From the news on: politics [Note: Content Warning - links to reports on extremism, politics, weapons, refugees/asylum seekers, bigotry/hate, violence/abuse/war. Reader discretion is advised]

Note: CONTENT WARNING - some of this content is about upsetting, disturbing or triggering events & attitudes. Seek competent help - including professional - if you need it. Content shown in green (which may be only part of a news story) is about what is generally considered “good news”, but personal history may still make such events triggering. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that linked articles may contains names and/or images of deceased people. READER CAUTION IS RECOMMENDED! For anyone distressed by anything in this post, or for any other reason considering seeking support, resources are available in Australia here, here, and here. In other nations, you will have to do an Internet search using terms such as “mental health support - <your nation>” (which, for instance, may lead to this, this, and this, in the USA, or this, this, and this, in France [biased towards English-language - my apologies]), or perhaps try https://www.befrienders.org/.  

From recent news on politics;

• “Europe’s rightward drift is not set in stone: our new research should give hope to the left”   https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/sep/26/europe-right-research-left-voting-data-julia-cage-thomas-piketty    

• “Proposed law could protect academic freedom across Europe”   https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03006-5   
  

• “Gerontocracy”   https://www.sarahchayes.org/post/gerontocracy   

• “NZ’s political leaders are ignoring the mounting threats from AI – and that’s putting everyone at risk”   https://theconversation.com/nzs-political-leaders-are-ignoring-the-mounting-threats-from-ai-and-thats-putting-everyone-at-risk-214714   

• “AI: Voice cloning tech emerges in Sudan civil war”   https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-66987869   

• “Murdoch to Murdoch”   https://theaimn.com/murdoch-to-murdoch/   “News Corp is best described as a conservative social engineering project disguised as a news media company.”   

• “Basic income is less radical than you think”   https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2023/10/13/23914745/basic-income-radical-economy-poverty-capitalism-taxes   “A world with basic income is one of less poverty and higher taxes, not utopia or collapse. ... Radical ideas have their place. They can stretch our collective imagination, and keep us from falling victim to the belief that there are no fundamental alternatives to the present arrangement of our world. But basic income doesn’t have to be one of them, and shedding that association offers at least two payoffs”  
  

 

On international politics; 

• “Russia’s strategy in sending tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus”   https://www.gisreportsonline.com/r/russia-belarus-nuclear/   

• “Sudan-Iran reconciliation raises concerns”   https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/sudan-iran-reconciliation-raises-concerns   “In an exclusive interview with Radio Dabanga, Sudanese political science professor Salah El Douma warns that this move reflects “El Burhan’s pursuit of resources and weaponry, amid concerns about legitimacy”.”  

• “New Zealand didn’t want to lurch to the right; it just wanted change. It doesn’t know what it’s in for”   https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/14/new-zealand-didnt-want-to-lurch-to-the-right-it-just-wanted-change-it-doesnt-know-what-its-in-for  
  

 

And on Australian politics in particular:

• “Where’s the money gone? PNG secret deal leaves refugees without food vouchers or allowances. Transport cut, medical treatment under threat”   https://theaimn.com/wheres-the-money-gone/   
  

• “Supermarket regulation remains a tough sell in Australia”   https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/consumer/2023/10/10/supermarkets-prices/   “While Canada strong-arms supermarkets into lowering prices with threats of increased taxes and regulation, even government intervention will struggle to keep Australia’s duopoly honest and grocery bills low”   

• “Let’s not kid ourselves: ‘_____ification’ is becoming our problem, too”   https://theconversation.com/lets-not-kid-ourselves-trumpification-is-becoming-our-problem-too-215071    

• “Alan Kohler: The absence of strikes in Australia is not healthy”   https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/work/2023/10/12/alan-kohler-australia-strikes/   

• “Aussies have the greatest mortgage stress in the world: IMF”   https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/finance-news/2023/10/11/mortgage-interest-rates-october/   

• “Rodney Croome writes about rescuing the consultation process for the government’s national LGBTIQA+ health action plan”   https://qnews.com.au/national-lgbtiqa-health-action-plan/    “the paper guiding the consultation contains two glaring omissions.   First, it doesn’t mention the social, cultural and historical factors that drive down LGBTIQA+ health outcomes. Those include prejudice, stigma, invisibility, discrimination, and unequal laws.   Second, it doesn’t explicitly focus on funding services we know are essential to solving the problems discrimination causes”   
  

From my links for activism post to aid any activism you decide to do:

• 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 Article 19 of the ICCPR on FREEDOM of POLITICAL EXPRESSION
  
  
• noting the conventions and the Global Compact on REFUGEES
  
  
• noting the Yogyakarta Principles on LGBTIQ+ PEOPLE
  
  

 

Assumptions / basis 

In writing this, I have assumed / started from the following: 

• this blog states quite clearly that it is about political and human rights matters, including lived experience of problems, and thus I will assume readers are reasonable people who have noted the content warning in the post header;

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 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.

Remember: we need to be more human being rather than human doing.