Note: CONTENT WARNING - some of this content is about upsetting, disturbing or triggering events & attitudes. Seek competent help - including professional - if you need it. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that linked
articles may contains names and/or images of deceased people. READER CAUTION IS RECOMMENDED! For
anyone distressed by anything in this post, or for any other reason considering
seeking support, resources are available in Australia here, here, and here. In other nations, you will have to do an Internet search using terms such as “mental health support - <your nation>” (which, for instance, may lead to this, this, and this, in the USA, or this, this, and this, in France [biased towards English-language - my apologies]), or perhaps try https://www.befrienders.org/.
The wealthy think they’re different ... and companies seem to not care about their reputation - why? Incompetent staff? Bluffing/bravado/machismo sort of rubbish - or it-couldn’t-happen-to-me-itis?
On that, this opinion that energy prices in the UK are so high because the Thatcher derived system puts companies ahead of people is interesting - and, in my opinion, worth taking on board. This week has also seen allegations in a lawsuit that a social media platform knew its livestreaming feature allowed risks and problems affecting children.
In “América Mexicana” (aka the USA) this week, we have seen devastating bushfires - including in the suburbs of the wealthy; a suggestion to adopt the Westminster Parliamentary system of a shadow cabinet - which I’m surprised the USA doesn’t already have; Tr_ mp cultists already circulating a letter on finding alleged illegal immigrants - referred to as a ‘brown roundup’ and lies about the suspect in one of the recent t_rr_r attacks in the USA (for a truthful account, see here) - and see here for an editorial opinion that lone t_rr_r_st threats calls for wisdom, not divisive rhetoric, as the UK radical right begs Tr_ mp to call off M_ sk (who has been accused of telling lies) and Denmark outmanoeuvres Tr_ mp; there is a too slowly growing realisation - no, a suspicion - about how bad Tr_ mp 2.0 will be ... A former major US newspaper has also seen a cartoonist resign over that paper’s refusal to publish a cartoon critical of their new, rich, pro-Tr_ mp owner, which has been followed by an exodus of staff. Meanwhile Canada’s former PM has commented that Tr_ mp’s comments about invasion were intended as a distraction against the damage increased tariffs will cause - which is a historically and politically naïve comment: threats of violence can NEVER be ignored or downplayed (it’s the international politics equivalent of police when they used to say “oh, it’s only a domestic”). That caution also applies to these naïve comments from the UK.
Also of grave concern is a major social media platform (which, after two months, finally admitted to “a technical error” [really???!!! Accident or incompetence??!!!!] when it removed LGBTQIA+ posts) deciding to get rid of fact checkers AND ALLOW HATE SPEECH ... (which IS illegal in many places in the world) and the slowness of the EU Commission acting against M_ sk’s interference in EU elections, as well as M_ sk inciting hate in Spain,
... and Tr_ mp’s refusal to rule out using military force against Greenland or Panama ... leading to warnings from Europe and a call for the UK to turn to Europe for support. At least Tr_ mp is a convicted but unpunished felon.
Also (partly) on military matters, the Israel-Palestine war this week has seen Israel restricting media coverage of individual soldiers to try to prevent them being held to account for alleged (if they are charged, the vital legal principle of innocent until proven guilty must apply) war crimes, a warning that social order in Gaza will collapse if Israel stops all cooperation with UNRWA, a 13-year peak in suicide rates amongst the IDF since the start of the war in Gaza and “that thousands of soldiers have stopped serving in combat roles due to mental distress”, noting that “the IDF has historically reported lower suicide rates compared to the general population in Israel and other militaries globally. The US military has seen more than four times as many deaths by suicide as in combat in post-9/11 operations [and] that American soldiers are nearly nine times more likely to die by suicide than they are in combat”; the USA is planning for an $8 billion arms sale to Israel, including air-to-air missiles, although that needs Congressional approval; and there has been more n__-n_ z_ antisemitic graffiti on a synagogue - as the Jewish Council of Australia’s Executive Officer points out: “This incident comes at a time of immense violence in Gaza. No matter your opinion on this issue, it is never acceptable to target Jews or to blame Jewish people generally for the actions of the Israeli state. The media and politicians need to take this incident as a wake up call to act more responsibly in distinguishing between Jews in Australia and the government of Israel. The Jewish community is not a monolith and we refuse to be used as political footballs.”
In other international affairs, there have been protests against the radical right in Austria, another Chinese ship has had “anchor problems” that are suspected of damaging an undersea cable - this one off Taiwan; Cameroonian truck drivers are taking action to protect themselves against informal Russian military; a review of what could happen in Africa-China relations this year; and a Japanese criminal “has pleaded guilty to handling nuclear material sourced from Myanmar and seeking to sell it to fund an illicit arms deal” ... which is one of the ultimate nuclear nightmares ...
In human rights news, whilst underplaying or even ignoring what is happening in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the USA has managed to determine that the RSF in Sudan has, in the USA’s non-legal opinion, committed genocide (which assessment I agree with, and note that the massive scale of that conflict and thus likely the genocide); the Prime Minister of Aotearoa/New Zealand will not attend Waitangi Day celebrations; the experience of being tortured by Assad’s executioners in Syria for seven years; the problem of mental health misdiagnoses in Australia as an ACT doctor cancels a teenager*s appointment (supported by her parent) for a mental health plan because she is trans; documents reportedly show the FBI allowed Ethel Rosenberg to be murdered in 1953 - i.e., executed despite KNOWING she was innocent (the call for a pardon for her is one thing, but what about accountability for whoever in the FBI decided to allow this murder of an innocent to happen?); more anti-trans moves in a psychiatrists group and in Qld (the latter threatening trans kids lives); the challenges of labelling violent events in politically fraught times; there is a growing push to de-commercialise Pride related events, which is a concept I support in principle, subject to some limits (if it gets organisations to change for the better, some commercialisation may be good - but it should NEVER drown out or be in charge of community voices, and similarly some unconditional funds could be good), but these sorts of acts are not, in my opinion, promoting or helping that concept; and the racist motivation of the RSF in Sudan.
Also, my nation, Australia, has been found guilty of human rights abuses on Nauru, in a system created as a result of Australian xenophobia and run in a facility built and funded by Australia - but which we disgustingly try to distance ourselves from!!!
And in a reminder of what the world is facing under the now inescapable climate crisis, this year - the hottest on record and the first to breach the 1.5°C target - more than 1,300 Hajj pilgrims died as a result of humidity and heat exceeding the limits of survivability ... There has been a reminder that the fires in California, USA were predicted (and that they could happen in major Australian cities), and a call for scientists to stop being neutral and fully endorse climate action.
Spiritually, we are seeing the results of a backlash based on the worst of self interest, combined with a desire not to be self reliant adults (and thus wrongly thinking one can become rich), in a world where hate speech is wrongfully allowed under a misnomer of free speech (which it is not, as it is hate speech) because people do not wish to change into better versions of themselves. We are also seeing the effects of unchecked corporate influence - largely over the acceptance of convenience, which shows a lack of perspective and a lack of discipline.
This was a long time coming, and it will be a long time fixing, which will require persistent, BPM effort - and calling out obstructionism/resistance to BPM and things like refusal to change to be inclusive, and a commitment to ethical living.
On the resistance to the reign of Tr_ mp 2.Ø:
- everything in my candles with the label (Blogger version of hashtags) #PsychicABetterWorld - Viva La Résistance à Tr_ mp! (may all resistance be non-violent and BPM properly informed of and responsive to legitimate grievances that led to this situation);
- “How to live under Tr_ mp II” https://the.ink/p/how-to-live-under-trump-ii “What will be your posture in a second Tr_ mp era? Resistance? Retreating into the local? Returning to your craft?” A very interesting and thoughtful article
- “Trumpism Is a Global Infection & I'm Tired Of It” https://youtu.be/P8IcDqT7S0Y A good discussion - and I appreciate the global perspective
- “How Trump seeks to destroy the four major pillars of resistance” https://robertreich.substack.com/p/how-trump-is-seeking-to-destroy-the “But we lose only if we stop fighting”
Here are some llinks that might also be of interest or value:
- “New excavation of ‘rings of mystery’ in Victoria reveals rich Aboriginal history” https://theconversation.com/new-excavation-of-rings-of-mystery-in-victoria-reveals-rich-aboriginal-history-246408
- “Weekly Round-Up - Midday with Rev Don” https://www.youtube.com/live/sWpX1Pxajts This includes a very interesting discussion on history and protecting records, triggered by the fires in California
- this week’s “afterlife report” by the Zammits:
https://www.victorzammit.com/January10th2025/
- also from YouTube:
- “Chakras - Midday With Rev Don” https://www.youtube.com/live/1SKPQUOD67U This has an excellent discussion on history, “allowing different systems to touch” rather than chasing a notion of “purity”, and change
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Note that I am cutting back on aspects of my posts - see here.
(Gnwmythr is pronounced new-MYTH-ear)
Remember: we generally need to be more human being rather than human doing, to mind our Mӕgan, and to acknowledge that all misgendering is an act of active transphobia/transmisia that puts trans+ lives at risk & accept that all insistence on the use of “trans” as a descriptor comes with commensurate use of “cis” as a descriptor to prevent “othering” (just as binary gendered [men’s and women’s] sporting teams are either both given the gender descriptor, or neither)..jpg)
