Post No. 2,058 - Interesting reading, and on Uganda, Burma, and from the news

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

• further to a recent video I supported on reasons to be cautious, here's another  example of someone to avoid - someone who has got hold and perverted some truths for the sake of money and other personal gratification;

(Mægan)

 

On Uganda this week:

• Museveni is continuing his stay in, and abuse of, power;

On Burma this week:

• the protests and killing continue;
  
• ASEAN is finally starting to show some gumption over the coup in Burma;

 

From the news this week:

• on the climate crisis and the environment:
  after decades of actively and wilfully opposing action on the climate crisis (which could cost tens of thousands of Australian jobs), the business council of Australia has finally come on board . . . but some farmers want compensation for not clearing land - and meanwhile the neolibs continue to dither and dance (and has been warned not to rort);   as Indigenous people in the Amazon basin call for rights, support is given for passive rewilding (although such bush is seen as uncared for by Australia's Indigenous people) and CHina promises to include biodiversity in economic plans, a conference to address the loss of biodiversity is underway;   "Australia could ‘green’ its degraded landscapes for just 6% of what we spend on defence";   concerns over the impacts of public subsidising - which is apparently [financially] "essential" - of a proposed "green" hydrogen scheme;   a look at what missing our targets would lead to;   Japan is seeking to capture the energy of super-typhoons;   medical staff are trying to reduce waste from used PPE;   our kerbside rubbish will be recycled to make tram stops;   mercenaries will be withdrawn from Libya;   the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has concluded that "concluded that a 'sufficient causal link' had been established between the significant harm allegedly suffered by the children and the acts or omissions of the five states" but "that the children should have tried to bring cases to their national courts first" (which is procedurally normal - but time consuming and expensive);   Scott will go - after irritating the UK's monarch and causing Australia to be (humorously) humiliated - to COP26 after all, and will promise . . . ? (nobody knows . . . );   insurance changes in the USA to more accurately reflect future flood risks in response to the climate crisis;   Italy is struggling to find land for solar farms;   the first renewable power export agreement from Africa (exporter) to Europe;   a tyre dump fire in Tasmania;  
  
  
  (responsibility)
  
  
  
• on international relations including war:
  an expert who left the UN after decades of hard work and many disappointments is arguing that change is necessary - but still supporting the organisation;  
  the CCP has claimed reunification with Taiwan would be "peaceful" ... while Taiwan wants to retain its independence - see also this excellent analysis of the historical (1996) roots of China's current approach;   we need to separate our views of the CCP from ethnicity;   after cutting back as part of the neoliberal agenda and thus leaving a vacuum for China to step into, "Britain to invest in African ports as part of Western response to China";   India and China's border tensions are continuing;  
  as the G20 - except for Russia and China - pledge more aid, the USA has told the misogynistic violent extremists (mVEs) in power in Afghanistan that the mVEs will be judged on their actions (which currently include intimidation of those trying to leave and misogyny), not their words;   an idiotic idea to hold an online conference including the mVEs has been cancelled;  
  France is attempting to deal with the legacy of its colonialism in Africa - particularly with young Africans;   calls for a "migration" agreement between the UK and the EU;   Lebanon's collapsing economy is causing a mass exodus of skilled workers - and power blackouts, and not getting the attention it should;   136 nations have reached a deal on minimum tax conditions for companies (‘Australia has become a go-to destination for dirty money’);  
  Ethiopia's army has resumed attacks on rebels in Tigray, and aid has been stopped;   the EU will help Ukraine with its gas supply problems;   the ICJ is hearing the Somalia-Kenya marine border case;   the stupidity of our tight-fisted global supply chains has been shown up with entirely predictable and predicted problems occurring as a result of the pandemic;   a call for a geoeconomic alliance to respond to the CCP's geoeconomic coercion;   hundreds of  fishing vessels from Indonesia has been illegally fishing in what are, under modern laws, Australian waters;   Turkey is exporting more drones;   military-civilian tensions in Sudan are still high - and growing, but lawyers have demonstrated in support of civilian government;   "sanctioned South Sudanese businessmen are skirting US sanctions";   a call for negotiations over Western Sahara to recommence;   misogynistic rebels in northern Yemen are winning;   the UK has issued a violent extremism alert for Uganda;  
  
  
  (BPM group leadership)
  
   
• on the COVID-19 pandemic:
  as the AMA criticises NSW for ignoring medical advice and others tell of their valid fears, suggestions from nature for a gradual re-emergence from lockdown - and lessons from other nations;   anti-vaxxers are now threatening GPs and medical centres with fake legal letters;   a comparison of Fiji and PNG;   the global problem is still continuing;   yet another call to vaccinate the poorer nations of the world - or else;   very thoughtful considerations on vaccination mandates and ethics;   fears of shop assistants having to deal with anti-vaxxer violence;   "mainstream media IGNORE mental health data to denigrate Dan Andrews";   more on the treatment pill being developed;   a state health department has been ignoring privacy considerations and public commitments to keep data;   "scientists talking about COVID-19 are copping widespread abuse and death threats";   rapid at home test kits have been approved for Australia;   Australia has overruled NSW on international borders;   AMA modelling shows hospitals will become overloaded by early opening;   we're going to stop producing AZ - even thought it could help others . . . ;   the effect of the pandemic on mental health in Ghana shows the difference between Global North and Global South;   an utterly repugnant person has made hundreds of utterly fake "medical certificates in a measure that risked destroying pandemic containment measures - and then there's this pack of lies;   an Ombudsperson has described fresh air in a quarantine hotel as a human right;  
  
  
  (Berkana - healing & compassion)
  
  
  
• on genocides and other human rights issues:
  violent abuses:   an Atrocity Alert for Afghanistan, Yemen and China;  
  
  social and political:   an exiled Syrian member of Assad's family has returned to avoid jail in France;   Germany has suspended soldiers were members of far right groups - and sexual abusers;   a decades-long problem of worker abuse has been exposed;   a call for caution on machine learning;   perilous risks for refugees in Central and South America;   police PTSD and other trauma;   the ACT has raised the age of criminal responsibility - which shows others can too;   Algeria is trying to close a civil society group;   the national neolib nitwits tinkering (by a housing supply enquiry) won't fix the unaffordability of Australian housing;   a scientist has lost his case against dismissal because "intellectual freedom not general freedom of speech';   suppression of journalism in Algeria;   "France's top bishop said ... that the secrecy of the confession should not take precedence over French laws on sex crimes against children, reversing his previous position";   Chile has declared a state of emergency over clashes between security forces and Indigenous people seeking a restoration of their rights;   Thailand's rights abuses are slowly being recognised;   criticism of Canada for jailing asylum seekers;   concerns over Australia's use of secret evidence to deport asylum seekers;   refugees and asylum seekers are still trapped between Belarus and Poland;   Belgium is being sued over forced separations of children during its colonial occupation of the Congo;   record levels of food insecurity from conflict;   repression in Rwanda;   "discrimination against Roma in Croatia and Bulgaria: a comparative report";  
  
  genocide:   Indonesia may finally start to admit to its genocide of the 1960s against alleged and real communists;  
   
• from Human Rights Watch:
  education system in Lebanon at risk of collapse; World Mental Health Day; Rwandan genocide kingpin dies in jail; #InternationalDayOfGirlChild; victims of North Korea’s ‘Paradise on Earth’ campaign demand justice; crack down on prominent civic association in Algeria; how the United States can protect Indigenous peoples around the world; African governments should strengthen social protection systems after COVID-19 pandemic; richest nations discuss how to support ordinary Afghans; advancing accountability for past atrocities in the Central African Republic; a significant step towards establishing the right to a healthier environment; all eyes on what the Tokyo olympics and Paralympics legacy will be; rights-abusing bill threatens freedom of expression even further in Singapore if signed into law; Uzbekistan silences media, blocks opposition candidates ahead of upcoming elections; Poland's Constitutional Court threatens EU's legal framework; UN members should make human rights a central topic during COP26; remembering Philippine activist Jose Luis Martin Gascon; Japan's outdated law harms trans people; how US and European governments undermine Egyptians' struggle for democracy; French official rebuts evidence of police abuses against migrants; six years since the abduction of a Swedish citizen in China; International Criminal Court deputy prosecutors' elections coming soon; abusive states elected to the UN Human Rights Council; Slovenia's Prime Minister's antisemitic tweet sparks outrage; another tragedy on the border between Poland and Belarus;
  
  
  
  
  
• on democracy:
  Austria's leader has resigned in response to a corruption investigation;   tens of thousands have demonstrated in in Poland in favour of the EU;   an opinion that "Czech voters want an end to scandals and demagoguery";   concerns about police use of force;   Lebanon's crisis includes a mental health crisis;   India's opposition is weakening;   Nigeria's alternating selection of Presidents is being reviewed;   this years Nobel Prize for economics was based on research that "didn't conclude that an increase in the minimum wage would boost employment in every circumstance ... but ... challenged the view that an increase in the minimum wage would always lead to unemployment. However, their findings weren't welcomed by the establishment. In fact, they sparked an emotional debate in the economics profession";   Tunisia's crisis is continuing;   actions against corruption in the DRC are "gaining momentum";  
  
  Australia:  
  more criticism of alleged "pork barrelling" by the national neolib nitwits;      extraordinary amounts paid to try to keep public spending secret;  
  an ALP Minister in my home state has resigned over branch stacking, but a Federal counterpart has - concerningly - been allowed to stay;  
  plans for a "fundamental" change in how mental health issues for children are viewed and managed;   calls for national reforms of firearms laws after farmers and their staff are threatened and nearly shot by trespassing shooters;      the national neolibs will take action against social media - but have been accused of hypocrisy;   "JobMaker" had a 1% efficiency;   a billionaire has lost his court case to try to force an overturning of pandemic safety measures;   lying in political advertising is largely permitted;   "Scott ... doesn’t care about secular accountability";   ethical "revolving door" issues in defence over our various submarine deals;  
  
  
  (democracy)
  
  
  
• on LGBTIQ+ matters:
  a comic "superhero" is now bisexual;   a massive trans hate campaign in the UK against one woman has been met with an anti-terrorism response;   transphobia in Kuwait;   trans recognition in Uganda;   LGBTIQ-phobia in Lithuania;  
  
  
• on racism:
  the Netherlands' border force is being allowed to be racist;  
  
  
• on sexism and misogyny:
  another US court has given a green light to vigilante violence by  reinstating the de facto ban on abortion in one US state - which has also removed all vaccination mandates . . . ;   a UK police chief has resigned over victim blaming comments he made after a woman was abducted, raped, and murdered by a serving police officer;   the biases of parenting books;  
  
  
• on ableism:
  legal concerns over the lack of Auslan interpreters;   "Royal Commission told of 'heartbreaking' abuse faced by women with disability" (including increased strangulation during the pandemic);  
  
  
• on animal rights: 
  
  
  
• on other matters:
  "the Nobel Peace Prize brings overnight celebrity, but also frequent scrutiny, trolling and persecution";   a bored comedian tried to infiltrate a conspiracy nut job group, and decided "I think the rise of conspiracy theories can literally be directly linked to people just wanting to find a community online" - which shows a complete lack of ethics (they left after the attempted insurrection in USA);