On psychic, spiritual and related matters, including interesting reading:
- Australia's air force chief refuses to admit there have been reports of UFOs / "UAPs" in Australia; \
- interesting thoughts on witchcraft from one of my favourite YouTubers;
- "cross-cultural ethnographic research into the afterlife";
- a thought for the week: "mistaking social status/personal significance for "importance" / "right to do stuff" rather than accepting the equality of human rights".
(Mægan)
From the news this week:
- on the climate crisis and the environment:
a backward minor party that has been ignoring those it claims to represent in order to blackmail all of Australia over its political survival in the climate crisis has finally decided it has bullied enough concessions and will allow us to belatedly accept the goal other did years ago and will be moving well beyond COP26 (although the very, very, VERY few details propose using ineffective ideas) - but some of us are fixing the "effectively tents" we live in anyway; "whaling industry shows us coal’s future"; solar power will reduce, and maybe solve, Lebanon's energy crisis; "soaring energy prices put spotlight on Europe's draughty buildings" (and yet they're better than our tents); a burning ship that is emitting toxic gas has been abandoned; "‘We have left it too late’: COP26 unlikely to limit warming to 1.5C, scientists warn"; the problem of trying to finance actions against the climate crisis; a major car rental company is going electric; the climate crisis will create more climate refugees in India; the pandemic is stopping smaller, more vulnerable nations attend COP26; a group of Torres Strait islanders will sue us for our inaction on the climate crisis (and so they should); "soils can't hold enough carbon to offset Australian emissions"; a former MP has cast massive doubts over his credibility by changing his tune on the climate crisis after leaving politics (IMO, he had to be lying in one case or the other . . . this may also show the problem of those deeply, deeply flawed characters who put wanting to belong to a group ahead of all else); recycled straw as a building material; a 3rd state has imposed an EV tax; the financial needs of dealing with the climate crisis; the world needs to shut down thousands of coal-fired plants; outback stations are being converted to flora and fauna parks; "a long-awaited report released last week in the United States . . . recommends a new legal pathway for humanitarian protection for people facing serious threats to their life because of climate change"; a critique of the ALP's climate policy; more companies need to commit to net zero by 2050 (the one I work for has);
(responsibility) - on international relations including war:
a heart-rending, award-winning photo shows the inhumanity, devastation and pathos of the war in Syria; as Turkey's President tries to distract from his political woes (and then backtracks), that nation moves closer to expelling ten ambassadors who called for the release of an activist; after the nuclear submarine deal with us (and there are serious supply concerns which mean we may not get those submarines when planned), the USA (whose President has caused concern over his overt commitment to defending Taiwan) and France have discussed stronger defence ties; North Korea is being more recognised now as the USA's longest ever war; relations are continuing to decline between Russia and the USA; "China’s reach into Africa’s digital sector worries experts"; Israel is intensifying its illegal occupation of the West Bank; Dubai is investing in infrastructure for India in contested Kashmir . . . ; "US authorities have told British judges that if they agree to extradite Julian Assange on espionage charges, the ... founder could serve any US prison sentence he receives in his native Australia" (but can the USA be trusted to keep him safe? They have an appalling record - including placing a trans woman in a male jail so she could be raped to death. Assange's lawyers clearly don't trust them); mechanisms for achieving peace in "the age of compound risk" (i.e., including the pandemic, climate crisis, etc); France has quite rightly told us we broke the trust, and it is up to us to restore that; confirmation that China has successfully tested a hypersonic missile, and that the USA is concerned; Australia has made a new pact with South East nations at ASEAN; the WTO will finally examine one of China's economic attacks on Australia; Somalia has agreed to a ceasefire in one region; confirmation of the US military's active involvement with Taiwan; ""the long arm of Beijing," including censorship or even self-censorship" in Germany; a call for the USA to act on the Western Sahara crisis; religion/nationalism in sport in Pakistan;
- on the COVID-19 pandemic:
Germany has record numbers of infections, but - post-mass vaccinations - is tracking hospitalisations as being of more relevance; after reopening, modelling shows Qld. can expect 200 deaths in the first 90 days - but COVID doesn't need to run rampant; vaccination is NOT a silver bullet; concerns about the permanent replacement of the State of Emergency in my home state; rapid test kits will be available in Australian supermarkets - but, unlike elsewhere, at a cost; unvaccinated people are 20 times more likely to give others COVID; "40% of Australia’s unvaccinated population will soon be kids under 5. Childcare will be the next COVID frontline"; people are STILL being kept in unacceptable hotel facilities - thanks to our outrageous hate based xenophobic abuse of refugees and asylum seekers; businesses are refusing to accept valid medical exemptions (I wonder if that is because of the lies of the anti-vaxx nutjobs?); "two children in Victoria died after child protection services reduced face-to-face visits and services because of COVID-19 restrictions"; vaccination mandates have shown the ongoing problems with one state's police (not my home state); new pandemic laws in my home state; those who have helped us on temporary visas are seeking permanent visas; approval of a vaccine for children; illegal importation of a drug that is useless at treating COVID; according to US intelligence: "the coronavirus was not developed as a biological weapon and that officials in China did not have foreknowledge of the coronavirus before the initial outbreak. All intelligence agencies believe two hypotheses are possible: “[n]atural exposure to an infected animal” or “[a] laboratory-associated incident”" - can we just get on with dealing with it now? Please?!; more lies by anti-vaxx nut jobs;
(Berkana - healing & compassion) - on genocides and other human rights issues:
violent abuses: troops in Burma are massing as they did before the genocide against the Rohingya;
social and political: "German police stop far-right vigilante border patrols near Polish border"; a current reminder of old incompetence, overreaction, and refusal to admit error, and everlasting public stupidity in the "war on the unexpected" - aka security theatre; an Italian Minister who blocked a ship with refugees entering port is being tried for those actions (it is important to remember that all people being tried are innocent until PROVEN beyond reasonable doubt guilty); Israel has outlawed several Palestinian NGOs for allegedly (no public trial or test) being connected to violent extremism; developers appear to be attempting to using "squatter's rights" against individual property owners; the continuing problem of declining housing affordability (see also these suggestions); a social media platform is "under the microscope over ignoring hate speech" in India - and generally for its awareness that it was enabling abuse; after a paternalistic, inaccurate, and discriminatory article last week by a neoliberal woman, a evidence-based rebuttal has been published; Europe is heading towards a ban on biometric surveillance; a ransomware attack in 2019 killed a baby; the misogynistic violent extremists (mVEs) in power in Afghanistan - where more than half the population are in food crisis - are suppressing journalism - especially by female journalists; "Amnesty International closes Hong Kong offices due to China's national security law"; a critique of the stupidity of the national neolib nitwit's planned creation of LINKED online identities - see also this ineptness; Australia might be inching towards European style protection of privacy; this year's Global Hunger Index has been released; "EU fines Poland €1 million per day over judicial" changes; a regional homelessness crisis; another example of abuse by trolls on social media; yet more repression in Tunisia; the need to believe victims of trauma; mentoring women in the criminal system has been successful; police in my home state have agreed to pay nearly $12 million to a man left quadriplegic after excessive force used by police - and "the former head of Victoria Police's ethical standards department used three aliases to publish dozens of homophobic, racist and offensive posts on social media, Victoria's anti-corruption watchdog has revealed"; "Australia to push for G20 to back stronger social media protections for children"; "reports of historical physical and sexual abuse in Australia’s defence forces have skyrocketed to almost 1000 in the last year as a scheme established to pay reparations to survivors nears its end"; thousands of cancer patients are reduced to surviving in poverty; "Africa's most notorious warlords"; Australian landlords rented a house that was so bad it gave a child rheumatic heart disease; religious bigotry and coercion in India;
genocide: an atrocity alert for Sudan, Yemen, and Ethiopia;
- from Human Rights Watch:
seething verdict for world’s COVID-19 response; defying the military in Sudan; troubling vaccine mandates in Cambodia; pro-democracy activist in Myanmar in worrying condition after arrest; protecting schools from attacks during wartime; Egypt’s president lifted a nationwide state of emergency, but more should be done to protect rights; a new law in Malaysia could further limit justice for police violence; Turkmen activists face torture if deported; more countries want safer schools for children; Europe’s border policies endanger lives; global condemnation of military takeover in Sudan; disturbing evidence of systemic and methodical torture of detainees in Myanmar; former ISIS suspects living in limbo in Iraq; brutal attack on LGBT rights activist in Tunisia; Afghan artists in exile are fighting back with paint and brush; governments should act on climate crisis during UN conference #COP26; call for large protests against coup in Sudan; comment on a very alarming Taliban handbook; new reports detail torture in Myanmar; the International Court of Justice should have more women judges; security forces in Chad enjoy impunity; some good news from the United States;
- on democracy:
Sudan's military have committed a coup . . . - see also here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, - but "the masses" may yet have a say; disinformation is increasing in Africa; Mali's coup leaders have expelled ECOWAS; "Central American countries are falling like dominoes into authoritarianism"; confirmation that republicans were ACTIVELY involved in planning for the attempted insurrection in the USA on 6th Jan., 2021; our neoliberal nation government is planning on introducing "trumpian" style voter ID laws; as the victims of neo-nazi violence in Australia give evidence of their experiences, neo-nazis in the USA are being successfully fought using legal action - by the costs being imposed; "The European Parliament on Friday launched a lawsuit against the European Commission over what it perceives to be a lacklustre attitude in applying a mechanism linking EU funds to rule of law breaches among member states. ... "Words have to be turned into deeds"";
Australia: an opinion that "Mirage man Morrison continues to defeat the common good" - and see this critique of Scott's destruction of good governance; the national neolibs' secrecy now extends to refusing to let us see the basis for their decisions to destroy our future;
(democracy) - on LGBTIQ+ matters:
a call for medical teaching of sex to include intersex; a sports player has come out as gay; more homophobic trolls - this time of people on a TV contestant show; a trans child has been removed from their transphobic and thus emotionally abusive "parents"; the USA has finally issued a gender neutral passport; LGBTIQ-phobia in multicultural communities; - on racism:
nationwide protests after an all-white jury has acquitted a white police constable of murdering an Indigenous woman; a neoliberal Senator has failed to understand that the proportion of Indigenous deaths in custody being several times the proportion of Indigenous people in the general population SHOWS A PROBLEM EXISTS; Indigenous knowledge of history continues to be excluded; the failure to listen to Indigenous people on the pandemic; informative comments by an historian on white supremacy; changed views of a South African who felt his life outside cricket meant he didn't have to prove his commitment to anti-racism; the national neolib nitwits are going to try again - allegedly with community consultation - on another work for the dole programme for Indigenous Australians in remote areas, after their first attempt was likened to slavery; a "new finance resource [is] pushing First Nations cultural protection to the front" ("investors have a role to play in protecting sacred sites"); background to a murder case in the USA where a judge has - in a moment of judicial madness - ordered prosecutors not to refer to people killed as victims!; a new book: "A Field Guide to White Supremacy"; concerns that our government misled us when it said it had got children out of refugee/asylum seeker detention; - on sexism and misogyny:
"Congo's women stepped up to fight Ebola. Now they want equality"; - on ableism:
this month's Auslan bulletin from my home state's Parliament; problems with disability parking spaces; "in an Australian first, a formal complaint about discrimination against someone with a disability naming the Prime Minister, as representative of the Commonwealth of Australia as the respondent, has been accepted for consideration by the Australian Human Rights Commission"; most disability pension applications are still being rejected; - on other matters:
social backwardness in South Korea; a gambling company will be allowed to keep operating in my home state for another couple of years at least but under scrutiny . . . ; some bosses are ripping off workers' super; young philanthropists; a staggering act of alleged attempted murder in Thailand; a call for training of local workers; double standards over companies accessing and using workers' money.
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