Wednesday, July 4, 2018

Plant ecology: Rainbow Gathering is happening now - July 1-7 - in a national forest in northern Georgia ... Chattahoochee National Forest ... The Rainbow Gathering has great understandings of FREEDOM ... and in US National Forests ... since 1972 ... Freedom in the US - constitutionally - and in developments with representative democracy since 1776 and beyond 2018 and into the 2020s ... eg 1st Amendment, On with writing my third book - this one of poetry too - and while this too is an expression of freedom (with a focus on loving bliss neurophysiology generation eliciting) ... , In what ways could we best turn a realistic virtual earth ... into a WORKSPACE, as well as a PLAYSPACE re virtual Harbin (and ethnographic STEM field site too)?, Happy 4th of July & Independence Day! Methinks I have an ancestor who accepted the sword of surrender from the British in 1780 - "as George Washington's second in command ...


Freedom?

... https://www.welcomehome.org ...

Rainbow Gathering (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Family) is happening now - July 1-7 - in a national forest in northern Georgia ... https://www.welcomehome.org  ( https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Hippies  ~ @WorldUnivAndSch ~ @WUaSPress) ...
Chattahoochee National Forest ... https://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/rainbow-family-group-gathering-thousands-lumpkin-county-forest/ … - https://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/rainbow-family-us-forestry-service-officials-standstill/ … ~ @HarbinBook ~




- https://twitter.com/HarbinBook/status/1014241326932488192
- https://twitter.com/scottmacleod/status/1014240721459601409
- https://twitter.com/WorldUnivAndSch/status/1014240920898637824

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Plant ecology: Rainbow Gathering is happening now - July 1-7 - in a national forest in northern Georgia ~Chattahoochee National Forest~ The Rainbow Gathering has great understandings of FREEDOM, US law-wise too ~ 2009 photos - https://twitter.com/HarbinBook/status/1014609965036724224 … -
https://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2018/07/plant-ecology-rainbow-gathering-is.html … ~




https://twitter.com/scottmacleod/status/1014613029021872128


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Curious how to visit this Rainbow Gather in the Chattahoochee National Forest ... in Georgia ...

Forest Service info ...

Rainbow Gathering Information for the Chattahoochee National Forest


And with Google Maps ... Street View ... as expedition? ... but how about for interactivity?

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Chattahoochee+National+Forest/@34.7659711,-84.1435136,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x5d57e75b6fe961c9?sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwixv8n65oPcAhWOGXwKHTknA7kQ_BII2AEwDg

... virtually now from Canyon, California


... and even somehow re MIT and drones or similar ...


Seems like the Forest Service would be the best way to develop this further

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detailfull/conf/home/?cid=FSEPRD583342&width=full

https://www.fs.usda.gov/conf

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Visit the 2009 Rainbow Gathering, near Sante Fe, New Mexico, here -

~
There are a lot of pictures here of Mud People ... taking off their clothes and getting into the mud, naked and nude ... (it's fun:) ~
~

Rainbow! at the Rainbow Gathering (2009), on July 4th of course
https://photos.app.goo.gl/R7oCJiAtmpUVameB6 … #GooglePhotos (To https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Hippies  -
https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Counterculture … -
 @WorldUnivAndSch )




https://twitter.com/HarbinBook/status/1014609965036724224



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The Rainbow Gathering has great understandings of FREEDOM ... and in US National Forests ... since 1972 ...




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Freedom in the US - constitutionally - and in developments with representative democracy since 1776 and beyond 2018 and into the 2020s ...

eg 1st Amendment: http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/search/label/1st%20amendment



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On with writing my third book - this one of poetry too - and while this too is an expression of freedom (with a focus on loving bliss neurophysiology generation eliciting) ...

Bodymind electricity sings to me, o thee, who are pair

~ http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2012/04/bodymind-electricity-sings-to-me-o-thee.html ~

... editing doesn't give me an experience of freedom interestingly ... but writing affords the experience of exploring freedom in unfolding ways for me (in blog and Tweets ... and books) ...

- https://amazon.com/author/scottmacleodworlduniversity


~~~

Haiku~ish ~ 
(book of poetry)
http://www.scottmacleod.com/HaikuishPoetryBook.html


~ ~ ~

VISIT the HARBIN GATE here in STREET VIEW~
(and "walk" down the road "4 miles" to Middletown to "amble" around streets there)
~ http://tinyurl.com/p62rpcg ~

(~ https://twitter.com/HarbinBook ~

Naked Harbin Ethnography ~
(my first actual-virtual anthropological book)
http://bit.ly/HarbinBook ~)



*****
In what ways could we best turn a realistic virtual earth ... into a WORKSPACE - https://twitter.com/HankGreelyLSJU/status/1014275407669891072 - (e.g. for improving medical care in a teaching hospital in Scotland - https://twitter.com/TheScotsman/status/1014558940598886400 - as well as planning for the management of a closed public park in Glasgow - https://twitter.com/Smith0Lizzie/status/1013882283630178305), as well as a PLAYSPACE re virtual Harbin (and ethnographic STEM field site too, also re a realistic virtual Harbin)?


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Happy 4th of July & Independence Day! Methinks I have an ancestor who accepted the sword of surrender from the British in 1780 - "as George Washington's second in command, he formally accepted the British surrender at Yorktown" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Lincoln …) http://scottmacleod.com/ScottMacLeodFamilyHistory.htm … ~



- https://twitter.com/sgkmacleod/status/1014602675285983232
- https://twitter.com/scottmacleod/status/1014602342916714496



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Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Northern Rocky Mountain wolf: Learned a bit in the St. Lawrence String Quartet's chamber music marathon finale at Stanford, Might make sense to find GSIs for the Music School at WUaS - https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/World_University_Music_School & https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Viola ... IN ONLINE GROUP VIDEO HANGOUTS IN REAL REAL TIME - who majored as undergrads in their focus as Ph.D. students - was one thing I learned, Why isn't REAL REAL TIME Music-Making happening in 10-person Google group video Hangouts yet - and in a flourishing way ... and even re ACTUAL < > VIRTUAL?, I could see this MIT technology being developed for musical engagement and instruction, and with robotics, and actual < > virtual ENGAGEMENT FEEDBACK (because of the positioning of fingers in music-making), and in a Google group video Hangout for music-making too ...


Monday, July 2, 2018

M,

Nice to talk.

Learned a bit in the St. Lawrence String Quartet's chamber music marathon finale at Stanford - https://arts.stanford.edu/event/78635/ (on Sunday). One violist, a woman visiting from NY, who graduated from Stanford a few years ago, seemed to be playing very well in response to the cellist (a man) - almost call and response. It's an example for me of a possible 'in a natural way' connecting even re male-female partnering. (I sometimes see this in the 4 different voices in a choir (BTAS) singing together - and re male-female connecting, harmoniously role-wise too).

When this woman and I talked afterward, she had gone to an I.B. school in Chevy Chase, MD ... and did a Music I.B. (International Baccalaureate high school subject), and said it prepared her well for Stanford. And although she didn't major in music or viola performance at Stanford (rather sociology), she said she spent a lot of time in the music building where we were talking. She also said Stanford violist Lesley Robertson was her teacher. :) Might make sense to find GSIs for the Music School at WUaS - https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/World_University_Music_School & https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Viola ... IN ONLINE GROUP VIDEO HANGOUTS IN REAL REAL TIME - who majored as undergrads in their focus as Ph.D. students - was one thing I learned.

James Stewart, also visiting from NY, was impressive both talking about Eric Sun's passing from brain cancer (James writes for the NYT & New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/01/01/a-tech-pioneers-final-unexpected-act), and playing piano in a Schubert piece in a quintet. While he went to DePauw and Harvard Law, he's very tall, long fingered, smart, capable, and larger than life somehow, and he reminds me a bit of Dick Robb - and while he could have some Scots' background too ... his sophistication and centeredness which I saw yesterday are a great model for me. May cut my hair re this. (Not sure if his wife and son were in audience or not).

Interesting things one learns at smart Stanford and in music-making contexts.

What are you up to today? On with the NSF grant application writing today ... If I get these monies, I may start taking keyboard lessons with P ... to be seen.

L,
Scott




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CALL AND RESPONSEAugust 1, 2008WildlifeOff

By Courtney Humphries
http://www.conservationmagazine.org/2008/08/call-and-response/


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Chickadee Call-and-Response


http://listeninginnature.blogspot.com/2014/03/chickadee-call-and-response.html


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Why isn't REAL REAL TIME music-making happening in 10-person Google group video Hangouts yet - and in a flourishing way ... and even re ACTUAL < > VIRTUAL?


**

I could see this MIT technology being developed for musical engagement and instruction, and with robotics, and actual < > virtual ENGAGEMENT FEEDBACK (because of the positioning of fingers in music-making), and in a Google group video Hangout for music-making too ...


EngageMe, from the Affective Computing group, equips a robot with personalized machine learning to gauge the interest and engagement of a child with autism during a therapy session. http://mitsha.re/Y7cM30kMASW  via @IntEngineering




https://twitter.com/medialab/status/1014241163375767554




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Monday, July 2, 2018

Earth pyramids of Platten: I can see these 3D cell printed lungs as a step on the way to live robots - both actually and virtually. Defining life in terms of 3D printed lungs which work and sustain a living organism would be a part of this (both actually and virtually too ... ), 3D Printed Lungs, In what ways could WUaS explore developing robotics with this - and for medical research especially?, And further for play ... How could any of us get this into Street View and model it with physical Lego too?, And for STEM play - on Mars: How could we do actual virtual engineering with Lego on realistic virtual Mars?, UC Berkeley by the numbers ... https://www.berkeley.edu/about/bythenumbers ... inspiration for WUaS, "[libraries] Help us prioritize our work," Wiki CC World University and School is looking for an online university library for matriculated undergraduate students (taking CC-4 MIT OCW courses for credit toward free Bachelor degrees), first in English for our second class potentially beginning this September, "Just so I understand, you are looking for an EXISTING online university library, or seeking to create one?"


I can see how this ACTUAL<>VIRTUAL foot scan https://twitter.com/Harvard/status/1012142296136024064 … could in a #RealisticVirtualEarth w individual bodyminds like your & my AVATAR BOTs at cell & at atomic levels https://twitter.com/HarbinBook/status/1012873383103483904 … & how you could 3D print this foot from this #RVE too, Don't see live robots




https://twitter.com/HarbinBook/status/1013175452637134849


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I can see these 3D cell printed lungs as a step on the way to live robots - both actually and virtually. Defining life in terms of 3D printed lungs which work and sustain a living organism would be a part of this (both actually and virtually too ... ).

Medicine #ActualVirtual? 3D cell printed lungs for pigs? https://www.technologyreview.com/s/611236/inside-the-effort-to-print-lungs-and-breathe-life-into-them-with-stem-cells/ … Into a #RealisticVirtualEarth to indiv. pig AVATAR BOTs ("What will come 1st - printed cell lungs, transplantable pig lungs, good mechanical lungs? Such an exciting time to be alive" @HankGreelyLSJU)




https://twitter.com/WorldUnivAndSch/status/1013576216987594753
- https://twitter.com/scottmacleod/status/1013576822238269445


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Rewriting Life

Inside the effort to print lungs and breathe life into them with stem cells

Martine Rothblatt wants to end transplant shortages with 3-D-printed lungs.


https://www.technologyreview.com/s/611236/inside-the-effort-to-print-lungs-and-breathe-life-into-them-with-stem-cells/


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In what ways could WUaS use this as model robot, and in conjunction with, cheetahs, dogs, pigs, sheep, etc. to experiment with creating live modular 4 legged creatures … by putting in 3D printed lungs etc. … for further medical developments?

Testing @mitmeche's walking, self-balancing robot, Cheetah. @BBCClick took it for a run on a horse treadmill (yes, there is such a thing), to see how well it can keep its balance.




https://twitter.com/spenley/status/1012963700863590400


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Here's the actual < > virtual - for co-creativity - in one video but not yet in one realistic virtual earth (thinking Google Street View with time slider / Maps / Earth conceptually) ... and re a robot dog ...





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And again, here's the actual < > virtual - for co-creativity - in one video but not yet in one realistic virtual earth (thinking Google Street View with time slider / Maps / Earth conceptually) ... and re a robot dog ...




https://twitter.com/MIT_CSAIL/status/994979618963755009


**

ACTUAL<>VIRTUAL for play & medicine? How best to add this 4WD Car Truck https://twitter.com/BattleboxSteve/status/1012006496249503744 … to #RealisticVirtualEarth &, using our own smart phones, to screen for cancer https://twitter.com/NickeyJafari/status/1012817893371908098 … also into RVH of our own health record https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Medicine ? Project BASELINE?




https://twitter.com/WorldUnivAndSch/status/1012866471079264257

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And further for play ...

How could any of us get this into Street View and model it with physical Lego too?




https://twitter.com/RemoteAddicted/status/1013671406083760128


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And for STEM play - on Mars:

How could we do actual virtual engineering with Lego on realistic virtual Mars?




https://twitter.com/HankGreelyLSJU/status/1013582220894670848




**

These lung tweets of mine all began with …

Lung Cancer Screening Rates Only 2% Across US https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/897045?src=WNL_infoc_180606_MSCPEDIT_fmed&uac=254721HT&impID=1650426&faf=1?src=soc_tw_share … via @medscape





https://twitter.com/NickeyJafari/status/1012817893371908098


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Medicine #ActualVirtual? 3D cell printed lungs for pigs? https://www.technologyreview.com/s/611236/inside-the-effort-to-print-lungs-and-breathe-life-into-them-with-stem-cells/ … Into a #RealisticVirtualEarth - for species & individuals - to pig AVATAR BOTs (What will come 1st - printed cell lungs, transplantable pig lungs?) > https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Additive_manufacturing_or_3D_printing … -https://twitter.com/WorldUnivAndSch/status/1012868287087038464 …~




https://twitter.com/WorldUnivAndSch/status/1013575494363566081


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Medicine #ActualVirtual? 3D cell printed lungs for pigs? https://www.technologyreview.com/s/611236/inside-the-effort-to-print-lungs-and-breathe-life-into-them-with-stem-cells/ … Into a #RealisticVirtualEarth - for species & individuals - to pig AVATAR BOTs (What will come 1st - printed cell lungs, transplantable pig lungs?)

https://twitter.com/WorldUnivAndSch/status/1013575472456740865


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Medicine #ActualVirtual? 3D cell printed lungs for pigs? https://www.technologyreview.com/s/611236/inside-the-effort-to-print-lungs-and-breathe-life-into-them-with-stem-cells/ … "What will come 1st - printed cell iungs, transplantable pig lungs, good mechanical lungs?"  https://twitter.com/HankGreelyLSJU/status/1013568887525265408 … into a #RealisticVirtualEarth - for species & individuals - to pig AVATAR BOTs

https://twitter.com/WorldUnivAndSch/status/1013574533280722944


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ACTUAL<>VIRTUAL for medicine? 3D printed lungs for pigs? "What will come 1st ... cell lungs ..."  https://twitter.com/HankGreelyLSJU/status/1013568887525265408 … into a #RealisticVirtualEarth (& Project BASELINE?) - for species and individuals - to pig AVATAR BOTs > https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Additive_manufacturing_or_3D_printing …?
https://twitter.com/WorldUnivAndSch/status/1012868287087038464 … ~

https://twitter.com/scottmacleod/status/1013573467541606405


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Fascinating piece on 3D cell printed lungs, a project of United Therapeutics & its truly interesting CEO, Martine Rothblatt. https://www.technologyreview.com/s/611236/inside-the-effort-to-print-lungs-and-breathe-life-into-them-with-stem-cells/ … What will come 1st - printed cell iungs, transplantable pig lungs, good mechanical lungs? Such an exciting time to be alive!




https://twitter.com/HankGreelyLSJU/status/1013568887525265408



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See, too:
Additive_manufacturing_or_3D_printing -
https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Additive_manufacturing_or_3D_printing

Robotics -
https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Robotics

Biological Engineering -
https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Biological_Engineering


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And see, too:

Tonewood: I can see how this ACTUAL<>VIRTUAL foot scan could be in a #RealisticVirtualEarth w individual bodyminds like yours & mine as AVATAR BOTs at cell & atom levels & how you could 3D print body from #RVE too, Don't see robots w language emerging from this yet, ACTUAL<>VIRTUAL for play & medicine? How best to add this 4WD Car Truck to #RealisticVirtualEarth &, using our own smart phones, to screen for cancer also into RVE of our own health record, Project BASELINE?

http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2018/06/tonewood-i-can-see-how-this-actual.html


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UC Berkeley by the numbers ...
https://www.berkeley.edu/about/bythenumbers
... inspiration for WUaS


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Hi everyone,

The Wikimedia and Libraries User Group poll is open until the end of the month. We have a good response so far but if you have not yet shared your opinion, please do so now! We will be closing the poll on the 30th.


Best,

Merrilee


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Hi Merrilee,

Wiki CC World University and School is looking for an online university library for matriculated undergraduate students (taking CC-4 MIT OCW courses for credit toward free Bachelor degrees), first in English for our second class potentially beginning this September. Will share opinion in the GDoc soon. Thank you.

Best, Scott


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I think a big one is missing on the list of options in the poll -
engaging with Wikidata and particularly WikiCite and offsprings like
Scholia or Inventaire.

 DM


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Merrilee, Daniel, Wikimedia Librarians, WikiCite people, and Wikidatans,

Thanks. Seeking here to add this thread to the Wikidata community too.

Again, Wiki CC World University and School is looking for an online university library for matriculated undergraduate students (taking CC-4 MIT OCW courses for credit toward free Bachelor degrees), first in English for our second matriculating class potentially beginning this September. Soon thereafter, WUaS will be seeking major online university libraries, emerging from universities based on each country from - https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Nation_States - for matriculated WUaS students in each of all ~200 countries and potentially in all 301 Wikipedia languages - and for Bachelor, Ph.D, Law, MD and I.B. high school degrees in each of these countries' official and main languages. Thank you.

Best, Scott


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Hi Scott,

Just so I understand, you are looking for an EXISTING online university library, or seeking to create one?

Thanks,

Merrilee


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Thanks Scott, I hope that readers of this list can help you our with some of your ambitious ideas!

Best,

Merrilee


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Dear L,

Our 3 @worldandschool.org email addresses only got shut down (these email accounts closed for some reason, and I had to log in again - why?) once today while submitting the NSF - and this could conceivably have been related to emailing Wikidata and Wikimedia Library email lists about WUaS Libraries, about which I hope to blog today a bit. Worried a little ...

Sincerely, Scott


**

Hi Merrilee, Lydia and Markus,

I'm sending my reply to you on this email thread only (currently), due to what I'll call perhaps "controlling processes" to quote UC Berkeley Prof Emerita Laura Nader, I've experienced on Wikimedia lists in the past (and may email this to some Wikidata, Wikimedia Libraries, Wikicite lists at a later point):

While WUaS has long listed openlibrary.org here - https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Library_Resources (planned in Wikipedia's 301 languages, and eventually in each of all 7,097 living languages) - our "front end" WUaS Miraheze Mediawiki (above) isn't yet connected with the "back end"  Wikidata / Wikibase (to which WUaS donated ourselves for co-development in 2015), and so there may be an opportunity in these regards re Openlibrary + Wikidata + Wikicite + WUaS. It would be great if all open libraries could add themselves, for example, to this - https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Library_Resources (in Wikidata's 301 languages) AND to a related Wikimedia page, or similar - and have every title become referenced in Wikidata/Wikibase - particularly in the 300 non-English languages.

These WUaS libraries would be for a) WUaS matriculated students studying for free CC-4 MIT OCW degrees at the university and high school levels in ~200 countries, and b) for wiki WUaS Universitians (for open teaching and learning) on our wiki side.

cheers,
Scott

Scott_WUaS





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Sunday, July 1, 2018

High Cairngorms: Nontheist Friends (NtFs) / Atheist Quakers (AQs), Some basic beliefs / assumptions / understandings of Quakers, World Univ & Sch's A) Nontheist Friends/Atheist Quaker and B) Quaker - Religious Society of Friends' wiki subject pages for open teaching and learning, "[NTF-talk] New Amsterdam Figured Out Religious Tolerance 361 Years Ago," #NoMuslim Ban and Quakers, AFSC and Western Friend magazine (IMYM+) posts about the No Muslim ban in the US


Anita, Wyatt, and NtFs,

Thanks. I enjoyed this characterization of Friends' / Quaker understandings, Anita ...

Curious about ways in which Nontheist Friends might have grown / are growing from these (see below) in new nontheist ways ... i.e. "Light" construed non-theistically ...

And Quaker schools too, seem a fascinating and deeply seated expression of Quakers. Noticed recently that Penn Charter school on Twitter - https://twitter.com/PennCharter - writes in its description that it's the oldest Quaker school in the world. (And I just re-added NtFriend here - https://twitter.com/scottmacleod).

Here's the only Nontheist Friends / Atheist Quaker school that I know of - https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Nontheist_Friends_(atheist_Quakers%3F) - and it's wiki too (kind of in the manner of Quakerly sharing in silent Meeting). (Check out the Quaker - RSOF wiki subject page - https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Quakers_-_Religious_Society_of_Friends - as well). Both aren't yet connected with their "backend" structured knowledge base, Wikidata/Wikibase (part of Wikipedia), in its 301 languages.

Friendly cheers,
Scott
Both of these are partly NtF / and Quakerly-informed ...
- https://twitter.com/WorldUnivAndSch
- https://twitter.com/WUaSPress
--

--
- Scott MacLeod - Founder & President

- World University and School
- http://worlduniversityandschool.org
- http://scottmacleod.com



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Wyatt:

Below is my attempt to answer your questions.  I have put quotes in italics:

Quakers don't have a set of rules or theology, but we do have some basic beliefs/assumptions:

We start with this:

We believe in that of God in everyone; however, there is no written creed.

"That of God" can be understood in many ways, from a traditional deity to a metaphor.  Often referred to as a light within.  Here are some implications of this basic concept:

We believe that there is in everyone a Light—
  • a light in the conscience that can guide and strengthen us to do the right, that can awaken us to the wrong we have done and are about to do;
  • a light that can heal us, that can strengthen us to live better lives, that can release us from our inner demons, make us more whole, and relieve us of suffering and lead us to forgiveness;
  • a light that can inspire us to acts of kindness and to creativity;
  • a light that can lead us to the deepest fulfillment and the "peace that passes all understanding," and help us to become the people we were meant to be;
  • a light that can open to us direct communion with God (however you experience God), both as individuals and as a community.
Our practice or how we live our lives is as important, or more important, than what we "believe."  

Let your life speak

As Friends, we lay upon ourselves the responsibility to live by the Spirit of Love and Truth in each of us. This Spirit can direct every aspect of our lives if we open ourselves to it. It can enable us to reach out to the same Spirit in others. Thus Friends strive to live lives that embody the leadings of the Spirit.

Leadings

Thus it is our experience that God can and will call upon any one of us to bear witness in the world in special ways, that occasionally some specific task for bettering the world might be laid upon us. We call such a task a "leading." Leadings can actually be about any aspect of life, but sometimes they are witness leadings, meaning that we feel called to work toward peace, social or racial justice, care for the earth, voluntary service, or some action intended to minister to those who suffer, to advocate on behalf of the oppressed, to protect the unprotected, and to right wrongs, where possible.

Testimonies

Out of our experience of these leadings, and very early on, Friends felt led into a number of truths that have kept their power for us, even though they have never stopped evolving as the centuries passed; we feel that God has revealed to us new truths over the centuries, as one of the blessings of continuing revelation. We call our historically sustained truths about right action in the world our "testimonies."
The most commonly held testimonies are the following:
  • Earthcare—protecting and restoring the earth systems that sustain life on earth.
  • Community—living in peaceful fellowship and protecting the health and integrity of all communities.
  • Death penalty and torture—working to end both practices in the United States and elsewhere.
  • Economic justice—working to ensure the economic security of everyone.
  • Equality and social justice—working to end racism and prejudice in our own communities and in the wider society.
  • Integrity—living outwardly as the light within our conscience guides us; truth and honesty in all things.
  • Peace and nonviolence—working to take away the occasion for all wars and to reconcile differences without violence.
  • Prison reform and solitary confinement—working to end mass incarceration, provide spiritual and other forms of support for incarcerated persons, and to end solitary confinement, which we consider a form of torture.
  • Right sharing of world resources—reducing the demand for resources at home and helping others gain access to basic resources for themselves.
  • Simplicity—seeking to live as simply as possible.
https://www.afsc.org/sites/afsc.civicactions.net/files/documents/AFSC_Testimonies_Booklet.pdf


Anita :-)
+++++++
"If high heels were so wonderful, men would be wearing them."
Sue Grafton

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I'm delighted that my summary of Quakerism has been helpful to some.  :-)

Wyatt:  Re. going to Friends General Conference:  That would be a huge commitment of time and money, and it might overwhelm you.  I think proceeding slowly, bit by bit, perhaps finding a meeting near you, is an excellent approach.  After all, you are exploring.  Congratulations on your new job!  Fantastic!  I hope it goes well for you.
Anita :-)
Atheist Non-Attending Quaker, Pennsylvania





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[NTF-talk] New Amsterdam Figured Out Religious Tolerance 361 Years Ago

The article draws some parallels between attempts to exclude Muslims from coming to the United States now and attempts to exclude Quakers from coming to the New World in the mid-seventeenth century.
New Amsterdam Figured Out Religious Tolerance 361 Years Ago
BJ


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Thanks, Bill, for sharing this,

Was glad to see both the AFSC (Lucy Duncan -https://twitter.com/Lucy_Duncan/status/1011625839564349442) and Western Friend magazine (IMYM+) - https://twitter.com/westernfriend/status/1011677352433147906 - posts about the No Muslim ban in the US (which I re-Tweeted again here - https://twitter.com/scottmacleod).

Glad too that Joyce Ajlouny is the new General Secretary / Executive Director of AFSC. She's originally from Palestine, and the former Director of Ramallah Friends School (which is a) Quaker b) International Baccalaureate, c) taught both in Arabic and in English, and d) old:) as well.

In my experience in Britain (I became a member of the RSOF in Edinburgh), there's a weighty concern for social justice in Palestine shared by people in many Meetings there. And you'll find in one of the first videos here about Quakers in Wales (which is in Welsh, but with subtitles) - https://twitter.com/sgkmacleod/status/1012358628668407808 (I've posted all the links below) - a focus on justice in Palestine coming there.

Perhaps AFSC's choice of Joyce Ajlouny to be General Secretary reflects an American Quaker (and NtF?) proactive stance - i.e. of US tolerance - re a kind of No Muslim ban in the US. What do you think?

Thanks for sharing. How to figure out tolerance online in new ways in the emerging worlds there?

NtFriendly cheers, Scott



In Welsh http://quakersinwales.org.uk/
https://youtu.be/7tb9RFq-Cco
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dolobran_Quaker_Meeting_House.png …
http://www.welshchapels.org/nonconformity/quakers-the-religious-society-of-friends/ …
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/wales/entries/fcfbb662-23b6-3859-b521-758de2c9d08c …
http://quakersinwales.org.uk/meeting-of-friends-in-wales-mfw/local-meetings-in-wales/ …
https://vimeo.com/143619705
Quaker Meeting House, Dean St, Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Quaker+Meeting+House/@53.2287015,-4.1231587,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0xf1509c446f33644f?sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj20qXGzvbbAhWKCHwKHdy2CoEQ_BIIfTAO …
https://youtu.be/RP3hC22zPRU  ~


(- https://twitter.com/sgkmacleod/status/1012358628668407808 -)



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Dear Friends

I'm sorry that I have not had the time/energy to click on the links to watch the videos provided.

I wanted to respond to Scott"s comment, since he asked "what do you think?":   Perhaps AFSC's choice of Joyce Ajlouny to be General Secretary reflects an American Quaker (and NtF?) proactive stance - i.e. of US tolerance - re a kind of No Muslim ban in the US. What do you think


I had the pleasure of meeting Joyce Ajlouny once, about a dozen years ago when she was in the U.S. and still director of the Friends School in Ramallah. It was my impression she is a Quaker, but no one thought to ask her about her religious affiliation. She was intelligent, diplomatic and showed every sign of being familiar with Quaker process.

I was glad to see that she has become AFSC's General Secretary , for many reasons, among them her unique ability to tell her own story without disrespecting the other side.

C


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Thanks, Clare, and NtFs,

I also met Joyce Ajlouny once a few years' ago at Palo Alto Friends' Meeting - when she made a presentation about Ramallah Friends' School, and before she had become General Secretary of AFSC - and learned there that both she and her parents are Quaker, although they come from Muslim backgrounds as do most if not all of the students at the RFS where she was director. I was impressed too by her "unique ability to tell her own story without disrespecting the other side" as well as by the age of this Quaker school, having begun in 1869 (http://www.rfs.edu.ps/en/page/history?p=history) with its remarkable history of Friendly service.

Thanks for your email.

Scott


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Bill, Claire and NtFs (aka AQs - atheist Quakers?),

This video

"Best Documentary 2016 History Channel Documentary - Jan De Hartog's History of Quakerism" ...

https://youtu.be/VwlLOgP1Ym8

- followed on my watching in full the Welsh Quaker video -

"Y Ffordd Dawel? The Quiet Way? (Quakers in Wales)"

https://youtu.be/7tb9RFq-Cco
(https://twitter.com/sgkmacleod/status/1012358628668407808).

And the skillful Quaker historian/writer de Hartog's video begins with the year 1650, potentially informing a different, perhaps complementary, perspective on Muslim-identity affirmation in the US (de Hartog was Dutch and lived from 1914-2002). I haven't yet watched the whole video to see if de Hartog touching on Quakers and anything related to "attempts to exclude Muslims from coming to the United States now and attempts to exclude Quakers from coming to the New World in the mid-seventeenth century." It seems like NtFs could make unique contributions in the world of Friends/Quakers in these regards, however.

Here too are some further resources on Ramallah Friends School (FUM) - http://www.friendsunitedmeeting.org/news/2016/10/31/new-web-site-for-ramallah-friends-school/ (- http://www.rfs.edu.ps/en/page/history?p=history) - and potentially re perhaps Friendly-informed affirmations of Muslims both in the ME and re the US.

Sincerely, Scott
- https://twitter.com/sgkmacleod



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See, too:

Meconopsis: "The Quakers are right. We don’t need God" by Simon Jenkins, in "The Guardian," "[NTF-talk] British Quakers and God: interesting "Guardian" article", VISIT VIRTUALLY Dolobran Meeting House, a secluded Friends (Quaker) Meeting House near Pontrobert, Meifod, Powys, Wales, Nontheist Friends (NtFs) are a bit non-conformist in an historically Quaker way, Here's where World Univ & Sch is ... "Waratah: Developments in "Your new Miraheze wiki: World University and School Wiki" ... with getting our somewhat new wiki "front end" working with Wikidata as a "backend" ... Large Meeting Room in Britain Yearly Meeting (Quaker) … Temple tank in Nagapattinam, India, in Street View-https://tinyurl.com/y8vypmyb, Harbin Hot Springs’ gate-http://tinyurl.com/p62rpcg in Street View, Many parallels between soaking in Harbin warm pool & Quaker Meeting re inner releasing action

- http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2018/05/meconopsis-quakers-are-right-we-dont.html


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Happy Friends General Conference (FGC) in Toledo, Ohio, NtFs / AQs (atheist Quakers)

And thanks, Anita, Claire, Bill and AQs, 


And Tweeted about about this today - 


 



Nontheist Friend - NtF - nontheist f/Friend - nontheist friends - atheist Quaker - AQ ... & re 'NtFriend' see http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2018/07/high-cairngorms-nontheist-friends-ntfs.html (in the 'nontheist Friend' label) & 
- https://twitter.com/scottmacleod/status/1013815608146722817 Planned @WorldUnivAndSch in Wikidata's 301 languages+

 


Thank you, too, Joyce Ajlouny for clerking / 'heading' AFSC (American Friends Service Committee) ... at a critical time in American history for Americans of Muslim background, and Muslims in general.


NoMuslim Ban ... Affirm Muslims in America (and friends of Muslim background - NtF-wise),

Ntf/Friendly cheers, Scott




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