Cross-posting: Post No. 1,519 - In this week’s news

This originally appeared on my main blog at https://gnwmythr.blogspot.com/2020/03/post-no-1518-in-this-weeks-news.html. 

This is a new, very cut down series of posts based on some observations on matters that struck a personal note: unlike the former “Gnwmythr’s News”, it is not trying to convey key events.

Content Warning: the linked articles and their descriptions here may be about violence, abuse, hate, and other problems.

My articles this week include:   a prediction that Kamala Harris could be Joe Biden’s candidate for VP, if Biden becomes the US Democratic party’s nominee;   an update on my colour breathing work,   “More on dreams and protection”;   “The Timing/Timeliness of Interventions”.

This week:   the need to start talking about human security;   “the challenges of intercultural marriages”;   as prevention pills are provided to more people, a 2^nd patient had been cured of AIDS;   female sports players also suffer endometriosis;   the 2020 World Happiness Report has been released, and shows Finland at the top (Australia is 12^th, New Zealand 8^th, and sadly Uganda is 126^th; Benin has made the most improvement over the last decade, New Zealand at 72^nd has made a slight improvement, Ugandan at 88^th has gone slightly backwards and Australia at 98^th has also gone backwards - Venezuela is worst on this aspect, followed by Afghanistan [in terms of cities, Helsinki tops the list with Windy Wellington 3^rd, my home city is 14^th, [Sydney is 20^th - ha!, but Brisbane is 10^th - darn] - significantly, Kabul, Sanaa, Gaza and Pot-au-Prince are at the bottom of that list] ), there is a lot of insight, including on inequality and environment, and the report is well worth a read.

In the environmental arena:   a government department failed to warn of contamination;   more warnings on the climate crisis;   unburnt koala habitat is being logged;   a legal challenge to a controversial mine over not using a “water trigger”;   reduced travel etc from responses to the COVID-19 pandemic may help the environment;   someone else also thinks we should approach the climate crisis as if it is World War Three;   more problems with Australia’s nuclear industry;   the US Pentagon says the climate crisis could overwhelm the US military within decades;   reshaping infrastructure;   roads through the Amazon would also cause billions of dollars of economic losses;   Venice’s canals, free of tourists, are clear;   gas exploration has been approved in my home state;   more greenery helps people sleep;   rising sea threats in Tunisia;   green guidance in prayers in Afghanistan.

On human and animal rights:
   a Chinese social media app tried to filter out “ugly” people;
   nine years of atrocities in Syria - where small humanitarian groups are making a difference;   new allegations of war crimes - and a culture of cover-up - by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan;   a past far right propaganda is banned and charges are laid against a far right violent extremist, reformed former far right extremists urge starving extremists of conflict and attention; (we have no right wing organisations on our list of violent extremist organisations . . . );
   Greece continues to find new lows to sink to in its abuse of refugees;
   a call in my home state - which is setting up a redress scheme for the Stolen Generations - for the return of Indigenous remains;   “how ancient traditions became a core national custom in little over 20 years”;   racism makes children physically ill;
   “more support needed for victims of sexual abuse by UN personnel”;   “the Law Council of Australia has called for the abandonment of a federal parliamentary inquiry [sic] into the family law system, citing concerns that the hearings are ‘being used for political purposes’ to undermine domestic violence claims made by women” (by a nasty right wing party);   violence in Mexico may be worse than we think;   more women candidates in Vanuatu’s elections;   MeToo in Namibia;
   a mobile anti-slavery group in Brazil has had to stop its operations;
   a “West Saharan group [has taken a] New Zealand superannuation fund to court over ‘blood phosphate’ ”;
   COVID-19 has exposed more problems of the neoliberal government’s Mediaeval Theocracy Re-Establishment Bill;   Sufi sites in Libya have been destroyed by both sides;
   “transgender adults with gender-affirming IDs have lower prevalence of serious psychological distress and suicidal ideas”;   calls for action (an email campaign) to support an artist-activist in Russia;
   the importance of individual privacy, and one tool to help achieve that as a browser improves their protection;
   the greyhound industry should pay to rehouse “slow” greyhounds;
   yet another airline has failed on disabled access. 

Immigration and refugee matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   Europe (hope border brutality will keep them away),   Libya,   South Sudan,   resettlement of refugees has been put on hold because of COVID-19;
trafficking/slavery/child abuse matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   Australia,   Samoa,   India;
LGBTIQ+ matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   Australia,   Hong Kong,   Indonesia; and
other matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   India (against sexism).

In the related human rights arena of employment:   responses to COVID-19 may help introduce more flexibility;   Indian workers are protesting digital surveillance.

In the governance, politics, and society arena:   inequality means public money is funding an “arms race” between elitist private schools;   Australia’s gas industry has been accused of deceiving the Australian government;   “Fox News is poisoning America. Rupert Murdoch and his heirs should be shunned”;   as independent journalism learns to survive in the Union of Soviet Socialist Russia, an opinion that Putin has too many enemies and dependent cronies to be able to retire;   regional cities lack access to most services;   an analysis of an apology for a defamatory opinion written by a controversial “men’s rights activist”, and the journalist who was attacked;   a complaint to my home state’s anti-corruption body over a rail project;   after two years, farmers are still waiting for bushfire compensation;   the need for policy to match technology;   Russia is trying to tap undersea cables, as have others over the years;   a whistleblower was victimised;   the insecurity of an internet voting app.

On disasters this week:   more bushfire recovery aid;   a cyclone is forming off Madagascar.

Risks of atrocities this week in:   North Korea, the Central African Republic, and Burundi.

On humanitarian aid:   a growing crisis in Cameroon.

Internationally:   Israel has killed its 10,000^th Palestinian since 2000, an unarmed 15 year old boy killed by a sniper;   Israel is attempting to form a centrist government (bye bye Bibi?);   a communal eco-village for Arab, Kurdish, and Yazidi women who were victims of Da’esh;   the Nigerian mafia is muscling in on the Italian mafia;   an examination of still troubled Burundi;   more on the Nile Dam problem;   decisive action by Spain’s King over questionable financial conduct in Spain’s royal family;   COVID-19 has made Argentina’s attempts to reschedule its debt harder;   Modi’s policies have entrenched religious divides;   growing risks in Yemen again;   Taiwan’s jets have had to warn off intruding jets from mainland China;   parallels between India’s regressive policies on citizenship - and “last month’s deadly riots in Delhi were a state-sponsored pogrom” - and abuses in burma;   COVID-19 is making the USA’s hardline approach to Iran look unsustainable - and that losing the recent elections may ultimately be good for centrists-reformists in Iran.

In Africa:   a “killer lake” is being used to generate power as it is gradually made safer;   funds are raised to pay an opposition politician’s questionable fines in Tanzania;   intimidation of voters in Nigeria;   Ivory Coast’s President will NOT seek a third term;   claims of an assassination attempt of the opposition leader in Cameroon;   Malawi has sacked the army chief who had anti-government protestors protected, but a new opposition party has been announced;   urban gardens in South Africa;   Kenya is using a military general to address corruption;   COVID-19 has triggered xenophobia, particularly in Ethiopia;   desperate Nigerian doctors have gone on strike as COVID-19 cases rise;   locusts remain a threat to millions;   30 years after independence, Namibia faces a troubled future.

On COVID-19, which could last a long time:
   the destruction of habitats and “bush tucker”/exotic animal trade and markets has allowed Lassa (which has just killed 161 people in Nigeria) and dengue fever, Ebola, HIV, SARS, bird flu, and now COVID-19 to emerge: other zoonotic  diseases may yet be coming;
   an ongoing podcast is keeping people up to date (but NO-ONE is saying how people in quarantine get food), myth busting, and a potential victim of COVID-19 begs for her life (I have family members in this situation);   an epidemiologist thought the comments around “herd immunity” were satire;   a call for an eight to twelve week shut down;   an understanding gained of how the body’s immune system fights COVID-19;   there are gender differences in the effects of COVID-19;   a warning domestic violence - including against LGBTIQ+ people - will rise;   as Senegal goes to home schooling via TV, conflicting  messages on schools (with one being spectacularly stupid) where social distancing is impossible, but a trusted expert says close them;   clarification of terminology (a report that some home quarantine is being used to keep resources free);   concerns at a disconnect between medical actions/advice and what the government is saying to the community;   another expert article on flattening the curve - without which, millions could die;   advice on handling food - including for markets;   how South Korea got on top of this;
   China - which a Reuters exclusive reports monitored Hong Kong protestors - is moving  closer to world leadership on the strength of US ineptness;   near total shut downs in Israel, France, Spain, Malaysia, several major retailers, and    stronger measures in New Zealand, West Asia, Australia (including restricting indoor gatherings and banning all overseas travel, and blocking arrivals), Canada, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia (also this);   a mixed bag on how Africa is responding to this;   Egypt has arrested protestors calling for action on the COVID-19 pandemic;
   as calls are made to respect human rights but Israel has moved to mass unsupervised surveillance, an article on “coronacracy” - see also this series of opinions;   health data is NOT secure;
   as Kenya sets up handwashing stations, the need for “smart health spending in developing countries”;   impacts on humanitarian crises;   the arrogance and other attitude problems that allowed COVID-19 to spread in the West;   calls for more testing in Europe;   a call to better analyse available data (funding is needed);   advice for those with health anxiety;   hoarding is underway;   racism;   face masks are seen differently in different cultures, which is a problem (as has been the case while people close to me undergo cancer treatment, which suppresses immune systems);   social inequality;   some positive  community responses, including online support;   guidance for those wanting to establish online groups;   as human trials get underway, the USA is trying to keep a German vaccine to itself;   care packages to the elderly and vulnerable are finally being offered - now to get over the delivery problem;   the USA is belatedly using war powers to try to boost production of essential supplies;   assessments of Africa (a map of the spread) and the responses, and a reminder washing hands is not always possible;   war is complicating a response in Burundi;   the pandemic is affecting protests in Algeria;   as Iran appears to be worse than admitted, densely populated India is doing better than almost all other nations (although there are privacy fears), and has promised compensation to the poor;   slum dwellers in South and Central America are at risk;   my home state has gone into a state of emergency, and is providing support for the homeless and vulnerable, as well as businesses, but, concerningly, is allowing casinos to stay open;   Indigenous communities are at particular risk, as are the disabled;   regional Australia is preparing;   Australia has been accused of ignoring its Pacific neighbours;   commentary on using public transport (the company I work will allow people to travel in off-peak times);   calls for more aggressive action in south east Asia;   one US state is acting to prevent jails becoming COVID-19 petri dishes;   in a reverse of approaches elsewhere, some US power stations may ask workers to live at work to keep essential services going;   acts of kindness;   in a move that reminds me of this, the G7 will go to video conferencing;   South Africa has united;
   more financial relief in Singapore;   a massive support package in New Zealand;   “the G20 should tell the MDBs to boost crisis lending by $100 to $200 billion”;   Italy has suspended mortgages and household bills;   more financial downsliding;   the economic impact is worst for those who are out-of-sight;   Denmark will cover 75% of employees salaries if they are kept on - and the UK will now follow suit;   POTUS45 is enthusiastically considering adopting Andrew Yang’s proposed  UBI for the period of the COVID-19 pandemic . . . (many others have also proposed this, but apparently POTUS45 sought the advice of Mr Yang - who had been a Democratic Presidential candidate) - but see also this;   the USA is moving towards paid leave;   some deferrals of loan repayments in Australia;   live music venues in my home city may not survive;   calls to delay the sale of the .org domain;   Africa’s economies will be hit hard;   the impact will be worse than the GFC, and existing systems are struggling as the pandemic exposes the fragility of globalisation (which some people have been pointing out for years - and the CEO mentioned in the article is clearly a ****wit because of his attitude over inventory, as are all the other ****wits who have advocated over the years for “just in time” deliveries and removal of duty-standby units and all the other things that ignore risks, the real world and humanness - and also: “climate shocks in just one country could disrupt global food supply”). On the other hand, living costs could come down;
   and a history of toilet paper, and an article pointing out that introverts are pre-adapted for a lockdown (I have to say I am bemused by the panic of stopping people be bored -but then I have two reading wish lists with hundreds of books, a stack of research and writing to do, and daily tasks that also keep me busy).

Reading I found interesting this week included:   a presentation on unconscious bias and human instincts;   an evolutionary missing link has been found (fish fingers - yum).