From the news on: politics & democracy, and international affairs

From the news on politics & democracy, and international affairs:

• “Conflict in Sudan Growing in Scope, Brutality as World Remains Silent”   https://www.voanews.com/a/conflict-in-sudan-growing-in-scope-brutality-as-world-remains-silent-/7345577.html   

• “The unchecked rise of theocracy will extinguish liberal democracy”   https://joanwestenberg.medium.com/the-unchecked-rise-of-theocracy-will-extinguish-liberal-democracy-93bc5a8b8dc2  

• “Michael Pascoe: The Trump threat is very real – and much worse than last time”   https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/opinion/2023/11/07/donald-trump-michael-pascoe   and   “How to "Beat" Trump (Again) and Why It Matters”   https://www.okdoomer.io/how-to-actually-beat-trump-again-and-why-it-matters/   

• “The eternal victimhood of the right-wing mind”   https://joanwestenberg.medium.com/the-eternal-victimhood-of-the-right-wing-mind-cc7558f1c660  
  

• “Democrats Are Playing with Fascism, and We're Getting Burned”   https://www.okdoomer.io/democrats-arent-fighting-fascism-theyre-helping-it/   “Why would Democrats do this?   It's simple.   Establishment Democrats don't want moderate Republicans running against them. It's hard to distinguish between the moderates of a two-party system that ultimately serves the elite. It forces political candidates to come up with original ideas that Americans would like and support.   They prefer a race to the bottom”  
  

• christo-fascist creationism has found its way into science   https://theconversation.com/a-new-theory-linking-evolution-and-physics-has-scientists-baffled-but-is-it-solving-a-problem-that-doesnt-exist-216639     

• US focused but some points worth considering for the rest of the world:   “What Jan. 6 Revealed About Q____ and Militias”   https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/what-jan.-6-revealed-about-q____-and-militias   

• from the USA:   “Dear Congress: Your Resolution against Rashida Tlaib is Delusional, full of Fake History and Falsehoods. Here's Why”   https://www.juancole.com/2023/11/resolution-delusional-falsehoods.html   
  

• “Australian judges are failing to protect society from violent extremism”   https://johnmenadue.com/australian-judges-are-failing-to-protect-society-from-violent-extremism/    
  

• “With the far right on the rise, it’s a bad time to live in Germany – but a worse time to leave”   https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/07/far-right-germany-afd-minorities   

• “South Africa faces growing xenophobia problem”   https://www.dw.com/en/south-africa-faces-growing-xenophobia-problem/a-67305882   

• “Much like Zimbabwe, Arab Spring birthplace Tunisia proposes shutting down civil society”   https://www.news24.com/news24/africa/news/much-like-zimbabwe-arab-spring-birthplace-tunisia-proposes-shutting-down-civil-society-20231108   
  

• “The New Humanitarian | What 8 Haitians make of a foreign intervention to tackle gang violence”   https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2023/11/09/what-haitians-make-of-foreign-intervention   

• “Somalia top judge vows to help journalists beat impunity”   https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/somalia-top-judge-vows-to-help-journalists-beat-impunity-4422402   “signalling the first time the judiciary is rallying to shield news people from dangers perpetrated sometimes by rogue government officials”   

• “Big four consultancy firm partners could be banned from being on board of regulator after PwC scandal”   https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/nov/08/big-four-consultancy-firm-partners-could-be-banned-from-being-on-board-of-regulator-after-pwc-scandal  
  

• “China ‘world’s biggest debt collector’ as poorer nations struggle with its loans”   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/06/china-worlds-biggest-debt-collector-as-poorer-nations-struggle-with-its-loans   

• in  a denial of reality that is likely to prolong war, suffering, and post-conflict consequences, “Zelenskiy denies Ukrainian general’s [realistic] claim war is at stalemate”   rather than seek a permanent but imperfect status quo settlement   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/05/zelenskiy-denies-ukrainian-generals-claim-war-is-at-stalemate   - see also   https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20231105-ukraine-s-zelensky-says-not-ready-for-talks-with-russia-unless-troops-withdraw   and   “The War in Ukraine Has Entered a New Phase” - Global Dispatches “The much anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive began in earnest in June and certainly made some gains, but nothing approaching expectations. Ukraine's top military commander admitted the conflict was a stalemate, likening it to the trench warfare of World War One. Meanwhile the world's attention has shifted to the Middle East and the future of American support for Ukraine is uncertain.  Joining me from Kyiv is journalist Tim Mak. He's been in Ukraine for most of the last two years to report on the war, first for NPR ans now on his substack publication called The Counter-Offensive with Tim Mak. We kick off discussing the current state of the war in Ukraine and the significance of the top commander's remarks. We then discuss how this seemingly bleak moment for Ukraine is impacting the lives of Ukrainians and the domestic political implications of a future in which an outright Ukrainian victory is looking less and less likely.”   Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/global-dispatches-world-news-that-matters/id593535863?i=1000634211568   and, of grave concern,   “Frontline Facilitators: How Secretive UK Partnerships Supply Wartime Russia”   https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2023/11/03/frontline-facilitators-how-secretive-uk-partnerships-supply-wartime-russia/   which should be stopped - and those involved named and shamed   and also, a reminder that “Russians not collectively to blame for Ukraine war”   https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/11/1143322  
  

 

• this analysis of a  US resolution may have lessons for Australia, if we ever get around to attempting to ensure Parliament, and not the executive can declare war:   “The Underappreciated Legacy of the War Powers Resolution”   https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-underappreciated-legacy-of-the-war-powers-resolution   

• “Prisons will never be safe, but returning them to public ownership is a step in the right direction - ALS”   https://nit.com.au/06-11-2023/8479/prisons-will-never-be-safe-but-returning-them-to-public-ownership-is-a-step-in-the-right-direction-aboriginal-legal-service-nsw   
  

• “Up to 180 staff leaving Services Australia each month amid growing delays for Centrelink services | Centrelink”   https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/nov/07/centrelink-workers-quitting-services-australia-staff-satisfaction   
  

 

• according to a The Guardian exclusive, a survey initiated by the former (neolib) NSW state government that included racist/xenophobic dog whistling about Federal matters has been stopped   https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/nov/10/nsw-immigrants-wellbeing-surveys-australian-jobs-scrapped  
  

• “Revealed: Home Affairs paying to access controversial tool tracking mobile phone movements”   “Agency has had access to Locate X since at least 2021, documents show, amid questions about use of data that may contain people’s sensitive information.    Home Affairs has paid an American intelligence company to access Locate X, a controversial tool that can track the movement of smartphones.”   https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/nov/06/home-affairs-locate-x-paying-mobile-phone-tracking-tool   On similar concerns in the USA (where laws are possibly better on this matter [but are definitely much worse on many other matters),   “When the Government Buys Sensitive Personal Data”   https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/when-the-government-buys-sensitive-personal-data   On cyber security generally,   “‘Scam-in-a-box’: MyGov suspends thousands of accounts linked to dark web kits”   https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/nov/06/scam-in-a-box-mygov-suspends-thousands-of-accounts-linked-to-dark-web-kits   “The scams were attractive to cybercriminals as many Australians used one password for their accounts. The attacks require minimum effort for a valuable reward.”    

• “Almost 2 million Workforce Australia payments have been suspended in the past year, with devastating impact”   https://theconversation.com/almost-2-million-workforce-australia-payments-have-been-suspended-in-the-past-year-with-devastating-impact-216752   “in the 16 months the contracted-out system has been running, almost 2 million income support payments have been suspended, affecting 70% of participants”    

 

• “5 reasons news stories about research need source diversity”   https://journalistsresource.org/race-and-gender/5-reasons-news-stories-about-research-need-source-diversity/  
  

 

• “Explained: How banks abuse their ‘social licence’ while raking in rate-hike profits”   https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/finance/finance-news/2023/11/10/banks-interest-rates-profit   

• “What caused the Optus outage and how it exposed Australia’s communications framework”   https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/finance/consumer/2023/11/08/optus-outage-cause-resiliency   “Dr Mark Gregory, senior lecturer at RMIT University’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, said the outage shows that telecommunications companies are still “running on single points of failure”.”    and   “Optus network outage may have been caused by same issue that brought Facebook down in 2021”   https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/nov/08/optus-network-outage-cause-what-happened-explained   “Australian IT company says ‘configuration issue’ may have been behind nationwide outage ... The lengthy outage of Optus’s internet and mobile services across the country could have been caused by the same issue that brought down Facebook two years ago, experts suggest.”   which has led to   “Govt announces outage ‘review’, as Optus promises to ‘reward’ loyal customers”   https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/2023/11/09/optus-ceo-responds-to-outage  On that, cyber security information in Australia (see https://www.cyber.gov.au/learn-basics/view-resources/resources-library) is now available in languages other than English - https://www.cyber.gov.au/translated  

 

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. 

 

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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.