From this week’s news on: human rights and humanitarian aid [Note: Content Warning - links to distressing reports on this topic. 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. 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/. 

Note: in my “from the news” posts, quotes are shown italicised and blue, my comments are in a different shade of blue, and “good” items are shown in green. I have loosely grouped the posts where such seemed reasonable, but that is subjective (i.e., my opinion - others are free to disagree), and challenging, as some posts belong in multiple “groups”.

From this week’s news on human rights (note: I may continue to add links for a few days, possibly up to a week, after these are published), noting that many issues have probably not made it into the news that I see: 

• “Indonesian students evict Rohingya from shelter demanding deportation | Rohingya News | Al Jazeera”   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/27/indonesian-students-evict-rohingya-from-shelter-demanding-deportation   This xenophobic hate is of concern - and likely not in accordance with Indonesia's founding principles. The lack of an effective police response also does not speak well of this event   

 

• “The FTC’s Amended Kochava Complaint and the Harms of Selling Geolocation Data | Lawfare”   https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-ftc-s-amended-kochava-complaint-and-the-harms-of-selling-geolocation-data   “Several major differences stand out between the FTC’s original complaint and the refiled, now-unsealed complaint: an increased emphasis on the identifiability of the data; specific examples of the data Kochava infers from location data and links to location data for sale; and new information about Kochava’s lack of controls to screen potential customers”   see also   “Google agrees to settle $5bn lawsuit claiming it secretly tracked users”   https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/dec/29/google-lawsuit-settlement-incognito-mode   “Plaintiffs allege their activity was tracked even when they set Chrome to ‘incognito’ and other browsers to ‘private’ mode”   and   “When You Roam, You’re Not Alone | Lawfare”   https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/when-you-roam-you-re-not-alone   and   “Amoral Compass: P_______ and its Quest to Remake the World”   https://theaimn.com/amoral-compass-p_______-and-its-quest-to-remake-the-world/    

 

• “China cracks down on negativity over economy in bid to boost confidence | China | The Guardian”   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/29/china-cracks-down-on-negativity-over-economy-in-bid-to-boost-confidence   Wow. So they think if they lie enough reality will follow, basically ... apart from the suppression of human rights, no consideration that there may be valid reason for the lack of confidence   and on lying:   “D_______ suspends production in Japan after safety test scandal | Japan | The Guardian”   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/27/daihatsu-suspends-production-in-japan-after-safety-test-scandal  
  

• “The ‘ugly’, ignored history of LGBTQ+ hate crimes should not be allowed to fade | Michael Burge | The Guardian”   https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/dec/23/the-ugly-ignored-history-of-lgbtq-hate-crimes-should-not-be-allowed-to-fade   

• a local councillor with a long history of standing up for trans rights has been found guilty of breaching their local government  council’s code of conduct for calling out a transphobe’s transphobia and attendance at an event which also had - predictably, in this instance, given the speaker - neo-n___s ... No sanctions have been imposed, however, raising hopes that MAYBE the decision is a little like the verdict in the novel “QB VII” ...   See   “No Sanctions Against Cr T___ B_____ Over M____ D______ Tweet”   https://www.starobserver.com.au/news/national-news/victoria-news/no-sanctions-against-cr-tony-briffa-over-moira-deeming-tweet/227695   “Rainbow Local Government, which campaigns to increase LGBTQI representation in local Victorian councils, said that councillors who stand with the community and marginalised groups should be applauded.   “Councillors should be encouraged and supported to stand up for trans people and other marginalised groups and to call out those who seek to demean or diminish the rights of trans community members,” the organisation said in a statement.”   Whilst I understand the need to avoid partisanship/restricted political views and enable debate, hate speech is NOT a political view - it is a human rights crime. The code of conduct needs to be updated (even though it refers already to the state government’s Charter of Human Rights ... ) ... It is particularly offensive that the complainants included misgendering when transphobes do that and thereby put lives at risk. I think I feel an activism email coming on ...   

• After decades of active homophobia and transphobia,   “Lifeblood supports final end of gay [and trans] blood donation ban”   https://qnews.com.au/lifeblood-supports-final-end-of-gay-blood-donation-ban/   Now all we have to do is get them to agree to give assurances they won’t misgender transwomen - which they have persistently REFUSED to do ...   

• If true, the reported behaviour here reeks of toxic masculinity, violence, sadistic abuse of power, homophobia, and possibly misogyny:   “Lesbian sues Crown casino after first date ends in arrest”   https://qnews.com.au/lesbian-arrested-kissing-date-sues-crown-casino-melbourne/   

• In WA, which has a history of concerning behaviour around Indigenous matters, a hopeful sign with   “Minister suspends works approval at Kimberley mine site to protect sacred object”   https://nit.com.au/27-12-2023/9175/minister-suspends-works-approval-at-kimberley-mine-site-to-protect-sacred-object   but, on the other side of the nation,   “NSW premier claims police not to blame for Indigenous incarceration”   https://nit.com.au/28-12-2023/9181/nsw-premier-claims-police-not-to-blame-for-indigenous-incarceration   The article includes strong criticisms of this statement - criticisms that I agree with   Internationally,   “Controversial Brazil law curbing Indigenous rights comes into force”   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/28/brazil-law-indigenous-land-rights-claim-time-marker   “‘Time marker’ legislation means Indigenous peoples can only lay claim to lands they occupied in 1988, invalidating scores of claims   ...   Critics say this fails to acknowledge that many Indigenous groups had been displaced from their ancestral lands before that date, notably during Brazil’s 1964-1985 military dictatorship”   Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled the law unconstitutional, Brazil’s conservative right wing Senate passed a law to uphold the racism and then overrode the President’s veto ...   In Canada, a court decision is interesting legally, from the point of view of enforceability of past (colonial era) treaties and customs, but concerning to me in that it is about tobacco    “Landmark Canadian case “an earthquake in Indigenous rights jurisprudence””   https://nit.com.au/22-12-2023/9159/landmark-indigenous-rights-case   Also from overseas:   “Police killed N____ F________ seconds after responding to her 911 call, video shows”   https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/29/la-police-fatally-shot-n____-f________-body-camera   “F________’s 9-year-old daughter ... , who was present during the shooting and could be seen on the footage   ...   said: “The police lied that my mom was threatening them.””   The article reports the officer concerned having made a similar killing of a DV victim three years ago  
  

• “Ohio grand jury to decide whether to charge woman who miscarried for ‘abuse of a corpse’ | Ohio | The Guardian”   https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/26/ohio-jury-woman-miscarriage-abuse-corpse   This is APPALLING!   

• “Should Disabled People Be Forced To Work?”   https://youtu.be/hpb_1aYtGds?si=n_1ROVM7j0RkRKjJ   This is excellent, and rebuts the myths, sloppy thinking, and unethical points f view behind those who resent most, if not all, forms of social security  
  

• “Debbie Brennan talking about Nga Bui”   Out of the Pan   “Debbie Brennan talks about Nga Bui event in Melbourne on 6th January 2024. Wishing all a safe and happy season. Out of the Pan will be in summer programming mode from 31st December 2023 to 4th February 2024. Catch ya...next year!”   Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/out-of-the-pan/id312435652?i=1000639561515   or at   https://www.3cr.org.au/outofthepan/episode/debbie-brennan-talking-about-nga-bui  
  

My links for activism post may aid any activism  you may decide to do on any/all of these. 

 

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, 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”.