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When a baby is born, they are assigned a gender, a generation, an ethnicity, a citizenship and a health rating. They are assigned a class by the neighbourhood, professions and income bracket of their parents. As children, they are sent to educational institutions where professionals examine and categorize them every day. Instead of providing sufficient teachers and adequate training and options to manage diversity in schools, many governments now provide extra funding only after schools have classified educational difficulties in the students. The underfunded schools are motivated in this way to classify as many students as possible with the preferred learning disabilities so they can be streamed into special programs and used as product by the pharmaceutical industry. Students who escape this are streamed into narrower and narrower paths towards their future assigned roles.
The sectarianism initiated at birth intensifies throughout adolescence until teenagers are expected to spend all of their time worried about what they will become. When they finally attain adulthood, they will be confident in their assertion of what they are: professional, unemployed, educated, ignorant, married, single, a success or a failure. These classifications are added to the ones they received at birth, and then still more. They will become liberal, conservative or apolitical, gay, straight, or asexual, criminal or law abiding, addicted or not. They may belong to churches or fraternities or professional groups. Simply losing a physical object can cause them to drop into the bottom class, and become part of the homeless. They are not simply the same people without homes, the loss of an object changes their class identity and who and what the world sees them as.
Pundits of media and academia will all scramble to classify them further, to be the first to coin a new category. They will become hippies or yuppies or NEETs, emos or hipsters or millenials. They will be set against each other as proletariat and bourgeosie then further excluded as lumpenproles and petit-bourgeousie. They will submit to divisions as binary as black and white, to subdivisions so detailed they require acronyms like WOC, to gender and sexual orientation coalitions that include half the alphabet and an asterisk. They will probably enter online thought bubbles of gaming or social media. They will begin to classify themselves and others by opinion, as SJWs and MRAs, as fascists and anti-fascists and as every hyphenated ideology imaginable. In the obsession over group affiliation, actions and ideas are completely lost. People are accepted or shunned by entire category, not individual actions and ideas.
Societal institutions relate to each person by their assigned category. Legal systems and media will call some people in countries they weren't born into expats and others immigrants or illegals leading to vastly different treatment for the same situation. The same actions are crimes or not depending on social standing and whether or not the perpetrator is an agent of the state. Murder is unlawful killing. The law only objects when the lower classes kill, so killing is not murder if it is by police, militaries, judges and presidents. Taking property is only stealing for the lower classes who don't write property laws and disobeying the rules is only a problem for those not making them. Credit cards, banking institutions and so many others pay the wealthy and charge the poor for the same services. People can be forbidden freedom of movement based on citizenship or refused the right to survival income based on education. These class based differences which result in everything from lifelong misery to death are far more easily accepted if they can be abstracted by categorization.
The historical creation of difference between religions from the same culture, coloured by the same ancient myths, who accept the same texts as authority, pray to the same god and preach the same morality, helped to divide international populations for exploitation by the trade economy. The idea that these are three or more different religions instead of three sects of the same religion is a stretch. When compared with religions from completely different regions, it is apparent that these three ought to be considered one. It is only through a history written from the perspective of practitioners of these/this religion(s) that the differences were inflated to justify separate labels. Language was eventually used to separate the religion(s), with Hebrew common for Jewish texts, Latin for Christian and Arabic for Islam but all texts were still available in all the regional languages and the name of god is the same and prayers are very similar in the same languages. The inflated differences under this religion were combined with academic depiction of all other religions on earth as cults or in some way not real religions. The definition of a religion (vs a cult) usually includes qualifiers that limit religions to only sects of this one religion. Common qualifiers for a religion are a belief in God, a formalized hierarchical structure and written religious texts. This has left most of the world under the moral directive of one religion, that of the Silk Road.
Left to right: Christian woman, Jewish women, Muslim woman
Even the surface differences pointed to today in different practices of the trade route religion are really not different. The fashion of the time and place where all of these religions were born dictated very similar dress and that regional dress became encoded in the religious texts as the proper form of dress. Islamic, Christian and Jewish faiths all dictated that women should cover their hair and women in the devout sects of all three major religions still cover their heads in a very similar manner. As well as the more traditional sects of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, the most permissive Christian churches still required women to wear hats in the 1960s, Christians still veil at religiously significant events like funerals and weddings and both traditional nuns and Mary are always depicted in head coverings. Despite this, and the fact that many Muslim women, especially in the west, do not cover their heads and many Christians and Jews, especially in the Middle East, still do, popular sentiment has decided to associate head covering with Islam. An idea that most people's grandmothers or any but the most narrow experience could tell them was certainly not unique to Islam has been used to persecute Muslim women. Predictably, head covering in the United States then became a cultural property of only Muslims, which would ignite a fury of Medium blogs if worn by anyone else.
The Indo-European trade route religion(s) followed prophets who looked at the same culture in roughly the same era and provided guidance for how to make that culture more humane. Instead of taking the spirit of those prophets and applying their same humanitarian impulses to our societies today, some people use these religious texts to demand a return to the same societies these prophets were trying to lead people out of. The message of all of the prophets was one of evolution, not regression or violent restriction of evolution. After two millennia or so, either the spirit must be followed ahead of the texts or this religion(s) is no longer useful. This religion(s) gained huge followings along the trade routes because of the hope it gave of something better than the life that was experienced there. Demands that all societies return to the same patriarchal trade cultures that these prophets provided guidance away from is in opposition to the religions these demands emanate from.
The patriarchal model itself was a symptom of the trade routes. International trade created a very dangerous time and place where strangers were more likely to be a slave raid than potential friends. A patriarchal structure provided an outer shell to protect the weaker members of society even while it also gave the patriarch ownership over those weaker members. A patriarch could sell a wife or child to pay off debt, but he was also responsible for the survival of the entire extended clan. Women and men had extremely defined roles. Women could not usually make leadership decisions but women were also not expected to risk danger by meeting with strangers and the men arranged all travel, alliances, war and other dangerous social activity. Women were frequently sold or stolen as slaves or in marriage, but so were men and boys and the boys were often castrated, a horrific and barbarous practice with a survival rate of possibly ten percent. To depict such a system as simply one in which men oppressed women is incorrect, as is any suggestion that it proves men are superior to women.
Patriarchy was a horrific structure, necessitated by the world created by the trade routes. Gender was invented as a set of social norms divided between the classes of men and women. The primary features of gender supported the roles assigned to men and women. Men were to be brave, powerful, and in control. Women were to be loving, giving and submissive. Women were constrained by a gender designed for lifegivers and caregivers and men were coerced into a gender designed for killers and protectors. Today, women are as able to be protectors as men, men are have as much right to be caregivers as women, and any justification of a patriarchal structure is obsolete. The trade route prophets were using the culture that existed in their time and place as reference. Patriarchy is a cultural phenomenon, not a moral or religious ideal. The part of patriarchy that remains morally relevant is the fact that society needs lifegivers, caregivers and protectors. In these days of less dangerous societies, birth control and weapons which do not rely on strength, the roles remain but are no longer gendered or exclusive. In times and places not on the major trade routes, men and women shared these roles. That is our human impulse in societies not being violently coerced.
The scientific obsession with human categorization attempted to justify a stratified society without religion. Categorization imposes an abstract construct based on perspective. It is not scientific fact. Archaeology and DNA continue to find almost no differences between nations. Both knowledge exchange and genetic mixing are shown more clearly with every archaeological find around the world. The ancient mixing of migrant Homo Sapiens with Neandertals and Denisovans is still used as an excuse for racism despite the fact that "the greatest genetic diversity is still found within sub-Saharan Africa" where this mixing would indicate the least.i The caucasian Tarim mummies in China, dating from as early as 1800 BCE, have caused discomfort both in China and outside. The Chinese state, like many other nations that have current land claims to establish, prefers a history of an isolated empire which developed entirely by itself to a history of near constant global trade and migration. A simple archaeological find is also made politically complex by the idea of citizenship. The Chinese Uyghers have taken to calling themselves the caucasian Chinese in a fight against the Chinese state's policy of considering them recent immigrants. Evidence that Polynesians and others may have landed in the Americas long ago is also politically distasteful to some who feel threatened by a more complex view of history and are trying to establish national land claims. Rights which depend on defective categorization of humans are put in jeopardy by more accurate information. Those rights should never have been dependent on these categories in the first place.
While differences between sexes are being denied and attempts are made to eradicate them, differences between ethnicities are being exaggerated and attempts are made to manufacture them. With no scientific basis for race and no correlating national identities, there is not much to go on. People around the world look extremely similar. Ethnicity is not separated along lines of physical appearance and neither is it any longer separated by location or even ancestry which is too mixed to divide neatly. Neither is there any kind of a rational spectrum in appearance. Melanesian blondes have blonde hair with very dark skin and black Irish have black hair with very pale skin and the curliest hair is found at both ends of the skin tone spectrum. Claiming different cultures for people frequently raised in the same neighbourhoods or even families is beyond ridiculous. Claiming a similar heritage based on appearance is factually incorrect. While race was created for class segregation, that is no longer a reliable grouping either. Religious groupings created systems of beliefs which turned into laws which separated each other but race has not even that to go on. Groupings by so-called race are solely political.
Race was created primarily as a way to easily assign ingroup or outgroup status by class within societies. In the earliest stratified societies, it was customary to wear distinguishing clothing, jewelery or tattoos to easily identify class. With the spread of the international slave trade, ethnic appearance was used instead. The Dutch East India company and many others transported slaves back and forth from India, Southeast Asia and Africa, resulting in slave populations which had no community ties to defend them and were a highly visible class. Not only were the traders and purchasers able to dehumanize these slaves as an ethnic outgroup, the local populations saw them as an outgroup as well. The imposition of class barriers was far easier when a class could not hide from their own physical appearance, whether that was sexual or ethnic appearance.
The imposition of ingroups and outgroups by class is a powerful construct with multi-generational effects. In most of Africa, the word racism is usually replaced by tribalism but it frequently relates to class as well. Former slave and slave owner classes are as divided in Africa as they are in the rest of the world, whether the cause is depicted as racism or tribalism. Some people descended from the Incan empire still treat those descended from former slave tribes as an inferior outgroup and they are also still relatively economically disadvantaged. The Dominican Republic deports its low income workers by deporting Dominicans of Haitian descent. Once race and gender have been established, their use becomes a shorthand meme to remind people of who their outgroups are, even when no one remembers the reason. Race and gender have become a hereditary slave collar.
Despite the endless classifying of people, ostensibly and paradoxically in order to combat sectarianism, bigotry by class is not only tolerated, it is inherent in every institution. Every institution from education to the economy would collapse without classism. It is the height of hypocrisy for legal systems to claim to have laws against bigotry and hate crimes when the entire legal system is institutionalized bigotry and hate by class. Legal systems which deny the poor the basic essentials of life and condemn people of all ages to misery based on class are built on hate. Any laws which pretend to protect people based on gender, sexual orientation or ethnicity are a distraction from this foundational sectarianism.
Gender and race have a correlation with class, they are not a cause of class. Removing gender and race will have no impact on class divisions. Promoting gender and race will strengthen both sectarian and class divisions.
If women as lifegivers and social caregivers are under threat and indigenous people as ecosystem caregivers are also under threat, the most persecuted people on earth are indigenous women. In Canada, 1200 to 4232 aboriginal women have gone missing or been murdered since 1980ii. Canada's former Prime Minister told the media "it isn't really high on our radar." Particularly in formerly matriarchal nations, the degradation of indigenous women and their social invisibility is necessary to ensure they do not regain or remember their former power. In most nations, from Central America's Caravan of Missing Migrants to Argentina's Asociación Madres de Plaza de Mayo, to Nigeria's Bring Back Our Girls, it is the mothers and grandmothers who have formed the resistance movements against the ongoing genocides.
Violence against women has little to do with gender relationships or sex and everything to do with class. When someone destroys another human's intestines with a metal rod and throws them from a moving bus with their intestines falling out, as in the The 2012 Delhi gang rape case, it is not because the male to female ratio in India is out of balance or because Bollywood encourages men to think of sex. This is murder, brutality and sadism, and it is the kind of violence applied to outgroups. The same violence has been seen around the world towards ethnic groups who have had roles forced upon them that the trade economy teaches contempt for.
The reason women were and are persecuted is their ability to give birth and their assigned role as the essential but unpaid labour in society ruled by trade economy. The reason indigenous people were and are persecuted is their occupation of land and resistance to exploitation of that land. Solutions that simply offer compensation to persecuted groups within the paradigm of their persecution do nothing to shift the balance of power away from the merchant class and back to society. Solutions based on ethnicity and gender do nothing to protect the roles which were the actual reason for persecution.
In the fight to regain their power, women and indigenous nations have lost themselves. The personal stories and professional pride of women have been erased, their own bodies have been used to enslave them and their economic and social relationships are removed from the structure we live in. The only current path to autonomy for women is to join the trade economy and the primary path to the trade economy is through mind and body altering pharmaceuticals, politicized access to health services and rejection of lifegiving and caregiving roles. Indigenous nations have been made to prove their history and genetic purity in international courts in order to qualify for indigenous legal rights such as free, prior, informed consent to exploitation of their land. The path to autonomy for indigenous nations is through racism, exaggerated and purified history and permission to exist accorded by ancient history and forbidden evolution.
Allowing women and indigenous people media attention only when they accept corporate ideology ensures their messages in other roles are not heard. Lifegiving and caregiving are social roles, not genders or races. Diverting attention to how many female or ethnically indigenous people are represented in corporate roles distracts from all the lifegivers and caregivers who are not being heard and replaces the urgent conversations we are not having about the caregiving roles being vacated by women and indigenous people. Demanding roles for women and formerly indigenous people in the ponzi schemes of power supports and upholds those ponzi schemes and drains resistance movements.
Gender and race are social constructs and exist on a spectrum. Until we can be partly pregnant, the roles we fulfill do not. The founder of Y-combinator, the source of the most funding and influential advice for tech startups, did not tell startup founders to not hire people wearing dresses and makeup. He told them they would be crazy to hire anyone capable of giving birth.iii He did not specify a point on the spectrum of relative maleness called male to female or man to woman, he specified lifegivers, those with uteruses who may one day use them, those with bodies potentially capable of growing a second autonomous human body inside of them, giving birth to it and then nursing it and those who society expects may do that. All the neo-pronouns and non-binary genders in the world are not going to change this bigotry against role.
Alongside the antipathy to real diversity, fake or surface diversity has become a lucrative corporate product. Corporations which refuse to respect the earth or allow the safe and supportive communities required for caregiving, congratulate themselves for hiring women and people whose ancestors are from diverse regions. Indigenous people who run their own mining corporations and are hailed as a great success in gaining indigenous rights are equivalent to women who work for corporations as a strike for feminism. Replacing a culture that respected the land with a culture reduced to blankets, beads and suspect DNA is like replacing lifegiving and caregiving with the birth control pill and calling it a success for maternal rights. If autonomy is solely used to give more people the ability to act exactly like the merchant class, it does not support the diversity of roles we need. A destructive mine is a destructive mine no matter who profits from it and there is no community support for lifegiving and caregiving whether some women are able to opt out of it or not. Instead of begging legal and economic permission to act as ecosystem and community caregivers based on DNA, the roles of ecosystem and community caregivers and protectors must be recognized and empowered. Instead of standing outside begging for admittance to power, lifegivers, caregivers and protectors need to reclaim their own power, on their own terms. Instead of fighting for all to join an economy rewarding those who serve the powerful, we need to design one rewarding those who serve society and our ecosystems.
The solution to the class war is not to be found in some binary division between proletariat and bourgeoisie and a revolution which flips the two. The proletariat and the bourgeoisie were never as clear cut as depicted and they long ago transformed into new social roles. Instead of a subordinate or dominant peasantry, we need interlocking nations of ecosystem and community caregivers and protectors. Instead of a class of powerful scientists, we need open and transparent epistemic communities. Instead of gatekeeping and hoarding of knowledge by academia, we need an organic ecosystem of auditers, knowledge bridges and amplifiers of information from epistemic communities. Instead of roles assigned and protected by ethnicity or gender, we need free choice to seek the work most fulfilling to each of us. Instead of a hierarchical valuation of those roles, we need equivalence.
Identity politics requires an acceptance of a very simplistic history where group affiliation is pure and all of history has good guys on one side and bad guys on the other. Identitarians teach that if humanity can be divided and we compensate the good guys, our conflicts will be over because we will have equality. We don't need equality. We need diversity, supported by equivalence. Our diversity is necessary, not in a variety of shades and genders performing the same roles but in a great diversity of roles, each open to all regardless of skin tone or gender. We also need equivalence for diversity of ability, where the great spectrum of aptitude encompassed by humanity results in a great diversity of roles, not a stratified system of valuation.
The violence against both women and indigenous people is caused by society's contempt for the roles they are cast in or perceived to represent. The answer to this violence is not to demand equality for all performing the same destructive roles for the trade economy. The answer is to demand respect and widespread acceptance of the lifegiving and caregiving roles so desperately needed and encourage these roles for all. The violence directed against people for the social constructs of gender and race are not even in the same world as the violence directed at them as caregivers and protectors, no matter how much identity politics wants to conflate the two. Genocides have been committed the world over to clear populations off of land for industry or competing groups. The violence against people based on role will stop when the roles of lifegiving and caregiving are recognized and accorded the approval of the whole society. Violence against people based on the social constructs of race and gender will only be resolved by abolishing race and gender, which will never happen while people are still profiting from these divisions.
Diversity is not attained solely by allowing broader spectrums of social constructs such as gender or race in the same corporate roles. Diversity must also allow equivalent social acceptance for the variety of roles required in a healthy society.
Posted in ADS	| Tagged anarchy, democracy, education, history, politics, science | 1 Comment
A societal singularity
"In 1968 people like Habermas, Marcuse, and Roszak invited us to see the role of scientific rationality in the maintenance of the existing social order and to examine critically whether that was the role which we wished expertise to play…. On the whole, we failed. … What was just about escapable then seems inescapable now." – Robert Young, 1984i
The discouragement of those who have been in the trenches of the radical science movement for over half a century is understandable. Accepting defeat is not an option, however. Society without science, and without an effective way to integrate epistemic communities, will always be a society dissociated and easily controlled. Society with integrated scientific and epistemic communities may even yet save itself.
For years, science fiction writers and scientists have been enthralled with the idea of a technological singularity. They have looked forward to a day when technology will be beyond the scope of human understanding and artificial intelligence will be programming itself. Instead, we have reached a societal singularity where no one can understand every aspect of society which affects them We need to collaborate with others to create or develop products and even just to understand the news. We have to put our faith in other people and believe in what they tell us or trust in their skill to create their components. We need to somehow create nuanced and detailed information we can trust and coordinate goals with people we will never speak to.. Our societies are all connected now at some level with all of the other communities in the world, including even uncontacted tribes. This singularity is both unacknowledged and a core part of our societal functioning (and malfunctioning). Not only knowledge based industries but every level of governance depends on our management of communication and trust. The lack of integration between knowledge and the public is crippling our progress.
Representative governance and both the Great Man and the identitarian views of history present all human interaction as personality based. If there are community conflicts, our institutions assume the problem is one of personality management which can be solved by law enforcement. If social issues aren't addressed, representative democracy assumes a demographic is under represented. Collaboration in a personality based system can only be by authority or consensus. Most workers do not enjoy authoritarian systems as they lose autonomy, mastery and creative control over their own work and rule is by coercion, not choice. Consensus is ideal for small, local, like-minded affinity groups, but it only works in groups of under twenty-five people, preferably two to eight. Consensus is not useful for large scale collaboration or collaboration that is separated by communication barriers or over time.
Neither knowledge based industries nor governance ought to be personality based and neither can operate effectively in that way. The goal of all knowledge industries, including governance, is to stimulate the public to action. The only effective and voluntary large scale method of action based collaboration is stigmergy1 and stigmergic action follows ideas, not personalities. Since knowledge industries want to trigger stigmergic actions, they ought to be focused on ideas.
Currently, knowledge communities act like closed, internationally linked, affinity groups at a level of expertise not accessible to the general public. Affinity groups are personality based and allow expertise to be held by gatekeepers controlling information flow between groups. While local, self-governing, affinity groups should have the ultimate authority of acceptance or rejection of ideas, they all need access to the expertise of international epistemic communities in order to make the choices which are right for them. A structure which allows gatekeepers to control information flow will create both demagogues and an easily manipulated public. Epistemic communities that develop and audit ideas should use transparent and permeable concentric circles to integrate ideas from the epistemic communities directly with the public.
In a governance context this means we won't be electing personalities, we will be electing ideas. We won't have representatives for groups of people, we will have concentric circles around ideas.
Academic and scientific journals were created so that everyone would publish and build off of each others findings, guiding stigmergic action. In reality, most research is not open source, it is frequently corporate IP property and it does not allow permissive copyright or even access. Outside contributions and auditing is not rewarded or even allowed. Science and academia are very far from acting as concentric circles integrating ideas with wider society. Their closed communities allow their work to be easily controlled by politicians and industry and very little stigmergic action results from it. Without stigmergy, their progress is not nearly what it could be. Science and academia require knowledge bridges, transparency and free information if they are going to truly act as epistemic communities for us all and stimulate mass action.
Stigmergy is a method of collaboration for mass movements, not organizations. The civil rights movement in the United States was a stigmergic movement which retained its clarity through successive generations because it set specific goals in each cycle, whether that was to end slavery, end segregation, or end police violence. When feminism meant fighting for the vote and legal personhood it also had a clear goal and was also a stigmergic mass movement, but second wave feminism allowed its goals to become very loose. Because there wasn't a clear goal, second wave feminism was used to advertise corporate product and promote prominent personalities, primarily from the United States, who felt they could speak for every woman in the world on every topic. When feminism stopped following ideas, it stopped being a stigmergic movement and became a competitive, personality driven organization which then became completely divided, as is typical. Personality based organizations do not scale.
Stigmergy is made up of collaborative actions, not identitarian organizations or people. All identity politics results in personality based organizations which is why so many resistance movements, especially in the United States, collapse due to infighting. If mass movements rallied to stop rape, or street executions by police, or contamination of water, they would be very widely supported and unstoppable. Personality based organizations claiming victimhood as the exclusive product of one identity group have succeeded in stopping mass movements around all of these these stigmergic goals.
Stigmergy can scale to an entire population if support for an idea is unanimous and identity politics is not used to drive people away. Because stigmergy follows ideas, ideas are as important in stigmergy as personality management is in organizations. The single biggest factor for whether or not someone will participate in a stigmergic action is whether they are sure of the idea behind it. Whether it affects them, or if its simple to grasp or easy or even safe to do matters very little compared to their belief in the goal. This means the easiest way for someone to prevent action is to sow doubt in the goal. Finding the information we need for conviction in our goals in the collaborative structures we use today is not easy.
Most of the tools we have to help mass communication simulate direct democracy and look for popular ideas, the most shares and the most readers. Not only is popular not innovative or expert, the two are mutually exclusive. Popular ideas are riding the peak of the wave of socially acceptable opinion. They already appeal to the widest audience. They are not new ideas, by definition, and they aren't at a level of elite expertise that is difficult for all but a few to understand also by definition. This is why we now elect politicians on the basis of their tweets and this is the secret for politicians like Donald Trump who speaks at a grade 3 level.ii The more easily understood and the less challenging the message, the wider its appeal will be. An age that amplifies the most popular information, as we do now, will be an age of demagogues.
It is counter intuitive to think popular ideas are what we need to give us the best information. We need both expert and diverse knowledge. If we want those making the decisions to hear the voices that are seldom heard, that may expand their Overton windows and give us some fresh perspective, or represent a rare case that will cause their solution to break, amplifying the most popular ideas or people is again the exact opposite of what we ought to be doing. This is what direct, representative and liquid democracy do however, so of course it is also what the tools for democracy have been doing. We have tools for voting, tools that are very useful to find out what a population thinks and tools that are great for discussing things in affinity groups and coming to consensus, but we need to also go to where opinions are formed. Opinions are based on information. We need to be able to find expertise and accurate and diverse information that we can trust before we form our opinions and long before we measure them.
Ideas need to be audited and promoted by people qualified to understand them both to allow diversity of ideas and to prevent the process from being dominated by celebrities without the expertise required. If we have an elite discussion group with only elite experts or ideas in it, we are at great risk of having an elite oligarchy based on control of information, like we have now. Concentric circles relate to sound amplification. In a concentric circle, people or ideas promoted to the center by their peer group receive greatest amplification and findings will be audited, amplified and explained to the general public by outer circles. Concentric circles are not hierarchical as they have no direct control over the actions of anyone. An epistemic community is a knowledge resource only. Authority remains with the entire user group which provides a good incentive for the epistemic community to ensure transparency and knowledge bridges so their ideas are accepted. As in stigmergy, votes in a concentric group are frequently replaced by actions. If an idea receives no amplification, it is just an idea that goes nowhere.
"I wonder if the world is full of middle-aged people still waiting for their peers to take in the full range, depth, subtlety, and profundity of their work." – Robert Youngiii
With knowledge bridges, everyone does not need personal expertise on every aspect of society. As long as there is a transparent concentric circle, everyone can see the activity and get feedback if necessary. If there are a lot of people auditing and a lot of discussion and if the observers trust some of the people in these circles, they can trust the process and the ideas. Everyone can review the work of the experts both directly and through the review by their peers. Experts can also be created by the system itself as users develop knowledge and reputation and move towards the centre. This happens increasingly if users lose trust and they realize they need to start auditing a circle.
The vast majority of scientific and academic work is ignored as the public has no access or understanding and the scientific community has no time to examine everything. With a wider circle of auditors, outside the community of competitive peers, this work would not all be lost. Instead of doctors ignoring their patients for the latest paper from their colleagues or funding from the powerful, knowledge bridges would encourage community driven knowledge and research. Psychologists should not have the sole authority to decide what is normative. Anti-social or social acts should be decided by the society itself. Pharmaceutical industries and medical professionals cannot be allowed to ignore the lived experience of groups such as the Hearing Voices Network and Aphrodite Women's Health forum. Science, even where it uses isolation, must also be tested as a part of the whole, and even where it relies on peer review, must be fully open to review and contribution by the wider society.
Science will tell us that the population of an isolated community has shrunk 3.5 centimetres in the last century. If they asked the people in the village, they may hear that one man was 5'4" and had 27 children and almost the entire town are now his direct descendants, but in today's structure they rarely ask. Science will tell us that a woman died of a heart attack. Her village could tell us that she died of a broken heart because her son died. Science tells us how, but without the village, we will never understand why. Science today is not asking the village. They are too busy telling everyone that people can't die of a broken heart and sneering at superstitious villagers. As Paul Richards outlines in Ebola: How a People's Science Helped End an Epidemic, ebola was not being spread by eating wild meat as the international experts claimed. Villagers noticed it was the people who attended funerals who contracted the disease and adjusted their behaviours more effectively on their own. If the international epistemic community studying ebola had been communicating with the local affinity groups dealing with ebola, they all would have been a lot more effective. Instead of providing a one way flow of near useless information, researchers could have been acting as an integrated epistemic community and a valuable resource.
No one is or should be more afraid of the mob, of mob norms and mob decisions, than those outcast on the fringes. For those accepted into the scientific community, it is frequently the first social gathering where they can share their knowledge and interests and the only place they can speak freely with others at their level of knowledge on their topic of interest. If they guard the borders of their nation it is not solely from xenophobia. Without isolation from the public, scientists and other specialists have a very valid fear that they would no longer be permitted to work. The marauding hordes which some fear would overrun science and persecute a scientific minority do pose a very existential threat. With no society which understands their work, scientists would be marginalized, their social approval stolen by demagogues and their work misunderstood or lost. In a larger community, all would demand equal and democratic amplification on topics far beyond their understanding. The wider public will always be resentful of any research support they see as self indulgent and this resentment will be used politically. Particularly where there is no public access or obvious public merit, the public will never willingly fund science or elite knowledge. When information is controlled by demagogues, what is important loses to what is popular.
When left out in isolation, user groups can be as guilty of group narcissism as the scientists they criticize. As psychoanalysts looked to parenting as the cause of scizophrenia and other illnesses as part of their vilification of mothers, feminists seized anorexia nervosa and anorexia bulimia as evidence of the body shaming culture women and girls lived in. The physical areas of investigation such as hypoglycaemia and associated yeast infections and digestive issues were spurned as reams of paper and mainstream media was filled on this far more lucrative and politically satisfying line of inquiry.iv Any scientific finding that endorses popular bias will receive far more media attention, approbation and funding than that which discredits popular bias. Scientific or academic findings which strengthen identitarian groups will be spread and encouraged by those identitarian groups. Even science likes being appreciated and will respond to public acclaim. Wider community influences on science must guard against the biases of scientists, not promote their own. Science and all specialized study requires autonomy from popularity. Complete transparency is required so media does not selectively report and science does not selectively research in response to political pressure.
Any specialist epistemic community cannot produce any work of value if they are expected to be in constant communication with people at a level of understanding far below their own. Neither can they produce work if they are fending off political attacks by demagogues. Communication should not be the full responsibility of experts. The current demand for people in knowledge industries to go on speaking tours, delivering sound bites like performing monkeys, is a waste of their expertise and forced crowd pleasing for survival. Epistemic communities should be allowed to work and to communicate only when they choose, to whom they choose.
While every epistemic community requires a quiet place to discuss work with those at a similar level of understanding, and no expert should be required to submit themselves to the "lol. Fake news." level of Internet discussion, their work should be both completely transparent and accessible for others to discuss and build on. Their ideas should be carried over expertise bridges by full transparency and user participation. The epistemic community in the centre should not need to protect themselves from demands or attacks from completely uninformed users or demagogues. The circles of expertise which promoted them to the centre should also verify and explain their findings to the outer circles. In addition, the epistemic communities themselves must be completely permeable to anyone with valuable input. It is only by allowing oppositional thought and transparent auditing that expert communities can protect their ideas from being blocked by uninformed demagogues.
Popular instances of political demagogues overthrowing expert recommendations rely on simple sabotage. The opponents to the Colombia peace deal and Brexit had no better alternatives devised, any more than most politicians seeking election have reasonable platforms. Platforms are less and less a focus in elections in any case, as media and public attention is taken over by discrediting attacks instead of alternative solutions. Science cannot be allowed to be discredited by ignorant demagogues. Like free software, existing science should only be opposed by alternative theory which can meet the same standards of scientific rigour. Science cannot prove that vaccinations are safe, so vaccine safety should only be opposed by those who can prove they are not. It is only possible for science to be opposed by worthy rebuttals if it is within the power of everyone to make worthy rebuttals, if their work is also reviewed and they have the access required to audit and investigate.
In open source software, the code for each project is available for all to see. Even if the end user cannot understand the code, they can go to discussion groups or listen to programmers who have read and audited the code, and they can read the bug reports. Any urgent bugs will be broadcast to the general population and amplified by media as we have seen many times. The people with the greater knowledge of the system will provide knowledge bridges for people at a more novice level and increasingly, that is how people are learning to code. Good ideas from forum discussions can be read and possibly implemented by the developers as well. Transparency goes both ways.
Open source software projects with forums open to all are a perfect working example of fully transparent and audited systems of elite knowledge. While the decisions are made by the developers, input, review and acceptance or rejection of the software is the right of the user group. If the developers refuse to listen to the user group and another development team is willing to work on the project, the original code can be forked and modified to meet the user requirements. This means existing ideas can only be opposed by another fully developed, open and transparent epistemic community which also must be audited by knowledge bridges. They can't be attacked just by demagogues and rhetoric. They can only be opposed by another working solution, so the user group has a choice between two or more working solutions instead of simply rejection or acceptance. This is only possible if the information is free for anyone to use or modify. Ownership of ideas is in complete opposition to both stigmergy and concentric circles, so it is in complete opposition to rapid progress, finding the best solutions and self governance.
The open software movement has driven most technology based fields into a flat and accessible relationship with the public and social media has done the same for journalism. As people become more accustomed to real and participatory news and culture, they will demand the same of science and academia. As science and academia develop their own direct relationships with their user communities, they will be in a position to shun those in industry or politics who refuse to support them or attempt to manipulate them. Politicians and industrialists are not necessary in a fourth age societal structure. Knowledge industries are and it is essential that local affinity groups learn how to communicate and support them directly.
We can never have idea and action based governance without the reliable information provided by fully open, transparent, epistemic communities and knowledge bridges. The ability to create a body of knowledge for review must not be restricted to one class. Access to and ownership of our knowledge must be a human right.
1 Stigmergy is explained in greater detail in both Binding Chaos and Releasing Chaos.
Talk below about societal singularity, stigmergy and concentric circles. (In English)
Posted in Uncategorized	| Tagged anarchy, democracy, education, information, Journalism, media, News, politics, science, technology | 2 Comments
The Intelligentsia
People think that our sole object is to amass gold. No one believes what we say. Like insolvent tradesmen we are without credit. – Pope Pius II, 1460i
The very justified resentment against science as a classist system of control and manipulation is being used as propaganda by the same corporations and politicians who used science as a tool of oppression. With the necessary public examination of science and academia has come an anti-elitist backlash where people are encouraged to trust no one: not science, governments, media, politicians or any authority. While misleading information will encourage people to act against their own interests, no information will immobilize them or encourage them to follow demagogues. This rejection of expertise has been used repeatedly in recent democratic votes to encourage the rise of uninformed or dishonest demagogues globally. The rise in misinformation and demagogues has in turn encouraged calls for even tighter control over information and official channels.
Now science itself, like journalism, is struggling to be heard over the demagogues and struggling even more for the trust of the classes below them. The trust and faith of the jaded and confused public is the most fought over resource today, with billions or trillions spent annually to procure it. Scientists and journalists understand even more than most that the very existence of humanity is in the balance. The corporate demagogues are (correctly) depicting intellectualism as bourgeoisii and (incorrectly) telling the public that ignoring experts is the same as overthrowing the elite and refusing to be manipulated. This blocks even the prior filtered access to knowledge the public used to receive and leaves people at the mercy of personality based governance and demagogues. Even ideas are conflated with ideology and people are discouraged from thinking about ideas because of previous massacres in the name of ideologies.
"Ironically, while this work should serve to improve the quality of scientific medicine, it is being used by some cranks to attack the scientific basis of medicine." – Dr. Steven Novella, Are Most Medical Studies Wrong?
When a force which should be productive is under attack by a force which is certainly destructive, it is a natural feeling to delay criticism which may be used by the forces of destruction and to insist that now is not the time to suggest improvement. In the case of science and academia, immediate critique is not only necessary, it is crucial and urgent, but critique alone is not enough. Every time scientists and academics have taken a stand against power, they are threatened, expelled, imprisoned or executed. It is almost impossible for scientists and academics to reach the public directly without media and politically vulnerable appointments. Science can be undermined by demagogues because demagogues control communication between science and the public. We have to establish direct communication between epistemic communities and the wider public in order to remove power from demagogues. We have to build a protective network for knowledge preservation, auditing and dissemination. A time when knowledge is already under assault is the best time to establish this network.
In this era of no traditions, science in particular and information in general control our actions. Our true governance is through information. We will destroy humanity or save it based on information. Governance by the people requires knowledge as a societal right and a global commons. It should be the duty of all members of a self governing society to audit and share knowledge and promote and support its development. The ponzi schemes of academia and science shun anyone not in the citation circle and block access entirely to ideas and critique from outside of their class. Wikipedia, Twitter, Facebook and Google all serve as propaganda control for states and corporations. Our collective knowledge should not be directed by corporations or exclusively available to a tightly guarded class, either for access or for contribution. We live under a supranational empire. We do not need secrecy over borders to protect knowledge from our enemies. The classes on top are the enemies of those below and they are maintaining their positions by the secrecy and idea ownership we allow them.
The solutions being recommended to the lethal ignorance of the public are headed in the wrong direction, towards more corporate control and a more accredited expert class. Journalists are wanting the internet reconstructed to give themselves credit and funding for each piece of information posted while they still grant neither to their subjects or sources. Scientists are encouraging even more secrecy and delayed publishing and less communication with media, much less the public.
The scientific class encourages those admitted into it to listen to their peers ahead of their patients and listen to local and unsanctioned knowledge only to steal credit. Science encourages binary division and branding of people and nature as mad / sane, dangerous / harmless or normal / abnormal according to the needs of industry and the powerful and to the detriment of the public. Science, academia and the media together encourage a cult-like devotion to pronouncements of one truth at a time instead of reflecting the nuance and uncertainty inherent in most research. Science views everything through a lens of corporate interest. Elite knowledge is still a product of wealth, leisure and access.
While the world has now amassed a vast quantity of knowledge and progression of that knowledge has grown exponentially since science and academia began, there is no reason to believe the creation of a scientific class brought the growth instead of the slope of progression we were already on. If instead of a closed class of scientists we had created open, permeable, epistemic communities, it is hard to not believe we would have made far less mistakes and far more progress in directions more beneficial to all of humanity. If the epistemic communities were open to the people, our information would not be so easy for demagogues and corporate interest to intercept and manipulate. Canada teaches mining to children as a 'sustainable resource' and bans scientific research as 'anti-oil' opinions. This and other Lysenkoism and educational propaganda is only possible if we do not all have direct access to all expert information through transparency and knowledge bridges.
Oral history taught us that people can accumulate knowledge in the collective mesh network of their brains and retain it with detailed accuracy for thousands of years. Guilds attempted to hoard that knowledge away from other stratas for their own enrichment and power. The new intelligentsia has often tried to be open and evolve but failed miserably because of a hierarchical classist structure that blocks input or access from the lower classes and puts knowledge in service to a tyrannical corporate empire. From the first age we can learn that if people have information they own, they will happily spread it, preserve it and use it in their daily lives. The second age guilds taught us that knowledge is power and if it is not shared, it is a recipe for tyranny. The third age has taught us that the public has no trust in information outside of their own class strata and they are justified in that lack of trust.
Whenever knowledge has helped secure an economic advantage it has been a source of conflict. Even old family recipes or other skill that might improve marriage possibilities have been guarded as tightly as guild secrets. Methods of preserving food, fishing spots and the ability to sew and maintain mukluks have in other times and places been as valuable to their possessors as silk, ermine or tulips. These secrets are no longer necessary for the survival of any person, just corporations.
Artists and all creative or knowledge based professions have fought to criminalize their audiences since copyright was invented. All recording technology since the player piano has had to fight artists who insisted their professions would be ruined by it. Rap deejays were the first to force mainstream acceptance of using other artists' music in a mashup, opening up a huge pool of creativity that is still fighting for legal acceptance. As soon as people in both the free software movement and social media, started freely sharing their knowledge, industry found itself too dependent on the open source commons material to maintain their exclusive control. In all cases, the removal of exclusivity and knowledge gates brought an explosion of work and far greater diversity and expertise. Instead of responding to the obvious societal good in removing copyrights and patents, as the reasonable time for either has shortened, the time of ownership has been lengthened under international law.[cite]
There have been many suggestions for science to follow the lead of open source communities.iii In 2009, The Tropical Disease Initiative and several others attempted to encourage unpatented, open source drug discovery. Some initiatives such as Sci-Hub, an open access library of scientific papers established by neuroscientist Alexandra Elbakyan, have had better success by just ignoring the intellectual copyright laws and allowing the public access.1 Lately, the Open Science movement has been gaining traction, especially in the European Union with projects such as Facilitate Open Science Training for European Research (FOSTER) and various other initiatives and calls to action. The problem with all of these movements is they only involve publishing scientific data. Knowledge is not accessible unless the public can understand it. Epistemic communities require knowledge bridges to communicate with the public.
Science and journalism must evolve into systems for producing open, transparent, verified knowledge, free of powerful influence. Academia and journalism must become fully open, transparent methods of transmitting verified knowledge.
Our industrialized society has given us a backwards world where ideas are owned and personal data is not. While societal knowledge is held away from the public by gatekeeping laws and institutions, the personal details of the public is a product being examined and manipulated for politicians and the trade economy. The current goals of knowledge based capitalism continue the progression of supranational empire. The billionaires of silicon valley, like the financial and commodity industries, exist to create a new corporate ruling class overseeing a new age of corporate empire. What they produce is in service of empire, not greater society. The financial and commodity industries were set up to rob resources and enslave the rightful owners. The technology industries have created a global governance system designed around control and manipulation of information.
Academia is the primary institution where people are sorted and taught to sort each other, where the class systems are created and perpetuated. Those that decry the anti-intellectual tendencies of those on the bottom refuse to acknowledge the class system behind the hostility. It isn't knowledge these people disdain, it is the class of people who refuse to allow them input or entry into the halls of debate. Knowledge and certification are hoarded behind a series of obstacles, only accessible after years of hazing to determine whether the recipients are suitable for entry into a homogenized class. Academia, like science, is a knowledge dictatorship. The wider public are barred from seeing the source of knowledge and expected to accept the filtered and packaged versions as truth. They are expected to acknowledge the superiority of the keepers of knowledge, when that superiority was granted by an external authority with no mandate from the people to create a superior class. This is not the same as an epistemic community that the people promoted themselves.
Academia is not a member of the communities it dictates to by virtue of the class floor built between them. Academia is used to bar people from the organizations which profess to speak for them. Human Rights Watch and many other organizations protecting the rights of those on the bottom demand a PhD for applicants seeking employment with them, barring entry to most of the people they are speaking for. Academic standing is used not just to bar people from economic classes and knowledge. Most borders are also open or closed depending on academic credentials and the laws dictating that were created by political and legal academics. Academia provides the majority of the visas to the supranational classes and so acts as the bureaucracy for a global eugenics program. While massive open online courses (MOOCs) have been an amazing development in bringing knowledge to the wider public and creating concentric circles of expertise and knowledge bridges around epistemic communities, the accreditation is still withheld by institutions and accessible only to those with money and time.
Not only does academia categorize students, it also spends far more time on assigning ideas and actions to categories or Great Men than it does in initiating or evaluating either. Students are rarely given ideas to audit and test and translate to action. They are instead given ideas to attribute by Great Man and categorize by ideology. They debate with sources and quotes instead of opposing ideas and actions, encouraging a public which follows personalities and ideologies instead of testing ideas and creating action. They are taught to worship solitary geniuses instead of being taught mass collaborative processes and how to use them. Academia is conducted like religious study, focused on what the great men said and meant instead of whether or not they were correct. The printing press created a rigor mortis for debate which the Internet should have cured, but academia slogs on in its old path with the same methods.
We no longer live in a world dominated by resource capitalism or industry. We live in a world dominated by information capitalism and information control. Industry had a direct source of conflict between workers and owners. Information simply has manipulation at the top and those at the bottom are largely unwitting and passive consumers. The intelligentsia is depicted as a meritocracy, a victimless elite as opposed to the industrialists victimizing factory workers.
Science hoards knowledge and uses it against the people and for the profit of corporations. Academia acts as gatekeepers to allow filtered streams of knowledge to a selected few. Journalism acts as a marketing agent for information which benefits the powerful. Academia sorts the people for future valuation by the trade economy and the law punishes those they deem without value. None of these institutions are by and for the people as they are all imposed by an outside class. None have a right to the confidence of the people and they receive none.
A people with no confidence in either their epistemic communities from the scientific class or their knowledge bridges from the academic and journalist classes is a people with no belief in ideas. With no ideas to follow in confidence, people will become cults following personalities which will become demagogues.
Societies do not transcend classes. If all knowledge is removed to a higher class, the lower classes will neither trust nor follow it. Without reliable knowledge, action will follow class demagogues.
1 Go to sci-hub.cc if you have difficulty finding any scientific papers cited in the endnotes of this book. Also consider supporting Elbakyan and the site in any way you can, she does not receive nearly the support or recognition deserved for her brave and extremely important work.
Posted in ADS	| Tagged anarchy, democracy, education, Government, history, information, internet, Journalism, law, media, politics, school, science, society, technology, transparency | 1 Comment


Tony Sheldon is currently in rehearsals for the NYMF show ICON. Corine Cohen spoke to him for a few minutes during the first rehearsal for the show. Tony is a Tony award nominee for "Priscilla Queen Of The Desert" I really enjoyed talking with him as he is a talented and nice guy and I look forward to seeing him and Donna McKechnie in ICON!
Next article Review: Liberty A Monumental Musical.
Previous article Interview with Donna McKechnie.


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St Botolph's is in the Diocese of Ely and the Deanery of South Cambridgeshire.
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Hello and welcome to St Botolph's. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
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Welcome to St Botolph's
The following information is specifically for those planning a first visit, so that you know beforehand what to expect on a Sunday morning.
Our services are at St Botolph's church in the centre of Cambridge (details below). On Sundays these always start at 11.00am. We suggest planning to arrive 10-15 minutes early, especially if driving as parking spaces are in short supply in central Cambridge, and to find somewhere to sit before the service begins. When you arrive, you should be greeted by a sides person who will help you find somewhere to sit and will give you a hymn book and a prayer book, or a service sheet.
We serve tea, coffee and biscuits after the service and we hope very much that you will stay for a chat. It is a great way to meet people, or simply take time to find your bearings. All refreshments are free.
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Accessibility: There is wheelchair access. Please let the sides person know on your arrival and they will help you. Please note access to the toilet requires a step.
Our Sunday service begins at 11am and follows the Book of Common Prayer. On the first, second and fourth Sundays we have a Sung Eucharist. On the other Sundays we have Choral Mattins with a said service of Holy Communion at 8am. There will be organ music before the service and the bell will ring for about five minutes before the service starts. All services will have a sermon from the Rector or a visiting preacher. These usually last for around 10-15 minutes. The choir plays a part in all services, leading hymns and sung elements of the service. The service ends with an organ voluntary. Many people sit and listen to this for five minutes or so. Others will start to congregate around the tea and coffee table for a chat.
What about children?
We welcome children of all ages and no one should be embarrassed if young ones cry or older ones wander around. We do not have a Sunday School so children remain in the service with their parents. There is a carpeted area in the side chapel which is available for parents and small children who want to step away from the main church for a while.
Helping with services and the life of the church
If you want to get involved in the life of the church and help us make our services run smoothly, please let us know. We are always looking for help with anything from flowers, to refreshments, to opening the church for visitors during the week and a hundred and one other tasks that keep the life of the community.
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The Rev'd Jonathan Collis, Rector Sarah Eastwood, Churchwarden
We hope that you will feel at home at St Botolph's.
All at St Botolph's

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INFORMATION ON PERSONAL DATA PROCESSING FOR WEBSITE USERS WWW.UPMCITALY.IT UNDER ART. 13 OF EU GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION) 2016/679 (GDPR)
UPMC Italy is issuing a call for applications for the following fixed-term position: 1 Diabetology Fellow (Ref. FellowDiab/20 I TD)
UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) is a world-renowned healthcare and research enterprise headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S., inventing new models of patient-centered, cost-effective, accountable care.
With facilities in Sicily, Campania, Lazio, and Tuscany, UPMC Italy (the Italian division of UPMC) is a leader in patient care, biomedical research, telemedicine, IT development and consulting services in areas related to medicine and research. UPMC Italy's clinical and scientific activity mainly focuses on transplantation and oncology, but also involves other specialties: from emergency medicine to neurosurgery, from preventive medicine to cardiac surgery.
UPMC Italy offers professional opportunities in an international and multicultural setting at IRCCS ISMETT (Istituto Mediterraneo per i Trapianti e Terapie ad Alta Specializzazione), one of the most technologically advanced and state-of-the-art medical centers in Italy, managed by UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) in partnership with ARNAS Civico Hospital in Palermo and the Ri.MED Foundation.
The selected candidate will manage diabetes and metabolism issues of inpatients and outpatients, and the clinical aspects of pancreas or islet transplant candidates and recipients. He/She will also participate to the Unit's research activities with a multidisciplinary approach to start new projects and actively contribute to ongoing clinical metabolic studies.
Degree in Medicine and Surgery recognized in Italy, or equivalent title.
Postgraduate diploma in Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, or Internal Medicine recognized in Italy, or equivalent title (already obtained or to be obtained no later than 31 December 2020).
Enrollment in the Board of Physicians.
Experience in basic and clinical research on metabolic diseases, with a focus on diabetology.
Experience managing clinical studies, and designing and managing clinical databases.
Scientific production rated with H-index (to be specified in the CV).
Work/training experience abroad.
Work/training experience in transplant centers.
Other requisites: An interest and inclination for research activity, English proficiency, knowledge of main computer applications, strong motivation, flexibility, problem solving, interpersonal, communication, and teamwork skills are also instrumental to the role.
The workplace is Palermo.
UPMC Italy reserves its right of discretion to the fullest extent permitted by law in assessing applicants and the eligibility of their applications.
Only applicants not excluded under the provisions articulated in Legislative decree 165/2001, art. 53, para. 16-ter, and subsequent modifications and amendments (General Rules Governing the Work of Public Administrations), can participate in this selection.
After reading the privacy statement and, if necessary, authorizing the processing of their personal data (EU Regulation 2016/679), applicants of both sexes (Law 903/77) are requested to fill out the on-line application form available at http://selezioni.upmcitaly.it/?lang=en When filling out the on-line application form, applicants will be requested to attach their CV. Applicants are also requested to attach a motivation letter and a list of their scientific publications.
At the end of the on-line process, applicants will be requested to issue a self-statement regarding their possession of the requisites listed in this call for applications.
All communications from UPMC Italy will be e-mailed to the address stated by the candidate upon submitting his/her application.
The deadline to submit applications is August 10, 2020.
Only applications submitted on-line (http://selezioni.upmcitaly.it/?lang=en) with an attached CV will be taken into consideration.
Under penalty of exclusion, at the request of UPMC Italy, at any time during the selection process and within the mandatory deadline applicants must provide evidence of the requisites stated in their self-declaration. Should any preliminary verification show a discrepancy with any statement submitted by an applicant, the latter will be excluded from the selection process, and any negotiation permanently suspended.
Personal data included in the CV will be processed by UPMC Italy and IRCCS ISMETT in their capacity of joint controllers for selections for this or other similar positions. Applicants are requested to not include sensitive data (e.g., on health status), unless strictly necessary. Detailed information also with reference to data storage times and rights recognized under EU Regulation 2016/679, are available at www.ismett.edu and www.upmcitaly.it in the "Job Opportunities" section.
Find our medical centers in Italy (Sicily, Lazio, Tuscany)
The Italian division of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center with facilities in Rome (UPMC Hillman Cancer Center at San Pietro FBF, oncology radiotherapy and UPMC Salvator Mundi International Hospital), Palermo (ISMETT IRCCS, organ transplants and highly specialized therapies and Ri.MED Foundation, research), Chianciano Terme (UPMC Institute for Health, preventive medicine and Medical Gym), Mirabella Eclano (UPMC Hillman Cancer Center at Villa Maria, oncology radiotherapy).
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How Does Mediation Work? What Does A Family Mediator Do?
In many ways it is very simple. Mediation online or in person brings together two people who are no longer in a relationship, but who need to sort out how to resolve any disagreements about their children and finances. Easy hey?
In reality the process is more involved than that. Mediation is a form of negotiation. You know what you need the outcome of the process to be. You may have suggestions to make about how you can get what you need. You may have a bottom line that you cannot dip below or the line that you cannot cross. You may need to explain your proposal so that your ex can understand the basis of it.
In turn, you need to gain an understanding what the other person wants and needs. Whatever personal feelings you have about the relationship and its conclusion, it is only by hearing one another out that you can reach a settlement. This is not always easy. This is also why Online Family Mediation can help make sure that discussions are productive, and not simply an ongoing argument or conversation that goes round and round with no conclusion.
Before the mediation you need to think about what you want to discuss, what you feel you need to say and what is an acceptable outcome in both the short and long term. You need to be prepared to let one another speak, to focus on what will happen next and be aware that most mediations require two or more sessions.
Mediation in other disputes, SEN or vulnerable adults for example fllows a similar pattern. Every case has to be assessed as being suitable for mediation.
Mediation itself can take the form of a series of meetings over a period of time, a single meeting to resolve a single issue. It can be online or in the office. Most mediations are with both parties in the same meeting, but for some people they need to be in separate rooms, and the mediator needs to go between them.
Take a look at more information about the parts of the process.


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Make It Happen 2022 - Arts and Culture Grants
Make it Happen Arts and Culture Grants
Make it Happen is our flagship grant programme for arts and culture projects in Waltham Forest. Building upon the legacy of Borough of Culture in 2019 we want to continue celebrating the dynamism and diversity of our local area; we are inviting proposals from artists, community groups and other collectives that bring residents together and showcase the spirit of creativity that characterises our borough.
Make it Happen grants will continue to support an exciting portfolio of new projects across the Borough in 2022, but this year there will be additional funding to develop projects in Fellowship Square, the new public space outside Waltham Forest Town Hall that opened during Summer 2021. We want residents to feel a sense of ownership over the square and will therefore be accepting submissions that help us activate the space with communities in Waltham Forest over the coming year.
Grants available
You can bid for sums of between £1000 and £15,000, and £100k is available in total; you will need to provide an overview of how this will be spent in your proposal.
Make it Happen is an overarching programme for arts and culture projects, and we are therefore open to a range of proposals. Examples of projects we could consider funding coud include:
Cultural events and festivals
Artist residencies and exhibitions
Theatre, dance, and other performances
Programmes in schools, community venues and green spaces
Photography and documentary films
Public art and other installations
Unfortunately, we cannot fund the following:
Events that do not take place in Waltham Forest
Events that do not take place between March 2022 and March 2023
Make sure to read the guidance pack to learn about our funding priorities and the criteria by which we will assess applications.
We will be accepting submissions from a range of groups, these include:
Artist collectives
Community organisations, residents' associations, and charities
Schools and places of worship
You may also consider applying in a partnership, an artist collaborating with a school for example.
You will need to have a bank account in order to apply. You will also be asked to list two referees, who will be required to provide a statement on your suitability for the grant if you are successful.
Your project must take place in Waltham Forest in order to be eligible, however we welcome submissions from organisations and practitioners who are based outside of the Borough.
Funding Deadline
Applications open: Monday 1st November
Application deadline: Sunday 19th December
The review panels will take place throughout January 2022 and we hope to announce the successful proposals by February 1st, with a view to projects beginning from March 2022.
Read the application guidance here.
Login to your account if you have already started your application.
Further details of how to make an application can be found in the guidance pack.
Alternatively, you may make a submission by video. This can be up to five minutes in length and must address all four of the questions below:
Tell us what you want to do/what is your idea?
Tell us about you or your organisation's links to Waltham Forest
Discuss your recent experience in delivering similar projects
How will your project respond to the grant priorities?
How much will your activity cost and how would you spend the money?
What impact do you hope your project would have locally?
Again please reference the guidance pack for more information on how to apply and our funding priorities.
We will be running a series of workshops and surgeries throughout November, allowing prospective applicants the opportunity to discuss any queries they have regarding making a submission. These sessions will require a booking, see below for booking details.
Crate, 35 St James Street, E17 7FY,
November 10th, 1 to 5PM
Arbeit Studios, 778-782 High Road Leyton, E10 6AE,
Friday Hall, 56 Friday Hill East, E4 6JT
If you have a query, please contact us via email at culture@walthamforest.gov.uk and include "Make it Happen Grants" in the title.


This safety handbook has been compiled to provide a uniform set of safety rules and guidelines for all employers and employees. This book addresses the Federal safety and health standards as enforced by the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Organized alphabetically by topic and presented in plain English, the Construction Safety and Health Resource Guide is an accessible summary of the most fundamental and imperative OSHA regulations concerning the construction industry. Entries even include highlighted citations associated with specific regulations in the CFR, making further exploration simpler. This book makes an excellent portable resource for on-the-job safety and training.


text:
Nolte-Möbel ist ein deutscher Hersteller von Schrank- und Schlafzimmermöbeln mit Sitz in Germersheim in Rheinland-Pfalz. Das Unternehmen gehört zur Nolte-Gruppe. Nolte-Möbel wurde 1955 gegründet und zählt heute zu den bedeutendsten Anbietern für Schlafzimmer- und Schranksysteme in Europa.

Geschichte
Ab 1923 stellte Unternehmensgründer Georg Nolte im westfälischen Rheda Polierscheiben und Putzwolle her. Erst in den 1930er Jahren stieg das Unternehmen in die Möbelherstellung ein. Auf die Übernahme einer kleinen Möbelfabrik in Delbrück (1932) folgte 1937 die Gründung eines zweiten Werkes in Brilon. Georg Noltes Sohn Konrad trat 1945 an die Spitze des Unternehmens in Rheda. 1947 wurde die Nolte-Gruppe gezielt ausgebaut. Konrad Nolte ließ als erster Möbelproduzent Fließbandfertigung einführen. 1955 gründete er das Möbelunternehmen Nolte-Möbel in Germersheim und begann 1958 mit der Produktion von Schlafzimmern. 1978 wurde das Portfolio um Schwebetürenschränke erweitert, 1979 um Rasterschrankprogramme. 2002 erfolgte die Einweihung des neuen 3300 Quadratmeter großen Messe- und Schulungszentrums.

Heute beschäftigt Nolte Möbel am Standort Germersheim rund 350 Mitarbeiter (Tendenz fallend) und erzielt einen Jahresumsatz von etwa 110 Millionen Euro.

Standorte
Unternehmenssitz, Ausstellung sowie alle Produktionsstätten befinden sich in Germersheim in Rheinland-Pfalz.

Absatzmärkte
Nolte-Möbel sind unter anderem in Deutschland, Österreich, Schweiz, Niederlande, Belgien, Luxemburg, Großbritannien, Frankreich, Russland, Ungarn, Indien und China erhältlich.

Engagement
Nolte-Möbel werden ausschließlich "made in germany" gefertigt. Das Unternehmen wurde als Mitglied der Deutschen Gütegemeinschaft Möbel mit dem Gütezeichen Goldenes M ausgezeichnet. Darüber hinaus trägt die gesamte Produktpalette den Blauen Engel, der als Umwelt-Gütezeichen für eine emissionsarme Produktion steht. Seit 2010 setzt Nolte-Möbel bei der Produktion verstärkt auf Hölzer aus nachhaltig bewirtschafteten Wäldern und ist mit dem FSC- sowie dem PEFC-Gütesiegel zertifiziert. 2012 erfolgt die Umstellung auf Öko-Strom.

Einzelnachweise

Weblinks
 Website von Nolte-Möbel

Möbelhersteller
Germersheim
Produzierendes Unternehmen (Landkreis Germersheim)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
CAST BIOS
METH - THE ISSUE
Impact on Communities
Impact on User
FIND THE MOVIE
As a former meth user I destroyed myself along with my connection to my friends and family. Meth took me to a place I never thought I would escape from. The realities of this horrible drug and what they do, not only to the user but to the people around the user, are devastating. Sadly, my journey into this addiction was not unique. It mirrors so many who have fallen into its grasp.Through sobriety, having learned how to love myself, I have taken my struggles both with meth and in life and forged an influential position as an educator and speaker. With METH HEAD as an impactful tool for change, I can help others by sharing my story and being the living, breathing proof that there can be light at the end of the tunnel.This film is that important, because it can educate and through education it can save lives and change lives.
As an icon of popular culture, Buck Angel's message of empowerment through self-acceptance and being sexually comfortable in your own skin has struck a passionate chord with folks all over the world. As he demonstrated in his appearances at YALE, Cornell and many other universities around the world, Buck is not only inspiring people to think outside the box, he is re-defining gender and educating an entire generation on the fluidity of sexuality and identity politics. Since Buck coined the phrase " it's not what's between your legs that defines you!", the term has become an anthem for men and women everywhere who have been inspired by this message of self acceptance.
MR. ANGEL, Buck's documentary about his life and transition from female to male has become a big hit on Netflix and has helped to inspire and educate many on the struggles of being a transsexual person.
Buck has been featured in nearly every imaginable international media outlet: television, radio, web, and print. He has appeared on Joe Rogan Show, Howard Stern Show, Huffington Post, The Tyra Banks Show, Spike TV, The Women's Entertainment Network, Much Music, Sirius Radio, Dan Savage,VoiceAmerica Talk Radio Network and many others. He's been written about in The Village Voice, Rolling Stone, Time Out, Maxim, New York Times, and other publications around the world. Armistead Maupin included Buck Angel in his latest book Michael Tolliver Lives.
As a visionary filmmaker,advocate, educator and motivational speaker, Buck Angel launched Buck Angel Entertainment as a vehicle to produce multimedia projects that will motivate viewers to think outside the box.
Buck has finished work on his groundbreaking documentary Sexing The Transman which has been shown worldwide. You can see more about that on http://sexingthetransman.com/
Buck serves on the board of directors of the Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance.
British artist Marc Quinn created a life-size sculpture of Buck Angel, that has been included in the sculptor's global tour. Recently the Museum of Adelaide Australia has purchased the sculpture as a permanent piece.
Buck Angel made history when he received the prestigious award from Adult Video News (AVN) for Transsexual Performer of the Year in 2007 for his groundbreaking work in the adult entertainment industry. As the pioneer of an entirely new genre, Buck has received international recognition and continues to be a huge box office hit in numerous markets.
FILMMCQUEEN llc


This alphabetical advisor truly defines usual grammatical phrases and exhibits how they're used, encompassing variations as present in Huddleston and Pullum's Cambridge Grammar of the English Language.
Introducción al estudio de la medicina experimental.
We've finished. John's left. It'll be all right. contrast, clause of see concessive clause conversion The derivational process of converting a word from one word class to another. For example, text is primarily a noun, but it can nowadays be used as a verb text, texting and so on, in the context of text messaging. coordinate clause see compound sentence; coordination coordinating conjunction, coordinator One of the words and, or, but and (sometimes) nor. See conjunction; coordination. coordination The joining of two or more constituents of equivalent status, normally by the use of a coordinating conjunction (and, or, but or nor), so as to form a larger grammatical unit having the function that each of its parts would have on their own.
Her dad's an old friend of mine. A/an is also used (for example, after be) A GLOSSARY OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR 53 to describe or classify people or objects: My mother's a teacher. An arquebus is an old-fashioned firearm. Historically, a/an is a reduced form of the word one, and it is often used instead of one in expressions like a hundred, an hour and a half, and the like. ) indefinite pronoun, indefinite determiner A pronoun or determiner with indefinite meaning; a quantifier. The indefinite pronouns and determiners in English are: pronouns: anybody anyone anything none determiners: a/an everybody everyone everything every nobody no one nothing somebody someone something no both pronouns and determiners: any either fewest all enough half both (a) few (a) little each fewer less least many more most much neither one several some independent and dependent clauses An independent clause is one which is not part of (that is, is not subordinate to) another clause.
Compare emphasis. intensifier An alternative term for a degree adverb, especially one which intensifies or strengthens the meaning of the word it modifies (for example, very, extremely, really). interjection A word which has a purely exclamatory function, such as oh, ah, aha, ugh, ooh, alas, hey. Interjections do not refer to anything, but simply express the speaker's emotion or wish. In grammatical terms, they occur in isolation as an exclamation, or are loosely added on to a sentence as in Oh, it was wonderful!


Research paper title is an important aspect of research paper writing. The title chosen for the topic is entirely at the writer's discretion. Generally a title with a word count of ten or less is the most appealing.However there are exceptions where the word count can be more and the title exceptionally long. a title of a thesis paper must necessarily be attractive enough to interest a reader. it should stimulate the reader enough so that goes ahead and reads the entire thesis paper. Besides giving the paper an attractive title one should also know how to make research work and the important components of a research paper. a research paper will consist of research paper cover page or the title page, a research paper abstract, research paper introduction, a body and a conclusion.
This is the first page of a research paper where the main thesis paper title is written and presented to the reader. It contains the name of the student, followed by the name of the instructor, then the course name, university name and at the end will be the date of submission of the paper. The title chosen should be appealing enough for the reader to sit up and take instant notice. It should not be too long as it might confuse the reader or too short making it sound too abrupt. A well thought title that is precise and to the point and relevant to the topic will make a good impression on the reader and as the saying goes first impression is the last impression. The title is the first thing a reader will notice so care should be taken to frame it correctly and attractively.
Writing a research paper is a complicated affair with much exploration both in-depth and extensive, will have to be done. Much hard work and dedication is needed to do this piece of academic essay writing. However all efforts given in writing this paper will be marred a little if the research paper title chosen is not good enough to impress. To get the highest mark one will have to make the impact right at the beginning and what better way is there than to captivate the reader with a good title at the start itself.
A Good Research Paper Title Will Attract Readers as a Fly Towards a Honey Pot 8.7 of 10 on the basis of 811 Review.


The Woolly Brew: NEW Juniper Moon in the shop!
NEW Juniper Moon in the shop!
Herriot - is a gorgeous 100% baby alpaca yarn in a heavy DK/worsted weight. We've got 6 shades in the shop and it is stunning! It comes in 100g/200m hanks and will make gorgeous accessories and garments. It's £12.95 a hank and a beautiful way to treat yourself or make a gift!


The establishment of a Town Dog Park in South Williamstown in part of the field behind the South Center School had to be abandoned because it proved to be divisive. We withdrew our effort on Monday, January 25, and returned all of the contributions on January 26. Forty-nine people contributed and survey results showed great enthusiasm for the project. Two donors requested that we keep their donations for other SWCA projects and we also gained at least two new SWCA members from the outreach we did for the dog park project. Thanks again to everyone who contributed and worked hard to make it happen.
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The South Williamstown Community Association is a 501 (c)3 non-profit organization.


The 1000C Series faucet is a 4-inch center-set, piston operated sensory faucet that provides a vandal resistant, no touch lavatory solution that promotes better hygiene and energy savings.
Wall mountable, waterproof control box with armored, vandal resistant control and power cables.
Preset/adjustable sensor ranges 6″ – 30″ for various installation requirements.
Standard automatic time-out feature. Preset at 30 and adjustable to 0, 15, 60 seconds. Prevents accidental sink overflow.
Shut-off delay is adjustable from 1 second (preset) to 8 seconds.
Solid brass body with cast 4″ center-set and 3 point anchoring system. Twist-free and tamper resistant. Adapts to 8″ center-set.
Includes in-line filter with clean out trap to reduce maintenance costs.
All parts are field-replaceable to ensure quick and easy repair.
Same faucet is field switchable to/from AC or battery powered.
Slow closing, piston-operated solenoid valve provides reliable and smooth operation without water hammer.
Superior VSI silicone elastomer piston seals are unaffected by chlorine, chloromines or ammonia.
Standard 0.5 GPM flow control for water conservation and annual savings.
Control module allows a unique self-check of all electrical components.
Three hole deck mount, non-mixing, automatic faucet with chrome plated, solid brass 4" centerset construction. Includes faucet, sensor assembly with armored/vandal resistant control cable, wall mountable/vandal and water resistant control box, 0.5 GPM vandal resistant aerator, 6V DC, slow-closing solenoid valve, plug-in power adapter with armored/vandal resistant output cable, 3/8" copper supply tube, in-line filter and mounting hardware. Faucet unit is field convertible to battery operation with addition of optional battery holder and four (4) AA batteries. Features include ACCU-SENSE preset/adjustable Sensor Beam Angle, preset/adjustable sensor range, preset automatic time-out for 30 seconds but adjustable to 0, 15, or 60 seconds, preset shut-off delay for 1 second but adjustable up to 8 seconds.
Three hole deck mount, non-mixing, automatic faucet with chrome plated, solid brass 4" centerset construction. Includes faucet, sensor assembly with armored/vandal resistant control cable, wall mountable/vandal and water resistant control box, 0.5 GPM vandal resistant aerator as standard, 6V DC, slow-closing solenoid valve, battery holder with (4) AA Batteries, 3/8" copper supply tube, in-line filter, and mounting hardware. Faucet is field convertible to AC powered operation with addition of optional Plug-in Power Adapter. Features include: ACCU-SENSE preset/adjustable Sensor Beam Angle, preset/adjustable sensor range, preset automatic time-out for 30 seconds but adjustable to 0, 15, or 60 seconds, preset shut-off delay for 1 second but adjustable up 8 seconds.