Forget the notion of ‘poor Gladys’. Anti-corruption body, ICAC, has done its job in finding NSW’s former premier engaged in serious corrupt conduct, writes former NSW Minister Michael Yabsley.
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Forget the notion of ‘poor Gladys’. Anti-corruption body, ICAC, has done its job in finding NSW’s former premier engaged in serious corrupt conduct, writes former NSW Minister Michael Yabsley.
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Indonesia’s supposed core belief in diversity is being tested by religious-led homophobia and anti-semitism. It comes as President Joko Widodo is due in Australia — and his country of 600 ethnicities readies for presidential elections next year, writes Duncan Graham
This post was originally published on Michael West.
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Ethical accountants are groaning in the wake of the PwC scandal which has thrashed the reputation of the profession. While most accountants abide by ethical standards, the Big 4 have dragged the profession into the mud. Wally the Chartered Accountant reports.
This post was originally published on Michael West.
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An influential parliamentary committee this week handed down its first major report into electoral reform. But, as Zacharias Szumer reports, there’s still a long way to go.
This post was originally published on Michael West.
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Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley):
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Voting in a western “democracy” is like that bit in the opening intro of The Simpsons when Marge is driving with the baby and the baby has a toy steering wheel. The baby thinks she’s driving the car but it’s just a fake toy to keep her busy and let her feel like she’s participating.
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All the worst atrocities in human history have been perpetrated or permitted by the government of the people who perpetrated them. None of the world’s most evil people are in prison. The law isn’t there to protect you from bad people, it’s there to protect bad people from you.
That’s why you should always, always, always be distrustful of all efforts to extend the law and expand government power over you. It’s not happening because your government wants to help you. Your government is not your friend.
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Republicans push war with China while sometimes acting as skeptics on Russia warmongering, Democrats push war with Russia while sometimes acting as skeptics on China warmongering. This creates the illusion of opposition while giving the war machine everything it wants.
Which happens to be the job of the two-party system: creating the illusion of having a democratic choice between two opposing parties while ensuring that both parties advance the same overall agendas.
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The best advice I can offer about US-China tensions is to ignore the words and watch the actions. Ignore what officials say about wanting peace and supporting the One China policy, and just watch all the US war machinery that’s being rapidly added to the areas surrounding China.
The US empire is better at international narrative manipulation than any power structure that has ever existed in human history, but what they can’t spin away is the concrete maneuverings of solid pieces of war machinery, because they are physical realities and not narratives.
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Trump’s recent comments about taking Venezuela’s oil are another good illustration of the real reason major factions of the imperial blob dislike Trump. It’s not because he’s “anti-war” or “fighting the Deep State” (he isn’t) — it’s because he’s a sloppy empire manager who makes the machine look as ugly as it is and can’t be trusted to keep the quiet parts quiet.
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Gotta hand it to the empire for successfully duping rightists into believing anti-communism is somehow an anti-establishment position and not the exact same pro-establishment position that was propagandized into their parents, their grandparents, and their great-grandparents.
“Oh you’re an anti-establishment rebel are you? What does that look like in practice?”
‘Hating communism, being mean to people whose sexuality is different from mine, and voting Republican.’
“Ah. So pretty much just being a conservative and supporting the establishment, then?”
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It’s actually kind of adorable how the Pentagon has gotten so comfortable sucking out funds for killing Russians that it’s now at a point where it just goes “Oh hey look, we just found a few billion dollars lying around on the ground! Oh well, might as well throw it at Ukraine!”
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Many people who are suspicious of our ruling power structures hold an assumption that our world is being micromanaged by a shadowy cabal of elite “Them”s whose sinister plans dictate every major event in our world, but it really doesn’t work like that. Conspiracies among the powerful happen of course, but most of the ugly things we see are more the result of a blind confluence of mutually reinforcing forces like capitalism, the US empire’s push for unipolar hegemony, war profiteering, and partisan politics.
It’d probably actually be better for us if the world really was being tightly controlled by a small cabal of elites instead of being blindly driven by a convergence of unthinking power interests, because at least such a cabal wouldn’t be imperiling their own lives by pushing nuclear brinkmanship and environmental destruction like a bunch of idiots.
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Inner work is a social responsibility for everyone who is capable of it. Humanity’s evolutionary and historical heritage has left us all full of trauma and dysfunction, and if you’ve got the time and resources to help clear your share of that from our species you really should. I’m not saying you have to spend years in the Himalayas, or even go to therapy if that’s not where it’s at for you, but you ought to do something to bring consciousness and healing to your inner processes rather than just letting unconscious conditioning pilot your whole life.
It also happens that working on yourself and clearing your unconscious bullshit will make you a lot happier and lead to much wiser decisions and a much better life. So there’s really no reason you should keep coasting along and still be the same person ten years from now that you are today.
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All my work is free to bootleg and use in any way, shape or form; republish it, translate it, use it on merchandise; whatever you want. My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, throwing some money into my tip jar on Patreon, Paypal, or Substack, buying an issue of my monthly zine, and following me on Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud or YouTube. If you want to read more you can buy my books. The best way to make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. For more info on who I am, where I stand, and what I’m trying to do with this platform, click here. All works co-authored with my husband Tim Foley.
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This post was originally published on Caitlin Johnstone.
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Australia’s military leaders need to be held to account for command failures in Afghanistan. It’s no surprise that calls of a cover-up are growing louder, writes defence whistleblower David McBride.
This post was originally published on Michael West.
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Dan Andrews got a pay rise this week, making him the country’s highest paid premier or chief minister. But that’s not the whole story, as James Fitzgerald-Sice reports
This post was originally published on Michael West.
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Australia’s sovereign wealth fund manages more than $200 billion of taxpayer’s funds but does so with a notorious penchant for secrecy. This third instalment in a series from Rex Patrick and Philip Dorling shines a spotlight on the Future Fund’s surprising gambling stake.
This post was originally published on Michael West.
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Nairobi, June 21, 2023—In response to Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Trade and Industry Moses Kuria’s derogatory remarks and threats of economic sanctions against the privately owned Nation Media Group, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement:
“The vile insults and threats that Kenya’s trade minister Moses Kuria hurled at the Nation Media Group over the last few days undermine the dignity of the minister’s taxpayer-funded office and expose a disturbing disregard for constitutionally protected freedoms of the press,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Angela Quintal, from New York. “Kuria should retract his threats, and the government should guarantee media outlets do not face retaliatory economic sanctions for their reporting.”
In a video posted on Twitter on June 18, Kuria threatened to fire government officials who advertised with the Nation Media Group, a corporation that owns a number of local and regional newspapers and broadcasters. The following day, he posted pictures of advertisements in the company’s newspapers and said the ads were “not good.”
In a series of tweets between June 18 and June 20, Kuria called the company’s employees “prostitutes,” accused its journalists of corruption and bias, and promised to publish the names of “Nation Media Group writers who have confessed to being coerced to write anti government stories” in a “scheme” by editors, management, and “a former president.”
The actions came after Nation Media Group’s print publications and its broadcaster NTV carried reports alleging government officials’ involvement in a corrupt scheme to import duty-free cooking oil that cost taxpayers billions of shillings.
On Wednesday, June 21, Kuria told journalists he would not apologize for his comments and said, “There is no one who is more pro-media than me.”
Also on Wednesday, the High Court in Nairobi issued an injunction against Kuria, barring him from insulting or vilifying the media, pending the hearing of a petition alleging the minister had breached values of governance and leadership as outlined by the Kenyan constitution. The case is expected to be heard on July 24.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.
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The existence of “criminal behaviour” within the ranks of the Australian Defence Force’s elite troops has yet to have any consequences further up the chain of command. Senator Jacqui Lambie calls it a cover-up. Lisa-Jane Roberts reports.
This post was originally published on Michael West.
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With Anthony Albanese’s signature housing policy delayed for months in the Senate, investment consultant Harry Chemay examines what’s wrong with its approach — and what’s right with another Labor policy
This post was originally published on Michael West.
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The nation’s elite soldiers will be soon have a new piece of kit to help stamp out Ben Roberts-Smith-style rogue elements. But, as Lisa-Jane Roberts writes, the culture of the SAS has deep roots and is unlikely to be fixed by technology.
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Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley):
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Our civilization is sick because all its systems ensure that human behavior is driven by profit, and health isn’t profitable. Nobody gets rich from everyone staying healthy all the time. The gears of capitalism will still keep turning if its populace is made shallow and dull by bad education and crappy art made for profit. Billionaires aren’t made by leaving forests and oceans unmolested, consuming less, mining less, drilling less, using less energy. The economy doesn’t soar when the world is at peace and nations are working together in harmony.
If you programmed an advanced AI to arrange human behavior solely around extracting the maximum amount of profit possible using existing technologies, its world wouldn’t look a whole lot different from the real one. We’re being guided by unthinking, unfeeling systems that don’t care about the good of our minds, our hearts, our health, or our biosphere, which will sacrifice all of the above to accomplish the one goal we’ve set them to accomplish.
It’s just a dogshit way to run a civilization. It doesn’t work. It’s left us with a dying world full of crazy morons hurtling toward nuclear armageddon on multiple fronts. Our systems have failed as spectacularly as anything can fail.
It’s simple really: we settled for capitalism as the status quo system because it’s an efficient way to churn out a lot of stuff and create a lot of wealth, but now we’re churning out too much stuff too quickly and society is enslaved by the wealthy. So now new systems are needed.
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So much of modern political life consists of the ruling class tricking the public into trading away things the ruling class values in exchange for things the ruling class does not value. Trading revolution for the feeling of being revolutionary. Trading actual freedom and democracy for the story of having freedom and democracy. Trading away the civil rights our rulers actually care about like unrestricted speech and freedom from surveillance in exchange for culture wars about racism and transphobia. Trading real labor for imaginary money. In every way possible we’re being duped into trading away real power for empty narrative fluff.
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One part of the problem is that in this mind-controlled dystopia people are prevented from knowing how deeply evil their government is, so the idea of their government surveilling them and regulating their speech and their access to information doesn’t scare them like it should.
This is why it annoys me when people say “Stop talking about the problems, we need to talk about solutions!” It’s like mate, we’re so far from ever being able to implement solutions — we haven’t even gotten to a point where a significant number of people know the problems exist. Step one is spreading awareness of the problems and their sources, because nobody’s going to turn and fight an enemy who they still believe is their friend. Systemic solutions are pretty far down the track from that point.
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It’s a pretty well-established fact by now that free will doesn’t exist nearly to the extent that most religions, philosophies and judicial systems pretend it does. Our minds are very hackable and propaganda is very effective. If you don’t get this, you don’t understand the problem.
Do a deep dive into cognitive biases and how they operate. Look into the research which shows our brains know what decisions we’re going to make several seconds before the conscious mind thinks we’re making them. You’re going to tell me these are organisms with free agency?
In order to understand what we’re up against you have to understand psychological manipulation, how effective it is, and why it works, because mass-scale psychological manipulation is the primary force preventing the public from turning against our rulers in our own interest.
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It seems like a lot of the inertia and self-defeating hopelessness that people have about fighting the machine comes from knowing the political awakenings of the sixties fizzled out, but I don’t think that would be the case if people understood just how much hard work the machine had to put into making them fizzle.
I mean, we all get that the death of activist movements didn’t just happen on its own, right? We all know about COINTELPRO? Known instances where one out of every six activists was actually a federal infiltrator? The roll-out of the most sophisticated propaganda machine that has ever existed?
The amount of energy the western empire has poured into killing all leftist and antiwar movement is staggering, but people just think the acid wore off and the hippies turned into yuppies and the Reagan administration happened on its own. It didn’t. They had to work hard at that.
The revolution didn’t organically fizzle out, it was actively strangled to death. And what’s left in its place is this defeatist attitude where people want a healthy society but believe it can’t be attained, so it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. We COINTELPRO ourselves now.
People think we can’t use the power of our numbers to force the emergence of a healthy society, and we don’t deserve one because we dropped the ball. But we didn’t knowingly drop the ball, we were manipulated out of it. And the manipulators had to work very, very hard to do so. Those movements died out because the machine understood very clearly that it needed to stomp them out with extreme aggression and knew exactly what it needed to do to accomplish this, while ordinary people did not. It’s not a fair fight if only one party knows it’s a fight.
The machine won one battle and everyone’s acting like they won the war. They didn’t. We can absolutely pick up the fight again, and we can overwhelm them with our numbers. If we had any idea how hard they had to work to win that one battle, this would be clear to everybody.
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My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, throwing some money into my tip jar on Patreon, Paypal, or Substack, buying an issue of my monthly zine, and following me on Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud or YouTube. If you want to read more you can buy my books. The best way to make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list for at my website or on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. Everyone, racist platforms excluded, has my permission to republish, use or translate any part of this work (or anything else I’ve written) in any way they like free of charge. For more info on who I am, where I stand, and what I’m trying to do with this platform, click here. All works co-authored with my husband Tim Foley.
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Featured image via Adobe Stock.
This post was originally published on Caitlin Johnstone.
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Laos’ Ministry of Home Affairs has launched a hotline that citizens can call for government assistance, but many are afraid to use it because callers must reveal personal information.
After dialing 1526 to report an issue, callers must also provide their names, phone numbers and addresses so that police or officials can contact them if they require more information.
“If they call asking authorities to solve a particular problem, the police can call them back easily after the issue is investigated and solved,” a related government official, who like all sources in this report requested anonymity for security reasons, told RFA’s Lao Service.
The official said since the hotline was launched on June 1, many have called asking for the ministry to solve problems and others have called to comment on the work of the ministry, but she was not at liberty to discuss how many people have called or what any of their requests were.
The Lao government has been using hotlines for public engagement since 2016. The country’s National Assembly also has an open hotline where people can raise issues for it to address.
But several Lao residents said they were reluctant to use the new hotline because they doubt the ministry can do anything to solve the problem, and they do not want to get in trouble for reporting problems.
“If you ask for help from the government in a one-party country, and ask them too many times, it’s not good for you,” a resident said. “You have to reveal all your personal information so everybody is afraid to call.”
Another resident said he was not interested in using them because hotlines in the past were ineffective in solving problems.
A third villager said that usually nobody answers government hotlines so it is useless to call them.
A Lao resident who identified as a Christian said that Christians have used hotlines once in a while to inform the ministry when they are harassed by local authorities.
Sometimes officials come to try to solve the problem but most of the time the complaints are ignored, the person said.
“The good part of using the hotline is that we can inform the ministry of problems that we are concerned about and need them solved,” the Christian said. “However, many problems are still not solved … they always say they are still working on it”
A Lao intellectual told RFA that most people do not trust government hotlines because they are afraid of retribution. For example, if they were to reveal government corruption, the responsible officials could use the power of their positions to punish them.
Translated by Sidney Khotpanya. Edited by Eugene Whong.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Lao.
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Myanmar’s shadow government has established an armed battalion in the country’s largest city of Yangon, intended to strengthen opposition to the junta and strategically formulate the fall of military rule, shadow government officials told Radio Free Asia.
Defense officials from the National Unity Government, or NUG, announced on June 1 that Public Defense Force 5101, or PDF 5101, is operating under its Yangon Region Military Command.
Yangon and its surrounding areas are the second strongest power base for the military junta behind the capital Naypyidaw, to the north.
In the aftermath of the military coup on Feb.1, 2021, armed citizens opposed to military rule began banding together to form PDFs–guerilla-style militia groups–to fight back against the junta. Many of these affiliated themselves with the NUG after it was formed by remnants of Myanmar’s democratically elected government.
Claiming a PDF in Yangon is a stepping stone towards a stronger resistance toward the junta, Naing Htoo Aung, secretary of the NUG’s Ministry of Defense, told RFA’s Burmese Service. He said it aims to combine existing urban guerrilla attack strategies with traditional combat tactics to shorten the response time to junta military threats in Yangon.
“After regiments like this have been established, we will be able to organize stronger, more united and more traditional battles that can formulate more strategic attacks at the military junta,” said Naing Htoo Aung.
A hospital staffer cleans a stretcher stained with blood from a protester killed during a crackdown by Myanmar military during a demonstration against the military coup at a hospital in Yangon, March 30, 2021. Credit: AFP Following the NUG’s announcement, junta personnel took to the Yangon streets, saying to residents through loudspeakers that they should not harbor members of PDFs in their homes, not to rent their homes ot PDF members, and to report to authorities any suspicious activity, Yangon residents told RFA.
Wake up call
The establishment of the PDF in Yangon is a wake up call to the junta, Sayar Kyaung, leader of the anti-junta Yangon UG [Urban Guerilla] Association, a coalition of guerilla groups from the city. But the announcement will cause the junta to come after groups like the UG association.
“Since Yangon is under the control of the enemy, they search very thoroughly, inspect and arrest more people in the area, making things harder for us.”
RFA attempted to contact the junta’s spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment, but he did not answer phone calls.
The NUG’s announcement is likely false according to Thien Tun Oo, the executive director of the Thayninga Institute for Strategic Studies, a group of former military officers said.
“In my opinion, it’s more like a propaganda attempt,” he said. “It cannot be practical for them to do anything in the Yangon region under the current situation.”
More violence expected
Anti-junta forces shot and killed about 600 junta military personnel in and around Yangon during the month of May, including officers ranked as high as majors, the NUG’s Yangon Regional Military Sub-division announced on June 3.
On June 5, six people were injured in an explosion at the office of the chief of Internal Revenue Department in Yangon, and on On June 6, three bombs exploded near the city’s Insein Prison.
The NUG’s declaration of a newly formed armed battalion will likely cause more violence between the two sides, Sai Kyi Zin Soe, a political analyst, told RFA.
“There can be more deadly incidents leading to escalating anxiety among the people,” he said. “I think that those who are already hiding from the military forces will have narrower freedom to move about and fewer choices of accommodation with more difficult livelihood opportunities.”
Smoke rises over Tamwe township in Yangon on March 27, 2021 as Myanmar security forces continue their crackdown on protesters against the military coup. Credit: AFP According to NUG data, there are more than 300 PDF groups in 250 townships nationwide.
The junta has therefore attempted to take a page out of the PDF playbook and has organized citizen militias loyal to the junta.
Dialogue will, however, be the only way to avoid more fighting and casualties, Ye Tun, a political analyst, told RFA.
“There have been escalating anxieties, feelings of insecurity and personal vendettas among the people lately. This is a very bad consequence of politics in Myanmar,” he said. “We need to be very careful not to let things like this happen.”
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 3,659 pro-democracy activists and civilians have been killed since the military coup, and 23,337 people have been arrested as of Wednesday.
A junta statement issued April 9, reported that from the coup through March 16, 2023, a total of 4,645 civilians were killed by PDF forces.
RFA could not independently verify the data from either organization, but if both statements are accurate, a total of 8,304 people have died on both sides since the coup.
Translated by Myo Min Aung. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Burmese.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Hello, and welcome to Part 2 of our series on personal action in the face of climate change. (Check out Part 1 here, looking at why individual action is a fraught concept, and how individuals are amplifying impact via life milestones.)
Today’s story, from news and politics fellow Akielly Hu, shares the perspective of one young person who witnessed the effects of climate change on the places she loved and decided to take what some might call a drastic measure — suing her state government.
The vision
“We’ve tried the quiet way before and there haven’t been any changes in 60 years. Now it’s time to think bigger, speak louder.”
Claire Vlases, one of 16 young people suing the state of Montana
The spotlight
On Monday, a trial began for the climate lawsuit Held v. Montana at a state district court in Helena. In March 2020, 16 youth plaintiffs filed suit against the state, alleging that by enacting policies that promote fossil fuel production, the state government violated their constitutional right to a healthy environment. (Montana is one of three states that has established a right to a “clean and healthful” environment in its state constitution.)
The case is not the first time young people have taken legal action to demand that their government take the climate crisis seriously. The plaintiffs in Montana, organized by a nonprofit law firm called Our Children’s Trust, are joining a growing cadre of citizens suing their governments for their failure to act on climate change. Many of these cases — from Canada to Mexico to South Africa — identify citizens’ constitutional rights to life, security, or a healthy environment, and aim to hold governments accountable for protecting those enshrined rights.
But the Montana case will make history as the first constitutional climate case to go to trial in the U.S. (A federal case, Juliana v. United States, also organized by Our Children’s Trust, will soon become the second.)
From June 12–23, the youth plaintiffs will testify in court, sharing stories of how climate change has affected their personal lives and why they’re asking the court to declare Montana’s fossil fuel policies unconstitutional.
[Read more about the arguments in the case]
“In some ways, our generation feels a lot of pressure, kind of a burden, to make something happen because it’s our lives that are at risk,” Rikki Held, the named plaintiff in the case, told the Montana Free Press. She added that she and her fellow plaintiffs were compelled to take action out of both a love for their home state and a desire to hold it accountable. “Montana is a big emitter of fossil fuels and is contributing to climate change. I know it’s a broader global issue, but you can’t not take responsibility.”
Another plaintiff, Claire Vlases, echoes those sentiments. Growing up in Bozeman, she spent much of her time outdoors, teaching ski lessons, cycling through Glacier National Park, and running on her high school’s cross-country team. But melting snowpack, receding glaciers, and extreme heat and smoke disrupted her favorite activities, sparking newfound awareness of the severity of the climate crisis.
Vlases, now 20 years old and studying computer science at Claremont McKenna College in California, says she’s been feeling the weight of preparing for the trial. “If Montana as a state is able to recognize its unconstitutional promotion of fossil fuels and hopefully down the line actually change that,” she says, “that would be a huge motivating factor for young people across the state to not feel like all hope is lost when it comes to environmental protection.”
Grist spoke to and emailed with Vlases ahead of the trial about what it’s been like preparing for the case, what she hopes it will achieve, and what she’s learned about the role individuals can play in influencing policy-level change. Her comments have been edited for length and clarity.
Q. What inspired you to get involved with this lawsuit?
A. I grew up in Bozeman, and growing up here, I just loved the environment and had a passion for nature. When I was in middle school, I raised a bunch of money for solar panels for my middle school. And since then, I developed a taste for climate activism.
In high school, I learned about kids that are suing the federal government for promoting fossil fuels unconstitutionally. I was in awe of their actions, so when I heard about something similar happening in my home state of Montana, I reached out to the organization to see if I could become involved. I went through an interview process before officially becoming a plaintiff in the case.
Q. What have you experienced during the last three years leading up to trial? How has your life changed?
A. The last three years have been a whirlwind of activism, learning, and personal growth.
Waiting for the lawsuit to reach trial has been both agonizing and invigorating. There have been moments of frustration, as we faced delays, legal hurdles, and the slow pace of the judicial system. However, each passing day fueled my determination to see justice served. The support from fellow activists, friends, and even strangers has been a source of strength during the long wait.
This journey has transformed my life in profound ways. I’ve become more resilient, learning to navigate the complex world of bureaucracy and courtroom procedures. I’ve connected with experts, scientists, and fellow activists, broadening my knowledge and network. But above all, I’ve witnessed the power of unity and collective action, as our movement gained momentum and captured the attention of the media and the public.
Q. Most people don’t get a chance to directly challenge their government’s policies on climate change. Would you describe this as an empowering experience?
A. Definitely. I joined the lawsuit when I was 17, so I couldn’t vote yet. When I was in high school, I helped found the Solar Club and we wrote a couple of different bills to try and get solar legislation passed in Montana. But it was never very successful — they never even made it out of committee. So it’s really empowering to be a young person and actually get an opportunity to challenge our government through the judicial branch.
Q. How would you describe the importance of taking personal action when it comes to climate change?
A. I think it’s important to find something that you’re passionate about. For me, it’s protecting the environment and taking a stance on it. A lot of people, especially young people, don’t think that there’s much of an opportunity there. But if there is a community that is supportive enough of your endeavors, there’s a lot that you can do as a person.
Individual action goes hand-in-hand with government action. That’s one huge reason why I’m on this lawsuit, because I’ve done as much as I think I can do as one person. Now I believe it’s time for my government to take action, too.
Q. Have you heard from any other young people who have been inspired by what you and your fellow plaintiffs are doing?
A. It’s hard to know for sure. I do get emails every couple of months from people asking me about my work, but mostly that’s for my solar panel stuff.
In high school, when I finished the solar panel project, people reached out to me a lot and there were solar clubs made in other schools. I think it’s a lot easier to see change happening for young people, by young people, in your own community. If it’s your neighbor or your friend, then it’s a lot more motivating to try it yourself. And so I hope young Montanans can see the work that we’re doing on this lawsuit and find that a motivating factor for them.
Q. It’s interesting that the center of this case is Montana’s constitutional right to a healthy environment. Would you say that’s a source of pride or empowerment for you and other climate advocates in the state?
A. It’s hugely empowering that there even is an Article IX in our constitution. I think everyone in Montana, no matter their politics, lives here because of the natural landscape and what Montana offers us. I find it hugely inspiring that our government is willing to recognize that that is a crucial part of being Montanan.
But I find it really unsettling that even though we have that recognition in our constitution, there are laws in place that aren’t following that. Calling attention to the article in this lawsuit and to the laws that are unconstitutional means that we’re able to actually recognize what’s really important — what Montanans really value — and then act on it.
Q. Will you be testifying at the trial?
A. Yes, I think so.
Q. How are you feeling about it?
A. I feel excited to be able to voice my opinions and that I have an opportunity to be heard. It’s hard to think that your opinions can actually make change. So I’m really looking forward to that.
Also, I’m a little nervous. I’ve never done that before. But I hope that what I say matters to the people listening.
I was talking to my sister today so that she could ask some questions so I could get in the right mindset for this interview. And she was like, “Why would you sue? I feel like that’s really drastic.” I was thinking about that a little bit. And I think taking a drastic measure of action is the only way that we’re going to get heard. I think young people across the state are interested in knowing what we can actually do, and what lengths people will go to feel heard. And we’re excited to see the result of the trial.
Q. What’s next for you after this trial and after college? Do you see climate work being part of your future?
A. I’m not sure where I want to go with my career. I hope to use my computer science [background] for environmental work. But I’ll continue to be an environmentalist and speak out against anything that I believe is unconstitutional for the rest of my life.
— Akielly Hu
More exposure
- Read: more about the ins and outs of the Montana case (Grist)
- Read: about a case brought by the island nation of Vanuatu to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, seeking a ruling from the court on the obligation national governments have to act on climate change (Grist)
- Read: about climate litigation across the globe in 2023 (The Guardian)
- Explore: a map of states that are considering environmental-rights amendments in 2023 (National Caucus of Environmental Legislators)
See for yourself
What are some ways you’ve stood up for your own right to a clean and healthy environment — whether legally protected or not? Reply to this email to tell us how you’ve raised your voice, called out injustice, or otherwise held the powers that be accountable for protecting people and ecosystems.
A parting shot
This photo shows a stand of living and dead whitebark pine trees at a research and restoration site near the Snowbowl ski area outside Missoula, Montana. Whitebark pines have been particularly threatened by climate-related perils, including greater wildfire risk and pest outbreaks. (Earlier this year, we covered a climate plan developed by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes on the Flathead Reservation in Montana, which included restoring whitebark pine populations.)
This story was originally published by Grist with the headline ‘It’s time for my government to take action’: A conversation with a youth plaintiff in Held v. Montana on Jun 14, 2023.
This content originally appeared on Grist and was authored by Akielly Hu.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on openDemocracy RSS and was authored by Anita Mureithi, Ruby Lott-Lavigna.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Just Stop Oil and was authored by Just Stop Oil.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Just Stop Oil and was authored by Just Stop Oil.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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The U.S. government and human rights activists have called for the immediate release of a 19-year-old Uyghur university student serving jail time in Xinjiang for “advocating extremism” following her sentencing in March.
Kamile Wayit, a preschool education major at a university in China’s Henan province, was detained in December 2022 for posting a video on a social media app about November’s “white paper” protests across China, in which people held up blank sheets of paper to complain about COVID-19 restrictions and the lack of free speech.
Wayit was one of dozens of young people around China detained in relation to the protests, which were sparked by a fatal lockdown fire in an apartment building in Xinjiang’s regional capital Urumqi that killed about 40 Uyghurs.
Authorities apprehended Wayit while she was on winter break at her home in Atush, capital of Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang, her brother, Kewser Wayit, told Radio Free Asia in a January report.
A subsequent report by RFA in April cited a state security agent who said Wayit was being detained pending an investigation into her communication with her brother, an engineer who lives in the United States, in addition to her social media post.
Earlier in June, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson told The Economist magazine that authorities sentenced Wayit on March 25, but did not state the length of her sentence.
Pressing for her release
Wayit’s arrest has attracted international attention with the U.S. government, rights activists, scholars, professors and students demanding that Chinese authorities provide information on her case and release her.
“We are concerned by the PRC [People’s Republic of China] government’s continued detention of Kamile Wayit,” said a U.S. State Department spokesperson responding to an inquiry by Radio Free Asia on June 9.
“We call on the People’s Republic of China to ensure respect for her human rights and fundamental freedoms, including all fair trial guarantees, and to immediately and unconditionally release all unjustly detained persons,” the spokesperson said.
Maya Mitalipova, a Uyghur activist and director of the Human Stem Cell Laboratory at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told RFA that she will advocate for Wayit until she is released.
“I will not be silent and will be speaking on behalf of Kamile until she is free,” Mitalipova said. “I will meet with U.S. government officials at the State Department and pressure the Chinese government to free Kamile.”
When RFA contacted the Prosecutor’s Office in Kezilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture, an employee declined to provide information on Wayit’s sentence because the case has to do with national security.
“Even Kamile Wayit’s family has no right to inquire about her case,” the staffer said, adding that family members must wait until they receive the final trial decision from the court.
State security staff previously told RFA that the families of those accused of committing a crime receive notice between seven to 37 days for regular criminal cases, during which time the Prosecutor’s Office will approve the arrest request.
The Public Security Bureau then reviews the arrest order, which takes two months. But there is no such rule on cases related to state security charges.
In the meantime, Wayit’s family says it is concerned about her mental health because she has experienced constant nightmares since 2017 when her father was taken to a “re-education” camp for two years. She also suffers from an eye disorder for which she was supposed to have surgery in Beijing this summer.
Translated by RFA Uyghur and RFA Mandarin. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Shohret Hoshur for RFA Uyghur and by RFA Mandarin.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Attached is a note from PwC to its big clients telling them how to dodge the new tax laws shortly before they were passed in Parliament in 2015. PwC was advising the Government on the design of these laws while advising its clients how to avoid them. Michael West reports.
This post was originally published on Michael West.
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Declassified Australia reveals the feast for lobbyists, US defence contractors and hangers-on which is the AUKUS $370bn submarines deal, Kelly Tranter reports.
This post was originally published on Michael West.
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More than 170 anti-junta paramilitary groups from Myanmar’s northern, embattled Sagaing region have held talks to deepen cooperation in their fight against the military and share strategies for administering areas under their control.
The “Sagaing Forum,” hosted online on May 30-31, provides a rare glimpse into the myriad of so-called People’s Defense Force, or PDF, groups that are fighting the junta but have not pledged allegiance to the shadow National Unity Government seeking to reestablish a civilian administration in the aftermath of the military’s Feb. 1, 2021, coup d’etat.
Speaking to RFA Burmese on Friday, Sagaing Forum spokesperson Chaw Su San called the gathering part of efforts to “strengthen the revolutionary forces” of the region, despite the absence of NUG-aligned PDFs.
“More than two years into the resistance against the military junta, we held the forum as we saw the need to unite all revolutionary groups, in order to keep up the momentum of the revolution,” he said.
“The purpose of the forum is to make the anti-junta revolutionary groups in Sagaing more connected so that they will be able to continue fighting against the junta as part of a wider network,” he said.
Chaw Su San said that topics at the forum focused on regional issues related to politics, the military and regional administration. A statement issued by forum organizers on June 1 said other themes included ending military rule, self-governance, self-administration and the organization of regional anti-junta forces.
While NUG-aligned PDF groups were absent from the forum, the shadow government sent a message to the forum at its conclusion, expressing hope that the talks could foster progress on issues related to local needs, “without unwanted external pressures.”
The National Unity Consultative Council – an advisory body to the NUG made up of various ethnic armed organizations and majority Bamar groups – was present and delivered a speech to attendees.
Captain Htut Khaung, the leader of the Yinmarbin township 28th Battalion of the Dar Ma Saing Army under the NUG, told RFA that he did not receive an invitation to the forum, but was briefed on the topics covered.
“The forum attendees pledged to continue the revolution as a united front and they discussed their goals, including what they want and how they will carry it out,” he said.
A person who attended the forum as an observer confirmed to RFA on condition of anonymity that he did not see PDF groups under the NUG’s Ministry of Defense in attendance.
NUG rival?
Critics of the forum have suggested that the groups that attended intend to present an alternative to the NUG and gain political advantage.
However, forum spokespersons dismissed the allegations, calling it a “platform for all revolutionary groups to meet and confer.”
Thein Tun Oo, the executive director of the Thayninga Institute for Strategic Studies, which is made up of former military officers, said he viewed the gathering as a sign of disunity among anti-junta actors.
“It is natural that, after a time, groups with different directions and preferences part ways, leading to fragmentation,” he said. “We will have to wait and see if that is what’s happening, but it’s a possibility.”
Thein Tun Oo said it is “highly probable” that there will be further splits between the groups going forward, although he did not elaborate.
Salingyi PDF members, some with flags of National League for Democracy party gather in Salingyi during the first anniversary of the military coup on Feb. 1, 2022. Credit: MPA Kyaw Zaw, spokesman for the office of NUG President Duwa Lashi La, denied speculation that the shadow government’s absence was proof of a split within anti-junta forces and said the NUG supported the gathering.
“The people of Sagaing region and their revolutionary and political groups need to come together and discuss how to jointly implement a new federal democratic state in the Sagaing Forum,” he said, elaborating on the NUG statement sent last week.
Kyaw Zaw said that discussions at the forum pertaining to the right to self-determination and self-governance were “in line with the Federal Democratic Charter,” adding that the NUG was “satisfied” with the results of the meeting.
Local support
RFA spoke with residents of Sagaing who also welcomed the gathering, including a person from Pale township who said he hopes for additional meetings that promote unity between the region’s anti-junta groups.
“I welcome these forums as a citizen,” said the Pale resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing security concerns. “My only hope is that they collaborate with scholars and other experts to ensure that they don’t go astray.”
Sagaing Forum organizers told RFA that the next gathering will allow participants to drill down on topics raised in May and said they plan to invite additional groups to increase participation.
A date has yet to be decided for the second forum.
Translated by Myo Min Aung. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Burmese.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Than Myint, the elder brother of the shadow National Unity Government’s human rights advisor, has been stabbed to death in Myanmar’s commercial capital Yangon, according to his brother Aung Kyaw Moe.
He said a gang attacked his brother near the Nwe Aye Mosque on Wednesday and escaped before the police arrived.
“We are blood [relatives] and I am working on human rights,”Aung Kyaw Moe told RFA Friday.
“I sent facts about this to relevant colleagues and the international community. When the relatives of those involved in the revolution are targeted and killed we must bring justice to those cases.”
Pro-junta activists took to social media to claim responsibility but it is still not clear which group was behind the killing.
Than Myint was from a Rohingya family that used to live in Rakhine state. He and his family members fled Rakhine separately after the Muslim group suffered persecution in 2012 and 2017.
Of the 1 million Rohingya who lived in Rakhine state, three quarters have fled to Bangladesh, while many of the rest live in Internally Displaced Persons camps with inadequate food and shelter.
The National Unity Government’s human rights ministry released a message of condolence for Than Myint’s killing on Friday.
On Thursday, pro-junta Telegram channels called on supporters to release the names of people opposed to the February 2021 military coup and the names of family members of those who have gone into exile.
The killing of Than Myint follows the murder of the mother and sister of one of the men accused of killing pro-junta singer and actor Lily Naing Kyaw in Yangon.
Furious pro-junta groups called for revenge, identifying the alleged killer and giving his address on social media.
Kaung Zarni Hein’s family were shot dead in their home the same night.
More than 3,600 civilians, including pro-democracy activists, have been killed since the coup according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Burmese.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Cemetery industry experts warn that the new Minister for Cemeteries, Steve Kamper, risks breaching the NSW Government’s direct dealings guidelines, and a referral to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) over promises made to the Catholic archdiocese prior to the March State election.
This post was originally published on Michael West.
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Hong Kong authorities sought a court injunction prohibiting the dissemination and performance of the banned protest anthem, “Glory to Hong Kong,” prompting downloads of the song to surge.
The anthem was regularly sung by crowds of unarmed protesters during the 2019 protest movement, which that ranged from peaceful demonstrations for full democracy to intermittent, pitched battles between “front-line” protesters and armed riot police.
It was banned in 2020 as Beijing imposed a draconian national security law on the city.
The song calls for freedom and democracy rather than independence, but was nonetheless deemed in breach of the law due to its “separatist” intent, officials and police officers said at the start of an ongoing citywide crackdown on public dissent and peaceful political activism.
“It is very unreasonable to ban the broadcast of ‘Glory to Hong Kong’,” said a Hong Kong resident who gave only the nickname May for fear of reprisals. She said had downloaded the song in the past 24 hours. “As a citizen, I feel very uneasy about this.”
“I want to listen to it more, now — I want to hear it again before it is taken off the shelves, or there is no way to listen to it any more — to commemorate the social events of that time,” May said.
Played at sports events
The lyrics of the song contain speech ruled by the court as constituting “secession,” a government statement said, referring to recent broadcasts of the song in error at overseas sports events featuring Hong Kong athletes.
“This has not only insulted the national anthem but also caused serious damage to the country and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region,” it said.
Radio Free Asia’s translation of the banned 2019 protest anthem, with music. Translated by Luisetta Mudie. “The Department of Justice of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) applied to the Court … to prohibit four items of unlawful acts relating to the song “Glory to Hong Kong,’” the statement said.
In November, Hong Kong police announced a criminal investigation into the playing of “Glory to Hong Kong” at a rugby match in South Korea.
If the court injunction is granted, it will outlaw the broadcasting, performing, publishing or other dissemination of the song on any platform, especially with “seditious” or “pro-independence” intent, the government said.
It will also become harder to track down the song online, as global platforms could seek to conform with the ruling simply by taking it down.
The news prompted a spike in digital downloads of the song from iTunes, with different versions of the song featuring in nine of the top 10 download spots for the Hong Kong market.
Meanwhile, keyword searches for “Glory to Hong Kong” in Chinese surged following the government statement, remaining at a new high on the Google Trends tracking app at 7.00 a.m. local time on Wednesday.
‘Attack on freedom of speech’
Former pro-democracy District Council member Carmen Lau, now in exile in the United Kingdom, said the move is part of an ongoing crackdown on public expression in Hong Kong since the national security law took effect that has seen hundreds of titles removed from public libraries and bookshops, as well as bans on the screening of some movies in the city.
“As far as I know, this is the first time that the government has used a court procedure to apply specifically to the release or broadcast of this song in Hong Kong,” Lau said. “This is a precedent, and is a serious attack on the freedom of speech, and on artistic freedom.”
“Now this precedent has been set, many other freedoms of the press, and cultural freedoms, will be suppressed too,” she said.
Demonstrators sing “Glory to Hong Kong” at the Times Square shopping mall in Hong Kong, Sept. 12, 2019. Credit: Associated Press Benson Wong, former assistant politics professor at Hong Kong Baptist University who is now in Britain, said the ban, if issued, will send a strong message to the international community.
“If the court really does issue an injunction banning the playing of ‘Glory to Hong Kong,’ this will be the first song ban in Hong Kong,” he said.
“It will also become clear that there is nothing left of the rule of law or judicial independence in Hong Kong,” Wong said.
He said the move was likely prompted by massive official embarrassment over the playing of the wrong anthem at recent sporting events, adding that Hong Kongers would likely have to turn to circumvention software to access the song in future.
The spirit of Hong Kong
U.K.-based former pro-democracy councilor Daniel Kwok said the song remains hugely popular among Hong Kongers.
“Everyone likes this song very much, protesters and the international community alike,” Kwok said. “Hearing this song is like hearing the spirit of Hong Kong.”
“It represents Hong Kongers as an ethnic group far better than [the Chinese national anthem],” he said. “This is a song that belongs to and represents the people of Hong Kong.”
Executive Council member Ronny Tong said anyone found downloading the tune could face up to seven years’ imprisonment for “contempt of court,” if the injunction is granted.
He called on residents of Hong Kong to delete the tune if they have downloaded it already, just to be on the safe side.
Lau said she still expects to hear the song at overseas protests by Hong Kongers, however.
Current affairs commentator Sang Pu said the Hong Kong authorities are unlikely to be able to enforce the ban outside the city.
“Injunctions granted by a Hong Kong court are only applicable to Hong Kong,” Sang said. “Many overseas versions have been posted overseas, to accounts on YouTube and Instagram, so how will they implement it there?”
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Cheryl Tung for RFA Cantonese, Amelia Loi for RFA Mandarin.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Former submariner Rex Patrick looks under the hood of the second-hand Virginia-class nuclear submarines to see what Australia has bought. Even AUKUS fans might not like what they see.
This post was originally published on Michael West.
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Most governments around the world have welfare programs that attempt to provide for the basic needs of its citizens who are old, ill, poor, unemployed, disabled etc. Those programs are far from ideal and are as narrowly targeted as is possible. A huge amount of paperwork is needed to apply for welfare and if you …
Continue reading OUT WITH CENTRELINK. IN WITH UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME.
The post OUT WITH CENTRELINK. IN WITH UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME. appeared first on Everald Compton.
This post was originally published on My Articles – Everald Compton.
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New documents show Julian Assange got little more than a mention at Mark Dreyfus’s media talkfest this year. Amid much talk about reform and transparency, the Government wants to draw our big media outlets into cozy secret relationships with Australia’s spies.
This post was originally published on Michael West.
