On Uganda, Burma, and from the news

Having just watched the video shown at the start of trump's second impeachment, that was a full-blown violent insurrection (it was a miracle more people weren't killed). And the, as all conspiracy fantasists are by definition, simple-minded (but well organised) thugs are clearly intending to do so again - but more violently. 

I consider it worth noting which US Republicans have  supported integrity and decency, as the others (many of whom who were such cowards that they LOOKED AWAY FROM THE VIDEO) are, IMO, "accessories after the fact" to violent insurrection.  

It is also important to be aware of how white supremacists use "soft" power.

On Uganda this week: 

• more on the disappearances being committed at present (some sources have told me the number could be up to 3,000); 
• the EU has called for tough actions against Ugandan government officials;
  
• an interview on how Uganda could move into democracy (note:I do not agree with all of this); 
• the results show the ruling party has lost a considerable amount of support; 
  
• a call for the African Union to focus on human rights; 
• "the newly elected youth members of parliament across the country's five regions have ... urged those whose relatives and friends have been abducted in recent months to seek redress from courts of Law"; 
• "Africa’s dalliance with western-style democracy is in danger of being hijacked by a new ‘enlightened’ authoritarianism that serves at the altar of dictatorship while performing the rituals of electoral politics".

I consider it unlikely the fraudulent election result in Uganda will be overturned this time (the current  corruption is too entrenched): once Museveni eases up on his spree of spite - vicious, often fatal spite, it will be time to begin planning for the next election, and CANVAS may be a place to look to for training (see here, here, here, and here, for instance), although that may require human rights defenders/organisations outside Uganda to help with funding for travel etc. In addition, the suggestions in this podcast may be worth considering. 

However, as the ruling party has clearly lost a lot of support, maybe nothing else is needed other than the continuing growth of the influence of younger people and the decline of Museveni ...

But that would need something like a truth and reconciliation commission afterwards.

On Burma this week: 

• parallels between the coup in Burma and that in Thailand - with latter holding on to power despite promises to hand it back after a year; 
• as the USA imposes targetted sanctions leading to claims 23,000 prisoners have been released in response (but Australia refuses - and probably continues its highly secretive military aid), a call for a major oil company to stop bankrolling the burmese military - including a petition; 
• escalating  (and now lethal)  violence  against  continuing protests - which the UN has called out - including united ethnic minorities;
  
• the Burmese people will not give up, and the anti-coup movement in Burma has a VERY broad base (it's by no means limited to those who support the thoroughly discredited racist figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi) and has links to pro-democracy movements in Thailand and Hong Kong (known as the "milky tea alliance");
  
• based on past history, fears of a media shut down; 
• fears the military will - again - use the coup to grab Indigenous land; 
• the coup leaders in Burma are talking to nominally post-coup Thailand . . . ; 
• a review of the burmese military.

From the news this week:

• a survivor of a murder attempt by the notorious cultist Jim  Jones has described trump as "a  political cult leader". I consider this a significant and very accurate assessment - and such slavish, cultish adherence to a leader is a strong indicator of fascism . . .
  Meanwhile, apart from a second impeachment, which I consider is doomed to failure because of lack of morality/integrity and courage on the part of the US republicans, trump is also facing investigation over other matters - including his phone call to attempt to overturn the election result in the US state of Georgia and his business dealings; 
• genocide warnings for Turkey and Kashmir;  
• internet cuts are the "favoured tool" of repressive regimes; 
• Egypt has been urged to remove activists from its so-called ‘terrorist’ list;
  
• in a concerning development, Iran may seek to buy nuclear weapons.
  Can US President Biden reverse the damage done by #45 in time?; 
  
• risks that ethnic conflicts could re-ignite the conflict in Darfur, Sudan.
  Perhaps the AU-UN  peacekeeping  mission should be re-established . . . ?; 
• recommendations for achieving peace in Tigray, Ethiopia;  
• a report has found that "the Tigray conflict could have been prevented if the continent acted on early signs", and the "AU conflict warning system needs urgent upgrade"; 
  
• "a detailed analysis of all the available evidence of the economic cartels and the business people and politicians behind them who have captured the resources and government of Zimbabwe to serve their own interests."
  This analysis is likely to have useful information for other nations in Africa; 
• recommendations for South Sudan's future; 
• "Cameroon’s ethno-political pensions and [social media] are a deadly mix";
  
• Germany will support the protestors in Belarus; 
• there is a risk that the conflict in eastern Ukraine between Ukraine and Russia (the latter acting through a front) may flare up;  
• the myopia of Westerners about westernisation;
  
• why Australia should care about tensions between Taiwan and China; 
  
• "Kevin Rudd has made blistering accusations that News Corp runs a “protection racket” for the government and acts to “radicalise” Australians, drawing links between founder Rupert Murdoch and the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6";  
• an assessment of the demands on Australia's military raises the question: why not have a third force, apart from the serving and reserve military, which is trained and equipped for peacekeeping
  
• in another blow to democracy there, silencing of independent media in increasingly bigotted and fascistic Hungary;
  
• Sweden is utterly destroying ALL its credibility, IMO; 
• China may be moving towards toxic masculinity; 
• thoughts of a Moldovan youth advisor; 
• an utterly idiotic bureaucrat in the bureaucracy that delivered the mass-killing  robodebt and other abuses has decided it would be a good thing to avoid delivering services to "difficult" (read vulnerable, frustrated, and abused) citizens of Australia . . . Unsurprisingly, they've been forced to back down; 
• strong ethical questions after terrifying revelations that AI can manipulate how people think (see this recent call for protection of human rights against AI); 
• lessons for doctors on communication - including NEVER ridicule patients! (I would quite specifically include fat shaming in that).