Mediaboss Marketing

Trade union leaders are talking about a summer of discontent, with workers on the railways, at Royal Mail, and in the public sector moving into action. These struggles must be brought together into a mass movement against the bosses and Tories.

Alongside rising temperatures in recent weeks has been a rising tide of class struggle, with strikes spreading like wildfire.

The RMT rail strikes have breathed confidence through the entire labour movement, inspiring other workers to move into action.

As a result, union after union are now declaring their intention to ballot members and take industrial action.

Already, around 115,000 Royal Mail workers organised in the CWU have voted to strike, joining members in the telecoms industry.

Railway workers in the ASLEF and TSSA are also set to strike, on top of further RMT strike days announced for 27 July, 18 August, and 20 August.

And even formerly-privileged layers such as criminal barristers are walking out, shutting down the courts in protest against the crisis in the justice system.

PCS and NEU are already moving to ballot members over strike action. And they are likely to be joined by unions organising healthcare workers. This includes the BMA, representing doctors, who have asserted that strikes are almost certain.

With workers across the board now moving into battle, all facing the same attacks on wages, jobs, and conditions, the situation is screaming out for coordinated action.

The trade union leaders including the TUC, the umbrella organisation for the union movement must therefore begin working together to actively link these struggles, in order to present a united front against the bosses and the Tories.

This should include the call for a one-day public sector strike over the question of pay, in order to unite the movement and galvanise the entire working class.

Alongside this, union-led demonstrations should be organised in every town and city, launching a mass campaign to force a general election and boot out this rotten Tory government.

This should include demands for a sliding scale of wages, linking pay to prices; for the expropriation of the billionaires, to fund a reversal of all the cuts; and for the nationalisation of the banks and major monopolies, under workers control, in order to plan the economy along socialist lines.

This is the revolutionary alternative that the Marxists in the movement are fighting for. We urge you to join us in this struggle the struggle for socialism.

This Congress notes the Tory government is in a state of crisis, at a time when working people are experiencing a cost-of-living catastrophe.

Inflation is soaring, including rising energy bills, putting a squeeze on working people like never before. This comes on top of a decade of falling real wages and austerity.

At the same time, CEO pay has returned to pre-pandemic levels, and many companies are reporting record profits.

This Congress also notes the rise in industrial disputes that our affiliated unions are engaged in, including significant strike action being taken nationally by the RMT and CWU, amongst others.

This Congress believes that, given the generalised crisis facing the working class, coordinated action must be used across unions and industries, as part of a joint strategy to fight the bosses and Tories as a united movement.

This should include united action in the public sector over pay, starting with a one-day public-sector-wide strike. Mass demonstrations in every town and city should also be organised to coincide with this, demanding a general election in order to kick out the Tory government.

This should be linked to the fight for a socialist political programme, with an updated New Deal for Working People to include the following demands:

Visit link:
Summer strikewave: For coordinated action against the bosses! - Socialist Appeal

KATHMANDU, JULY 20: A Central Secretariat meeting of the CPN (Unified Socialist) has decided to take initiative to forge a left alliance while keeping the existing five-party alliance intact.

The meeting of the party held Tuesday under the chair of party Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal also decided to intensify the party's organization strengthening move, party general secretary Dr Bedu Ram Bhusal said.

Likewise, the meeting decided to prepare a proposal on the existing economic crisis of the country as well as a document on socialism as per the plan of action passed from the first meeting of the party's central council held on June 27 and 28.

Similarly, the CPN (Unified Socialist) has decided to impart training on the local-level representatives elected from the party on Wednesday and Thursday in Kathmandu.

It is said that the central leaders of the party would impart training on rights of the local levels, autonomous governance, intergovernmental relations, coordination with the party and other concurrent issues.

(RSS)

Read this article:
Unified Socialist to take initiatives to forge left alliance while keeping current five-party alliance intact - Myrepublica

Maryana Iskander may have one of the least-understood jobs in all of tech. As the chief executive officer of the Wikimedia Foundation, she oversees hundreds of thousands of volunteers and a website that pulls in more traffic than Amazon, Netflix or LinkedIn.

Yet her 600-employee organization humbly raises funds to keep operating, she does not have authority to control the mighty volunteer workforce, and anyone can edit the popular website sometimes with malicious and mischievous content.

Iskanders job is a paradox, and so is she. She was born in Cairo but grew up a Texan. She has impressive educational bona fides, a Rhodes scholarship and a Yale law degree, but she downplays her credentials. She works from San Franciscos Financial District but has a home in Johannesburg, South Africa.

She is still relatively new. She took the helm at the Wikimedia Foundation at the beginning of 2022, previously serving as CEO of a South African youth employment nonprofit, Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator.

The Examiner sat down with Iskander in her office with a sweeping view of the San Francisco skyline to learn more about how Wikipedia works, what its like to lead it, and how she sees the job.

Are you the boss of all of Wikipedia? No. I am the CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation, which is an integral part of supporting Wikipedia, but actually, hundreds of thousands of volunteers all over the world are the people who make Wikipedia what it is.

Whats the Wikimedia Foundation? The Wikimedia Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports not only Wikipedia, but other free knowledge projects. And being a nonprofit organization means that all of this content can be provided for free, and without ads, and in a way that feels pretty different from how other platforms operate.

Isnt Jimmy Wales the head of Wikipedia? I would say Jimmy Wales is both the founder and the spirit of Wikipedia. Jimmy continues to be part of the story of this thing thats grown beyond even his wildest imagination.

You said theres hundreds of thousands of volunteer editors. So how many people get paid and are professional editors of Wikipedia? Wikipedia is written by volunteers, unpaid people helping the rest of us make sure that we find information on the internet that is accurate and verified and cited and sourced. There are employees of the Wikimedia Foundation that provide support to these communities and volunteers, but the volunteers themselves are not paid staff.

What does the foundation do? It does a few important things. The most important is provide the technology and support the servers that allow Wikipedia to operate as one of the top 10 websites in the world. We also provide support to local communities all over the world through grants and capacity-building that is the free knowledge movement. And we provide legal litigation and advocacy that keeps free knowledge available and accessible.

How many people work for the foundation and where is it headquartered? Although the foundation is a U.S. nonprofit with San Francisco headquarters, I would describe it as a highly global organization. We have roughly 600 people scattered across over 40 countries and every region of the world. And I think that the diversity of our staff makes us a really good partner to the global community that we serve.

So are there other Wikipedias besides English-language Wikipedia? That is one of my favorite questions because Wikipedia is the most multilingual project in the world and on the internet. Wikipedia exists in over 332 languages. They vary in size, depending on how volunteer communities grow those Wikipedias. But 89% of all the articles on Wikipedia are not in English.

Why does Wikipedia have banners on its website asking people to give money? Theyre a small invitation for folks who find value in Wikipedia to chip in and ensure that this can remain as it is: An enterprise that doesnt rely on selling you anything with ads. Im not incentivizing you to stay longer than you need to stay.

Some volunteers are extremely devoted, and there are big gatherings where they come together. Is Wikipedia a cult? I dont think its a cult. I think its like a highly committed subset of humanity that comes from all walks of life, every corner of the world, and somehow finds a common cause in the idea of making free knowledge available to everybody. I think its the most extraordinary digital community in human history.

Since anyone can edit Wikipedia, doesnt it mean all kinds of stuff is wrong up there? There are many built-in mechanisms that help us try to make sure accurate and verified content is on Wikipedia. Sources have to be cited and verified. We have both human and machine tools to identify vandalism, which is usually taken down within minutes, certainly on high-profile topics.

Lets shift gears a little bit more to the personal. Is it a large personal responsibility to lead the nonprofit that manages such a powerful project? I think about that every day. The world is a complicated place, and many societies are polarizing right now. The remarkable thing about Wikipedia is that its a place people can come to disagree in order to get to a better answer. And actually, the opportunity to debate creates more neutrality and the opportunity for people to express differences of opinion and have to talk it out and again, provide the citations and provide those verifiable sources. I think it is an antidote to what were seeing with misinformation and disinformation around the world.

Do you worry about editors in Ukraine who are telling the truth about whats going on in the war and might face oppression? That is maybe the most visible and poignant of many situations where people in the world have to fight for free knowledge and put themselves at risk. Providing support and safety to volunteers and staff is our highest priority. You wrote about both Ukrainian and Russian volunteers trying to preserve information and free knowledge. That reminds you why being able to record history as its happening is one of the most important applications of Wikipedia.

What kind of student were you in school? Were you studious? Did you love to delve into encyclopedias? I come from a family of immigrants who you know often say came to America at a time when America was welcoming of immigrants and maybe a different way than its been in these past few years. And I think that the one thing I understood from my parents is that in America at that time, if you studied hard and you work hard, you know, America was going to give you opportunity. And I think that I really took that to heart.

Youre a Rhodes scholar who went to Yale Law School. Im sure those diplomas are impressive. Why dont I see them on the walls of your office? At the end of the day, you gotta get the job done. And we dont always have equal opportunities to go to fancy schools. It doesnt matter in the end if you cant get the job done.

The best institutions are the ones that allow people to unleash their potential, which is what Wikipedia is all about. That potential might be their curiosity to read an article, or edit articles related to a topic theyre interested in. Or take part in another Wikipedia-related project. Theres a home for them, and theyre welcome.

Read more:
What does the CEO who oversees Wikipedia do? We ask her. - San Francisco Examiner

I loved Shaun Cammacks piece about the opinionated side of Wikipedia (Wikipedias righteous, opinionated, utterly absorbing fight over the truth, Ideas, July 10), but his conclusion that it has the same problems as any other social media platform and therefore should be avoided gave me whiplash.

It seemed like a stirring defense of Wikipedias principles forcing users to get on the same page and reach a common understanding, despite their differences in opinions, is the remedy for misinformation and polarization. Rather than lumping Wikipedia in with the other social media platforms, we should be encouraging other platforms to take a page out of its book to foster cooperation and fight disinformation.

I also disagree with his assertion that the site isnt aesthetically pleasing. It is one of the few sites that I actually find enjoyable to browse on my phone.

Daniel Houwen

Jamaica Plain

See the article here:
Wikipedia could be the remedy for polarization - The Boston Globe

Bitcoin [BTC] is back above $23,000 for the first time since 13 June, thanks to a strong bullish performance in the last seven days. Eagle-eyed BTC enthusiasts may have noticed that the latest rally pushed Bitcoin out of its narrow range where it had been locked for four weeks.

The next critical level for BTC to contend with is above $28,000. However, are market conditions in favor to drive the coin to its next critical level? Lets find out.

Bitcoins latest performance suggests that investors are now dealing with the fear of missing out on Bitcoin.

Additionally, the Fear and Greed index was at 31, which still stands in the fear territory, but can be considered a massive improvement from last month.

For context, the same index was in the extreme fear territory and stood as low as nine roughly four weeks ago.

However, an improvement in the score doesnt necessarily mean there is enough demand to push BTC back to previous levels.

There were heavy outflows from 3IQ Coinshares and Purpose BTC ETFs during Bitcoins sharp crash in the second week of June. The same ETFs have maintained relatively low activity since then, but their accumulation would likely fuel recovery to May levels.

We have to factor in that strong demand may also come from elsewhere. Exchange inflows and outflows may provide a rough idea of the level of demand for Bitcoin currently in the market.

As per data from Glassnode, exchange outflows increased from 14,542 BTC to 42,390 BTC between 16 and 19 July. On the other hand, exchange inflows increased from 16,313 BTC to 39,329 BTC during the same period.

Exchange outflows have notably been higher than inflows. However, the gap between exchange inflows and outflows was relatively small at press time.

This suggests that BTCs demand might not be as pronounced. Despite low demand, the good news is that whales have been accumulating Bitcoin in the last few days.

The number of addresses holding more than 10,000 BTC stood at 99 addresses as of 19 July. This represents an increase of three addresses from 4 July.

The only time that Bitcoin had a higher number of addresses worth over 10,000 BTC addresses was during the mid-June dip. Perhaps this is a sign that whale sentiment is improving at current price levels, likely after waiting for the worst to pass.

However, Bitcoin still has a lot of ground to cover to get back to May levels, even after its latest rally. There is bound to be some profit taking along the way.

Go here to see the original:
Bitcoin: What Wikipedia wont tell you about BTCs recovery to May levels - AMBCrypto News