Immigrant Voices from New York City through Art

Dr. Masuma Ahmed

February 4, 2018

Times are changing. The immigrant contributions to the innovations and the making of American history are increasingly getting ignored. In response, the immigrants and women are marching across America for their voices to be heard for equality and social justice. New York City is no exception. It is a hub of 8.5 million immigrants with 8.5 million stories. You, I, and everybody else except the Native Americans are immigrants to this country. Immigrants come in many different shapes, forms, traditions, and cultural backgrounds. Can ‘ART’ be a part of the immigrant voice in America?

Dr. Masuma Ahmed is a New York City based artist, creative writer, scientist, and a high tech entrepreneur. Her creative work is a fusion of Eastern and Western traditions blending modern and traditional art techniques and themes. She had basic art training at Bangladesh National Art Institute and Yale University. She received her Ph.D. in Physics from Yale University, and was a faculty member in the Yale Physics Department. Later, she joined the high tech industry, working for Telcordia, Lockheed Martin, and Comcast as a Senior Program Director and Chief Architect. She also had a 3D technology start-up. Currently, she is engaged in capturing the voice of New York City and its immigrant fabric through her site, ‘New York City Rainbow Faces,’ www.facebook.com/nycrainbowfaces .

Immigrant Voices from New York City through Art – Dr. Masuma Ahmed from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.


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The Science of Climate Change and the Carbon Tax

Sudhanshu “Suds” Jain

January 28, 2018

Sudhanshu “Suds” Jain designed integrated circuits for 25 years. In 2008 he decided that the impending Climate crisis was far more important than designing the next switch chip for computer networking and he “retired” from Broadcom Corporation to become a “professional volunteer”. He coached a FIRST Lego League robotics team for 5 years, and he co-founded the high school team at Wilcox High School 3 years ago (which he still coaches). He currently serves on the City of Santa Clara planning commission.

He also serves on the board of Acterra.org. He has performed free home energy audits with Acterra’s Green at Home program. He has also installed solar panels on low income housing with Grid Alternatives. He’s active with Citizen’s Climate Lobby which advocates for a Carbon Tax with 100% revenue recycling (dividends to consumers). Since Sept. 2011, he’s been teaching a “Climate Change Science” class to middle school students at Discovery Charter School. Sudhanshu holds BSEE and MSEE degrees from MIT.

The local chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby, which Suds leads, meets monthly at Humanist House. They welcome new members to help them create the political will for a revenue neutral carbon pollution tax.

The Science of Climate Change and the Carbon Tax – Sudhanshu “Suds” Jain from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.


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Uniting the Divided States of America

Michael Abramson

January 21, 2018

Michael Abramson is a physicist specializing in system modeling and simulations, and a concerned citizen leading a “Positive Agenda” group who is involved with a number of activist organizations. He will present a new taxonomy of major political groups in our society, highlighting what is common for all of them. Understanding and acknowledging this commonality is a first critical step if we want to overcome our bitter political divisions. How can we come together and build the better and stronger America for all? What our next steps could be? Who could lead the way? It may not be easy to answer these questions, but let’s start this conversation.

Documents for this event:

Uniting The Divided States Of America
Taxonomy

Humanist Community Forum (2018-01-21): Uniting the Divided States of America – Michael Abramson from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.


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How the Biggest Military-Industrial-Congressional Fraud of the 20th Century Launched the Internet

Lester Earnest

January 14, 2018

The Internet is a result of the following five main developments:

· First Computer Network: SAGE air defense system, Initiated by MIT in the early 1950s, built by many contractors and operational 1958-1982.
· General Purpose Interactive Computing: timesharing systems, developed at MIT, beginning operating in 1962 and went commercial in 1965.
· General Purpose Computer Networking, initiated by people from MIT and funded by the Defense Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), resulting in the ARPANET, which largely interconnected academic institutions.
· Network Interconnections: Internet Protocols developed at Stanford University, released in 1974 and eventually adopted widely, forming the Internet. Also called TCP/IP.
· Standardized Graphical Terminal Interface: World-Wide-Web, started at CERN in Switzerland in 1990, came into widespread use by 2000 and now is maintained at MIT.

Thus, MIT played a major part in creating the Internet. By chance, Lester Earnest contributed to each of the above developments, and is evidently the only person in the world who did that.

Humanist Community Forum (2018-01-14): How a Fraud Launched the Internet – Lester Earnest from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.


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Trump and the Constitution

Prof. Martin Carcieri

January 7, 2018

The constitutional implications of Donald Trump’s presidency are sprawling. One of the most enduring may be his nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. In 2006, Gorsuch published his doctoral dissertation, a critique of the right to die – and in particular physician assisted suicide – based on the principle of the inviolability of life. Following an introduction, Prof. Carcieri shall present a critique of Gorsuch’s book using Rawlsian principles of justice. Prof. Carcieri is a Professor of Political Science at San Francisco State University.

Humanist Community Forum (2018-01-07): Trump and the Constitution – Prof. Martin Carcieri from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.


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