In this week’s news

This originally appeared on my main blog at https://gnwmythr.blogspot.com/2020/03/post-no-1510-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 story about good policing;   some thoughtful research into brains and extremism;   the stupidity of some people who try to turn dogs into guard dogs.

This week:   China is using social media to find and silence people;   I have heard a self-evidently true, accurate and useful term: toxic positivity;   scams;   ways to provide better retirement;   the importance of students understanding emotions;   Norfolk Island is running out of food;   a recently closed wire service will hinder future growth and access to accurate information;   a suggestion that the 3^rd March, anniversary of the Australia Act in 1986, when we took away the UK’s power to make legislation for our states, as our National Day;   the trauma of modern medical cures;   the need to “provide students with the future-proof skills of lifelong learning, not just get them ‘job-ready’ ”;   an article on dyslexia;   “three women whose Indigenous identity and thousands of years of passed down matriarchal learning is integral to their cause, be it poetry or the climate”.

In the environmental arena:   “Summers are now twice as long as winters in all Australian capital cities”;   logging in and near fire affected regions is underway . . . ;   a reminder that humans can become extinct;   80% of dolphins in the Indian Ocean appear to have been killed by commercial fishing;   traditional water harvesting in Peru;   the ethics council of Norway’s wealth fund may ban four companies over environmental impact;   Australia’s fire risk continues . . . and cyclones will move south;   sand mining for Singapore causes loss of land in burma;   “Egyptian architects seek antidotes to rising heat”;   logging is reversing the ability of tropical forests to store carbon;   my home state is helping more households get solar power batteries;   Indigenous forest defenders in Brazil are using drones to find loggers;   airline industry offsets.

On human and animal rights:   fighting the stupidity over menstruation;   how to fight domestic violence more effectively;   racism and domestic violence were discussed on a TV panel show as more past sexist abuse (and sexist discrimination in the workplace) emerge as Queensland police show just how profound their problems [Guardian Australia exclusive] with misogyny are . . . and present day sexism in a senior government official’s office, in Saudi Arabia (against women playing sport),and online;   sexual abuse survivors are being forced to take their quest for compensation to court;   the EU’s economy is losing 2% because of the gender gap in pay;   flawed income protection insurance results in sexist discrimination;   the “unseen” (ignored) economic input from women;   Dubai’s ruler has been found by a British court to have abducted his two daughters and threatened his ex-wife;   misogyny in diagnoses by doctors;   “despite decades of progress closing the equality gap between men and women, close to 90 percent of men and women hold some sort of bias against women”;   inadequate legal protection against “sextortion”;
   the growing problem of adolescent domestic violence;   after truly appalling acquittal of self-admitted rapists, Spain looks at joining the late 20^th century by improving its laws on sexual assault;   a notorious church that enabled child abuse has rejected a recommendation of the Royal Commission to continue being misogynist;   pregnant women “nesting” is apparently a myth;
   appalling bastardry by Australia against a disabled person;   concerning allegations that “jobseekers with disabilities have been hired to ensure companies meet diversity targets but then promptly fired”;   more privacy  concerns;
   violent religious discrimination in Pakistan as protestors in the UK call for India’s home minister to resign over the recent fatal religious violence, and a call is made for Australia to remember that human rights outweigh diplomatic niceties and do more to protect democracy in India - see also these recommendations on strengthening democracy;   racists in New Zealand are making threats near the anniversary of a major racists attack;
   “I implore my non-Indigenous friends to give a genuine damn”;   following a recent court decision, another Indigenous man has left “immigration” detention - and a score more may follow;
   after a former, traumatised guard dies by suicide (after Australia’s neoliberal “government” dithered on his compensation claim) and the company running the privatised refugee scheme (according to the Guardian Australia, several of their guards have boasted about the ineffectiveness of refugee complaints) being forced to release their manual, more on Australia’s abuse of refugees;   the Greek coastguard indulges in behaviour that looks to me to be perilously close to endangering life as the UN reminds Greece that international human rights obligations outweigh EU policies;   for contrast, an article on the Jews who were rescued by the Philippines’ president in early World War Two;
   the Royal Australian College of Physicians has said “withholding treatment for transgender youth [is] ‘unethical’ “ and “would cause ‘further harm’ ”;   finally a reasonable response to an anti-transphobia petition;   “Participation in sport is a human right, even for trans women”;   Nepal has completely stuffed up an attempt to count LGBTIQ+ people by (a) conflating sexuality and gender identity, and (b) thinking M2F/F2M people would tick “others” - what absolute, complete and utter morons (this sort of stupidity is something I and others have been fighting for two decades);
   a UK bank scheme giving survivors of trafficking accounts may be adopted elsewhere;   disturbing unprofessional conduct puts the privacy and dignity of victims of a fatal accident at risk;   a Chinese company is cyber-incompetent, thus putting its customers’ privacy at risk;   “smart” cameras and baby monitors are vulnerable to hacking;   as Australia’s Chief Ultra-Conservative Cop plans to let overseas cops also invade our privacy, Australian police are using a facial recognition system without authorisation;   a reminder that the harm AI can do means as much should be taken with it as with flying;   a ban on robocalls in the USA has been upheld;
   mental health support after the recent bushfires - which will be eight times more likely if global average temperatures rise 2˚C (key numbers from the fires here);   as the aftereffects of bushfires - which include out-of-sight river creatures -  shows that trauma can and DOES affect pets, I’ll also point out that morons trying to turn dogs into guards dogs is also traumatising, but an Indigenous group is planting food for fauna ahead of rebuilding;   a reminder of the potential value of “earthships” in rebuilding after bushfires;   more homelessness in the USA;   the perils of being stateless in India;   China’s genocide in Tibet includes trying to kill off the language;   more on China’s brainwashing (aka “social re-education”);   rats laugh, have and show empathy, and experience emotions such as fear and distress - so why are we continuing to abuse them in experiments run by unfeeling, incredulous ****head scientists who show incompetence as human beings?;   hate speech is on the rise in burma - again, and in contravention of court orders.

Immigration and refugee matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   China;
trafficking/slavery/child abuse matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   DR Congo (minerals for smartphone),   China,   Ethiopia,   Mexico (breaking cycles);
LGBTIQ+ matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   Poland;   a challenge to sexuality based bigotry in blood collection (this topic also applies to TGD people); and
other matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   China (misogyny);   Sydney (stand against sexism);   South Africa (self defence for women),   Africa (helping potential women leaders),   India (Dalits seeking land rights).

In the governance, politics, and society arena:   conservative politicians in Israel admit to being united by hate;   Luxembourg has made public transport FREE;   Centrelink has made another batch of mistakes;   as the RBA reaches the limits of what it can do, the onus will shift to our surplus-obsessed neoliberal government . . . we’re doomed;   another joys of outsourcing problem: having personal details put at risk through a cyberhack . . . ;   an Australian state government is planning to use the best teachers across the entire state to improve struggling schools;   the provider of an outsourced diplomatic service has been sacked for misconduct (corruption);   another example of governmental cyber incompetence.

Internationally:   ethical responses to Russia’s increased - but seemingly forgotten by the world - aggression against Ukraine;   as a call is made for the UN’s General Assembly to do more, Syria and Erdoğan-(mis?)led Turkey are moving  closer to all-out war (reports of a ceasefire at the end of the week), and Erdoğan takes revenge  against the EU by unleashing refugees, but the USA indicates support for a fellow despot;   incredibly, Malaysia no longer has Mahathir as Prime Minister - but, as it moves even further to the right, Anwar has missed out yet again;   despite angry Arab voters in Israel after POTUS45’s “plan”, Israel appears to have kept the same PM - subject to a coalition being formed;   a stumbling block in Afghanistan, where the misogynistic violent extremists have resumed violence (leading to retaliation) . . . but some good suggestions here;   North Korea is back to launching missiles;   seven Rohingya who were suspected gangsters have been shot dead by police;   the USA has responded to response to authoritarian mainland China’s suppression of international media;   Russia’s Tsar-President is trying to limit negotiation on border disputes;   more than twenty people have been killed by tornadoes in the USA;   another warning that Iran’s stockpile of uranium has increased - thanks for nothing, POTUS45;   an examination of China’s thinking processes.

In Africa:   more election concerns in Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Togo (Togo appears to be going back towards suppression - and there’s some concern about Nigeria, where poverty is driving migration, the military is restricting aid, hundreds of children have been released from jail, and police corruption is an issue), and Uganda, where one million first time voters have been blocked;   the truce in Libya appears to further weaken;   an Algerian court has acquitted a protest leader;   as the Malawi army is praised for protecting protestors, people with albinism in Malawi will be given protective alarms;   violence in South Sudan, leading to more violence, which appears to have been spending in advance of receiving oil revenues . . . ;   the effects of fake news;   South Sudanese refugees in Uganda won’t return yet;   Uganda takes steps to eliminate land fraud, is developing an injectable anti-HIV drug, and baseball appears to be growing;   concerns over the conflict in Cameroon;   South Africa’s economy is in recession;   Kenyan-Somali border tensions are growing, but a team has been forced to address these;   work is underway to prevent a second wave of locusts;   Algeria wants to jail a protest leader;   a mental health crisis in the CAR, and mental health is key to rebuilding Somalia.

On COVID-19:   as the DR Congo discharges its last Ebola patient and a fortnight has passed since the last new case, giving a reminder that epidemics can be dealt with, washing hands (and not touching one’s face) remains key on COVID-19;   as deaths  spread (but most survive), as one airline collapses, the crisis is exposing the economic risks of current, excessive business debt - but there are some considerations on protecting the global economy, and preparations include potentially compulsorily  isolating people (how do they feed themselves – and why doesn’t anyone ask about that?) and reducing  public events - but the WHO says it is possible to stop this becoming a pandemic; concerns about nursing homes;   infected Chinese are returning to China;   the POTUS45-like problems in Iran;   in Thailand a factory was selling used face masks as new . . . it has been raided by police;   “Your health is as safe as that of the worst-insured, worst-cared-for person in your society”;   some workers cannot adapt to changed economic and working conditions under COVID-19;   travel insurance seems to be wriggling out of providing their service;   violent racism;   a panic about toilet paper shows the lack of information about self-isolation in Australia;   the global flow of medicine is being disrupted;   the epidemic shows how “state censorship weakens government legitimacy and induces alternative information-seeking”;   identification of two strains;   as responses increase surveillance/privacy risks, South Korea’s attempts to provide information have been totally mucked up;   US-China distrust is facilitating conspiracy nut jobs on this topic;   concerns about religious festivals in Senegal;   and actions in Indonesia,   Indonesia,   Africa,   Italy,   Singapore,   Italy,   USA,   Japan (criticised),   and the WHO says many nations are not doing enough;

On personal / spiritual matters:   an uplifting sigil.

Reading I found interesting this week included:   common sense comments on assessing the results of magic;   “Daylight Saving Time Must Die” - no argument here :)