes illogical ramblings about the same just after it tests a submarine launched missile) - which some see as ceding our sovereignty to corporations, "Australia braces for EU trade backlash ["it will be difficult to rebuild trust between the EU and its allies"] as France fumes over scrapped submarine contract" (we told France all was well on the same day the deal scrapped ... and Australians in France fear violence) - and the USA tries to mend bridges with France (and succeeds) and the Shadow Foreign Minister warns "the federal government must not sacrifice Australia's independence as it pushes ahead with its ambitious plan to use US and UK technology to build a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines";   "France to host international conference on Libya ahead of scheduled elections";   "French Minister in Mali to thwart hiring of Russian mercenaries";   "Algeria closes airspace to Morocco over 'provocations and hostile' actions";   geopolitical considerations around undersea cables;   Russia's attempt to blackmail Europe is failing - it isn't being noticed by consumers;   South Korea's US-China balancing act;   the complexities of the situation in Yemen;   "influencers join together to fight hate speech" in Lebanon;   the price of getting of the psychopathic narcissist that morons in the USA voted in to power is becoming apparent: a return to things as they were, including West Asia (and it is ironic that the article, trying to advocate for change, uses an outmoded term for that region);   an examination of India's attempts to counter China's growing influence;   an attempted assassination in Ukraine;   Central and South America (which is referred to by a colonialist term in the article) is objecting to an auction of goods stolen during the Spanish colonial invasion;   and putting the cat amongst the pigeons, "Taiwan applies to join trans-Pacific trade deal after China wants in";   China has banned cryptocurrency;   "North Korea rejects calls for declaration to end 1950s Korean War";  
  
  
  (BPM group leadership)
  
   
• on the COVID-19 pandemic:
  "hospitalisations could be double the predictions as research reveals Delta’s true severity";   police are being targetted as "punching bags" by frustrated anti-lockdown protestors - leading to questions why the riot squad was not used, and questions why a press photographer was pepper sprayed;   far right wing  extremists  (who should not be underestimated)  faked being construction workers at a violent anti-vaccination protest directed against a union - this was a major event that led to a two week shut down of the construction industry, powerful criticism by a nurses union of people wanting to right to force medical staff to work 12 hour days, led to a warning that any genuine union members involved were no longer welcome, included a "protestor" kicking a dog, has ramifications for regional Victoria, and includes some of the IPOCs doing the protesting nominating themselves for a Darwin  Award by getting COVID. Subsequent protests offended veterans, and saw tactics aimed at ensuring the repugnant people were arrested and charged;   the nut job denialists have been making death threats against the TGA - and are antisemitic;   the national government ignored warnings of shortages;   delayed care for other issues - including mental health;   a vaccine manufacturer says its product is safe for children (which still has to be independently assessed);   "Australia's 70,000 community sport clubs has found almost all have lost money with thousands of them facing the risk of going under";   seized corruption money will be used to fund COVID-19 vaccines and the nation concerned;   delta is more deadly than hoped - not just more contagious - and we need more than 80% vaccination;   the impact of long COVID on health workers;   in Germany a service station employee was murdered by an anti-masker;   online fraud has increased under lockdown;   governments need to compel improved ventilation;   "Cuban medical training has helped Pacific nations face the pandemic challenge" (Cuba's medical diplomacy has been quite effective - for Cuba, and for those helped);   far right extremists in Germany are jumping on the anti-vaxx anti-lockdown bandwagon;   "UN chief Antonio Guterres says it's an 'obscenity' that unused vaccines are being thrown out in some places while 90% of Africa has yet to receive jab";   a child in the Netherlands has had to go to court to get the right to be vaccinated against the wishes of an effectively child abusing parent;   "Singapore winds back freedoms at 80 per cent full coverage";  
  
  
  (Berkana - healing & compassion)
  
  
  
• on genocides and other human rights issues:
  violent abuses:   the DRC has neither investigated nor supported victims of a mass multi-day rape event in a prison;   "European Court of Human Rights [has found] Russia guilty of Alexander Litvinenko killing";   in a rare move, a Kenyan judge has ruled police must stand trial for alleged extrajudicial killings;   "the Indonesian government must address past human rights violations and ensure that they are not repeated if they want to achieve peace in Papua and West Papua";   an atrocity alert for Ethiopia, Burundi, and the Philippines;   "a Genocide Warning for Chad, where ethnic violence has risen over territorial disputes [and] Genocide Watch considers Chad to be at Stage 5: Organisation and Stage 6: Polarisation";   Ukraine, which underwent a genocidal famine known as the Holodomor, experienced forced deportations of Crimean Tartars, and suffered the invasion of Crimea under Putin, "is at Stage 6: Polarisation, Stage 8: Persecution, and Stage 10: Denial";   Sri Lanka, which is still recovering from a 26-year-long civil war that ended in May 2009 and from massacres of Tamils that are recognized as genocide but has seen impunity on that and, within the past decade, discrimination against and attacks on Muslims, is at Stage 3: Discrimination, Stage 5: Organisation, Stage 8: Persecution, and Stage 10: Denial;   the Philippines, where President Rodrigo Duterte's government is committing crimes against humanity and politicide through a state-sponsored mass murder campaign that Duterte portrays as a "War on Drugs", is at Stage 8: Persecution and Stage 9: Extermination;   "a Timestream on Ecocide in Brazil, tracking the worsening treatment of the Amazon Rainforest and the indigenous people that inhabit it";   a "court in the United States found Colonel Moses Thomas, commander of the defunct Armed Forces of Liberia’s elite Special Anti-Terrorist Unit, responsible for the 1990 massacre of over 600 civilians sheltering in the St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Monrovia, Liberia ";  
  
  social and political:   Greece is acting to isolate refugees;   two Belarusian refugees have been stuck in the Swedish embassy for a year;   thousands of Haitians have been deported by the USA back to that crisis-torn nation - and the "US envoy for Haiti resigns citing 'inhumane' deportations";   the xenophobic excesses of our immigration prison system - where being charged is enough to lead to a presumption of guilt;   abuse of children;   yet another fire at a refugee camp in Greece;   at a committal hearing a professional (social worker) admitted not giving evidence against an alleged child abuser because she feared being sued or aiding an application for compensation (money) - and was warned when her husband prompted her;   after a six month pause in response to extremist violence, aid is reaching northern Mozambique;   as the USA plans to double refugee admissions, criticism of US border guards for their latest violence against refugees;   "mental health days are on the rise in the corporate world, but they're not a silver bullet for workplace stress";   "the United States will formally return an illegally imported 3,500-year-old tablet recounting the epic of Gilgamesh to Iraq";   "discrimination against older people pervasive worldwide";   "a decision by the charities commission to deny a global anti-poverty charity access to public benevolent status because its activities include advocacy has been rejected by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal";   200 girls have been freed from traffickers in Uganda;   the Biloela family will be allowed to stay in Australian immigration prison;   the need for new laws to manage global surveillance;   human rights crisis in South Sudan;  
  
  genocide:  
   
• from Human Rights Watch:
  world leaders should warn abusive governments that they will be held accountable; opportunity to end Taliban's use of child soldiers; new findings on prison mass rape in DR Congo; as Australia’s climate policy disappoints, hope is found in court; trumped-up charges against critics of the Ortega regime in Nicaragua; officials in South Sudan intimidate sex worker on camera; dehumanising and violent treatment of vulnerable migrants at United States-Mexico border; Apple and Google bow to Russian government; United Nations General Assembly has begun in New York; India’s spot on world stage is mired in abuses at home; repression marks Cameroon crackdown anniversary; Harare's unresolved water crisis is a ticking time bomb; some positive news from the US: "a major interagency initiative to respond to the impacts of extreme heat in the country"; COVID-19 Summit at UN falls short of taking action needed to beat the pandemic; Taliban abuses instil fear among women and girls; China’s coal announcement could change global climate politics; dismantling of unions in Hong Kong; Biden’s best chance to tackle inequality in the US; what today's International Day of Sign Languages has to do with human rights; thousands of young climate activists worldwide march for the environment; pushbacks at Polish border put migrants' lives at risk; Kenyan authorities censor another LGBT-themed film; Tunisia's constitutional crisis worsens; advances in protections for delivery workers in New York City;
  
  
  
  
  
• on democracy:
  "Ukraine approves law to limit influence of oligarchs";   calls for an investigation into far right extremists;   four of #45's lickspittles have been subpoenaed over the attempted insurrection;   protestors in Tunisia are calling for a return to democracy as "the speaker of Tunisia's parliament ... [calls} ... for "peaceful struggle" against a return to "absolute one-man rule ... described ... as "a step back, a decade after Tunisia's 2011 revolution";   against a background of reports of voting violations and commentary that tech companies have aided repression in Russia by removing an opposition voting app, Putin appears to have "won" the "election";   more protests in eSwatini;   risks of whistleblowers in South Africa include murder;   concerns in Gambia over an alliance including the party of an exiled President who was widely accused of human rights abuses;   trauma and resilience workshops for freelance journalists;   "a lawsuit filed recently ... on behalf of [#45] contains language that acknowledges that he did not, in fact, win the 2020 election";   an interesting analysis of the people on the US Supreme Court;  
  
  Australia:   a controversial neolib MP has resigned from their Ministerial position after criticism for accepting money from a "blind trust";   the closed economy has had employment benefits;     a criticism of "think tanks";   a critique of the parlous state of our democracy;   Scott has gone a long way towards sundering our federation into fiefdoms;   an expert's critique of Scott's shallow faith;   more on the corporate abuses of JobKeeper;   the Commonwealth Parliament ha adapted our Youth Parliament concept by having MPs read out messages from young people;   "Scott Morrison's devolution of democracy";   concerns over SA's changes to its anti-corruption body;  
  
  
  (democracy)
  
  
  
• on LGBTIQ+ matters:
  problems with all-women police stations include transphobia;   march for LGBTIQ+ rights in Ukraine;   "UK court overturns puberty blocker restrictions";   "gay war veteran speaks out for equal rights in Ukraine's military";   homophobia in Kenya - and Hungary;   bisexuality;  
  
  
• on racism:
  "calls for truth-telling after claims of sporting pioneer's involvement in massacre" - which had apparently been passed on to the AFL years ago;   an Indigenous-owned solar farm is under construction;  
  
  
• on sexism and misogyny:
  a celebrity has used her experience to highlight endometriosis;   legal action over a streaming service's alleged portrayal of a female chess grandmaster;   poor people of colour will bear the brunt of Texas' anti-abortion law;   an opinion that "Scott Morrison and the Liberal Government are heading Australia towards a Handmaid's Tale scenario in terms of women's rights";   cricket has moved into the late 20th Century by adopting gender neutral terminology;   FGM;   the homelessness and identity theft that can happen after leaving abusive relationships;   culturally appropriate programmes are leading to fewer Indigenous women missing appointments at a Qld hospital;  sexual assault can lead to long term problems;   another gang rape in India- this one prolonged;  
  
  
• on ableism:
  German adults with disabilities (and guardians) can now vote;   "an early intervention therapy can drastically reduce the risk of autism";   a call for men to speak out in support of women;   as part of a project, a video on Parliamentary vocabulary in Auslan;  
  
  
• on animal rights: 
  the benefits of pets;   a trial is underway on animal cruelty charges;   a kangaroo was rescued from a lake;  
  
  
• on other matters:
  warning on another spam text message - and see also this;   guidance on preparing for possibly getting lost in the bush;   a major corporate lack of ethics scandal;   fed up with tech companies, the EU will require USB-C for charging mobile phones;   another concerning excess of mobile phone technology;   SA will ban spit hoods (I wonder how those who get spat on feel about that?);   calls to limit the influence of gambling in sport;   "tackling malnutrition in Ghana";   what prices should be so farmers can stay in business;