From this week’s news on: society generally, and broader issues [Note: Content Warning - links to reports on bigotry, violence/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. 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 society generally, and broader issues (note: I may continue to add links for a few days, possibly up to a week, after these are published):

• “Israel’s AI can produce 100 bombing targets a day in Gaza. Is this the future of war?”   https://theconversation.com/israels-ai-can-produce-100-bombing-targets-a-day-in-gaza-is-this-the-future-of-war-219302   “AI should support democratic ideals, not undermine them. Trust in governments, institutions, and militaries is eroding and needs to be restored if we plan to apply AI across a range of military practices. ...   Until then, machine learning algorithms are best kept separate from targeting practices. Unfortunately, the world’s armies are heading in the opposite direction”   

• “More people were killed due to homicide than armed conflict and t________ combined in 2021, with an average of 52 lives lost per hour worldwide, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime ... said in a report”   https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/12/1144392   

• “‘Wisdom’ has not been a concept used for the ageing woman – it’s time this changed”   https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/12/wisdom-has-not-been-a-concept-used-for-the-ageing-woman-its-time-this-changed   

• “The responsibility of AI titans in a post-work society”   https://joanwestenberg.medium.com/the-responsibility-of-ai-titans-in-a-post-work-society-bb472c8570ce  
  

• “Remote work is declining, but bosses could regret their return-to-office push”   https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/life/2023/12/14/work-from-home-decline   “Woolrich said while there is a strong preference from employees to work from home, there is a capability gap for management and leaders.   ...   The decision to force employees back into offices could backfire, as Employment Hero research shows 50 per cent of hybrid and remote workers would consider quitting their jobs if their employer directed them to return to the office full time.   ...   “Everyone’s just like, ‘Oh, just get everyone back to the office’. They’re not thinking about the moral, economic and social benefits of maintaining remote work,” he said.”   Some of the quoted human resources advisors are clearly out of touch with what people want and why, but the capability gap of managers, supervisors and team leaders on this issue is a major issue. Having made those points, this article is based on a concern of a 10% decrease in WFH, and one of the managers gives an excellent example of a talented person who cannot commute but is a “superstar” - who would have been lost to that company without WFH  
  

• “Portfolio careers are the future of work. For better, or worse”   https://joanwestenberg.medium.com/porfolio-careers-are-the-future-of-work-for-better-or-worse-3bb5adaf8b16  
  

 

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 & accept that all insistence on the use of “trans” as a descriptor comes with commensurate use of “cis” as a descriptor to prevent “othering”.