This post originally appeared on my main blog at https://gnwmythr.blogspot.com/2020/04/post-no-1540-in-this-weeks-news.html.
Stay safe - wash your hands,
practice social distancing, and follow informed medical advice - and be considerate towards those at risk or in
situations of vulnerability (including economic) while the COVID-19
pandemic is a problem.
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.
Reading I found
interesting this week included:
the
power
of ritual language
(but don’t use foreign languages glibly);
an
examination
of public cooperation - or not;
“private
gain must no
longer be allowed to elbow out the public
good”.
In this week’s
news:
a thriving book shed;
will the
manic
pace of life slow after the
pandemic?;
against a background of the
world’s population having grown by nearly 400%, the number of Jews globally has
recovered
to the numbers in 1925, still well short of 1939;
ten threats
to humanity’s survival, including pandemics, the climate crisis, and
overpopulation;
a tragic
reminder
of the sometimes fatal risks involved in policing;
“a vulnerability exists in Apple's
software for email on iPhones and iPads [but]
the company [has]
developed
a fix”.
In the
environmental arena, where we have been
fighting
World
War III for some time now:
long term
changes
to the energy market and the impact of this on nations;
a
criticism of scrubbers for
commercial marine traffic;
more funding
needed
to stop extinctions;
China is continuing to destroy Tibet’s environment;
legal action against the EPA over
fire
risks from climate change;
white
spot prawn disease has broken out
again
in Queensland;
a
warning of the
coming fire season in the Amazon;
the
50
th Earth Day is
going digital;
the pandemic
may cut off some
clean electricity supplies;
why electric transport is better even if
it is not all from renewables;
if they
were a nation, GHG emissions from last summer’s bushfires would be
sixth
on the list of national discharges;
a
call to get fossil fuels
out
of use and politics;
the
problem
of light pollution - including marine mammals;
insect numbers have declined
by 25% since 1990;
a
new
form of wind turbine with
no
external moving parts;
a message
from Jane Goodall
for Earth Day 2020;
growing climate crisis-fuelled violence in
the
Sahel;
criminals are turning to
illegal logging in
Mexico, where calls have been made to
stop a “huge”
train project;
“Americans and
Russians have grown more
dissatisfied with the way their governments address environmental issues”.
On
human and animal rights:
Saudi Arabia
executed
a record 184 people last year - thereby creating spirits who will be reborn
violently angry, or violent as a result of fear;
44 suspects have
died
in Chad under suspicious circumstances;
murder
of unarmed suspects in Burkina Faso;
possible
war
crimes in Libya;
Cameroon has admitted soldiers
took
part in a massacre;
more
repression in Hong Kong - with China’s support, which is also trying to
intimidate
Taiwan;
a Canadian journalist has now
been held by China for
500
days;
a trans enquiry has been ruled
out;
a call for
the coronavirus
supplement to Indigenous
payments to be made permanent;
stolen Maori
children in New Zealand;
Mandela’s
granddaughter is fighting
for women’s rights and safety against sexual and other violence;
supermarkets in
Colombia can be used
by women to report abuse;
Kenya is acting against FGM;
how to make the homelessness
system
work for young people;
the story of a man who was
framed;
Islamophobic
abuse by police in India;
an
explainer
on the recent decision to allow proceedings for extradition of a family of
refugees to resume;
anti-Semitism in
Germany;
pre-pandemic
concerns about
privacy risks associated with an online conferencing tool;
a
dangerous decision
on a privacy matter by a US court;
the
risks
of online data
.
Immigration and refugee
matters (good and bad) have occurred in:
Ethiopia;
Singapore;
Portugal;
racism matters
(good and bad) have occurred in:
Singapore;
trafficking/slavery/child
abuse matters (good and bad)
have occurred in:
Australia;
India;
the
Sahel;
UK/China;
LGBTIQ+ matters
(good and bad) have occurred in:
Australia;
USA;
USA;
USA;
UK parenting groups;
Morocco;
and
sexism matters
(good and bad) have occurred in:
Malaysia;
USA.
In the
governance, politics, public ethics, and society arena:
“public debt is not like household debt”;
the
challenges
of boosting our manufacturing;
despite
an
apology
from the PM’s advisor over
breach
of copyright over a memoir which
alleges
malicious media interference in politics, the matter will be
referred
to police;
a
quest for the “right to repair” tractors for farmers;
a multinational company has been
ordered
to compensate a whistleblower it sacked;
a mandatory code of conduct for social media platforms;
as evidence grows of people
tiring
of one particular grossly biased media network, fewer biases and conflicts of
interest will help to
restore
faith in the media;
finally
acknowledgement
of the
narrowness
of Australia’s economy
(thanks to neoliberalism);
commentary
that the NSW, not the Commonwealth, government is responsible for problems in
the Murray-Darling;
a former PM has
criticised
another former PM for fanning Islamophobia;
a secret military deal between Australia and Chile;
the revised
role of the state;
Argentina;
a
review
of the US-Japan security treaty;
Australia's
tight-fisted neoliberal government
purchased
roughly five days' worth of oil at record low prices, giving us between 55-80
days' worth in reserve, as compared to the minimum requirement of 90 days
.
On
disasters
this week:
a call for
faster
clean up
so people can get back to their lives;
floods
in Kenya;
locusts in
Somalia;
“as climate change brings
growing risks of inundation, especially in Asia, investing
now in protection
could bring huge savings”.
In Africa:
instability
in Lesotho, where the leader has been accused of murder, but soldiers backing
Lesotho’s PM, who is facing murder charges, have
withdrawn
. . . but the PM has
changed
his mind after agreeing to
retire;
an examination of
change
in Guinea-Bissau;
concerns
over the election in Mali;
worsening
violence in the DR Congo;
changes
in South Sudan’s political makeup;
the
“economic
consequences
of electoral violence in sub-Saharan Africa”;
Namibia remains Africa’s
freest
nation for journalists;
Ghana and
Burkina Faso are
testing
an easing of pandemic restrictions;
Togo’s
opposition leader has been
arrested
for declaring himself president;
major gains against rebels in
Libya.
On
the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2
novel coronavirus (there are other novel coronaviruses) (seven
major risks to watch here,
and seven sins of thought to avoid here):
the WHO
warns the worst is still ahead;
as more evidence
emerges of his being kept informed, POTUS45’s
cutting of funding to the WHO has been described
as “a crime against humanity”;
a former worker in an Ebola outbreak has
chosen
to use his skills to stay in Cambodia rather than return to Australia;
one
example
of the human face behind the economic toll;
changes for a better post-COVID-19 world in some cities;
an interesting comment in
this that alleged
“protestors” claiming to want to go back to work actually want
others
to go back to work for the convenience of the alleged “protestors”;
the man who led the fight in the USA
against
the
1957-58
pandemic;
good
stories of people coming
together: medical “happy
codes”;
Georgia; projections onto the Matterhorn as an act
of global solidarity;
sports-starved
Australians are now helping
to keep a Belarusian soccer team afloat;
medical
aspects:
the adaptability
of the virus;
impact
on those waiting for transplants;
some
emergency workers are stuck at home because of the
cancellation
of childcare;
recovering addicts are
struggling;
staggering price gouging;
as human vaccine trials start in the UK and some
scientific research
stops,
the
need
for research on non-drug alternatives;
the
at times moronic medical profession has finally realised quite a few people do
better
not
sleeping on their back;
“an Australian-made ventilator that costs a
tenth of the price of existing models has been brought to life — from
concept to functioning machine — in just four weeks”;
human rights aspects
(crisis
. . . running summary of impacts on elections here):
as 260
million people find themselves headed for starvation,
the pandemic is becoming a human
rights crisis;
heavy-handed policing in my home state is leaving people feeling
intimidated, discriminated against and fearful;
global
corporations are preparing to use widely abhorred ISDS provisions - and a lack of moral conscience -
to sue
nations over pandemic measures;
support for internally displaced people
(for which there are
guidelines) needs
to be stepped up;
China has
disappeared
two journalists and used the pandemic as an excuse to
stop
a released political prisoner going home - a missing journalist has reappeared,
and confirmed he was
detained
by police for two months for “quarantine”;
the widening renter-owner gap;
supplements are
excluding
people with disability;
India, where
farm workers are
at
risk, is containing COIVD-19
but not
Islamophobia;
religious bigots are running an emergency hospital in the USA;
a
review
of protesting and
(heavy handed) reactions under social distancing
requirements;
authoritarian
propaganda (and other problems);
workers’
rights;
warnings
far right extremists are planning to use the pandemic to stoke xenophobia - and
racism
generally is becoming worse;
a campaign against xenophobia
in
Singapore;
the pandemic is
“threatening
global goals to end poverty, inequality”;
a
reminder
of the situation of Indigenous people;
a “Zimbabwe court orders police to stop harassing
journalists”;
the need
to protect elections in the USA;
domestic
abuse on Afghanistan;
unlike
other
states,
my home state is helping students who don’t have
internet
access;
charity funded childcare
services are
falling
through the cracks;
the
impact
on the fight against slavery;
the USA wants a real-time
surveillance based on medical data;
a call for the OECD to uphold democracy;
suggestions
to meet the current urgent housing demand
(this needs to include TINY
HOMES!);
homeless people
are being
targeted;
trauma for
intersex
and
other
LGBTIQ+
people;
a win
for a refugee in Germany;
Algeria
is using the pandemic to
suppress
dissent;
a social media platform
has
not
lived up to its publicly stated aspirations, and accepted ads that were fake
news about the COVID-19 pandemic;
Australia:
the
location monitoring app
may
be OK, according to what appears to be an independent assessment
(now if
only I had a “smart” phone . . . ) but NOT after data management went to
a US company which could give US police access
(are the people doing this sort of stuff INSANE??!!!).
At least Australian police have been denied access - see also
this paper;
concerns about
changes
affecting supermarket workers’ safety - and
fast
tracked changes to working conditions;
flaws
in communications;
a
warning
to businesses not to cash in on pandemic training;
as 118 economists
warn
not to sacrifice health over the economy, unemployment
could go to
25%,
with
lower
income people hardest hit;
more PPE for healthcare workers;
dire
economic impacts for my home state,
but house
prices will fall;
“it’s not
only the hole
in the emotional heart of Coalition politicians the cultural sector
should be concerned with right now, it is the hole in their corporate memory”;
more measures for
protection
in my home state;
remote communities
are running
out of food;
the
problems
facing split towns and farms on state borders
(and attempts to find
solutions);
the pandemic could
exacerbate
the already wide intergenerational wealth divide; ;
media attention
appears to have contributed to an arrogant corporation in an unusual
tenant-landlord situation
backing
down;
internationally:
“
former US
secretary of state Madeleine Albright is urging countries to not
become divided in the fight against coronavirus, and cooperate during the
rebuilding that will follow. . . . We’re blaming the Chinese . . . If they are
the ones that invent the vaccine, will we say no?”;
Asia is now moving towards plant based protein;
Turkey is the
new
epicentre in West Asia;
right wing
groups
are,
with the moronic POTUS45’s incitement of insurrection,
protesting
the lockdowns
- in full PPE
. . . ;
sexism
in the US state of Alaska;
female leaders are handling the pandemic better;
New Zealand;
the UAE will issue
fines
over misinformation;
indications Italy is recovering;
Iran is
easing
restrictions - and
South
Korea ;
anger
in Sweden over sacrificing the elderly;
idiots in the USA are going to
try
a class action against China
(I trust they’re not so stupid to think that
might help, even if they “win” - and, even less likely, get some money) -
see also
here
on China’s resistance to this;
repeat
distancing offenders
fined in Singapore,
where the economic pain is
not
equal, the jobs market is
struggling,
and construction is being
shut
down but confined
foreign
workers will be looked after;
xenophobia
(or incompetence?) in Thailand’s response;
fears of
mafia
exploitation of labour in Italy;
a fund for poor farmers;
homeless
school students are at risk;
refugees are acting to keep their camps safe;
favelas in Brazil have been
abandoned;
migrant workers are
trapped
in the UAE;
splits
within religion’s attitudes in Israel, where, as a man who recovered is
reinfected,
a
call
is made to test the entire population to prevent a second wave of infections
but the lockdown is
eased;
current and historical use of
coupons
in China;
the decline in deaths from
other
causes (such as traffic accidents) has
led to an overall improvement in death rates in India;
PNG;
Colombia/Venezuela;
a draft
(not yet peer reviewed)
paper
suggests
that a major news outlet in the USA directly contributed to deaths from
COVID-19;
Asian nations had learned
lessons from the novel coronaviruses causing SARS and MERS that the rest of the
world
ignored;
“
half
of Europe's coronavirus deaths were residents in aged care homes”;
globally:
against the
elevated
dangers of conflict in a pandemic,
the USA and Russia are blocking UN moves for a global ceasefire;
some billionaires are
continuing
to gain wealth;
where
is the G20?;
navies;
calls for a
massive
write off of developing world debt;
blame games:
a push for an
independent
investigation into the virus’s origins
(why?);
US aged care
homes;
the
ending
of pandemic preparations in Australia more than a decade ago
.
