Category: Forums

Category for all Forum posts.

The January 6th Capitol Riots

A video of a talk by Dr. Hakeem Jefferson

11 a.m., June 5, 2022

This Sunday we will watch and discuss a video from January 6 2022, the anniversary of the January 6, 2021 attack on congress. In this 1-hour interview, Hakeem Jefferson will talk about the attack’s impact on American Politics, violence, and election legitimacy, and the ongoing crisis of democracy.
Dr. Hakeem Jefferson is an assistant professor of Political Science at Stanford University, as well as a faculty affiliate with Stanford’s Center for Comparative Studies in Race & Ethnicity. He focuses a majority of his research specifically on understanding the political views of Black Americans.
You can view this 1-hour video at https://cddrl.fsi.stanford.edu/events. (Scroll down to Featured Past Events. It’s the center talk.)

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Because of the coronavirus situation, this Forum will be held online.

To see the Forum, and to ask questions or make comments, if you wish, click here.
Our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the above link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer, if it’s not already installed, and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smart phone, and then enter:
 Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

You can also call any of the following phone numbers and then enter the above Meeting ID and the Passcode in order to join the meeting by phone.
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
You can find international phone numbers to call here.

———-

RSVP on Meetup here.
Like us on Facebook here.
Follow us on Twitter here.
See videos of our past Forums here.
Add this event to your Google Calendar 

To help our Forum series continue, please consider making a donation or becoming a member (http://www.humanists.org/blog/membership/) of the Humanist Community.

Do your online shopping at https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-6173979, and Amazon donates to the Humanist Community every time you do.

Teaching Anti-Racism

A video of a talk by John McWhorter

11 a.m., May 29, 2022

This Sunday we will watch and discuss an August 2021 26-minute interview with John McWhorter by Margaret Hoover on Firing Line.

John McWhorter is a linguist and author of over 20 books on language and race relations including Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America.

McWhorter characterizes himself as a cranky liberal Democrat, and says he disagrees with many of the tenets of the Civil Rights orthodoxy. He discusses these disagreements in this interview.

You can view this 26:46 minute interview at www.pbs.org/wnet/firing-line/video/john-mcwhorter-6jyifa/

———-
Because of the coronavirus situation, this Forum will be held online.

To see the Forum, and to ask questions or make comments, if you wish, click here.
Our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the above link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer, if it’s not already installed, and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smart phone, and then enter:
 Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

You can also call any of the following phone numbers and then enter the above Meeting ID and the Passcode in order to join the meeting by phone.
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
You can find international phone numbers to call here.

———-

RSVP on Meetup here.
Like us on Facebook here.
Follow us on Twitter here.
See videos of our past Forums here.
Add this event to your Google Calendar 

To help our Forum series continue, please consider making a donation or becoming a member (http://www.humanists.org/blog/membership/) of the Humanist Community.

Do your online shopping at https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-6173979, and Amazon donates to the Humanist Community every time you do.

GeoEngineering for Climate

Sudhanshu “Suds” Jain

11 a.m., May 22, 2022

According to many experts, we have fewer than 10 years to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions if we want to stay below 1.5 degrees C of global temperature rise. Achieving this goal seems highly unlikely. We do know that the Earth cools for about 2 years after every major volcanic eruption. This effect has caused famines in Europe. We know now that volcanos inject millions of tons of sulfur into the Stratosphere which reflects sunlight back into space. Some people have proposed injecting particles in the Stratosphere to cool the earth. Suds Jain has been working for almost 10 years on a different scheme to make Marine boundary Layer clouds brighter by spraying purified seawater into the air. He considers these schemes as purely insurance policies to avoid catastrophic effects of global heating. He advocates for research but not deployment as he prefers first Herculean efforts to eliminate fossil fuel use. He will also discuss other GeoEngineering schemes to capture CO2 from the air and sequester it.

Background Info: NOVA episode on GeoEngineering: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/can-we-cool-the-planet/

Bio
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 also coached a FIRST Lego League team for 5 years and he cofounded the high school FTC robotics team at Wilcox High School and has coached it for the past 8 years. He currently serves on the Santa Clara City Council.

He’s active with Citizen’s Climate Lobby which advocates for a Carbon Tax with 100% revenue recycling (dividends to consumers). He’s taught a weekly “Climate Change Science” class to middle school students at Discovery Charter School since 2011. He has been working with Silver Lining Marine Cloud Brightening team since 2012. Sudhanshu holds BSEE and MSEE degrees from MIT.

———-
Because of the coronavirus situation, this Forum will be held online.

To see the Forum, and to ask questions or make comments, if you wish, click here.
Our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the above link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer, if it’s not already installed, and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smart phone, and then enter:
 Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

You can also call any of the following phone numbers and then enter the above Meeting ID and the Passcode in order to join the meeting by phone.
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
You can find international phone numbers to call here.

GeoEngineering for Climate – Suds Jain
 from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

———-

RSVP on Meetup here.
Like us on Facebook here.
Follow us on Twitter here.
See videos of our past Forums here.
Add this event to your Google Calendar 

To help our Forum series continue, please consider making a donation or becoming a member (http://www.humanists.org/blog/membership/) of the Humanist Community.

Do your online shopping at https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-6173979, and Amazon donates to the Humanist Community every time you do.

Urban Planning for Sustainability

Videos of talks by Rollie Williams and Not Just Bikes

11 a.m., May 15, 2022

This Sunday we will watch two videos on how urban planning can create a more sustainable future for the world.
Dutch Cities are Better for the Environment (and my sanity) is a 13-minute video about the advantages of Dutch cities. You can view it at www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO6txCZpbsQ.
Suburbs are Bleeding America Dry is a 21-minute video that discusses how zoning laws force bad ecological choices. You can view it at www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfsCniN7Nsc.
Both videos present their message in a light, humorous style.

———-
Because of the coronavirus situation, this Forum will be held online.

To see the Forum, and to ask questions or make comments, if you wish, click here.
Our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the above link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer, if it’s not already installed, and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smart phone, and then enter:
 Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

You can also call any of the following phone numbers and then enter the above Meeting ID and the Passcode in order to join the meeting by phone.
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
You can find international phone numbers to call here.

———-

RSVP on Meetup here.
Like us on Facebook here.
Follow us on Twitter here.
See videos of our past Forums here.

Add this event to your Google Calendar 

To help our Forum series continue, please consider making a donation or becoming a member (http://www.humanists.org/blog/membership/) of the Humanist Community.

Do your online shopping at https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-6173979, and Amazon donates to the Humanist Community every time you do.

The Current State of the Humanist Movement

Nadya Dutchin

Nadya Dutchin

11 a.m., May 8, 2022

This Sunday, Nadya Dutchin will give her views on the current state of society, and then open a discussion on the opportunities and challenges that we as Humanist chapter members see ahead of us.

Nadya Dutchin is the new Executive Director of the American Humanist Association with more than 10 years of community engagement, strategic partnership, youth program development, multi-method fundraising, and change management experience. She is new to the humanist movement and is working to transform the AHA and humanist movement into one that focuses on protecting civil rights and building a more youthful and vibrant humanist community. She currently serves as the Board President of The Common Good Generation and is the Board President of Our Climate for Education. Nadya is of Guyanese descent and a proud Alumna of Florida A&M University where she studied Molecular and Cellular Biology. She loves The Muppets, reading fiction, supporting local restaurants, visiting museums, the thrill of live music, and most of all, watching movies and cuddling with her daughter.

———-
Because of the coronavirus situation, this Forum will be held online.

To see the Forum, and to ask questions or make comments, if you wish, click here.
Our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the above link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer, if it’s not already installed, and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smart phone, and then enter:
 Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

You can also call any of the following phone numbers and then enter the above Meeting ID and the Passcode in order to join the meeting by phone.
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
You can find international phone numbers to call here.

———-

The Current State of the Humanist Movement – Nadya Dutchin from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

———-

RSVP on Meetup here.
Like us on Facebook here.
Follow us on Twitter here.
See videos of our past Forums here.

Add this event to your Google Calendar  here.

To help our Forum series continue, please consider making a donation or becoming a member (http://www.humanists.org/blog/membership/) of the Humanist Community.

Do your online shopping at https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-6173979, and Amazon donates to the Humanist Community every time you do.