From the news - abuse/misuse/failure to use power and counteractions

Abuse/misuse/failure to use power is a them from recent news, and includes failure to support humanitarian aid, racist abuse by a governmental organ, abuse of opportunities to provide spiritual support to instead enable proselytising, and silencing & denial of aid and justice of sexual assault and gender based victims. 

On the other hand, the news also include external support for a democracy under attack, a quest for legal duty of care regarding the climate crisis, a counter to scaremongering * , and protests against democracy threatening changes.

Yes, there are problems in the world, but some people are doing their best to address those, and it is worth joining them - no matter how powerless you may feel. 

Some useful links below. 

 * This included: 

“I reminded them of the scaremongering that has happened before when the nation has been on the cusp of change. We were told that cattle stations would go broke if Aboriginal stockmen won equal pay. We were warned we would lose our backyards if the Gurindji people received a handful of sand, and if Mabo proved Native Title in the High Court. So, here we are again. But Australians aren’t so gullible. ... I am buoyed by the upswell of activity for yes across the nation. We are almost at 20,000 volunteers and the numbers are rising rapidly, by the day.”

 

If they are of any use of interest, the activism information links from my former news posts are available in this post. 

 

If you appreciated this post, please consider promoting it - there are some links below.

Vote Yes for the Voice in Australia.  

Finally, remember: we need to be more human being rather than human doing.

 

The breadth and depth of First Australians' views

One of my online pleasures is watching the inaugural speeches of representatives to the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria. I did that for the first Assembly, and have almost done so now for the second Assembly, and I strongly recommend it to all who have an interest in Indigenous rights and the Voice as a way to learn of and appreciate the rich diversity and depth of First People.

First People are NOT a homogenous lump of uniformity: there is the richness of diversity, which I suspect is a key part of how the First Nations of Bandaiyan (which is a word from people in the Kimberley for what is also known as Australia - which always was, always will be, Aboriginal land) were so successful over tens of millennia. 

You can find the speeches at https://www.youtube.com/@firstpeoplesassemblyofvictoria/videos, and more information on the members at https://www.firstpeoplesvic.org/the-assembly/, and the journey at https://www.firstpeoplesvic.org/treaty/.

 

 

If they are of any use of interest, the activism information links from my former news posts are available in this post. 

 

If you appreciated this post, please consider promoting it - there are some links below.

Vote Yes for the Voice in Australia.  

Finally, remember: we need to be more human being rather than human doing.

 

Some links and thoughts on The Voice referendum, systemic racism in Queensland, and colonialism

I read an interesting article pointing out that Australia's forthcoming referendum on the Voice to Parliament also has potential global ramifications.  Fortunately, I also attended a meeting on the Voice which left me more encouraged about the possibility of a successful outcome - largely because most people are not engaged with the referendum, and are thus open to good, factual information. And the need for the Voice has been illustrated by criticism of Queensland’s 19^th century approach to youth justice - from here: 

“The Queensland government must listen to the voices of Indigenous people if it’s to reckon with its “oxymoronic” approach to youth justice and stop breaking its commitment to close the gap, advocates say.”

And on amathiac matters, it was pleasing to read of so many using court cases to hold the powerful and key decision makers to account for their role in creating and/or perpetuating and/or exacerbating the devastating climate crisis.

Going back to discrimination, the effects of colonialism - such as that which led to the problems in Queensland and many other problems - have been criticised in France, where colonialism and other cultural problems played a key role in the recent unrest ...  and the police are still defiantly holding to their white supremacism. 

Action can be taken on these matters - a wide range of actions. One of the simplest is to write to elected representatives drawing their attention to news reports such as those I have just linked to, and asking them to consider what could be done about the problems. 

On its own, one such letter or email doesn't make a big impact: when, as Amnesty International has shown, it is part of a flood, it can.

 

If they are of any use of interest, the activism information links from my former news posts are available in this post. 

 

If you appreciated this post, please consider promoting it - there are some links below.

Vote Yes for the Voice in Australia.  

Finally, remember: we need to be more human being rather than human doing.

 

Links for activism

PS - additional links from other sources: 

• from   https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/gciv-1949?activeTab=undefined   of   https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/geneva-conventions-1949additional-protocols-and-their-commentaries   of   https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/historical-treaties-and-documents:
• Article 33 - Individual responsibility, collective penalties, pillage, reprisals, of Convention (IV) - Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of the Geneva Conventions of 1949: No collective punishment - https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/gciv-1949/article-33;
  
• ratifications of, and reservations to, international treaties at (interactive page):   https://indicators.ohchr.org/  
• “Can Social Media Activism Actually Work? - PBS Voices”   https://youtu.be/0IkQ-AxJb8A?si=dG_cJ1dev7lSr37E   Yes, is the answer - if it is done correctly   
• “(efficacy of) nonviolent protests”   https://gnwmythrsglossary.blogspot.com/2023/04/efficacy-of-nonviolent-protests.html   including links to   “Post No. 1,614 - How Large Do Movements Have to Be to Succeed?”   https://gnwmythr.blogspot.com/2020/07/post-no-1614-how-large-do-movements.html   and   “Powering Learning about Nonviolent Action”   https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/index.php/   “The Global Nonviolent Action Database provides free access to information about hundreds of cases of nonviolent action, from all continents and most countries, for learning and for citizen action. The database is a project of Swarthmore College”   and https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/browse   &   https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/search/node?keys=  
  

•  

 

Now that I am no longer going to publish a weekly news post (for the time being, at least), I thought it might be useful to summarise the links I had in the sub-headings of those posts, so here you are. (I’ve basically just copied the subheadings here.) 

• on the CLIMATE CRISIS (noting the UNFCCC) and ENVIRONMENT (noting multiple  international agreements)
  
  
• on NATURAL and OTHER DISASTERS (noting Article 1(3) of the UN Charter) 
  
  
• on MISGOVERNANCE, MAL-/MIS-/NON-FEASANCE, MISCONDUCT, CORRUPTION (noting international  agreements and monitoring)
  
  
• on INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS (noting the UN Charter [particularly Chapters VI and VII] and numerous  international  treaties): 
• noting particularly Chapters VI and VII of the UN Charter, the 1928 Pact of Paris used in post-WW2 trials, the "laws" of war and IHL and Article 20 of the ICCPR on WAR / CONFLICT:  
  
  
• on DEMOCRACY, SOVEREIGNTY / SELF-DETERMINATION, AND GOVERNANCE (noting Article 25 of the ICCPR and monitoring  projects):
  
  
• on HUMAN RIGHTS (noting the various rights and treaties summarised here, IHL, Article 5 of the Rome Statute founding the ICC):
  
• noting the GENOCIDE  Convention:  
  
  
• noting Article 6 (4) (5) (6) of the ICCPR,   this, and this on the DEATH PENALTY:  
  
  
• noting Article 6 (1) of the ICCPR,   Article 6 of the CRC,   Articles 15 and 17 of the CRPD,   and   Articles 7 and 43 of the DRIP on the RIGHT to LIFE and PERSONAL INTEGRITY
  
  
• noting Article 19 of the ICCPR on FREEDOM of POLITICAL EXPRESSION
  
  
• noting Article 7 of the ICCPR,   and   the CAT on TORTURE 
  
  
• noting the conventions and the Global Compact on REFUGEES
  
  
• noting the Yogyakarta Principles on LGBTIQ+ PEOPLE
  
  
• noting ICERD and DRIP on RACISM
  
  
• noting CEDAW on SEXISM
  
  
• noting the laws listed here, the conventions listed here, and principles discussed here, here, here, here, and here, on ANIMALS and the RIGHTS OF ANIMALS and other forms of life
  
  
• noting Article 17 of the ICCPR,   Article 16 of the CRC,   Article 22 of the CRPD,   and   Article 12 (1) of the DRIP on PRIVACY
  
  
• noting Article 8 of the ICCPR,   Article 6 of the CEDAW,   Articles 11, and 32 - 36 of the CRC,   Articles 16 and 27 (2) of the CRPD on SLAVERY
  
  
• noting Articles 2 (1) (also noting this, this, this, and this), 3, 7, 14 (see here and here), 15, 16, and 26 of the ICCPR,   Articles 3, 5 (a), and 6 (see here and here) of the ICERD,   Articles 2, 12 (2), 37, 39, and 40 of the CRC,   Articles 5, 12, 13, and 14 of the CRPD,   and   Articles 1 - 2, 7 (2), 8 (2) (c), 9 - 10, 12 (2), 20 (2), 27, and 40 of the DRIP on the JUDICIARY / JUSTICE SYSTEM
  
  
• noting the CRC on CHILDREN
  
  
• noting the CRPD on PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
  
  
• noting Articles 6 (1), 7, and 8 (see here) of the ICESCR,   Article 5 (e) (i) (ii) (see here and here) of the ICERD,   Article 11 (1) (a - c) of the CEDAW,   and   Article 27 (1) of the CRPD on WORK and FAVOURABLE WORK CONDITIONS
  
  
• noting Article 6 (1) of the ICCPR,   Article 11 of the ICESCR,   Article 5 (e) (iii) (see here and here) of the ICERD,   Article 14 (2) (h) of the CEDAW,   Article 27 (3) of the CRC,   Article 28 of the CRPD,   and   Article 20 of the DRIP on FOOD, CLOTHING, and HOUSING 
  
  
• noting Article 9 of the ICESCR,   Article 5 (e) (iv) (see here and here) of the ICERD,   Articles 11 (1) (e), 13 (a), and 14 (2) (c) of the CEDAW,    Article 26 of the CRC,   Article 28 (2) of the CRPD,   Article 21 of the DRIP,   and   ILO conventions on SOCIAL SECURITY
  

Should you elect to write to your elected representatives or others on these matters, it may be useful to familiarise yourself with the links shown above - or to at least refer to them. Don't forget to CHECK whether your nation has RATIFIED the treaty concerned. 

Should you wish to use the news links I referred to, the ones I consider better are: 

3KND radio - 3KND;     Aeon Magazine - Aeon;    Africa Centre for Strategic Studies - ACSS;     Africa News - AN;   Al Jazeera - AJ;     All Africa - AA;     Amnesty International - AI;     Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project - ACLED;     Associated Press - AP;     Australian Broadcasting Corporation - ABC ^TP ;     Australian Independent Media Network - AIMN;     Australian Unions - AU;     Barrons;     Bellingcat (B);     Bloomberg - BB;     Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - CBC;     Centre for Strategic and International Studies - CSIS;     Committee to Protect Journalists - CPJ;     Context - CT;   the (US) Council on Foreign Relations (CFR);     Crikey - C [$];     Dabanga Sudan - DS;     Deutsche Welle - DW;     European Union - EU;     Forbes - F;     Foreign Policy - FP;     France 24 - F24 ^TP ;     Freedom House - FH;     Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect - GCR2P;     Good News Network - GNN;     HumAngle - HmA;     Human Rights Law Centre - HRLC;     Human Rights Watch - HRW;     Independent Australia - IA;     International Crisis Group - ICG;     Jessica Wildfire (Substack) - JW;     Juan Cole Informed Comment - JC;     Just Equal - JE;     Lawfare Blog - LFB;     Le Monde - LM;     LGBT Nation;     Lowy Institute - The Interpreter - Lowy;     Mary L Trump - MLT;     Medium - M;     Michael West (news media platform) - MW;     Middle East Eye - MEE;     Minority Rights Group - MRG;     Mother Jones - MJ;     Nation Africa - NA;     National Indigenous Television - NITV;     National Indigenous Times - NIT;     Nature Magazine - Nature;     Pearls and Irritations - PnI;     Pink News - PN;     Political Violence at a Glance - PVG;     Premium Times Nigeria - PT;     ProPublica - PP;     Q News - QN;     Radio France International - rfi;     Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE);     Renew Economy - RE;      Reuters - R;     Robert Reich - RR;     (Bruce) Schneier - Sch;     Special Broadcasting Service - SBS;     Star Observer - Star;     Sudan Tribune - ST;     Teri Kanefield - TK;     The Big Smoke (TBS);     The Conversation - TC ^TP ;     The East African - TEA;     The Guardian - TG;     The (Nigerian) Guardian - TG-N;     The Hindu - TH;     The Monthly - TM;     The New Daily - TND;     The New Humanitarian - TNH;      Timothy Snyder - TS;     Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA;     United Nations - UN;     Voice of America - VoA;     War on the Rocks - WotR.   

Note: news sources are never perfectly accurate or good - for instance, some have been transphobic (which is why I may, for instance, cancel email subscriptions), but may be good in other areas (e.g., racism) - and attributes may vary depending on region and over time. I do NOT provide an unqualified endorsement of ANY of the media sources I use. Sources with evidence of possibly being - or having been, at some stage - transphobic may be marked with a ^TP . 

 

If you appreciated this post, please consider promoting it - there are some links below.

Remember: we need to be more human being rather than human doing, and all misgendering is an act of active transphobia/transmisia that puts trans+ lives at risk & accept that all insistence on the use of “trans” as a descriptor comes with commensurate use of “cis” as a descriptor to prevent “othering”.

Copyright © Kayleen White 2016-2024     NO AI   I do not consent to any machine learning aka Artificial Intelligence (AI), generative AI, large language model, machine learning, chatbot, or other automated analysis, generative process, or replication program to reproduce, mimic, remix, summarise, or otherwise  replicate any part of this post or other posts on this blog via any means. Typo’s may be inserrted deliberately to demonstrate this is not an AI product.     Otherwise, fair and reasonable use is accepted under Creative Commons 4.0 on an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike basis   https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/  

 

In today's news: more abuses of power

Today’s news reports include more prominent indications of abuse of power - including the incompetence of economists who ignore obscene profits made by Australian companies and evidence that high and fatal unemployment is not needed to manage inflation. These abuses of power are, in my opinion, often largely connected to our patriarchal society - which evidence suggests was dated back to the start of agriculture in Europe ... and which started because people were/allowed themselves to be duped, rather than saying “no, that’s not how we do things or wants things to be”, as was the case in, for example, Australian aboriginal nations. 

The costs of those abuses of power include: 

• avoidable disasters; 
• people not being able to afford cancer treatment - here, in Australia, not the USA ... and the situation is even worse elsewhere; 
• lazy and, frankly, extremist applications of ideas that are, in some circumstances, a good idea - not mention extremist abuses of power like this; 
• continued revelations of the deliberate, malicious cruelty of our offshore jails for refugees; 
• failure to address or even properly recognise intersectionality (I will, incidentally, now try to remember to use the acronym LGBTQIASB+); and 
• more allegations of long term denialism and cover ups regarding UAPs/UFOs/ETs (the claims are spectacular, and have been made in official circumstances, but what comes next is an open, transparent and objective investigation).
  

At least some people with power are standing up to the abuses. It is worth keeping that in mind, and be as ethical  as you can in all you do. 

 

Possible flaws 

Where I can, I will try to highlight possible flaws / issues you should consider:

• there may be flawed logical arguments in the above: to find out more about such flaws and thinking generally, I recommend Brendan  Myers’ free online course “Clear and Present Thinking”; 
  
• I could be wrong - so keep your thinking caps on, and make up your own minds for yourself.
  

 

If you appreciated this post, please consider promoting it - there are some links below.

Vote Yes for the Voice in Australia.  

Finally, remember: we need to be more human being rather than human doing.