Post No. 2,076 - Interesting reading and from the news

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

• I have come across a YouTube channel with interesting commentary on politics, including:   "How Liberty Dies: The Politics of Star Wars" (did people really get confused as shown by the excerpts???),   "Antifa: Much Ado About Nothing",   "The Price of Liberty" (is eternal vigilance),   and argument for voting (in the USA) for a third party to create long term change;
  
• following a re-watching of the HBO  series "Chernobyl", my thoughts on "Chernobyl and corporate culture"; 
• my thoughts on responsible design of PCs for the Internet, a possible informal demonstration of what the UN could be, and ;
  
• "how to avoid ‘toxic positivity’ and take the less direct route to happiness"; 
• morality as "rules for cooperation"; 
  
• here's a thought to consider.
  Firstly, from “The Cold War’s Killing Fields: Rethinking the Long Peace” by Paul Thomas Chamberlin: “Civilian Advisor, Columbia University’s Nathaniel Peffer, warned the U.S. ambassador to China that “the United States is causing civil war, since without U.S. assistance, the Government could not continue its military operations.” Continued aid to the GMD, he argued, was the equivalent of “[p]umping blood into a corpse.” ”
  Second part: could that phrase be applied to subsidies for fossil fuels?
  

(Mægan)

 

From the news this week:

• on the climate crisis and the environment:
  on blokey-bloke COP26 which failed young people:   "great expectations — and gripes — in Glasgow";   as laggard Australia refuses to pledge to reduce methane emissions or stop burning coal, "UK says Australia must do more to tackle climate change" - and the Pacific wants us to do more for them;   as Scott shows how clueless he is on costs (and experts ask him to shut up on false claims), "Morrison has made Australia a nation of technology freeloaders" - who will be hit by an overseas carbon tax;   lack of promises and no details, but an agreement to end deforestation by 2030;   options are available;   "the climate crisis is a human rights crisis";   some Australians are showing the personal cost of the climate crisis;   fears COP26 will fail the poor;   racist representation;   the need to address climate crisis-induced violence;   the multiple struggles faced by Pacific Island nations;  
  
  SOME NATIONS (Bhutan, Suriname and Panama) ARE CARBON NEGATIVE;   a reminder that "critical infrastructure is vulnerable to climate change—and it’s not just coastal cities at risk";   the threats to security in Africa of the climate crisis;   the definition of refugee needs to be broadened;   plans for a net carbon zero mine in WA;   "heavy consumption in the world's largest economies could be responsible for nearly 2 million premature deaths globally from air pollution every year";   plans to use selective breeding to save kelp forests;   "the existential nature of existential risks means that we cannot wait until one materialises and then draw lessons from our mistakes – by then it will be too late";   Indonesia may phase out coal by 2040;   more on Australian tents - aka "houses";   air pollution in Pakistan;   "experts say that oil giants are shirking responsibility and blaming individual consumers";   reduced protection of my home city's water catchments after logging allowed on steeper slopes;   whales help the environment more than was realised;  
  
  
  (responsibility)
  
  
  
• on international relations including war:
  Saudi Arabia has the irrits with Lebanon over being criticised for the Saudi role in the war in Yemen;   "African nations doubt OECD tax plan";   Scott is still awkward with France over AUKUS - in fact, France has said we lied (and I consider that accusation credible, given Scott's government's poor record on ethics/credibility);   the EU and USA have healed a rift #45 caused over steel and aluminium tariffs;   France says the fishing rights dispute with the UK is unabated;   relatives of victims are "repulsed by the glorification of murderers" by the misogynistic violent extremists (mVEs) in control of Afghanistan;   lack of money has delayed the graduation of unified South Sudanese military forces;   attempts to hold talks to end conflict in CAR have been rejected - and the CAR Presidential Guard has deliberately shot and wounded ten peacekeepers;   Ethiopia - which tried to limit a UN report into its abuses in Tigray - has declared a nationwide State of Emergency and is mobilising people to defend its capital against rebels - who have joined forces with nine anti-government groups;   Europe is building closer ties with Taiwan - despite China's displeasure;   there is an interesting legal argument that Taiwan can be defended;   arms control can be about achieving political goals as well;   the problem of political party militias in Africa;   disagreements between the USA and South Korea over moves to end the Korean War;   a Russian analyst connected to the 'Steele dossier' that led to a separate investigation revealing that Russia interfered with the 2016 US election has been arrested for lying to Steele;   the problem of different thinking styles when debating globalisation;  
  
  
  (BPM group leadership)
  
   
• on the COVID-19 pandemic:
  the RWNJs war on science;   the human face of the more than five million deaths (possibly 10 to 20 million);   concerns about possible mismanagement of COVID funds in PNG;   "two Uber drivers told a Senate hearing ... that Uber deactivated their accounts when passengers filed false reports about them after being asked to follow COVID safety rules";   because of increased violence, hospital security guards are trialling body cameras;   a concerning surge in Europe;   approval of a pill treatment for those who have been infected;   the CCP has almost succeeded in killing a Chinese journalist who helped break the story about COVID-19 when it first occurred;  
  
  
  (Berkana - healing & compassion)
  
  
  
• on genocides and other human rights issues:
  violent abuses:   allegations of inadequate investigations into a far right violent extremist group in Germany;   concerns over what appears to be an appeasement-based response to Serb and Croat extremists in Bosnia;   allegations Thai police are using torture;   Syria is still using torture;   Burundi is increasing its use of torture;  
  
  social and political:   Poland will be the next nation to try a border wall - with Belarus, aimed at stopping refugees;   housing prices in Australia have outstripped inflation by a factor of more than 70 since the 1950s, with rises of 550% since the 1990s - see also this;   "two human rights organisations filed a complaint ... against six members of the Belarusian security service for crimes against humanity";   appalling disrespect of a memorial to the Holocaust by German police;   Israeli harassment of a Palestinian journalist who started her craft as a child;   a controversial social media platform will stop using automatic facial recognition;   23 days into a hunger strike by an elderly French priest, France has agreed to shelter refugees in Calais, rather than making them homeless;   "migration lawyers have expressed concerns about an admission from the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) that it is under-resourced to deal with its backlog of tens of thousands of migration and refugee cases";   "an Australian regulator ... ordered [a] US facial recognition software company ... to stop collecting images from websites and destroy data collected in the country after an investigation found it breached privacy laws";   Afghan refugees in Uzbekistan are in peril;   Somalia remains the most dangerous nation for journalists;   "Federal Government prevents medical community from assisting refugees";   SA's child protection department took three years to make an investigation into the suicide of a child removed from foster care and into residential accommodation available to the coroner;   decreased affordability of houses has been linked to elder abuse;  
  
  genocide:   an atrocity alert for Ethiopia, Burma, and climate change;   Burma is again burning villages;  
  "an updated Genocide Watch alert on Poland, where the ruling ... Party espouses a nationalist, xenophobic, and homophobic political ideology [and] ... a significant increase in anti-Semitism and neo-Nazi ideology ... as seen by the recent vandalism at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. Genocide Watch considers Poland to be at Stage 3: Discrimination, Stage 4: Dehumanisation, Stage 6: Polarisation, and Stage 10: Denial";  
  "... repeated violations of indigenous land rights, neglect of cultural heritage, and government efforts to assimilate and eradicate indigenous culture. 95% of indigenous people in Panama live in extreme poverty, and infant mortality in indigenous communities is 3x higher than the national average. Genocide Watch considers Panama to be at Stage 3: Discrimination and Stage 10: Denial";  
  "Kazakhstan, where the authoritarian government ... tortures and executes dissidents, rigs elections, and violently breaks up protests. Violent pogroms against the Dungan community in February 2020 killed 11 and forcibly displaced 20,000. The willingness of the government and Kazakh vigilantes to use violence against minorities indicates a potential for genocide. Genocide Watch considers Kazakhstan to be at Stage 5: Organisation, Stage 6: Polarisation, and Stage 8: Persecution";  
  "a Genocide Emergency for the Democratic Republic of Congo covering the historically persecuted minorities that are still the victims of targeted violence. The Hema face extermination, Luba and Banyarwanda, particularly the Tutsi, face persecution, and the Batwa face cultural genocide. Overall, Genocide Watch considers the Democratic Republic of Congo to be at Stage 5: Organisation, Stage 6: Polarisation, Stage 8: Persecution, and Stage 9: Extermination";  
   
• from Human Rights Watch:
  more ambitious goals needed for the COP26 forest deal to be effective; holding governments accountable for crimes against journalists; teenager jailed over Facebook messages in Cambodia; still no accountability for deadly crackdown in Eswatini; Tajikistan’s partners should address country’s human rights crisis; lack of Covid-19 vaccine access is costing lives in poor countries; groundbreaking reproductive health reforms driven by Latin America’s women’s movement; phasing out the use of coal is an important step in tackling the climate crisis; a woman in Gaza fights a travel ban imposed by her father; Myanmar’s army sets towns ablaze;  Thai police beat activists; support migrants by enacting alternatives to detention in immigration; time to act against Burma's junta abuses; a day for youth and citizen engagement at COP26; Syrian torture continues; UN report fails to give full picture of devastation in Ethiopia's Tigray; Singapore plans to execute a man with disability; vaccine inequity persists amid European Covid fourth wave;
  
  
  
  
  
• on democracy:
  based predominantly on what has happened in Sudan, an article of mine on "Threats to Democracy" - and on the coup in Sudan:   more deaths,   criticism of the military's business interests,   continuing protests,   an explainer, global disunity and encouragement by Arab states is emboldening the money-hungry generals in charge of the coup,   foreign pressure on the coup leaders,   a Q&A,   the people of Sudan are finding ways to get around the Internet shut down,   ;  
  an avalanche of warnings before the 6^th Jan attempted insurrection in the USA were IGNORED;   another journalist has been murdered in Mexico;   the military in charge of Mali have been urged again to allow elections;   continuing influence by a controversial former president - currently in exile and subject to Magnitsky sanctions - on Gambia;   Nicaragua's government has been using fake social media accounts;   voters in Kenya are not registering for elections;  
  
  Australia:   "coalition plans to introduce voter ID laws at Australian elections have been slammed as “Trumpian”" - see also this explainer, and this opinion that "Morrison’s voter-ID laws are a backdoor assault on our democracy";   criticism of the ALP over characterless leadership and state divisions;   a pseudo-"attempt" at a code of conduct for MPs in SA;   a British backpacker has won a High Court challenge to the so-called "backpacker tax";   need for more protection of lawyers against NSW police intimidation;   a call for Scott to resign;   a criticism of the defamations cases by some MPs against a social media platform;  
  
  
  (democracy)
  
  
  
• on LGBTIQ+ matters:
  LGBT Afghans are fleeing the mVEs who are abusing Afghanistan - and have a kill list;   a half-hearted "ban" on conversion therapy in the UK;   a transphobic case by religious bigots in one US state has been rejected;   in a surprising move, "NSW will establish an inquiry into a series of brutal gay and transgender hate crimes committed in Sydney over 40 years";   a violently transphobic NSW police officer has been jailed;   the toxic, LGBT-phobic, misogynistic "culture" of an elitists school may be impossible to fix;   legal action against a transphobic US state;  
  
  
• on racism:
  another poorly conceived law is resulting in increased Indigenous incarceration;   land rights as part of reparation for US slavery;   suspicions over what appears to be an appallingly violent racist death at the hands of German police;   "a French court ... fined seven people for a torrent of anti-Semitic abuse on social media";   "two members of Chile's indigenous Mapuche community died and three others were injured ... in clashes with security forces";   "Scandinavian nations creating commissions to review crimes against Indigenous people";  
  
  
• on sexism and misogyny:
  sexism in academia;   the USA's continuing path towards a total abortion ban;   sexist bias in representation in international organisations may be leading to sexist bias in decision making on the climate crisis and other global issues;   hundreds have protested against violence against women in Mexico;   the misogynistic violent extremists ruling Afghanistan are banning female aid workers - thereby stopping some aid;   community concern about inadequate / ineffective action by sporting organisations against misogynistic violence;  
  
  
• on ableism:
  "Australia’s disability discrimination commissioner says people applying for the Disability Support Pension must be treated with dignity and respect, amid criticism they're being forced to jump through hoops to access much-needed support";  
  
  
• on other matters:
  after the rescue of an abducted child, a warning not to post comments on social media that may jeopardise the case;   an academic's argument that Wikipedia is a viable first source of information;   a major charity "has been ordered to backpay $25 million to more than 11,000 humanitarian services and ... workers";   after a recent accidental shooting death, at least one film production company (not involved in the incident) has decided to use only fake guns on set;