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.
On personal /
spiritual matters: the African concept
of ubuntu; criticism
of some idiots who tried to project their neochristian bigotry into
Paganism.
In this week’s
news: the problem
of dealing with pressures to have children and moronic stereotypes around
childless women; a call
for a national register to monitor deaths by suicide; building
inclusivity - particularly of women - to build
peace; there is a distribution
curve of empathy; “don’t
regulate artificial intelligence: starve
it”.
In the environmental arena, where we have been
fighting World
War III for some time now: pandemic
recovery plans MUST be green; an opinion that Australia needs to take its practice at listening
to experts on pandemics and apply that to learning to listen to experts on the
climate crisis; concerns
about a marine ecosystem following a decline in sharks; a belated
review of the Wildlife Act after an appalling massacre of eagles in my home
state; “ ’compelling evidence’ logging native
forests has worsened
Australian bushfires”; Europe’s
coal industry may close because of the pandemic; a renewable
energy export project is closer to happening;
Brazil; an objective critique of a controversial environmental film; the children’s
case will continue, despite
the resistance of regressive governments;
“one billion people will live in insufferable
heat within 50 years”; the
water
consumption of the coal industry; “climate
change is shaping
the future of conflict”;
other environmental matters (good and bad) have occurred in: Cambodia.
other environmental matters (good and bad) have occurred in: Cambodia.
On human and animal rights:
as a reminder is made that Jews (and Africans) fought in WW2, “marking the 75th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany and our responsibility to prevent atrocities”; a critique of the ICC;
anti-Semitic behaviour by a US cemetery;
a court has overturned the irrational (and, frankly, homophobic) assumptions of a tribunal about two gay refugees; concern that a serious breach of professional ethics in my home state’s police (who are also facing legal action over a conviction that was quashed because of the use of a solicitor as an informer) may have been due to casual / accidental transphobia; a reminder TGD people are not a new phenomenon;
hundreds of Rohingya refugees are stuck at sea “with no hope”;
concerns about the possibly racist and certainly unprofessional behaviour of medical staff in the US associated with the death of a pregnant black woman - see also here; the need for Indigenous self-determination;
criticism of a controversial religious figure for not removing a child abusing priest, but he was cleared of bribery allegations;
calls for Burundi to release four journalists - and media suppression in Cameroon; the neoliberals’ attack on the ABC.
Immigration and refugee matters (good and bad) have occurred in: Burkina Faso;
racism matters (good and bad) have occurred in: Australia (access to dental care); Saudi Arabia; China;
trafficking/slavery/child abuse matters (good and bad) have occurred in: Australia; west Africa; India; Afghanistan;
LGBTIQ+ matters (good and bad) have occurred in: South and Central America; Lebanon (push for rights now); Colombia; parenting (good news); UK;
sexism matters (good and bad) have occurred in: ICC; Hungary; USA; endometriosis; South Africa (good news); and
other matters (good and bad) have occurred in: Tibet; Egypt; USA.
as a reminder is made that Jews (and Africans) fought in WW2, “marking the 75th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany and our responsibility to prevent atrocities”; a critique of the ICC;
anti-Semitic behaviour by a US cemetery;
a court has overturned the irrational (and, frankly, homophobic) assumptions of a tribunal about two gay refugees; concern that a serious breach of professional ethics in my home state’s police (who are also facing legal action over a conviction that was quashed because of the use of a solicitor as an informer) may have been due to casual / accidental transphobia; a reminder TGD people are not a new phenomenon;
hundreds of Rohingya refugees are stuck at sea “with no hope”;
concerns about the possibly racist and certainly unprofessional behaviour of medical staff in the US associated with the death of a pregnant black woman - see also here; the need for Indigenous self-determination;
criticism of a controversial religious figure for not removing a child abusing priest, but he was cleared of bribery allegations;
calls for Burundi to release four journalists - and media suppression in Cameroon; the neoliberals’ attack on the ABC.
Immigration and refugee matters (good and bad) have occurred in: Burkina Faso;
racism matters (good and bad) have occurred in: Australia (access to dental care); Saudi Arabia; China;
trafficking/slavery/child abuse matters (good and bad) have occurred in: Australia; west Africa; India; Afghanistan;
LGBTIQ+ matters (good and bad) have occurred in: South and Central America; Lebanon (push for rights now); Colombia; parenting (good news); UK;
sexism matters (good and bad) have occurred in: ICC; Hungary; USA; endometriosis; South Africa (good news); and
other matters (good and bad) have occurred in: Tibet; Egypt; USA.
In the related human
rights arena of employment: the pandemic might
finally end the bloody open office; the uncertainty
of work after the pandemic.
Risks or
occurrences of atrocities, mass violence and/or war(s) this week in: the bodies of victims
of violent extremists in Syria have been found; the extremely
high risks of war in the Gulf; Mali; Burkina Faso; Nigeria; CAR; Gaza/Israel; eastern
DR Congo; fighting has resumed
in Thailand; Sudan; South
Sudan; Russia
is exacerbating the fighting in Libya;
Egypt.
In the governance, politics, public ethics, and society arena: Universities need to help
students who fail (when I was at Uni we had some lecturers who brilliant at
the subject, but poor teachers. I stopped going to their lectures and passed,
but others who went to the lectures almost all failed. Fortunately, the
lecturers approached me to find out why, and I pointed out the excessive side
comments were losing us. These days, lecturers are better equipped to teach); the economic benefits of immigration;
Australia will lose
out economically if it does not transition to renewables; autocrats are dropping
their democratic façade; weakened
democracy in Eastern Europe / Eurasia; Mexico’s
“everyday
war”; a call
to save democracy in Poland;
a call to allow remote evidence taking to continue; a call to
restore the public
university; favourable
results from Finland’s trial of UBI - especially on mental health.
On disasters
this week: floods in Kenya; emergency services need
to start listening to social media; “everyday humanitarianism during the 2019/2020 Australian bushfire crisis” - and a call for better
evacuation planning in one state; a train
in India has killed migrant workers who were sleeping on the track as they
returned home.
Internationally: a review
of actions in Australia on the relationship
with China, including pressure from two billionaires; South and North Korean border guards have
exchanged gunfire; more on the tensions
in Lebanon; a mercenary
caught trying to enter Venezuela to abduct a controversial political figure has
admitted he is from the USA (people: the means shape the end!!!); promising development
on an Israeli-Palestinian prisoner swap;
an Israeli billionaire is working at bringing clean water to Gaza; a rich boys’ spat
in Syria; violent extremists in
Afghanistan are trying
to gain legitimacy; minimalism in China; a Reuters exclusive
reports that China is aware, as it tries to bully Taiwan,
anti-Chinese sentiment is at its highest since the Tiananmen Square
massacre; more
problems in Libya; Iran
(which is still abusing
human rights) v. USA; Russia might move
into the security vacuum in Central Asia after the US leaves Afghanistan - and
the USA is also starting to abandon
the western Pacific . . . .
In Africa: Malawi’s
presidential election will be rerun; Egypt has lodged
a complaint with the UN over the Nile Dam;
Zimbabwe; violence
has marred campaigning in Burundi; Mozambique’s
“brutal” insurgency; “forty percent of Nigerians live below
[the] poverty line”; more
moves towards a lasting peace in Sudan.
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):
“stopping deforestation can prevent pandemics”; the woman who first discovered coronaviruses, decades ago; cyber thugs are targeting health workers; “Isaac Newton invented calculus in self-isolation during the Great Plague. He didn’t have kids to look after”; “fake news is being fuelled by the top and bottom of society”;
“stopping deforestation can prevent pandemics”; the woman who first discovered coronaviruses, decades ago; cyber thugs are targeting health workers; “Isaac Newton invented calculus in self-isolation during the Great Plague. He didn’t have kids to look after”; “fake news is being fuelled by the top and bottom of society”;
good stories: “chefs
across the world are using their skills and resources to cook nutritious meals for
the vulnerable”; Brazil; e-Vesak; an Australian
community has helped refugees struggling with home-schooling; Ireland is returning the favour
with aid for Native Americans who assisted during the Great Famine; plant substitutes
for meat;
medical
aspects: “resilient
health systems can protect us from threats beyond COVID-19”; the
evidence supports
the efficacy of lockdowns; “eating well, exercising and managing stress can boost your immune system”; advice
on face masks; a mutation of the
SARS-Cov-2 virus could
be worse; more children have developed rare
infections linked to COVID-19; building
ventilation needs
to be addressed; video meetings are more
exhausting than face-to-face; the
pandemic is highlighting
some long-known but ignored problems with public toilets; lessons
from nations that have eased restrictions;
learn
from the 184 struggle to eradicate smallpox;
the evidence
shows jet-setting humans transmitted the virus; pledges
- the money hasn’t arrived - for funding to research a vaccine;
human rights aspects (crisis
. . . running summary of impacts on elections here): an employer
sounds like he would have been right at home in the losing side of the Harvester
case; in response to racist
incidents, “calls to simplify
and strengthen Australia's racial discrimination and vilification
processes”; workers in the USA; women; parents
of children with disabilities; Uganda; young
workers; media
restrictions - e.g., in the
Pacific and Liberia
- will limit
future media reporting; “lessons
from COVID-19 for 5G and internet security”; “ ‘no
excuse’ not to extend jobseeker to visa holders”; domestic violence in Russia have doubled; the privacy risks
with unnecessary requests for information in the contact tracing app; concerns about judge only trials; an attempt to
counter digital authoritarianism; disability
workers; human
trafficking; a woman who miscarried
was forced to stay
in quarantine; the need
to record racist attacks associated with the pandemic; an Israeli ethicist has been busy; USA; Mexico; those without
Internet;
Australia:
as
a staggering
privacy breach is revealed, it also emerges the privacy risking COVID-19 app - which could also
interfere
with diabetes monitoring apps - couldn’t
actually be used initially; strong
criticism of a bank for secretly
accessing members’ funds; the dehumanising jail-like experience of being forced
into quarantine in hotels (this shows the problems of the “thinking” of
people in security industries); a critique
of the neoliberal national government’s attitude towards helping the
unemployment; more prisoners are being bailed
because of the pandemic; many
Australians are concerned
about going out even if restrictions are eased; not
all workplaces can use physical distancing; a neoliberal national Minister has had to
back
down over an attack on a State Premier over school
closures; the need
to test unlawful migrant workers;
Australians support
visitor bans at aged care homes;
Aussies want government,
NOT business, to lead the
post-pandemic recovery; asylum seekers
have lodged
a legal claim for their safety; “newly
unemployed Australians [are being] ‘harassed
and threatened’ by job agencies”;
testing of aged care staff will not
be extended . . . ; another
attack
on Universities;
internationally: a review
of the approaches to implementing lockdown being taken by governments in Asia (some
are using fun); the basis
for Jordan’s success; POTUS45 has blocked the independently-minded expert
from testifying
to the US Congress; more inflammatory
insanity from one of POTUS45’s idiots;
India, which is notorious for privacy problems, has made use of its
contact tracing app mandatory
- see here
for an international comparison of apps;
Spain will require
masks and has set other conditions as part of easing the lockdown; the science
background of Germany’s leader has been an asset; some expats are staying
in Indonesia to give back out of a sense of moral obligation; allege” murder
of a security guard for ordering three people to wear masks - and a similar attempt
in Singapore; Spain has defined a quantitative basis for allowing easing of restrictions; POTUS45 will deliberately put more lives at
risk; Pakistan is (validly) concerned
at workers returning from the UAE with infections; Afghanistan; poverty setbacks
in Indonesia;
Africa: Guinea; Botswana will start easing
its restrictions; 190,000 could die
in Africa; Somalia; gender
aspects of Uganda’s response; the
pandemic is threatening
peace efforts; pandemic related
political concerns in Ethiopia,
Zimbabwe,
; ECOWAS has denied
that they endorsed a shonky backyard pseudo-“cure”; Egypt’s poor; fatally violent enforcement in Nigeria; Tanzania
- where the president is being an idiot; Morocco;
globally: criticism
of the UN Security Council, which has been paralysed by US-Chinese
tensions; more
pressure to open schools despite known
risks; supply
chains; cleaner
cooking fuels.
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