Post No. 2,063 - Interesting reading and from the news

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

• a video on contact with pets during an NDE; 
• an international standard on "ethical and functional requirements to mitigate risk and increase innovation in systems engineering design and development" (I suggest you advocate for wider use of it with your MPs) - but see also this, and the fears of racism in the EU; 
• a thought: one of the major flaws in this world is mistaking awareness of convenience for thinking;
• from this week's Zammit newsletter: 
• a website (possibly with a sexist bias) on survival after death; 
• a transcript from a direct  voice  mediumship session; 
• a YouTube video: "Jurgen Ziewe - Multidimensional Realities"; 
• another YouTube video: "is your child psychic? 4 ways adults can help psychic & sensitive children".
  

(Mægan)

 

From the news this week:

• on the climate crisis and the environment:
  (disputed) concerns about long distance transfer of wastewater from a mining operation;   the health impacts of bushfires will increase as the climate crisis worsens;   criticism of a media outlet for hypocrisy and continued misinformation in an apparent backflip from climate denialism;   criticism of a minor political party - including from those it claims to represent -  for blocking action on the climate crisis - DESPITE economists backing the benefits of action;   "Ireland says goodbye to peat [as an energy source] to restore its biodiverse bogs";   in Africa "air pollution is responsible for more deaths than tobacco, alcohol, road accidents, and drug abuse. Only HIV/Aids causes more deaths";   an example of adapting to the climate crisis;   our shameful 30 year history of denialism and obstruction;   the permafrost in Siberia's tundra is melting;   call for more multinational treaties to save species and nature;   "how big farm lobbies undermine EU's green agriculture plan";   protection for an at-risk species of turtle;   a nurse is redirecting medical supplies that no longer meet disinfection requirements to purposes they are still suited for;   80,000 people are displaced every day by the climate crisis;   "Australia ranked last among developed nations on climate performance and pledges";   Russia - "one of the world's worst emitters" - will cop out from COP26;   our houses are so poor they're like tents;   illegal foresting in the DRC;   more revelations over our appalling government's  (and bureaucrats') utter bloody climate crisis stupidity;   "Pacific Island climate groups demand world leaders halt support for fossil fuel";   in a statement of the bleedin' obvious, US agencies have warned that the "climate change poses national security risks";   Freetown in Sierra Leone has appointed a heat officer;   renewable energy jobs grew last year;  
  
  
  (responsibility)
  
  
  
• on international relations including war:
  North Korea now appears to have submarine-launchable ballistic missiles;  
  the misogynistic violent extremisms (mVEs) in power in Afghanistan have resumed discriminatory evictions;   the murdered victims of the mVEs include at least one interpreter for Australia;   women fleeing Afghanistan are causing a brain drain;   the mVEs have been praising suicide bombers and rewarding their families;  
  following the debacle in Afghanistan, five nations in Europe have launched a rapid-response force (how, where and when will this be used, on whose orders, and will it comply with IHL?);   human rights abusing Saudi Arabia and Iran will overlook their differences to make more money;   "Saudi-led coalition intensify air strikes against Yemen Houthi rebels";   criticism of the "EAC bloc as ‘a club of the ruling elite’";   Belarus has expelled France's Ambassador;   tensions are developing between Russia and NATO;   a suggestion for managing tech companies;   an Australian abattoir's meat exports to China have been suspended (our agricultural standards seem not to be as rigorous as those of, for instance, the EU, so - if this is verified - the ban seems to be quite reasonable);   US President Biden has broken the USA's verbal strategy of strategic ambiguity over the defence of Taiwan to commit to the USA to war if mainland China invades Taiwan;   the USA wants to broaden its relationship with Colombia away from military (and drug?) matters;   the UK-NZ trade deal includes protection of the haka;   legally, Taiwan's status is uncertain, but independence/sovereignty is not strong - and morally, no-one is standing up for the international rules based order anyway (e.g., Ukraine, Palestine), so Taiwan's unquestionably desired future does not look strong;   the stalemate in Burma - which our government has just established a trade deal with;   Rwanda-DRC tensions;   tensions in the EU caused by Poland's curtailment of the independence of the judiciary;   the USA is concerned over China's hypersonic missiles;   other nations have sent envoys to eSwatini in response to violence there;   over-zealous "state security forces in South Sudan are responsible for new and potentially arbitrary restrictions against prominent civil society leaders, issuing “credible” death threats undermining peace efforts, UN-appointed independent rights experts said this week";   the fallout from our stupid ("militarism lacking a strategy") nuclear submarine deal continues, with negotiations on a trade deal still on hold;   a multiplicity of alliances to possibly balance China's regional power;   Turkey's human rights abuses may cost it voting rights in the "Council of Europe";   separatists in Nigeria and Cameroon have united;  
  
  
  (BPM group leadership)
  
   
• on the COVID-19 pandemic:
  some RWNJs in the USA are utterly insane;   some RWNJs are spreading a LIE that sending children to school is consent for vaccinations;   we are coming out of lockdown by putting a burden on healthcare workers;   "Australia counts the cost of NSW’s COVID arrogance";   fact checking on the latest myths around vaccination;   "as Australia enters the 'living with COVID' phase, experts say the population needs to focus on hospitalisations, not case numbers";   the UK is facing a hospital crisis in response to reopening;   long COVID is just one more example of long term effects;   fears for pregnant women;   my home state's Privacy Commissioner has ordered the release of health advice on pandemic containment measures;   COVID-19 is more of a problem in schools where students and staff don't wear masks;   the use of basic hygiene measures has cut back seasonal flu;   according to “terror management theory”, “humans are unable to face the stark reality of death, and often engage in various forms of denial” - including not getting vaccinated . . . ;   Brazil's Senate has recommended charges against their president;   supermarkets are being responsible;   the second dose vaccine gap (which, because of intransigence by Medicare over issue f a new card, applies to me);   the pandemic may have killed more than 100,000 health workers (on that, from a di9fferent pandemic but relevant, see this film, if you can);  
  
  
  (Berkana - healing & compassion)
  
  
  
• on genocides and other human rights issues:
  violent abuses:   France has taken part for the first time in an official commemoration of a massacre of Algerians in Paris six decades ago, but is resisting calls for anything official;   the CCP is pressuring Hong Kong to remove a memorial to the victims of the violent massacre in Tienanmen Square;   Austria is starting to come to terms with its role in the Holocaust;   a whistleblower's evidence confirms that, after violence declined in the 1990s, social media has caused an increase in violence;  
  
  social and political:   online manipulation;   concerns over the removal of bail for alleged murderers in Uganda;   declining housing affordability;   fuel poverty is likely in the EU;   Pakistan has moved further into religious bigotry;   concern about a recent rise - for the first time in decades - in extreme poverty;   "aged care staff urgently need training to report and prevent sexual assault";   after discovering their coup has consequences, Burma's military junta will release  some political prisoners;   a public transport strike in eSwatini for release of arrested opposition figures;   the anti-violent crime phone blockade in Nigeria is hurting locals;   in Bangladesh, "Hindus targeted by violence demand better legal protection";   refugees returning to Syria are "facing grave abuse";   tech companies have used lack of privacy on mobile phones to feed into health authorities' pandemic considerations;   brainwashing in China;   the neolibs tried to re-introduce their "character" test on immigrants, but the Senate rejected it to protect DV victims;      suppression of protests in Cuba;   violent suppression of protests in Nepal;   Australians are choosing van life;   as sexual assaults reach a peak, psychological abuse by some staggeringly bigotted soldiers;   disappointment in the fight against police violence in Nigeria;   a human trafficker has been charged in absentia;   concerns about surveillance in Africa;   the national neolib nitwits have snubbed a recognised expert when formulating a strategy to protect children against child sexual abuse;   division in Europe over refugees/asylum seekers/"migrants";  
  
  genocide:   an Atrocity Alert for Burma, Libya and Cameroon;   "a Genocide Emergency for Sudan, where Arab militias are attacking villages and IDP camps, killing and displacing primarily non-Arab civilians ... despite the ongoing peace process ... Genocide Watch considers Sudan to be at Stage 9: Extermination";   "a Genocide Watch for Abkhazia, a semi-autonomous breakaway region of Georgia. The Georgia-Abhkaz conflict (1992-93) led to a campaign of mass expulsion and massacres of Georgians that reduced their population in the territory from 240,000 to 50,000. Since then, Abkhaz authorities have enacted policies that limit the rights, language, culture, and ethnic identity of the remaining Georgians. Genocide Watch considers Abkhazia to be at Stage 3: Discrimination, Stage 4: Dehumanisation, Stage 5: Organisation, and Stage 6: Polarisation";  
   
• from Human Rights Watch:
  military junta in Myanmar announces release of political prisoners; bad news from Russia; Winter Olympics & China's abysmal human rights record; the cause of Lebanon’s tragic cycle of violence; good news for LGBTIQ+ people in India; soldiers in Turkey beat Afghan asylum seekers back to Iran; the global movement to #BreakTheChains; why sending only men to meet with the Taliban is sending the wrong signal; still no justice for brutal crackdown on #EndSARS protests in Nigeria; Poland’s abortion ban is causing incalculable harm for women and girls; a brutal strategy of repression in Cuba; some good news from Australia for intersex children; Human Rights Watch film screening and discussion about the rise of Anti-Semitism across Europe and beyond; Syria is not safe for returning refugees; Germany’s political parties should centre human rights in coalition negotiations; Rwanda intensifies crackdown on critics; Iraq elections were inaccessible to people with disabilities, despite promises; changes to a Kazakhstan law a step in the right direction to reducing women’s discrimination at work; US records show abuse by border officers - including "physical, sexual, and verbal abuse, due process violations, harsh detention conditions, denial of medical care, and discriminatory treatment"; deadly sectarian violence in Bangladesh; at risk Afghans struggle for asylum; release of political prisoners in Myanmar falls short; health workers in Kenya lack protection during pandemic; increasing calls for release of human rights lawyer in Burundi; German parties forming a government should address unjust gender recognition laws; governments from the world's five regions condemn the Chinese government’s abuses in Xinjiang; forced evictions in Afghanistan; sentenced to death for lighting wildfires in Syria; sham trial over school attack in Cameroon; continued crack down on pro-democracy protesters in Eswatini; small step towards justice for Guantanamo detainee; your chance to demand an end to attacks on schools;
  
  
  
  
  
• on democracy:
  as #45 tries to hide information about the 6th Jan attempted insurrection, one of #45's lickspittles will be held to have committed contempt of Congress;   concerns about whether the EU is doing enough to protect journalists;   a 76 year old former Ivorian president who was acquitted of war crimes by the ICC has set up a new political party;   "thousands of Sudanese protesters demand dissolution of transitional government" - they want another coup and military rule;   the far rights in Greece has changed form;   Lebanon is talking with the IMF - again . . . ;   calls for a neutral election body in the DRC;   "Zimbabwe’s health system is failing because of 'looted' funds, says journalist";   a strike over insecurity in Haiti;   after a decade of instability, Libya is trying to strengthen support for its transition;   a state of emergency in Ecuador over protests against fuel price increases;   pro-separatists in New Caledonia want France to delay the next referendum on independence and focus on the COVID pandemic;   Spain's young are facing desperate situations;  
  
  Australia:   an examination of the growth in state loyalty in Australia (the disparity in progressiveness of politics is major, IMO - it's certainly why I've stayed out of backward states);      courts have supported reform of the ALP's Victorian branch;   an opinion that our Commonwealth is not suited to the times;   more from the enquiry into branch stacking in my home state;   "the federal government must prioritise working people’s financial security";   the national neolibs are resisting scrutiny - and thereby raising concerns about their integrity;   Gambling Harm Awareness Week;   a reminder of the humanness of our politicians;   former Qld police officer Minister Dutton wants publicly funded legal action against whatever they claim is defamatory (Qld police have/have had problems with accessing/improving knowledge and their misogyny and bigotry: I hope none of that is currently informing Dutton - although clearly some does);   "soft cyber threats to Australian election processes";  
  
  
  (democracy)
  
  
  
• on LGBTIQ+ matters:
  "Intersex people urge ban on non-consensual 'sex-normalisation' surgeries";   an excellent Tweet on the right and wrong ways to understand "transness";   some of the opposition in my home state want to allow anti-LGBT so-called "conversion" abuses;
  
  
• on racism:
  "Anti Racism in the Anti Trafficking space";   recommendations for legal changes and possible criminal charges from the destruction of an ancient Indigenous sacred site;   Native American tribes are trying a commercial (buy back) approach to gaining land/land rights;   an Indigenous Senator has called "for national inquiry into missing and murdered First Nations women in maiden Senate speech ";   "Indigenous people cannot be aliens in their own land";   concerns about a proposed undersea cable going through sacred sites;   "New Zealand's first indigenous governor-general";  
  
  
• on sexism and misogyny:
  the WHO has made a plan to prevent sex abuses by its workers;   "harmful gender stereotypes kick in early — and may be keeping girls away from STEM";   Brazil's rich white male leader has insisted that period poverty stay in existence;   NSW will increase the number of refuges for women fleeing DV;  
  
  
• on ableism:
  "COVID-19 made life more accessible for people with disability. Will it stay that way?";  
  
  
• on animal rights: 
  the US Federal Court has recognised some animals as legal persons;   "elephants are rapidly evolving without tusks to escape ivory poachers";   this week's staggering stupidity includes an idiotic idea that urine could possibly be good for jellyfish stings;  
  
  
• on other matters:
  if bike riding was more like this, I'd be more inclined to use it;   tree changes in the USA in response to the pandemic;   the under-acknowledged problem of stillborn babies;   a coronial investigations into a sports player's death is ignoring concussion - despite the player having CTE;