On Uganda this week:
- Museveni is continuing his stay in, and abuse of, power;
- hundreds have been arrested to enforce lockdown conditions as Uganda's new speaker warns MPs to put the nation ahead of their personal interests;
- after an assassination attempt injured its target and killed two others, calls for reports into previous incidents to be released;
- "how the Ugandan Constitution perpetuates discrimination against ethnic minorities";
- Uganda's despot-in-chief has ignored the issue of poverty;
On Burma this week:
- the protests and killing continue - see here,
- civilian military forces have increased the risk of full scale civil war against the Burmese military dictatorship;
- Australia is still refusing to exert any pressure or disapproval of the coup in Burma;
From the news this week:
- on the climate crisis and the environment:
attempts to suppress information on leaking oil pipelines in Russia; higher insurance policies from the climate crisis are having an impact on businesses; "Australia is already paying more for the federal government’s inaction on climate than fossil fuels bring in"; a burning ship has spilled the "worst ever" plastic pollution on to Sri Lanka's beaches; decisions against "big oil" are a harbinger of forcing corporate responsibility on the climate crisis; excessive resource extraction in the Pacific; a cyberattack has shut down a global meat processing company (less meat is good for the environment and westerner's health: it is even better for the wellbeing of animals, but this act may have left animals in pain in the short term - long term, education and advocacy is best . . . later reports suggest this was a purely criminal act); more information on the risks to native animals of chemical baits to kill mice in plagues; "human-induced global heating ‘causes over a third of heat deaths’"; solar power for some schools in India; more climate crisis lawsuits in South America; South Korea reminds that going carbon neutral is a business opportunity; our ongoing role in destroying the future; palm oil corporations devastating impact on communities and the environment in Indonesia; illegal levels of pollution in Germany; attempts to control a mouse plague have killed many native animals; "the world needs to restore nature on land areas equivalent to the size of China by 2030 if it is to feed a fast-growing population, curb pollution, halt species loss and meet global goals to tackle climate change, U.N. agencies said"; "pesticides are killing the world’s soils"; - on international relations including war:
China will allow people to have more children - thereby overcoming it's ageing population problem and ensuring it will be a geopolitical power and environmental problem for many years to come ... if young people take that up - which they're currently not doing for reasons including cynical reaction to control, lack of money, lack of access to adequate leave, etc, and disenchantment with China's profound and egregious materialism; a comprehensive and thoughtful examination of the changing situation around Taiwan's freedom, and what others (not only the USA) can do about that; more sanctions against Belarus over the hijacking of an airliner to allow the kidnapping of a dissident; Gazans are trying to rebuild; Iranian hardliners are aiming for total control; the uncertainties facing Afghanistan; attempts are underway to strengthen the Israel-Palestine ceasefire; "Denmark's secret service helped the US National Security Agency (NSA) spy on EU leaders"; Chad-CAR border clash; Egypt and Sudan have undertaken joint war games against the background of tensions over Ethiopia's dam on the River Nile; booby traps (including some targetting children) in Libya; Russian propaganda about its mercenaries (and a historical review of propaganda); China's military provocations have now extended to Malaysia; finally Bibi go bye-bye - Israel's hardline right wing PM of 12 years will lose power if a deal holds - but still no hope for Palestinians; Russia is moving into Lebanon even more ... ;
- on the COVID-19 pandemic:
legal action against Thailand's government over an allegedly inadequate response; the possibility of mixing vaccines - Canada will allow use of mixed vaccines for the first and second shots; state governments are now going to hold Scott publicly to account; anger at the national neolib nitwits refusal to apply lessons from the previous outbreak by allowing aged care workers to work at multiple facilities - and one lost a consent form!; attempts are underway to target the virus itself with a pill, rather than its effects; "big pharma" is actively opposing IP waivers that would help get the pandemic under control; hundreds of millions of pandemic funds have gone missing in Cameroon; WHO will use Greek letters instead of long strings of numbers for variants of COVID-19 (see a list of variants) - an the delta variant will need a global effort to manage; victim blaming lies about COVID-19 in aged care homes; another vaccine from China has been approved - and it only needs normal refrigeration; thousands of children in India have been orphaned; social media posts "promoting fake vaccine theories could be referred to police"; "a Queensland GP says vaccination teams dumped excess doses of the COVID-19 vaccine at an aged care centre, rather than offer them to centre staff"; Germany will build a reserve of vaccines for future pandemics; the statistical evidence showing hotel quarantine is not adequate; the European Parliament will vote on it's failing global vaccinations strategy using "inaccurate misleading and misguided" arguments from commercial lobbyists; an assessment that post-pandemic employment will not recover until 2023; Scott is deciding to go against medical advice regarding vaccinations; police are showing more problems with aggression; India is crucial to manufacturing enough vaccines to deal with the pandemic; loopholes are allowing governments to get out of providing aid when it is needed; - on genocides and other human rights issues:
India is continuing to try to suppress social media; child labour and slavery in North Korea; "low vacancy rates in the Gold Coast rental market are discouraging tenants from asserting their rights with real estate agents and landlords"; (CW warning - child abuse in linked article) one example of the fate of refugee children; repression in Cambodia is continuing; "subtle" racism and the need for an anti-racism strategy; the need to consider mental health issues in professional sport; human rights abusing bully China is unhappy that two nations are standing up to it; yet more privacy concerns over a tech company's plans and its difficult opt-out procedures; "a Belarusian opposition activist stabbed himself in the throat with a pen during a court hearing after claiming investigators had pressured him to plead guilty or face his family and friends being arrested"; the human face of the evils committed under POTUS45; the incompetence of and abuses committed by US police; more suppression in Hong Kong; German enquiry on Belarus regime crimes; an appalling anti-Biafra tweet by Nigeria's president has been deleted; "calls grow for Ethiopia to declare ceasefire in Tigray to allow aid"; the USA has admitted killing an underestimated number of civilians abroad; Pakistan's government has failed to protect journalists from attacks; camp shutdowns in Iraq have left thousands of displaced people without access to essential needs; xenophobic Denmark is continuing its refoulement plans with asylum centres outside the EU; mass surveillance (made worse by using the very flawed technology of facial recognition) in New York City; China prohibits commemoration of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre; famines in civil wars are more likely when rebels forces are more successful or larger; housing unaffordability; India is suppressing dissent in Kashmir; more evidence of torture in Belarus; Libya's government decree threatens rights of assembly; a killing by a police officer in the Philippines highlights the need for police cameras; New York governor's opportunity to end child marriage; "a one-man social media campaign to improve working conditions for migrant labourers in Qatar" has ended with the arrest of the activist; repression in Algeria ahead of elections; - on democracy:
an opinion of hypocrisy and silencing of dissent by Scott and his crew - and another that public service hiring should consider moral courage; inadequate accountability for elitist schools - too many of which have a history of turning out bigotted (racist, LGBTIQ-phobic) misogynists - to account for their use of government money from our tax dollars; the victim blaming of the unemployed by media and neoliberal governments that started in the mid 70s and corroded the welfare system ("If we want to rebuild a healthier economy on the other side of this pandemic, we'll have to learn to treat each other as human"); the growing violence of the suppression of protests in Colombia has been described as "almost urban war"; the suppression of democracy in Hong Kong is continuing; a defamation case in Australia by a government Minister against a major media service has been "discontinued", without damages; a right wing reactionary company has attempted to silence its critics on social media by blocking them; Russia is now trying to interfere with Germany's elections; consequences of the coup in Mali include possible removal of France's troops and suspension from a regional organisation; attacks on election officers and another mass abduction of students in Nigeria; a rebirth of political opposition in Tanzania; the dangers of the historical attempts to cancel Keynes (the link may not work - my apologies); more lies by Scott's crew; more on the problems facing casual workers; the experiences of a mother who descended into poverty and homelessness; Somali journalists have launched a ‘Disinformation Lab’ to combat the spread of fake news; "echoes of Mugabe as Zimbabwe president entrenches power"; more repression in Nicaragua; media companies have been ordered to pay more than a million in fines for breaching a court order aimed to ensure a fair trial on a second matter of a notorious figure who had received one conviction; Scott has rejected any connection to a particularly offensive bunch of conspiracy nutjobs; a discussion on the ongoing division within the USA; new judges appointed in Kenya have excluded those who favour constitutional reform; the RBA has failed to meet its aims and is just helping the already rich rather than workers' wages; - on LGBTIQ+ matters:
the evil of conversion claims is sneaking onto social media in languages other than English - and a neochristian church is promoting the pseudo-therapy; a NSW police officer has been found guilty of a transphobic assault and tampering with evidence; a "wave" of LGBTIQ-hate murders in South Africa; tax breaks for companies in Bangladesh hiring transgender workers; - on racism:
the remains of hundreds of Indigenous children have been found at a former school in Canada; Indigenous liaison officers in Qld police; Indigenous learning at a University; our appallingly racist history; racism in Australia; the UK's monarch has exemptions from laws banning sexism and racism . . . ; US President Biden has marked the anniversary of the Tulsa massacre; racist gaps in our media; - on sexism:
"Ireland's 'brutally misogynistic culture' saw the death of 9,000 children in mother and baby homes"; "Morrison’s ‘investigations’ into Brittany Higgins’ rape allegation are yet more smirk and mirrors" - see also here; "a friend of the woman who made allegations of historical rape against Cabinet minister Christian Porter has issued a legal notice saying she is considering launching a defamation action against him"; El Salvador has reversed a vicious act of misogyny; more staggering incompetence by NSW police over a domestic violence incident; prominent lawyers are supporting active consent in NSW; Kazakhstan authorities attacked feminist activists; the lies on the neolib's contemptible attempt at a "respect" website are still there; a whistleblower has lodged a human rights complaint against the commonwealth for creating a sexually hostile environment; sexism in medical research; - on ableism:
justice for disabled survivors of sexual abuse in India; - on other matters:
a counterfeit fruit industry in China using cuttings stolen from New Zealand; increasing use of induced births for no reason; idiots who speed keep doing so even after fines and crashes.
