Post No. 2,041 - Interesting reading, and on Uganda, Burma, and from the news

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

• a critique and criticism of corporate social responsibility (I don't think things are as bad as portrayed - not here, at any rate); 
• a splendid bit of satire; 
• evidence that compassion leads to better outcomes - including medically; 
• a book on pre-birth memories; 
• a list of eminent people interested in psychic abilities; 
• a book about Emanuel Swedenborg's communications with extraterrestrials about their religion (I haven';t read this, so don't know how good or not it is);
  
• a case study into animal survival after death;

(Mægan)

 

On Uganda this week:

• Museveni is continuing his stay in, and abuse of, power; 
• as another MP is forcefully abducted / "arrested", a writ of habeas corpus for an abducted MP ... and trumped up charges are laid - but an attempt to prevent those charged with murder being bailed was rejected; 
• an admission of corruption; 
• abuses of children;

On Burma this week:

• the protests and killing continue;
  
• the junta is trying an Australian in secrecy; 
• the Burmese economy is crashing;

 

From the news this week:

• on the climate crisis and the environment:
  "Costa Rica's President says climate change is 'biggest challenge of this generation'";   China rejection of foreign waste led to European waste being dumped in Poland;   "political and business leaders have committed more than $400 billion to the expansion of renewable and clean energy ... [and] to dramatically expand access to electricity in developing nations";   an organisation in India is teaching people to care for trees as if they were family members;   more on climate crisis litigation - and "Vanuatu is asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to issue an opinion on present and future generations' right to be protected from climate change";   a call for agriculture to be included in net zero ... along with legislation ... ;   a critique of hydropower;   as calls are made for us to act like adults, Scott is continuing to dither ... to other nation's displeasure;   "why sustainability and justice should go hand-in-hand";   "investments of some $280 billion will be needed to combat the effects of climate change in 35 cities in South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia by 2050";   no brain conservatives are ignoring "what should be a no-brainer";   in a statement of the bleedin' obvious, "solar feed-in tariff cuts are driving a spike in household battery uptake";   "children born today to see '24 times more' climate-induced disasters than their grandparents";   a report is claimed to show a state government (not my home state) tried to avoid paying compensation for the environmental effects of a planned raising of a dam;   "new FAO report highlights urgent need to restore Africa’s degraded landscape";   impacts in India;   23 species in the USA extinct;   problems for idiots who got in to solar to make money, rather than save our planetary home;   a sports team who went green;   China has an energy crisis because of the quest for political favour;   stronger commitment by South Africa;   those who will inherit our mess are calling for more action;   green land grabbing in    Brazil;   a new variety of rice in India;   clearing for palm oil may recommence in Indonesia;  
  
  
  (responsibility)
  
  
  
• on international relations including war:
  as fallout continues (including the need for counselling support of staff, regional impacts, hold up of a trade agreement, and fears of future distrust) from Australia's stupid abandonment of an agreement with France for submarines in favour of US-UK nuclear powered submarines, opinions that this was predictable, and based in part on a perception that France is 'weak" on China ... and Scott is rhyming with Billy Hughes self-destructive (his racist vehemence contributed to Japan being part of World War [part] Two) stupidity against Japan about a century ago, after World War (part) One ... at least France has opened the door to talks - and excellent overview of this here;   the arrested Chinese executive being held in Canada has reached a deal with US prosecutors - leading to the release of two Canadian executives held by China as hostages against her release - see also this and this analysis;   "mobile phones of five French cabinet ministers infected by [Israel's] Pegasus malware";   to the irritation of China, the leaders of the Quad" (US, India, Australia, and Japan) have presented a united front at their first in-person summit and "'called for "freedom of navigation and overflight' and 'peaceful resolution of disputes'";   disturbing levels of wilful ignorance/arrogance/dismissive and divisions in Afghanistan;  the true death toll in Syria is higher than the official toll;   Turkey is showing off its military ... stuff;   an opinion that Islamic religious schools can be used to counter violent extremism through their provision of welfare;   "from the point Haiti gained its freedom, the nation faced constant targeted socio-economic and political oppression";   more  missile rattling by North Korea;   "Ethiopia's women's minister, the first federal official to acknowledge rape had taken place during the Tigray war, announced her resignation ... without specifying a reason" but made a reference to ethics;   "wary of China, US and EU forge [an] alliance on technology";   Ethiopia is starting to isolate itself ... again;   Russia's harm to the monitoring of sanctions in Africa (a Reuters exclusive);   concerns over a claimed copper find in WA;   China is showing off its military muscle - and committing more invasions of Taiwanese air space;   nearly 2,000 Colombian guerillas are operating from Venezuela (a Reuters exclusive);  
  
  
  (BPM group leadership)
  
   
• on the COVID-19 pandemic:
  how Australia has reduced the mortality of the very rare blood-clotting associated with AstraZeneca;   more people are dying at home without realising they have the virus;   "African leaders have urged for global solidarity in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic at this year's UN General Assembly";   yet another article on the problem of social bubbles of people who lack clear and present thinking;   a repugnant attempt at political point scoring by Scott while overseas supposedly to do international diplomacy;   hunger is growing - even in economically advanced nations;   problems - including violence - of increased health protection measures such as vaccination certificates;   record losses to scams during lockdown;   rapid antigen tests;   ways to cope with lockdown;   "the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically worsened life for citizens in the world's poorest countries, according to a new UN report";   COVID-19 rapid antigen home testing will be available soon (the packaging is currently inadequate for unsupervised home use, and there is an opinion laws may be needed requiring reporting of a positive test);   anti-vaxxers have been making economic and death threats against businesses - and "a judge hearing legal challenges to mandatory COVID-19 vaccines has told the NSW Supreme Court he has been bombarded with messages from people trying to interfere in the administration of justice";   a contractor hired a jet to get his workers home so they could help with the harvest;   despite calls not to, financial support for Australians will be wound back too early in an attempt to force states stop using responsible pandemic management measures;   more questionable conduct from Qld police;   "Indigenous peoples have been disproportionately affected by COVID";   charges over the disastrous hotel quarantine programme last year in my home state;   the violent anti-vaxx/anti-lockdown nutjobs have left some of those they attacked with COVID;   the experience of one person with autism;   an inadequate (IMO) sentence for a repugnant person in Qld who threatened sexual violence against a female MP in Vic over pandemic measures;   companies are finding getting workers back into factory-farm style offices is harder now that workers have realised how much BS was in the assumptions behind the factory farm offices;   a social media platform will block all anti-vaxx content;   a call for more investment in home care;  
  
  
  (Berkana - healing & compassion)
  
  
  
• on genocides and other human rights issues:
  violent abuses:   6% of US residents still think #45 won and Biden should be removed by violence ... ;   the violent excesses of the misogynistic violent extremists ruling Afghanistan are returning;   a police officer has been suspended and is being investigated for a violent arrest (although force command is responding appropriately, police have extraordinary powers, and MUST be held to appropriately higher standards);  
  
  social and political:   as concerns are expressed over monopoly-like power and data harvesting of another tech company, an opinion that "the largest autocracy on Earth - [a social media platform] is acting like a hostile foreign power; it’s time we treated it that way";   concerns about "sportswashing";   rallies against the suppression of democracy in Tunisia;   voters in Germany's capital are in favour of getting rid of real estate agents;   an explainer for children on free speech;   an examination of what is behind housing unaffordability (which ignores people's misconception that homes are for generating wealth, rather than living in);   elections in Mali, which is under a military coup's dictatorship, could be delayed;   a disturbing report that the home of a police officer was raided just after he was hospitalised;   a "call for more action to uphold 'moral duty' to Afghans";   "Rwandan authorities rounded up and arbitrarily detained over a dozen gay and transgender people, sex workers, street children, and others in the months before a planned June 2021 high-profile international conference";   concerns about France's dissolution of an anti-Islamophobia group;   yet more anti-human rights actions by Russia;   the junta in Guinea has banned its members from standing in the next election;   "Canada grants asylum to four 'Guardian Angels' who hid Snowden in Hong Kong";   Mexico has offered "an official apology to the Yaqui indigenous people for crimes committed by the state against their ancestors";   pensioners in affordable homes in a caravan park are at risk of being evicted;   media lacks competence on religions outside the mainstream;   the digital poor have been isolated by El Salvador's gamble with cryptocurrency;   a risk of greater suppression in Hong Kong;   concerns over electronic signature laws;   more repression in Belarus;   a concerning trial in Egypt may be another attempt at suppression;   a warning about privacy issues with digital devices;   child labour in the USA;   the human rights abuses of the UAE;   42% of Argentinians live in poverty;   more suppression of dissent and criticism by Rwanda;   society is shooting itself in the foot by being ageist;  
  
  genocide:   an atrocity alert for Syria, Myanmar (Burma) and Afghanistan;  
   
• from Human Rights Watch:
  China's hostage diplomacy - how the Xi Jinping government gets what it wants; Afghan women fleeing violence lose vital protection; Rwanda round-ups linked to Commonwealth meeting; Duterte and the International Criminal Court; good & bad LGBT news; inspiring climate change protest in Berlin; new guidelines in China to curtail  abortions; the Taliban’s increasing threats to fundamental rights in Afghanistan need investigating; dissolution of anti-discrimination group in France has chilling effect; crackdown on independent voices continues in Russia; victims of Guinea stadium massacre still await justice; report confirms systemic abuse of teenage female basketball players in Mali;  The United Nations should set up an inquiry into Afghanistan's human rights crisis; a lawsuit to silence an independent rights group in Belarus; China's forced vaccination campaign; children kidnapped to become soldiers in Mozambique; US senators can act to protect millions of immigrants; an opportunity to advance mental health globally; progress towards protecting pregnant students' rights in Africa; pushbacks at the Poland-Belarus border break EU laws; investigate the killing of a Rohingya leader in Bangladesh; African Union leaders shouldn't turn a blind eye to abuses in Tigray; the UK government may put millions at risk of hunger; millions of lives at risk after expulsion of key United Nations aid officials from Ethiopia; the United Arab Emirates tries to whitewash its abysmal human rights record; women, journalists and free speech under threat in Afghanistan; pro-migrant Italian mayor jailed for “abetting illegal migration”; better protection of farmworker children needed in the US; a call ensure that enough ramps are available for people with disabilities ahead of Iraq’s elections;
  
  
  
  
  
• on democracy:
  possible lessons for the Greens in France (and Australia) from successes in Germany - where elections have seen a slight shift to the left and increased diversity and the start of negotiations for a coalition;   elections in Libya are looking precarious;   "another Hong Kong pro-democracy group has succumbed to pressure from [China], deciding to end after 32 years";   elections are underway in Iceland;   an opinion that the USA could get worse ... ;   illegal gold mines in the Philippines;   health challenges in Lebanon;   tensions - and rights - between military and civilians in transitional Sudan are worsening;   Ethiopia has closed some embassies over financial strain;   "a US judge ... cleared the way for former Peruvian President ... to be extradited back to Peru on corruption charges, saying evidence of criminality presented in his case were "sufficient"";   delayed elections in parts of Ethiopia are underway;   critiques of Russia's "elections", Tanzania's new President, Zambia's coming elections, Tunisia, Chad's transition, and Poland's planned move towards greater misogyny;   thousands demonstrate for democracy in Sudan as anti-democratic actions put US support at risk;   risks to democracy in Africa;  
  
  Australia:   a critique and criticism of the ALP's move away from values and principles to small target marketing;   an Indigenous political party;   "‘either cowardice or hubris’: senators demand Gaetjens front secrecy hearing";      more criticism of Scott's planned secrecy around National Cabinet;   appropriation of Australian myths by conservative politicians;   a correction of unemployment statistics;   the AFP claims it has found no illegal activity in the over-inflated purchase price of land for a future airport (which may be a commentary on the inadequacy of current laws around corruption);   the national Parliament does not reflect our cultural diversity;   the move towards independents because of the climate crisis and integrity concerns;   an examination of the state of politics in Australia;   independent investigations into corruption in my home state will lead to public hearings;  
  
  
  (democracy)
  
  
  
• on LGBTIQ+ matters:
  Switzerland has joined the late 20th Century by approving same gender/same sex marriage;   fight for trans recognition in Indonesia;   more consequences for police because of their LGBTIQ-phobia;   more well-meaning morons;  
  
  
• on racism:
  a neochristian church has apologised "for century of abuses in Canada's residential schools";   just as Indigenous storytelling tells of the flooding and formation of Port Philip, so too do they tell of the earthquakes that formed the current course of the Murray River;   the complexities of trying to remove racism from existence;   a case is underway in Qld alleging racism by a government public transport service;   a call for bystanders to do more;   a call for Indigenous people to be given access to the old age pension at an age commensurate with their shorter life spans;   reports of white supremacism at a tech company;   Canada has been ordered to compensate Indigenous children;   the active perpetuation of white supremacy by Republicans in the USA;  
  
  
• on sexism and misogyny:
  San Marino has moved in the late 20th Century by legalising abortion;   a programme allowing violent abusers to use statements such as "women are bad" has shown the need for programmes against male violence to have minimum standards;   "WHO finds 80 alleged sexual abuse cases during Ebola work in Democratic Republic of Congo";   sexism in Australian politics;   progress in sport;   a recently convicted sex abuser "was aided by a network of complicity – common in workplace abuse – that enabled crimes to go on for decades";   continuing problems with misogyny in a police force as a police officer who is an alleged murderer has been accused of claiming his victim was under arrest for a violation of pandemic restrictions - and a police officer has been suspended and is being investigated for a violent arrest (although force command is responding appropriately, police have extraordinary powers, and MUST be held to appropriately higher standards);   suggestions to fix our gender pay gap;   an 11 year old has created a magazine to promote women in sport;   allegations of misogyny in a military chaplaincy programme;   "language in news reports on sexual assaults can lead to toxic responses in online posts";   calls for abortion rights in South and Central America;   the need to stop street abuse in the UK;  
  
  
• on ableism:
  Indigenous sign language (which also appeared in the film "Rabbit-Proof Fence");   "a scathing royal commission report has savaged the federal government’s vaccination rollout to the disability sector, warning people with a disability will “face significant risks” if they can’t get a jab before COVID-19 restrictions end";  
  
  
• on animal rights: 
  a wildlife trafficker has been jailed in Malawi;  
  
  
• on other matters:
  the uncertain future of work;   a fuel crisis in the UK;   "how and when to get a second medical opinion";   "we need to stop treating human tragedy as entertainment" - and avoid ‘missing white woman syndrome’;   more social dislocation because of insurance companies' limited comprehension;