Cross posting: Post No. 1,581 - In this week’s news

This post originally appeared on my main blog at https://gnwmythr.blogspot.com/2020/06/post-no-1581-in-this-weeks-news.html.

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Stay safe - wash your hands, practice social distancing, and follow informed medical advice - and be considerate towards those at risk or in situations of vulnerability (including economic) while the COVID-19 pandemic is a problem.

This is a new, very cut down series of posts based on some observations on matters that struck a personal note: unlike the former “Gnwmythr’s News”, it is not trying to convey key events.

Content Warning: the linked articles and their descriptions here may be about violence, abuse, hate, and other problems.

Reading I found interesting this week included:   a panel discussion titled “America is at war with itself”.

I’m going to begin this week with a special section on the protests in the USA:
   an autopsy finds George Floyd’s death  WAS homicide;   protestors are insisting on all four “police” (Gestapo!) being charged - which has now happened, but after so much egregious violence by the US Gestapo (and I note that most police have actually been GOOD) that it doesn’t matter;   Barack Obama and others, including a former ultra-conservative Republican President, are calling for justice;   Mr Floyd’s brother has called for peaceful protests;   against a background of fears US civil-military relations are broken, the National Guard have been activated (the US Defence Secretary has objected to sending in troops) - and have been attacking bystanders, and retired generals have been speaking out against potus45 - one is making comparison with Nazi Germany, and the current US military is acting to make sure it is properly inclusive;   unbelievably, people are trying to “whitesplain” the great Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. to his son (and yes, a riot IS the language of the unheard - and MLK pointed out there are NO “innocent” bystanders);   the voices of some of the protestors;   “to be black and conscious of anti-black racism is to stare into the mirror of your own extinction”;   the family of one of Australia’s Indigenous deaths in custody victims and other Indigenous activists have expressed solidarity with Mr Floyd’s family;   a man aimed a weapon - a compound bow loaded with arrow - at protestors;   a TV comedian-presenter has made some very telling points;   an example of white privilege;   young black women are marching for justice and social equity;   “Black Lives Matter. Aboriginal Lives Matter”;   a man charged with murdering a jogger used a racial slur;   a Reuters exclusive reports that “most Americans sympathize [sic] with protests, disapprove of Trump's response”;   surveillance and privacy concerns;
   police:   “police in New South Wales have won a Supreme Court bid to prohibit Sydney's weekend Black Lives Matter march”;   “police took three years to dismiss officer who slammed teen to ground at 2013 Sydney Mardi Gras”;   some Gestapo have resigned from their suppression duties over being held accountable;  a part of this comedian’s sessions shows (at 4m:35s) US Gestapo (they’re no longer police) stopping a diabetic getting her insulin, thereby putting her life AT RISK;   the militarisation of US police (which has long been of concern);   a reported attack on police;   a movement is growing to defund police and reinvest the money in services;   more on police violence;
   suggestions/recommended actions / noteworthy responses:   a massive MLM mural has been painted in a street leading to the US White House;   plans to “end a pattern of police violence by allowing victims to sue officers for illegal and unconstitutional acts”;   US leaders must moderate their language;   opportunities to support those in the USA who are fighting for justice and social equity;   a call for change;   an infection prevention researcher’s advice on safety and protesting;   support for bail funds;
   attacks on and actions by the media:   reporters are being targeted by police and some crowds, but they frame the protests - and whether they include the peaceful events - is crucial;   the police attack on an Australian media team has been raised diplomatically;   a bad decision by a major US newspaper;   125 violations of press freedom in 3 days;
   analysis/commentary:   as potus45 takes the USA to the brink of a race war, commentary that “the original sin of slavery stains [the USA] today” (and racism is why the USA doesn’t have a proper health system);   “the United States of today bears a striking resemblance to Germany in the years before the rise of the Nazi Party”;   analysis of the looting;   an analysis of why protests turn violent - and attitudes and Gestapo/police behaviour are key problems;
   POTUS45 is:   calling for thuggery and violence,   being criticised over his lack of leadership;   facing a crisis (but could be re-elected);   has banned a protest movement;   has breached copyright on social media;   is being sued over civil rights violations;
   joining the protests have been:   Perth;   Europe;  UK, where lockdown breach fines have targeted minorities (I know someone who left the UK police because of their endemic racism);   multiple locations;   here;   support from religious leaders for change;   Pride marches are returning to their roots in action against police and other oppression;
   more on the very long history of the causes of the protests:   here,   here;   an analysis of protests in the 1960s shows that the peaceful protests were more politically successful (but note the MLK quote above, and my analogy here);   here.

In this week’s news:   more warnings on Israel’s plan to annex the West Bank (which Israel’s military is not prepared for, and the Palestinian Authority is reacting to) by a Jew who fought the accusation that Israel used apartheid, Egypt and Russia, Jordan, and the USA.

In the environmental arena, where we have been fighting World War III for some time now:   the sixth mass life extinction we are in is accelerating;   contradiction by experts of a neolib MP who made a wrong claim;   “linking the women, peace and security agenda to climate change”;   many of Canada’s endemic species are at risk;   an oil and gas company “could be forced to pay $100m for failure to capture carbon emissions”;   after repeated breaches, there are calls in my home state to review forestry laws;   a fuel spill above the Arctic circle in Russia;   global rainforest losses are continuing;   calls to build resilience.
other environmental matters have occurred in:   USA.

On human and animal rights:
   family violence has been linked to cluster of suicides;   Afghani girls have been building ventilators;
   a call for a ban on the homophobic/transphobic expression of hate referred to as “conversion” “therapy”;   LGBTIQ+ vilification is allowed in most of Australia;   families are the major source of abuse for LGBTIQ+ people;
   China - I mean “Hong Kong” has banned the Tiananmen Square Massacre vigil for the time ever, ostensibly over COVID-19 concerns, and acted violently towards those who tried to mark it;   China’s new law and suppression of Hong Kong, which is also banning “disrespect” of China’s anthem, is putting data centres there at risk;   a controversial conservative, ex-Gestapo MP has been “accused of ‘dictator’ rhetoric over call for mandatory sentences for climate protesters”;
   how to respect Indigenous cultural IP;   the health benefits of a native fruit;   calls for law reform after the destruction of an Indigenous sacred site;   the racist origins of “fighting obesity”;   evidence has emerged that a mining company which recently destroyed an Indigenous site knew of its significance six years ago . . . ;   NO-ONE HAS BEEN CONVICTED OVER ANY OF THE 432 INDIGENOUS DEATHS IN CUSTODY - see also this;   a plea for racial equality/inclusion in banking;
   recommended controls for autonomous weapons (aka “killer robots”);   a state government has shown no inclination to use race hate laws;
   police in a US city have been fired for a taser attack on two students;   more than half of people killed by police in one state had a mental illness;   THE GLOBAL PROBLEM OF GESTAPO (“POLICE”) USING CHOKEHOLDS;   police in Israel killed a man with special needs;   police violence in Brazil;
   anti-Semitism in Iraq and Syria, and on social media;
   New Zealand needs a commissioner for older people;
   tear gassing children in jail has been confirmed as illegal;   mobile camel-borne libraries are keeping children in Ethiopia safer from  slavery;
   a social media platform’s staff have found their backbones and protested their boss’s hypocrisy;   a tech company has been sued for tracking users Internet use even though they had “private” settings;
   the communal aspects of mental health;   the problems of living with chronic pain;
   an Australian court has set back animal rights by allowing live export - and my home state has backed the animal industry - and, validly, personal safety of people living on those places -against animals rights;   hundreds of animals have been injured when Israeli parks reopened;
   the need for smaller houses.
Immigration, migration and refugee matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   Greece;   Australia;   Burkina Faso;   Ethiopia;   India;
racism/caste based matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   face recognition;   USA (good news);   Brazil;   Nepal;
trafficking/slavery/child abuse matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   Greece;   Zimbabwe;   India;
LGBTIQ+ matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   Japan/olympics;   USA;   Argentina (good news);
sexism, misogyny/misandry and domestic violence matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   women farmers in India and Africa;   Nigeria;   DR Congo;   UK;   Argentina (good news);   Yemen;
disability matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   Australia;   Mexico;   the new NDIA price guide;   my home state’s Parliament’s next Auslan bulletin;
other freedom of the press matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   Cameroon;
other repression/oppression / reduction of democracy and other civil & political rights matters (good and bad) have occurred in:   the Philippines;   Kyrgyzstan;   Egypt;   Turkey.

In the related human rights arena of employment:   more support for a four day working week;   the need for a legal right to flexible working arrangements.

Risks or occurrences of atrocities, mass violence and/or war(s) this week in:   the USA;   Iraq;   Sudan;   Burkina Faso;   Nigeria;   Nigeria;   Somalia;   Somalia;   Egypt;   Niger;   DR Congo;   South Sudan;
and   the USA, led by its moron-in-chief, is creating the risk of a nuclear arms race with China;   South Sudan (extension of arms embargo);   a militia leader who may have committed a dual murder in DR Congo has been arrested;   the US military, claiming it can be trusted!, wants to be able to call up more retirees . . . ;   “Norway to withhold funding to Palestinians over textbooks that promote violence”;   “UN-backed Libyan forces oust renegade general from Tripoli” - but the general left banned landmines behind.

In the governance, politics, public ethics, and society arena:   the left and the the right in Brazil are uniting to try to defend democracy against their nutjob president;   power is being concentrated at the top in Australia;   the neoliberals are refusing to apologise for their illegal robodebt atrocity - which they may try to reboot (ParentsNext may be the next target);   potus45 has vetoed student loan forgiveness;   protection of Puerto Rico’s attempts at financial rebuilding;   some MORONS in the USA have wondered about whether a coup d’état should happen;   my home state’s injection room trial will continue;   an assessment of Australia’s pandemic response shows overall a reasonable response, but some areas of concern (“reviving parliaments; making  the National Cabinet more transparent; ensuring adequate restrictions on surveillance measures; organising forthcoming elections; mitigating the pandemic’s hollowing out of independent media across Australia; and seizing the moment for democratic reform”) remain;   a little late, we will get a national security test on major overseas purchases;   an archivist is delaying, possibly illegally, access to the “palace letters” as ordered by the High Court - and may restrict that access
other governance, politics, public ethics, and society matters have occurred in:   Australia.

On disasters this week:   a tropical storm in Central America;   a cyclone in India.

Internationally:   the doctor whose work against the pandemic makes her a threat to Putin;   China’s current and past threats  against Hong Kong - with Tibet being an indicator of what could happen;   more on tensions between China and India on the Indo-Tibetan border;   grave concerns that Lebanon is on the brink of economic collapse;   overmilitarisation of the USA’s foreign policy has limited its options;   Australia hopes to build trade with India (we’ve been here before - what went wrong? Also, don’t forget Africa!);   a Nepal-India border dispute.

In Africa:   Ethiopia and Sudan are looking to resolve border violence;   the election result in Burundi has been upheld.

On the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus (there are other novel coronaviruses) (seven major risks to watch here, and seven sins of thought to avoid here):
   “ ’One Health’ approaches, which combine animal, human, and environmental health, are critical for preventing another devastating pandemic”;   the WHO is recommending that everyone wear face masks in areas where there is a risk of transmission;   the pandemic recession may become endemic;

   medical aspects:   “Lancet retracts paper that halted hydroxychloroquine trials” - see also here;   the virus remains as potent as ever;   the difficulties of trying to model suicides;   the limits of the potential of genetic medicine;   the high proportion of asymptomatic people with the virus;   in-home tests are showing some promise;

   human rights aspects (crisis . . . running summary of impacts on elections here):   the risks associated with apps;   the role of social media in spreading conspiracy nutjob theories;   racism in Australia has surged;   concerns about the extent of Israeli pandemic powers for police;   warning of a food crisis;   racism in Australia has led to warnings overseas to avoid us;   South China Sea;   improved contact tracing apps in Europe;   African police abuses;   xenophobic abuse in Singapore;   a map of impacts on people with disabilities;
   also including
   housing problems in:   slums and health workers;
   increased opportunistic repression/oppression / reduction of democracy in:   a global assessment;

   Australia:   “shocking and wilful neglect of temporary visa holders”;   underemployment;   as mortgage stress builds, a moronic call to rebuild our economy by renovating  rich people’s homes;

   internationally:   40,000 “migrant” workers can resume work in Singapore, where face masks remain compulsory;   Indian police are trying to rehabilitate their relationship with the community - with patchy and perhaps temporary results;   prisoners in Brazil are at risk;   health officials in the UK have begged (my word) for the lockdown not to be eased;   Chinese test machines were found in Israel to not work;   New Zealand may ease its restrictions soon - but see this;   loss of elders is threatening Canadian Indigenous culture;   Spain is giving financial aid to the poor;   the Philippines is paying people to move from the city to rural areas;   aged care testing in Singapore;   Australia vs. New Zealand on support for those affected by the lockdown;   Brazil;   India is easing the lockdown despite a surge in cases;   suicides in Thailand;   unemployment in the Philippines;   a stimulus package in Malaysia;   3 businesses in Singapore have been closed for ordering staff to stop working from home;   Singapore has realised the shortcomings of mobile phone apps, and is trying another approach to contact tracing;   despite a second wave, Japan will allow foreigners to enter for humanitarian reasons;   the digital divide in South Africa;   the digital divide in India has been fatal;   property disputes in India as people flee the cities;   the impact on women in the Indo-Pacific;

   Africa:   sex workers are at increased risk;   a Kenyan police officer has been charged with murder over a curfew death;   many of the members of South Sudan’s cabinet has COVID-19;   protests over police brutality in Madagascar;

   globally:   concerns whether vaccines will reach the world’s poor;

   stupidity:   Israel’s leaders;

   blame games:   Sweden.

In the USA

In the USA, the responses of the bigots - the white supremacists, the patriarchy, the cowardly bullies like potus45 and his thugs, and those inherently cowardly persons resisting change because they fear it - to the protests is heart breaking, and shows the very worst of humanity.

Those who are calling for decency, fairness and justice, and keep fighting no matter what, are inspiring and show the very best of humanity.

Those who are bystanders - including those of us in other nations - must now recall the answer by the great Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. to a question about "innocent" bystanders:

“the term is an oxymoron, for if you are a bystander, you cannot be innocent”

(which I came across in this call to declare a state of moral emergency)

Our hospitals are struggling

Although we've managed to "flatten the curve", so our ICUs are not being overloaded, our hospitals are clearly struggling.

One obvious sign of that is their internal miscommunication around changes of appointments, sequences of appointments, and who tells who what. That was stuffed up with my life companion's cancer treatment appointment yesterday, and while I was in the waiting room (at least there was none of the "we've never let patients in" BS yesterday) it was clear that that had happened with several other people.

That is a sign that they are probably understaffed. The recently announced increased in nursing ratios will partly help, but there is also a need to make sure there are enough admin and other support staff. (It wouldn't hurt to make sure doctors are in touch and less arrogant in their pronouncements on changes of time, etc.)

Also of concern is that the cis-normative and hetero-normative biases are worse than usual. I stopped going to one hospital for diabetes management because of being misgendered - and the BS handling of my complaint. I've got another complaint lined up about a doctor at the hospital my life companion was originally going to for cancer treatment, but will wait until my life companion's treatment has been completed in case there is any backlash. The body language of too many of the medical staff I interact with is appalling - to use the latest terminology, they are passive aggressive.

I've pointed out previously that advocating for asking pronouns is creating the potential to be abused (especially in workplaces with a high throughput of staff, such as those with - outside of pandemic lockdowns - multinational placements). This problem is at an extreme, in my experience in hospitals. When it is normal for cisgender people to exchange pronouns, I'll accept this suggestion, but until then it is just creating another point of difference - i.e., a form of DISCRIMINATION - for TGD people.

It is exactly the same sort of strategic error as hiding gender on forms etc - it doesn't deal with the problem, which is bias.

On that, commentary about the need to meet more TGD people is downright stupid.

Firstly, the LAW says don't discriminate - it doesn't say "don't discriminate after you've met some TGD people".

Secondly, there aren't enough TGD people to go round - and the same for most minorities.

What is needed is for those third rate human beings (yes, I'm judging them, just as they're judging me - but I am doing so on the basis of the content of their character, not an irrelevant, illogical, and unjustified characteristic) to decide to be better human beings.

This also applies to white supremacists and other racists.

Final point on hospitals: their design really needs input from psychologists. If the "experts" designing that, who clearly have no conception of what stresses people are under when they are trying to find their way through hospitals, aren't prepared to do that, then give the job of laying out hospitals and associated carparks, etc to the people who design airports. It would be more effective and user friendly.

PS - and locate air intake vents AWAY from publicly accessible areas, as staff won't keep smokers away from their given the murder of doctor by a smoker a few years ago, and police patrols are too infrequent to be of any use. 
 

Reflections

I mentioned in my previous post that last night I listened to part (it was too late here in Australia for me to listen to all of it) of an "online conversation" the Global Centre for R2P organised with people who were now in, and had previously been in, the UN position of Special Advisors on R2P. During that, a comment was made about computer technology and older people.

Well, the people associated with the Internet (see here) and the modern PC are actually all old - some so old they're dead. On top of that, I know people younger than me who are more resistant to technology than I am, and some who have gaps in their technology knowledge that I can fill.

This matter isn't really a generational one: it is a case of early adopters vs. later adopters/resisters, the familiarity of what we grow up with, and those who have the independence of mind to take a broader view of the effects and implications of new matters - in all areas of life, not just technology.

Minor side note: I was pleased to find, last night, that someone has clearly read my posts, as they used the "insert pejorative" thing I wrote about here (and here) - woo hoo!

Employment Opportunity

My home state is advertising for the first ever Public Sector Gender Equality Commissioner.

This position came out of a law mandating the promotion (and achievement) of gender equality in my home state's public organisations.

Given that half a century of trying, since the preparation and introduction of gender equality legislation (more or less: the lobbying was longer, centuries really, and there was the finagling in putting that law together before it was passed - see here for a good timeline), to achieve equality "nicely" hadn't worked, although certainly massive improvements had been made, it was well and truly time for a more compelling approach, one that includes targets and quotas because not including them did not work.

This law does not apply to the private sector, BUT it will set an example, and create social pressure (expectation of meeting the standards of best practice - to entice the best of the younger generation, if nothing else) for the private sector. The question there is, in my mind, how long it will take the private sector to catch up. (Activists have a new tool to use, once this is in place.)

Going back to the ad, an organisation is to be prepared, much as there are other organisations behind other commissioners and ombudspersons. This head, the first, of this organisation will have two powerful sets of requirements to meet.

The first is that which is obvious to most people: they will have to be articulate, passionate, and irreproachable.

The latter requirement reflects the unfairness in our society that arises out of (a) small-minded nastiness, and (b) the very discrimination that this position was created to deal with - oh, it will be dressed up as something else, something superficially "reasonable", but it will be bigotry or misogyny.

When I first read the ad, for about 18 milliseconds I thought I would like to apply, but then the "irreproachable" requirement came to mind . . . oops, I've been too cranky an activist for too long, and I'm trans which will probably introduce a whole set of other haters (although someone who is not in the accepted general mould might also help people realise this will also cover issues such as the lack of men in nursing) . . .  then I realised my days of being in front of others and the centre of attention are long gone (I never had them, actually, except for a few years when I was helping to try to keep my people alive in the late 90s/early 2000s - I was the sort of person who, when competing at sailing as a kid, considered losing so I wouldn't have to go to awards [and "forgot' to remind my parents about a community award the local newspaper gave me - which was a shame, 'cos once I got there, I found nice people my age] ) . . . and my days of high stress jobs are (almost) over.

And on that last point, we move into the second set  of requirements: being an exemplary manager.

I quite like the human side of management, developing teams (and was once offered a staggering amount to develop an engineering team, but declined as it would have meant moving to Sydney) and people, but I've gradually lost interest in the struggle to manage budgets. I know it is important - for all organisations, let alone this one where mismanagement would make the new organisation a target and set its cause back, but I've had burn out for too long, burn out that was caused by the way engineering focused on finances at the cost of people.

I also suspect anyone in this position will likely have excellent support on this aspect - a little like the permanent secretaries of other government ministries/departments, or the XO on the science fiction spaceship Enterprise (which is based on real life positions), but such people would be somewhat disconcerted if I started falling asleep when they started discussing budgets ☺

It is going to be an "interesting challenge" to find someone with the right blend of passion and articulateness on the one hand, someone who can be an inspiring leader to not only their organisation, but the entire public sector and ultimately the community, but on the other hand has the management skills and nous to run a modern public sector organisation under a great deal of scrutiny.

The reward is going to be setting the direction/tone and the other aspects that go with being the first in that position.

Last night I listened to part (it was too late here in Australia for me to listen to all of it) of an "online conversation" the Global Centre for R2P organised with people who were now in, and had previously been in, the UN position of Special Advisors on R2P, and the significance of the first person was discussed.

Best wishes to whoever that person is, in this instance.


PS - one other reason I would not apply for such a position is that it will also require a police check, and that would require me to deadname myself, even though my transition was so long ago the Statute of Limitations have now been exceeded for most offences (murder and crimes like genocide don't have limitations, I understand, and I personally consider child abuse shouldn't have any time limit) and there is another approach that would work - and be consistent with recent proposals from Victoria's Parliament to automatically expunge certain convictions. 

During the protests ...

 . . . this suits how I'm feeling now about the protests - it's about not giving in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syhBqULC99I

A commentary on policing

In my experience, something many people either do not know or forget, is that police have two roles. Firstly, enforcement of law, and there are problems with that - such as unconscious bias (being fought well by some police forces), reliance on predictive techniques rather than evidence, and militarised enforcement; but the second part, enforcement of ORDER is where we really get major problems because:

(a) the worldview of too many police is way behind society's expectation - decades behind, in some cases (centuries, if we consider racist behaviours);
(b) police necessarily are fairly fixed in their thinking - necessarily, as they have to (or should) resist bribes and other temptations (including the temptation to be unprofessional) in their work. 

The combination of all that is too many dinosaurs who are fixed in their belief that being a dinosaur is OK. Add in the militarised (technically, "para"-military) structure of police forces, and those who are decent human beings may be unwilling or unable to do anything about that - and the film "Serpico" is a fair indication of the potential problems for those who try.

Now, one of the concerns here is when police try to enforce compliance - including compliance to being sexually assaulted by police, or killed by police.

Extreme? No: the victims of strip searches have the same symptoms as victims of sexual assaults, and when someone is being strangled, the body interprets that as an attempt at being killed - as far as the body is concerned, it is being murdered.

When that happens, no matter how much the mind wishes to be compliant, the body is going to, though a whole stack of automatic responses that nature put into our biology so we would survive, struggle - until it loses consciousness.

Apart from reading, I also know this from someone trying - in a past DV situation - to strangle me. I've been on the receiving end, and I know the body tries to survive (not always successfully, the strangler is physically stronger than you, as happened in my case - the drunk just decided to stop).

When police choke someone, they are triggering the body's survival mechanism.  If they do not know that, they are incompetent as police - "unprofessional", if you want a softer word.

When police choke someone into unconsciousness, they are sadistic (especially if they smirk) thugs and incompetent as human beings, as well as being incompetent as police.

When they kill someone that way, they are verging on evil, just as anyone else who takes another life for no reason (there are circumstances when taking a life - to save others' lives, for instance, when there is no other option) is.

When police act in a way that is discriminatory, whether that is sexist/misogynistic, homophobic/transphobic, or racist, they are unquestionably acting in a way that is, because of their exceptional powers, evil.

In the USA, we are currently seeing the outcome of that sort of evil being delivered - from social structures as well as police - for centuries. We are seeing a group of people who have been victimised to the point of their survival being at risk reacting the way a body being strangled to the point where it's survival is at risk does - struggle - do-anything-in-the-hope-it-will-work struggle.

And the response of society and the police has largely been to lean on the throat of that group of people more.

There have been some exceptions.

Firstly, there have also been exemplary instances of behaviour by the protestors, such as protecting a police officer who was isolated from his unit (and that terminology straight away shows the sort of thinking that is a problem). The protests are actually largely peaceful - and, when police are not destroying personal property in the form of water bottles, protestors are showing the signs of being prepared and thoughtful, such as stockpiling water to attend to those harmed by tear gas.

Also, some police are listening, others are taking off their militarised robo-cop style armour and walking with and protecting the human beings who are saying "enough! I want us to survive too".

Sadly, they appear, from news reports, to be a minority.

Worse than sadly, an Australian journalist has been shown to be an idiot with no conception of this nation's history and current experience of active racism - including the death of an Indigenous person by impaired breathing in similar circumstances to that which was the trigger in the USA for the current protests.

One comment I read (and have not tried to check as yet) pointed out that both the USA and Australia have around 30% of jail populations being Indigenous/black people. And yet, in Australia Indigenous people are around 3% of the total population, as compared to 12% in the USA, making our rates of Indigenous incarceration FAR worse, despite having held a Royal Commission into Indigenous deaths in custody and investigations into incarceration rates.

This problem afflicts many places in the world - even one is too many.

A final point. When police attack journalists - mostly the black journalists, it would appear, in the current struggles in the USA - they are no longer the police of a democratic society, they are a Gestapo.

Black lives matter.

Cross posting: Post No. 1,577 - Emotional Intelligence is not . . .

This post originally appeared on my main blog at https://gnwmythr.blogspot.com/2020/06/post-no-1577-emotional-intelligence-is.html. 

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Emotional Intelligence is not code for "positive thinking".