Apologies for being late, but another busy
week has left me exhausted.
For everyone’s convenience, I’ve shifted
the reminders / explanations about Sunday’s
meditation-clearing
to
this
post. I have a simplified blogiography of posts related to this work
here,
a list of themes I have identified
here,
and my changing the personality of oppressors and other world leaders post is
here.
(Also, see here for some investigation
into evidence of the effectiveness of this type of work, which shows
variability [and mentions causes] and cycles in the energetic/consciousness
response … and also here is interesting.) A range of information on emotions is
here,
and suggestions on how to work with emotions is
here.
This
copy of a speech to one of the Parliament of World Religions also has
excellent, helpful insights on generational transmission of harm, the cost of
war, and ways to heal our hearts.
The purpose of posting these news links is
not only to inform: it is also to stimulate a connection to non
BPM units that
need to be cleared and BPM
units that
need to be strengthened. That only works if you
don’t let yourself be overwhelmed by this, so take it
in small chunks if you need to, but
remember to actively clear and heal!
… including yourself. Also, it is
absolutely VITAL that this psychic / metaphysical /
spiritual work be performed non-violently and as is for the Highest Spiritual Good – which is
part of being BPM – on all levels and in all ways. Always
remember
(see here):
Do you fight to change things, or to
punish? See also
here,
here,
here,
here,
here,
and my comments about “
authentic presence”
in
this post.
Also, in the same way that activists used
to argue that “the personal is political”, the energies we use and manifest in
our daily lives contribute to the larger soup of energies that influence world
events. If you want to, for example, improve the communication of nations,
improve yours. To help stop abuses of power, be always ethical in your conduct.
Want peace? Then work in an informed, understanding, intelligent and
nuanced
way for peace in yourself and your life.
Finally, remember that many others are
doing this type of work – for instance, the
Lucis
Trust's
Triangles network (which has been running for many decades), the
Correllian
Tradition's
'Spiritual
War for Peace' (begun in 2014, and the website was recently updated
to include many more activities),
the Hope, Peace, Love and Prosperity Spell
(also from the Correllian Tradition, in around 2007 or 2008), the
Healing Minute started by the
late, great
Harry
Edwards (held at 10Am and 10PM local time each day, and one can pay to
be officially registered. This also has been running for decades);
the
“Network
of Light” meditations;
and
also see
here and
here –
even commercial organisations are getting involved
(for instance, see here).
No doubt there are many others, so,
if you don't like what I am suggesting here, but want to be
of service, there are many other opportunities for you.
(Please
note that I now specifically have a role for (absent) healers on Saturdays, as
explained in the Psychic Weather Report posts. Anyone who wishes to be
protector has a role every day :) , including – perhaps particularly - the
first permanent issue I list below. At all times, on all levels and in ways, BOTH must ALWAYS be
BPM in the way they perform such roles.)
Now, the themes – short, medium and long term - that come
to mind for my work this week, after I review all this news, are (and no
apologies if this repeats the themes of any previous weeks – in fact, given the
size of this task, that is to be expected):
(a) based on my interpretation of information here and here with Saturn in Sagittarius contributing to
finding an authentic balance (until 20th December, 2017), Uranus in
Aries contributing to fresh and possibly radical starts (until some
date in the Year 2018), and Pluto in Capricorn contributing to a transformation
of power and business (and careers) (until some date in the Year 2024), conditions
are ripe for a change for the better in world politics;
(b) there is an enormous need to
clear nonBPM energy – the thought forms, unattached energy and scars of the
collective unconscious created by millennia of violence. This need includes
rescuing those who have been trapped by that history, and healing the warped
views, seemingly “inherent” biases,
and other damage done by the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual violence
committed on scales large and small in that timeframe;
(c) viewing the overall emotional state of the world from an elemental point of view, this week we
need more Æther, combined with the strength and persistence of Earth and erosive
power of Water;
(d) the world continues to be
divided into those who believe in co-existence, and those who do not;
The real
dividing line is not between Christianity and Islam, Sunni and Shia, East and
West. It is between people who believe in coexistence, and those who don’t.
(e) there are consequences from
current actions that need to be dealt with, and, since the actions were not
ideal, the dealing with will most likely be, to use a euphemism, “messy”.
Clearing nonBPM units will reduce that;
(f) the importance and reality
of the lives and souls of those who are the disempowered – the “victims” of
war, poverty, and the like – MUST be acknowledged and TREASURED by the
powerful, lest the world become a cheapened, sullied version of what it can and
should be;
(g) whilst it is easy to be
welcoming of difference in easy times, the real test of one’s true commitment
to eliminating discrimination, xenophobia and the fear underlying them, is when
things are difficult. If you change under challenge, you are, at best, a hypocrite;
(h) there comes a time when
standing firm against bullies is the lesser of multiple evils – and appeasement
is always a terrible risk;
(i) those in power are, if there
is a hint of democracy in real existence, not always as powerful as we would
assume: that opens the door for real change;
(j) kindness, gentleness, consideration,
compassion and generosity are the sorts of virtues that rarely go astray;
(k) the focus on Syria has made it a crossroads
for the world’s future; Yemen and the South China Sea are also factors on this;
(l) sadly, Israel has become
contemptible, and must be treated as a pariah state – but, if it is destroyed,
Palestinians and the world will be the greatest loser;
Specific energy
related suggestions are also provided below, in the Section discussing R2P
recommendations for Iraq : - From an energetic point of view, based on
the above and this week’s news, Iraq needs to replace its leaders with people who
are genuine human beings. Those who helped put the current crop there are
morally obliged to help. The main challenge will be finding such people, but
ensuring such a change is peaceful is also imperative – otherwise the whole
cycle will just rinse and repeat …
I also take
this opportunity to repeat that it is absolutely
VITAL that this psychic / metaphysical / spiritual work be performed non-violently and as is for the Highest Spiritual Good – which is
part of being BPM – on all levels and in all ways. Always remember
(see here): Do you fight to change things, or to punish?
See also here, here, here, here, here, and my comments about “authentic presence” in this post.
News and other
matters from this week include the following
(opportunities/good news are shown in green;
comments are shown in purple; WARNING: some of these
links may contain triggers around issues such as violence, sexual assault,
discrimination, etc).
- Permanent issue: may all actual and
potential BPM [1]
Leaders be kept BPM safe, including keeping them undetectable to the nonBPM and
keeping all their Significant Others inviolable against being used for indirect psychic
attack, and may they have all the BPM opportunities and assistance (so-called “good luck”) for them to be
BPM effective at influencing the world’s direction, development and unfoldment,
all as is for the Highest Spiritual Good;
- Permanent issue: may all humans recognise,
irrespective of the appearance of difference, the essential shared humanness of
other people, the inherent resilience, the dynamic power, the strength of BPM
collaboration, and the opportunities of having a diverse, inclusive and
welcoming population, and may all people choose fairness, when such decisions
are before them;
- Permanent issue: may all humans choose to
live modestly – to forgo outdoing others, or trying to have more than they need
- for the sake of an easier, more manageable life, if they cannot do it for the
sake of the planet;
- With regard to democracy, freedom and governance (e.g., here and here):
the
surprising effectiveness of the Australian political party known – I kid you
not – as the Sex
Party; why women do not
go into politics; the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General has welcomed the 14th February election by the National
Assembly of Haiti of a Provisional President of the Republic, which stems from
the agreement signed on 6th February between Haitian stakeholders to
preserve institutional continuity and further the electoral process.
This provisional leadership faces a major
task; the
UN Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) has reported that the second round of presidential
elections and the re-run of legislative elections took place yesterday in a
calm atmosphere and without any significant incident;, but exiled former
ruler Francois Bozize looms
heavily; the poor state of
democracy in Fiji; the complex situation facing US President
Obama with regard to the US
Supreme Court vacancy; Papua New
Guinea is experiencing a cash
flow crisis and thus trouble paying public servants, and other links from
the Pacific
region; discussion around lowering
the voting age in Australia; an
assessment of US Presidential candidate Bernie
Sanders on international policy matters – with a reasonable outcome; some US presidential candidates have
endorsed torture; some of the warning
signs of political problems in democratic governments; ways of assessing
employment; US presidential candidate Crazy Don (Trump) has been criticised
as un-Christian by Pope Francis;
according to anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International , most
NATO countries have come to grips with defence
corruption on the domestic front (although several allies score poor
marks), but only a tiny minority sufficiently guard against corruption in
military operations for contracted and especially subcontracted services; the degeneration of health care deliver in
Australia: Parts One and Two, and also here; a review of Australia’s abject
failure to prepare Papua New Guinea for independence; the Mayor of the first US city to elect a Muslim-majority
Council sees the city as a microcosm of “the American ideal”, rather than a
microcosm of American fear;
- With regard to violent extremism (aka, terrorism - e.g., Da’esh) (and, incidentally, I consider ALL people advocating hate or discrimination in
response to violent extremism to actively be doing the work of violent extremists. This PARTICULARLY includes those cretins [including in
the media, and Amnesty International] who use the acronym ISIS (see also here), which is actually the Greek name of the Egyptian Goddess Aset – and others (see also here) - and actively perpetuates the
patriarchal and sacrilegious evil that terrorists are trying to accomplish in
this world – which will be countered, in
part, by the sort of approach advocated by “Cure
Violence”,
and, in part, by addressing real and perceived disempowerment and acknowledging
the variety in what provides genuine, BPM fulfilment as a counter to fanaticism as a source of meaning. I also am
inclined, personally, to include here the last two millennia of neochristian
and colonialist social engineering, which has led to suppression of women,
child abuse, the Crusades, the Inquisition, etc, as violent extremism, but that
would take too much explaining.):
terrorist attacks have occurred in Pakistan,
Pakistan (again), Pakistan (again), Turkey,
Yemen,
and prevention has or may have occurred in Cameroon (with Nigerian cooperation) and Nigeria (town liberated by Cameroonian troops); terrorist groups are moving south from Libya
into the Sahel
region of Africa; an article on
terrorism, and abusive responses by
security forces, spreading
south in Mali; an assessment that
attacks on minorities and foreigners continue to be likely
in Bangladesh;
following Cameroon’s acceptance of the
use of witchcraft to fight terrorism (which is significant culturally, given the enormous
hatred shown towards witches there – there was apparently even a welcoming
message from a Nigerian neochristian), some US witches have finally
woken up and joined the struggle;
an assessment
of the 2016 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. intelligence community (which I still have not read); failures
in Yemen have shown that establishing governance and security is
crucial to countering terrorism;
a reasonable – albeit simplistic - overview of the fight against
terrorism; a Muslim historian’s assessment
of where Da’esh does / doesn’t fit modern Islam, with a call to avoid dragging
ourselves down to their level by declaring them un-Islamic, and reaffirming its
commitment to its culture of pluralism instead (lots of insight in this article, but I am
dubious about not declaring them un-Islamic – notwithstanding the problems
created by Saudi Arabia’s Wahhabism: I’ll see how others respond to this
article but, at this stage, continue in my opinion that Da’esh are not Islamic); a survey shows there is a reasonable consensus
amongst Muslims (in the UK, at least)
as to what is Islamic and what is not; concerns over the
ethics of the United Kingdom’s anti-radicalisation programme; a criticism
of a proposed school-based deradicalisation programme, which claims evidence elsewhere shows they do not
work; the need for compassion
when countering extremism – of all forms;
US airstrikes have allegedly destroyed
another half billion of terrorist money, and - allegedly – 20 kg of gold;
more problems
as a result of the cretins who steal the name of Goddess Isis to use an –
incorrect – acronym for a terrorist group;
while visiting Canada’s Centre for
Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence, the UN Secretary-General said that, when
we put human rights at the centre of our response to violent extremism, we can
succeed in opening a safer and more stable future for all; a Sydney woman’s
story about how she
stopped her then partner going to fight for a
terrorist organisation; the
World Food Programme (WFP) and its partners
have over the past week reached thousands of people recently displaced by the
Boko Haram violence in Chad and Cameroon with life-saving food and nutrition
support;
- With regard to refugees: a grandmothers’
group is working for child refugees rights – and getting aggressive responses
from WOMEN … one of them upset because she has been accused of being a refugee; the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
says that it has received reports that more than 3,000 people have been
displaced in Burma’s northern Shan State in the past week; a review of responses and proposed responses to Europe’s refugee crisis, with some signs of potential hope; other people are referring to Australia’s
refugee detention centres as gulags – and worse; Australian doctors may soon boycott
work inside immigration detention centres in the hope it will break down the
Australian government's policy of holding asylum seekers in conditions doctors
describe as torturous (About time. There are times when the medical
professions’ professed dedication to focusing on patient needs to the exclusion
of everything else is actually HARMFUL
to the patient in the long term – and the work done in refugee centres has
fallen into that category for a LOOOONG time … );
- With regard to human rights and discrimination (including
associated violence / crime):
use of
indigenous language
to show respect; a call for human rights not
to be sideline at the ASEAN
conference; a call for Thai
authorities to urgently investigate the violent attacks and forced evictions
against indigenous Chao Lay, known as sea gypsies, in Phuket province and bring
those responsible to justice;
predictable responses
of male misogynists; young women are
taking greater financial
independence / self-reliance, noting that a
partner is not an investment plan;
FGM is widespread in Indonesia under the fallacy
of religious obligation; Moroccan
police, prosecutors, judges, and other authorities often fail
to prevent domestic abuse, punish the abusers, or assist survivors - in part,
that is because Moroccan laws don’t provide officials with guidance on
responding effectively; sexist
discrimination by doctors when women are seeking an IUD; possessive,
patriarchal and sexist comments by morons criticising an ex-footballer for starting a relationship with another
ex-footballer’s EX-PARTNER!; the appalling murders
of women in Pakistan under the pretext of (misnamed!) “honour” killings; an excellent critique
of the victim-blaming framework of psychology with reference to domestic
violence, and the need to change this to
a more feminist model. See also this
analysis – as someone who once had an alcoholic partner (no longer!), I
found the comments on the role alcohol plays – including Senator Nova
Peris’ remarks – particularly interesting;
the need for protection
of gender diverse people – also exemplified
by a moronic state in the USA; Indonesia
is now going down the same kill-LGBT-children path as Russia (you’re better than this, President Widodo!)
- see also here; an
article pointing out that the work being done in Australia for LGBT kids is based on evidence (listening, Messrs Putin and Widodo?); how an equal marriage debate would like if a
minority
neochristian group gets their way here in Australia; appalling comments by a would-be
politician in the Philippines; an
article on the gross police violence at the first LGBT-rights march in Sydney
in 1978 - which still continues – and a call
for an apology; intelligence used to be thought to be a
counter to bigotry: it now seems that smarter people are just better at hiding their bigotry; signs of growing
tolerance in a rural
town;
there are fresh allegations
that the rebel New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party
of the Philippines, is still recruiting children for use as fighters; a former member of a Philippine police task
force linked to serious human rights violations has been deported
by the United States, opening the door for the Philippines to address
a legacy of impunity for rights abusers;
a perspective
on disfigurement;
the neochristian catholic church is
provoking more outrage
over its appalling mishandling of child abuse by priests;
- With regard to crime, judicial matters and policing:
Pope Francis has urged Mexico's
leaders to provide "true justice" to citizens hit by drug violence
in the nation, and has also acknowledged that the neochristian
catholic church needs to do more than just spout rhetoric; criticism
of the ineffectiveness of sniffer dogs and the damage of invasive searches done
after false positives; Australian
police have confiscated drugs
worth over a billion dollars, and arrested several people – and see here
for another, smaller drug bust; around
1,000 convictions are made each year in Germany from the 160,000 complaints of
sexual assault because of incompetently
framed laws;
- With regard to press aka the media, and freedom of
expression (keeping in mind that claims of presenting “both sides”
of a debate can be WRONG if the other side is RUBBISH –as is the case
on LGBTIQ issues): the
problem of male
ubiquity (my phrase) in the
press; a very valid criticism of some
women in the media who behaved stupidly; the UN has criticised proposed new
legislation in Western Australia that would severely limit the ability for
people to stage protests; a call
for advocates for free speech to be less one-sided and allow others to
criticise them, and to be more adult in their
choice of what to say; a
story about a young
country reporters persistence, and how that led to solving a “cold” (murder)
case; an article on recent challenges
to quality journalism which including an interesting fact: a Russian oligarch
chose to keep a major, independent newspaper in the West going – as I point out
each week, not all oligarchs are bad, and this is a timely reminder that not
all Russians are bad;
- With regard to overcrowding and “modern” lifestyle issues (is YOUR smart phone free of conflict minerals? I was recently pleasantly to find IT
manufacturers now making at least some effort in this regard. Are you being duped by modern mantras?): facebook is running into more
problems over what it is and isn’t removing; French regulators have ordered facebook to curtail
its online data collection practices;
Apple is being investigated
by the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission – and Apple has now apologised
and issued a fix for the problem. Strange timing … ; an overview
of the current standoff between the FBI and Apple and sundry issues /
implications – see also here,
which has some good explanation of the significance of what the FBI is asking
for;
some high income earners see
themselves as battlers; the problem
of bullying
by insurance companies; much needed
proposals to end negative gearing are being discussed
at present: one aspect not being discussed is that
perhaps landlords would have the money to do maintenance if they weren’t
operating at a loss;
Kiribati is considering using expertise from the United Arab Emirates to
raise
its islands; a legal assessment of the
possibility that Twitter may be providing assistance to terrorist, and
plausible defences – see here,
here,
and here; exposure of children to lead has been linked
to later violence; the problem of overhelping
children with homework; rabid
anti-environmental attitudes have destroyed a sound garden on a road verge
area; and from the category of “science bumps into common sense”, a report
that most obese Australians eat for emotional reasons; psychologists’
views on conspiracy nuts (my wording), and a mathematical
test of the potential validity of their “theories”; a horse carriage operator has shown himself
to be a violent,
racist thug - who should be charged;
a rebuttal of some moronic
attacks on the mother of a child whose photo was stolen and edited
horribly; the problems experienced by children
of alcoholics
(as an ex-partner of an alcoholic, I can attest to some of these problems); the problem of homelessness
in the Northern Territory; THIS
is what the human foot should look like – not the current crushed-little-toe fetish
– see also here,
here (I might buy some of these …); a recent furore (apparently – I don’t read the fashion
pages, and have only been quoted there once * ) over ethical shops
has been unpicked
back to the source study, and found that shoppers who hadn’t checked ethical
issues first tended to lash out at those pointed this out, as they felt bad:
“in essence, the consumer is acting in self-defence so as not to view
themselves as inferior to ethical consumer”. Having been on the receiving end of that in
relation to smart
phones, I can relate to that finding;
* An article in a
Sunday paper posed the question: do women dress for the approval of men, or
other women? My reply, which was used to wind up the follow up report, was that
I was a woman who dressed for other women, but that was because I was a
lesbian.
- With regard to education: dozens of Victorian schools have abandoned
religious instruction after the state government moved the controversial
program out of regular class time (GOOD! It wasn’t religious instruction, it was neochristian indoctrination);
- With regard to the conflict in Afghanistan (noting that Afghanistan was once a
peaceful and modern society, even allowing women in miniskirts, before the
Russian invasion – see here): the number of civilian
casualties in Afghanistan in 2015 (11,000) is the highest recorded, according
to the latest Annual Report on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict
produced by the UN Assistance Mission (UNAMA)
and the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), with increased
ground fighting in and around populated areas, along with suicide and other
attacks in major cities, cited as the main causes – see also here,
for an insightful critique of this report, including what it left out; the problem of recruiting child
soldiers is continuing; a call
for the Afghan government to promptly and thoroughly investigate reports
that Afghan Special Forces have raided a medical clinic in Wardak province and
executed two patients and an 11-year-old caregiver –noting that deliberate
attacks on medical facilities and the summary killing of civilians and captured
or incapacitated fighters are war crimes, and those responsible for any such
war crime should be appropriately prosecuted;
- With regard to Africa, the Africa
Center for Strategic Studies (and other sources) also has:
according
to the UN, a team from the Republic of Congo has arrived in the Central African
Republic to investigate recent allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse
against their troops, who are currently confined to barracks in Berberati. The
UN Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) is
working to ensure victims have access to appropriate and adequate help;
the
ongoing devastating physical and psychological health conditions, poverty, and
social exclusion of hundreds of women and girls raped during Kenya’s 2007-2008
post-election violence struggle, who the Kenyan government has failed
to provide basic assistance and redress for; solar
powered water wells are easing tensions in
Kenya’s rift valley; Kenya is
planning a prison
for terrorists only;
Rwanda is planning on evicting
(“relocating”) Burundian
refugees, as Burundi feels vindicated
by the USA’s concerns over Rwandan destabilisation of its neighbour; France is consulting UN Security Council
members on the text of a new resolution that would strengthen
international involvement in Burundi and could include "a policing
element"; the East African Standby
Force could join
AU peacekeepers if Burundi accepts intervention; the UN wants to send independent forensics
experts to Burundi to help authorities investigate allegations of mass
graves; increased grenade
attacks in Burundi; motorbikes have
been banned in
parts of Burundi to help end the violence;
risks of ethnic
divisions in Burundi’s opposition;
Uganda’s current President wants to create
an East
African Federation; an anonymous
facebook poster has become the most vocal critic
of the Ugandan government; the leading challenger to the incumbent Ugandan President has said he had no confidence that elections this week would be free or fair, and has
accused the police of increasing violence ahead of the vote; after warnings that delays were unacceptable,
polls opened late,
the main opposition candidate has been arrested – again
and social media networks were blocked; why second
place matters; the tragedy of Darfuri refugees in Uganda;
the causes of ethnic tensions in Ethiopia;
the Mozambican police have warned
the former rebel movement Renamo that it will use all means in its power to
prevent them from blocking the nation’s roads;
growing political tensions
in South Africa;
growing tensions and risks of violence
in the Democratic Republic of Congo over oft-delayed
elections; a major strike
has been held;
the Liberian
government has said it was seeking a prominent opposition leader for
questioning after he claimed a state-sponsored "death squad" was
targeting him;
ahead of presidential elections in
Niger, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that the humanitarian
situation in the country remains of concern;
a new opposition
party in Zimbabwe which may have significant credibility and traction;
the complexities
underlying the Comoros Islands’ rotating presidency system;
the political impasse in Guinea-Bissau
could delay implementation of critical reforms and erode progress in the West African
country’s development;
hunger season in Malawi;
China’s involvement in Africa may be continuing;
- With regard to China and East and South East Asia: a call to end
the Kim family’s generations of abuses in North Korea; China, which is continuing to act like the
old European colonial powers, has unveiled a new
missile; the UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights today expressed his deep concern over the recent arrest of
lawyers and the harassment and intimidation of Government critics and NGO
workers in China. He said that we are seeing a very worrying pattern in China
that has serious implications for civil society and the important work they do
across the nation; the USA has deployed
advanced fighter jets to South
Korea following North Korea’s missile test (aka “satellite launch”);
a US-focused
review of the possibility that ASEAN could become a counter to China’s
colonialist expansion;
- With regard to the Indian sub-continent, The Hindu and other sources
have:
grave
concerns over imperialist behaviour of India’s government; violence
in a court precinct as a student union president, charged with being an
“anti-nationalist” is brought to court – see also here,
here,
here
, and here,
on growing international protests (this sort of thuggish attempt to control others’
nonviolent priorities and thinking is always unacceptable – whether it is in an
Indian court, Australia’s refugee gulags, the US political arena, or the streets of
1930s Germany); a state
government in India is looking to go down the US path of abusing
workers and their rights, using police;
a call for Indian authorities to stop
charging peaceful activists with sedition for alleged anti-national speech; troops have been airlifted to the northern
state of Haryana
as violent protests continue; a circulated video showing people raising
anti-India slogans is claimed to be false; the Supreme Court has said that it is not
a place for political speeches;
moves
towards segregating wastes with a proposal for selling
compost may reduce waste problems in Indian
cities; more than 100,000 health workers have spread out across Pakistan,
stepping up a drive to eliminate the polio virus this year from one of its last
bastions, despite
continuing militant threats to vaccination teams;
law enforcement agencies in northern
India have rescued
at least 160 Nepalis trafficked across the border since two powerful
earthquakes struck last year;
assessment of democratic opportunities
around new constitutions for Sri Lanka and Nepal;
improvements in Sri
Lanka, but a long way to go – see also here; Tamil
areas in Sri Lanka have the highest poverty rates in that nation;
- With regard to the conflict in Iraq (noting that Iraq was once a peaceful and
prosperous society, before the USA / CIA backed revolution – see here): a summary
of the military situation in Iraq; the
United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) has condemned the
killing of one of its staff members, who was abducted in April 2015 but whose
death was verified only this week. The Mission calls on the Iraqi authorities
to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation and bring the perpetrators
to justice (given
the scale of such incidences in Iraq, this may be difficult to achieve); fears over radioactive
material stolen in Iraq from an industrial X-ray facility. This has
happened previously in the USA, United Kingdom and other nations (so what is the
solution?); the Iraqi
government has offered to pay Kurdish salaries in northern Ira / “Iraqi
Kurdistan” if it can get oil revenues, but there are doubts
about their capacity to do so; despair
over corruption in Iraq; an Iraqi court
has sentenced
40 men to death over the massacre of hundreds of military recruits in Tikrit in
2014 (which
will allow their enmity and violence to continue unchecked into their next
lives – or possibly increase it);
- With regard to the Libyan civil war: Libya's UN-backed presidential council has
announced the formation
of a revised national unity government, with the internationally recognised
parliament to vote on the line-up – which vote has now been delayed; the USA has attacked
and killed dozens of terrorists (it claims) in western Libya – whose neighbours have been taking precautions against such an event (what now? Will
that trigger the warned off escalation?); an attempt to reintegrate
Libya’s militia fighters by “moving the young men away from the guns rather
than moving the guns away from the young men”;
- With regard to the Russia (see also Syria): an assessment
of Mr Putin (which I must add to my
changing the personality of oppressors post); Tsar Putin is testing the boundaries / resolve
of NATO nations - again; a review
of Russia’s recent military actions;
- With regard to Sudan and South Sudan: a transitional government
of national unity will be formed this week, although one party is afraid to
travel for security reasons; the UN
Secretary-General has condemned the
violence in the UNMISS Protection of Civilians site in Malakal, in South Sudan,
which has led to the deaths of at least seven internally displaced persons and
injuries to approximately 40 others - so far. A couple of days later, the UN
Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) reported
that the situation was calm, but it remains concerned by the occurrence of such
clashes. The clashes between Shilluk and Dinka youths were further compounded
by shooting coming from outside - reportedly from armed men wearing SPLA
uniforms;
- with regard to the conflict in Syria:
Turkey has attacked
Kurds in Syria, may increase support for rebels
who also fight Kurds, and is continuing to make noises about a ground war
“with Saudi Arabia” against terrorists. A few days later, Turkish Prime
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that his nation would not allow the Syrian town
of Azaz to “fall to Kurdish fighters” - as Ankara faced renewed
international calls to end its bombardment of Kurdish-held territory (sounds like Grand Sultan Erdogan is going
to do the same as Tsar Putin, and use this as an excuse to not only attack
terrorists, but also wipe out people they don’t like – just like
the old Russian Tsars); the UN has said that 50 people were killed
in attacks on at least three medical facilities including
a children's hospital in northern Syria, with one medical charity saying it
appeared they had been deliberately attacked by Russian or government
jets; the UN Special Envoy for Syria
has met with the Syrian Foreign Minister to discuss the need for unhindered
humanitarian access to all besieged areas, regardless of which party is
besieging them (from UN Daily Briefing);
US President Obama has phoned
Russian President Putin to “urge”
Russia to stop bombing rebels; in an act of sophistry, the term “cessation
of hostilities”, which allegedly does not require verification and monitoring,
is being bandied about instead of “ceasefire” – but neither
mean anything without verification and monitoring; a critique
of Iran’s strategy in Syria; criticism of the Russian views on Aleppo
as “false and distorting”, and suggestions for the USA; a call for the USA to become actively engaged in Syria; the expected Russian quagmire in Syria has not
eventuated
(yet?) - but see here,
for a more sceptical assessment; Russia
has claimed
it has not committed war crimes, and has warned
Assad over his vow to retake all of Syria that he must cooperate with their
peace initiatives; Syrian Kurds
continue to make gains
in the north, thanks to both the USA (initially) and more recently Russia – and
to Turkey’s growing animosity; a Saudi call for Iran
to get out of Syria; UN and Syrian Arab
Red Crescent operations are underway to deliver life-saving humanitarian
assistance to over 100,000 people (UN
daily briefing), but more help is needed (UN
daily briefing); an assessment of what may happen in Syria
over the next year militarily
and diplomatically; Western powers
have rejected
a Russian bid at the United Nations to halt
Turkey's military actions in Syria, as France warned of a "dangerous
escalation" in the nearly five-year conflict; Saudi Arabia has said the rebels in Syria
should be armed with anti-aircraft
missiles, which could change the scene there as they did in Afghanistan in
the 1980s
(this worked in the rugged terrain of Afghanistan, where the mujahedeen could
hide from retaliation: how would it be in the rugged but much flatter terrain
of Syria? Would the ruins of bombed out cities be adequate protection against
the inevitable retaliation, or would Assad/Putin’s retaliation be just to adopt
carpet
bombing? Also, given the numbers of planes involved, there would have to be
a massive number of missiles – and what would happen to the US-led campaign?
The logistics and communications of this in the wreck that is Syria would be
immense! I’m actually surprised that it has been so long for someone to suggest
this: it might have made a difference before Russia became involved, but now …
); civilians in the besieged
eastern province of Deir Ezzor face a humanitarian
disaster "much worse than the world imagines" as they grapple
with a double siege from terrorists on one side, and the Syrian army and
bombing from Russian and US-led coalition jets on the other; Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister doesn’t think
World War Three will start in Syria … however, the dangers of a war between
Turkey and Russia are rising;
- with regard to Turkey: anti-mining protests
in southern Turkey have turned violent;
a
statement of the obvious: Turkey’s Western Allies will NOT
join its wars on the Kurds;
- with regard to the conflicts in Ukraine, particularly in
the east: an assessment
of the situations in Ukraine, and what could happen this year; humanitarian organizations in Ukraine together with the
Government have appealed
for $298 million to help 2.5 million of the most vulnerable people in the
country in 2016; an early
election is looking increasingly likely;
- With regard to West Asia / the Middle East,
the Middle
East Eye and other sources have:
the violence is continuing in Israel
and Palestine – see, for instance, here,
here (alleged torture and death of a Hamas
detainee); British councils, the
NHS and publicly funded universities face "severe penalties" if they
institute boycotts of "unethical" companies or Israeli goods under
controversial new rules to be outlined by the government and criticised as an attack
on local democracy; apartheid
South Africa fell apart only when the economic cost of maintaining apartheid
became too great a cost to bear: BDS is argued to be the equivalent
for Israel; the jailing of a former
Israeli Prime Minister is claimed to be just the “tip of the iceberg” with regard to corruption; a smartphone app
is being used by Palestinians to reduce
the disruption caused by Israeli security
checks; a critique
of Israeli thinking and actions regarding threats; the serious risks
for businesses active in Israeli occupied Palestinian land; the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the
occupied Palestinian territory has called
on Israel to halt demolitions in the occupied West Bank immediately and to
respect international law; the UN
Secretary-General has condemned the statement by Hassan Nasrallah threatening
to target Israeli civilians with Hezbollah’s rocket arsenal, and reminded all
parties to refrain from any rhetoric or act which could exacerbate tensions and
present a risk to stability across the Blue Line; the problem of Palestinian disunity;
Saudi Arabia has launched large,
month-long, multi-national military exercises; Saudi Arabia has halted
a $3 billion programme for military supplies to Lebanon, allegedly in protest
against Hezbollah, the militant group fighting in support of Syria's President
al-Assad, but it is facing a budget deficit as a result of its war in Yemen;
Bahraini authorities have arrested
four foreigners, including journalists, during protests marking the fifth
anniversary of a Shia-led uprising in the kingdom, as the authorities continue
to compound,
rather than address, people's grievances;
the risk
dual citizens face in Iran; supporters
of Rouhani are feeling let down over the failure
to deliver on reform;
the former prime minister of Qatar
will not face trial for the alleged torture of a British citizen after the
London High Court on Monday awarded him immunity
from prosecution;
escalating
tensions between doctors and the government in Egypt over an attack by
police on two doctors; a call for
Egyptian authorities to revoke
an order that would shut down the most prominent institution in Egypt providing
regular medical services and counselling to victims of police torture and other
violence; prosecutions for blasphemy
have increased since Mubarek was deposed, and have reached a new peak under
al-Sisi; an Egyptian court that must have been presided over by lunatics has sentenced
a four year old child to life imprisonment for murder; hundreds of Egyptians have protested
the killing of a taxi driver by police (killing? or murder?);
- With regard to the war in Yemen: the World Food Programme (WFP) has successfully
delivered food for 18,000 people inside an area undergoing heavy fighting in
the central Yemeni city of Taiz where residents are in desperate need of
external food assistance; cluster
munitions continue to be a problem; the UN
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian
Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator has briefed
the Security Council, and said that the conflict in Yemen continues to kill and
maim civilians, causing immeasurable suffering, while destroying livelihoods,
homes, communities and essential civilian infrastructure. Since March 2015,
more than 35,000 casualties, including over 6,000 deaths, have been reported by
health facilities across the country;
the UN Special Advisers to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of
Genocide and on the Responsibility to Protect have expressed concern
at the heavy toll on civilians of the conflict in Yemen; Saudi Arabia has blocked
UN aid from reaching Yemen over UN communications equipment; an
article on the Yemenis
fighting Houthi aggression; the
humanitarian community in Yemen has launched
an appeal for $1.8 billion to provide critical and life-saving assistance to
13.6 million people who have been affected by the escalation in conflict across
the country;
- With regard to natural and other catastrophes: another article on the drought
in Somalia; the oil price fall has led
to a health
crisis in Angola; El Niño has peaked,
but will continue to cause havoc for some time;
- With regard to peace and/or spirituality generally:
I wish to check out this healing
modality at some stage: here
and here. It has
had some promising interim results for me;
a brilliant article on the (lack of) water in Australia;
Russian
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said strains between Russia and the West
have pushed the world "into a new cold war" – in other
words, Russia is acting like a New Soviet Empire; a “backgrounder”
on NATO,
which includes a prediction from 1994 that expansion eastwards could create a
“neo-imperialistic Russia” (their terms, not mine); an annual
security conference has ended with doubt over peace in Syria, a clearly
resurgent and confident Russia, and a sense of the USA as being irrelevant and
not providing sought after leadership; Cuba has, in an exercise of responsibility, cooperation,
transparency and sensitivity, returned to the United States an inert Hellfire missile that had
been wrongly shipped to Havana in June 2014; at a Security Council meeting on the UN
Charter, the Secretary-General said that the
past year saw important steps to uphold the values and advance the vision set
out in the Charter
of the United Nations, but it was one of the most troubled and turbulent years
in recent history, with civil wars ravaging Syria and Yemen and violent
extremism spreading. He noted the importance of Article 99 (allowing the
Secretary-General to bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter
which may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security) of the
Charter, and hoped that consideration of such issues will be driven by the
Charter, not by geo-political rivalries or other external dynamics. When a Member State uses an overly broad
definition of terrorism to monopolize power at the risk of long-term stability,
he added, that would seem to merit the Council’s attention, as would massive
loss of life and cross-border flows of people;
a risk of sanctions and protests if Latvia bans
the Russian language; the massive carbon footprint of war; the UN and the Government of Colombia have
launched a new Multi Partner Trust fund to
respond to stabilisation and peacebuilding needs; at the meeting
of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), the
Secretary-General commended the community for its solidarity with helping people in
need, including its contributions to Haiti, regional cooperation on
humanitarian crises and generosity in offering to host thousands of Syrian
refugees;
- the
Deputy Secretary-General today delivered
a key-note address on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development
Assistance Committee (DAC) high-level meeting in Paris, and called for OECD
countries to play a key role in building a close partnership with developing
countries in achieving the 2030 Agenda;
- a
new study by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which measures the direct impact
of bees on crop yields, shows that for
smallholdings, pollination was the agricultural input that contributed the
greatest to yields, beyond other management practices’
From other sites (note that
articles from these sites may have already been provided):
- the Global
Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
(R2P) also has:
an occasional report,
aiming to give background, offer analysis, track international response and suggest
necessary action, for five nations in immediate crisis (“mass atrocities are occurring and urgent
action is needed”: Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, and Burma/Myanmar),
one nation at imminent risk (“the situation is reaching a critical threshold and the risk of mass
atrocity crimes occurring in the immediate future is very high if effective
preventive action is not taken”: Lake Chad Basin, Burundi, and the Central
African Republic), and five nations for which there is serious concern (“significant
risk of occurrence, or recurrence, of mass atrocity crimes within the
foreseeable future if effective action is not taken”: South Sudan, Democratic
Republic of Congo, Libya);
Recommended
actionsfrom the occasional
report for the nation of Iraq,
where the actions of a terrorist group who have declared a so-called
“caliphate” has created a dire security situation with sectarian violence and
gross human rights abuses. 7,000 civilians were killed in 2015 (over 500 in
December), and 10 million people need assistance. The terrorist group poses an
existential threat to ethnic and religious minorities, who face the risk of
further mass atrocities, poses a direct threat to members of the majority Shia
community, and has capitalised on disaffection in the Sunni group – particularly
under former President Nouri al-Maliki:
- the international community
should continue to support the Iraqi government to combat the terrorist threat
to vulnerable populations, especially religious and ethnic minorities, and
ensure the Iraqi Security Forces and Kurdish forces strictly and consistently
comply with their obligations under international human rights law;
- all members of the
international anti-terrorist coalition must abide by International Humanitarian
Law and avoid civilian casualties;
- the Kurdistan Regional
Government is also in need of international support to defend vulnerable
populations from ongoingterrorist attacks;
- while confronting terrorist
groups, the government must protect civilians and address the underlying
sources of conflict between Sunnis, Shias and Kurds in Iraq, and must ACTIVELY
prevent reprisals against Sunni civilians by the Iraqi Security Forces and Shia
militias;
- displaced populations require
urgent humanitarian assistance;
- From an energetic point of view, based on
the above and this week’s news, Iraq needs to replace its leaders with people who
are genuine human beings. Those who helped put the current crop there are
morally obliged to help. The main challenge will be finding such people, but
ensuring such a change is peaceful is also imperative – otherwise the whole
cycle will just rinse and repeat …
and from a range of other sites:
- a
conference has showed the decline
in Australian international aid;
- some common sense about bushfires and non-flammable housing
(roll on my non-flammable dome house, and more reinforced concrete housing);
Regular sources include the
Daily Briefings
of the
United
Nations,
Human Rights Watch, the
Global Centre
for the Responsibility to Protect,
“War
on the Rocks”, the
Early
Warning Project blog, the
Justice in Conflict blog, the
Political Violence at a Glance blog, the
Institute for War and Peace Reporting, the
International Crisis Group, the
Middle East Eye,
The Hindu, the
Africa Center for Strategic Studies, the
BBC,
Spiegel International,
The Conversation,
John Menadue’s blog, Wikipedia’s
current events portal,
Wendell Williams’ blog,
George Monbiot’s website, the
Campaign Against Arms Trade, the “Cure
Violence”
blog, the
Inter Press Service Agency (IPS), and
others.
No signature block this week owing to the length of the
post.)
