Some (mostly) human rights links and thoughts

Black Lives Matter! Be Anti-Racist, Anti-Sexist, and Actively Inclusive in ALL Areas.
The Climate Crisis is real, urgent and existential!

The Pandemic is Real, and Vaccinations save lives. Stay safe - wash your hands, practice social distancing and wear a face mask in public, 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.

Some human rights (including significant, relevant links in other fields - such as geopolitics, democracy, or authoritarianism) links: 

• on the climate crisis and environmental issues: 
• a major funding boost to the export-solar-power-from-Australia project;   conservationists have bought a fishing licence to create a net-free zone;   "trees: why they’re our greatest allies against floods – but also tragic victims";   the Supreme Court has undone decades of climate crisis activism and moved contrary to other courts around the world (but the arguments made should be read and taken into account - they show political, policy, and judicial inadequacies that may);   "final talks on U.N. biodiversity pact open in shadow of Ukraine";   a call for corporations to stop lobbying against the planet having a future;   a warning not to be distracted by series of disasters now from the causative climate crisis;   the national neolib nitwits have politicised the climate crisis;   a sustainable way of manufacturing steel (and other products) is being developed - and Australia could benefit from that, given good leadership . . . ;   the Great Barrier Reef is having a massive bleaching event;  
  
  
• on the COVID pandemic: 
• China is facing its worst ever outbreak as France appears to have reopened too early,  Victoria is asked to keep mask rules for key workers, and the WHO warns against complacency;  
   
  
• on Putin and his cronies' illegal invasion of Ukraine: 
  
• protests by Russians against backward  lashing-out  Putin's invasion using Russia's demoralised military - which the ICJ has ordered to stop - continue - as does the violent repression;   the Russian Orthodox Church in the Netherlands has split with its Russian heads;   
• Ukraine has acknowledged it will not become a member of NATO;   a warning against the simplistic "the enemy of my enemy is friend";  
  
• an assessment of the risks of the war widening (interesting and important comment that Russia has only mobilised tactical, not strategic, nuclear weapons);   Lithuania, which has borders with Russia to the east and west - has declared a state of emergency;   China - which is conflicted but inclined to blame the West anyway - has been warned by the USA not to enable Russia to get around sanctions;  thoughts on limiting the spread of violence by neighbouring authoritarian nations;  
  
• another warning on the developing global food crisis - which is being exacerbated by Russia's blockade of hundreds of grain-laden ships trying to leave the Black Sea;  
  
• a perspective on human rights and the invasion;   why some people are staying in Ukraine (reasons include, for instance, caring for elderly or others unable to move);   the mixtures ("silence and violence") for those living in Ukraine;   a misogynist extremist group is backing Putin;   more disturbing accounts of racism by Ukraine (one African woman reports being beaten severely enough to cause an early onset of her period);   the attacks on civilians - and  hospitals - are continuing, although they are considered war crimes but not genocide;   an interesting reflection on courage;   Russia has ended its pretence of caring about any human rights by leaving the Council of Europe's human rights body;  
  
• how to archive social media content for future use, and the importance of verification - see also here, on the opportunities and risks of social media, and here, on the benefits of "a little" media freedom;   China and a conspiracy fantasy group are embracing Putin's lies;   Russia's collapsing internet;   Putin's use of Orwellian  doublespeak;   a history-based series putting the current war into context is continuing;   social media is blocking hate speech against Ukrainians, but not Russians;  
  
  
• on international affairs: 
• a dozen ballistic missiles, suspected to have been launched by Iran, have hit a Kurdish city in Iraq - for fortunately with no fatalities, but one civilian injury; 
• a call to "trump-proof" the USA's nuclear codes; 
• "rising US isolationism means Australia must become more resilient and autonomous";
   
  
• on democracy: 
• protests in favour of democracy in Tunisia and Sudan, where security forces gang raped a woman;
  
• the opposition in Zimbabwe are being suppressed by police; 
• "men frequently follow their parents’ political outlooks while their sisters more often reject conservative thinking"; 
• Ministerial staff are being taught how to subvert Senate estimates reviews; 
   
• on human rights: 
• Saudi Arabia has killed 81 people, including children, for alleged terrorism and "deviant beliefs";   as the humanitarian crisis continues in Tigray, Ethiopian soldiers burned civilians alive and executed three aid workers;   violence in Mali;   more disturbing details of the USA's training of people to use torture on detainees;   Russian mercenaries have been torturing civilians in Mali;  
  
• another ethnic group is being victimised by China;  
  
• a powerful  backlash against a US state's vicious transphobic attack on children;   the solid medical foundation for supporting TGD children;   NSW police have provided a lip service  apology for their terrifying pro-Putin, homo- and bi-phobic, ableist actions against a 78er at the recent Mardi Gras (how about apologising to Ukraine also?);   in the UK police are homophobic, misogynistic, and racist (I know someone who left the UK police in disgust at exactly that sort of behaviour);    an apology by a newspaper for more than a century of destroying TGD lives;  
  
• more evidence of the extensive and developed economy of Indigenous Australians before the white invasion;   "almost half the massacres of Aboriginal people were by police or other government forces" (which cannot be a surprise given recent pro-Putin and long standing anti-LGBTIQ, racist and misogynistic behaviour by police - where is their apology to Indigenous people?);   activism will continue despite woeful reporting on Indigenous issues in Australia;  a cultural fisheries programme will be launched for Tasmania's Indigenous people;   grave and disturbing revelations about the police officer acquitted of murder - and his father;   continuing Indigenous housing problems;  
  
• a call for Egypt to stop prosecuting women who speak out against sexual violence;   "men think they’re brighter than they are and women underestimate their IQ. Why?";   Ecuadorian police abused women peacefully marching on IWD;   the UN Secretary-General has said that "gender equality [is a] ‘fundamental prerequisite’ for peaceful, sustainable world";   domestic violence survivors will be given assistance to scan phones and homes for spyware/surveillance cameras;  
  
• "Muslims in Australia experienced [a] surge of hate after Christchurch massacre" (mostly expressed by the cowards against women) - which is continuing violently;   
• a possible step towards justice in the DR Congo;   attacks in Burkina Faso;   the violent misogynists in power in Afghanistan - which has a massive food  crisis - have killed hundreds of civilians;   more info on the "NGO Group" and Pegasus no-click spyware that is being exported to despots;
  
• murder and suppression of journalists;   ore
  
• asylum seekers have been released from jail in Australia without any support; 
• people in India are fighting for the right to be forgotten online;
  
  
• on corruption and misgovernance: 
• powerful criticism of the national neolib nitwits by former emergency service leaders of the inept / lacking response to the still continuing flood crisis;  the national neolib nitwits have successfully crippled the human rights commission;  
  
• revelations of misuse of money by public trustees - see also this;   
• a restructure two years ago led to warnings then that it would harm the NSW SES's ability to respond to disasters such as the recent floods; 
• the need to protect whistleblowers in Africa;  
   
• on natural disasters: 
• major damage from a cyclone in Mozambique;   
• lack of funds to address drought in Somalia;
   
  
• the slowly developing and isolating problem of insomnia; 
• inadequate quality of rental properties for heat waves;   
• an apparently one sided ban on a political symbol (the Eureka flag, but not right wing / extremist symbols) - including on projects not connected to the Commonwealth;
• some decent businesses are rallying behind to move to give gig workers paid sick leave;