Category: Forums

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Goals of Veterans for Peace

Phillip Pflager

May 28, 2017

Mr. Pflager will speak about the goal of members of Veterans for Peace to serve the cause of world peace, and their pledge to use non-violent means to achieve these goals.

Phillip Pflager is currently Chapter Contact for “South Bay/Peninsula” chapter of Veterans for Peace; a community partner of the San Jose Peace and Justice Center. Mr. Pflager enlisted into the Air Force in 1961, was sent to Vietnam and Thailand in 1964 and was discharged late in 1965. He retired from an electronics career in 2008 and resides in his home in Cupertino where he has lived since 1953.

After the Forum, please join us for a lunch at 12:30pm. The lunch is complimentary for first-time visitors and students.

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Humanist Community Forum (2017-05-21): Soaring Past 7 Billion: Population Challenges for a Crowded World (John Seager) from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

Soaring Past 7 Billion: Population Challenges for a Crowded World

John Seager

May 21, 2017

John Seager, President & CEO of Population Connection (www.populationconnection.org), will address global population growth, its causes and impacts, and how we can meet those challenges.

Global population grows by approximately 80 million people annually. In 1999, the United Nation’s Population Division projected that world population would reach 7 billion in 2013. Instead, we reached that milestone a full two years earlier than anticipated, hitting 7 billion in October 2011, and 7.4 billion in August 2016. Recent projections by the UN for a medium population number are 8.1 billion in 2025, 9.7 billion in 2050, and an astounding 11.2 billion in 2100. John’s talk offers an overview of root causes, impacts and ways to meet the population challenge, illustrating the intersections between population stabilization, the environment, social equity, and women’s empowerment.

Before joining Population Connection, John was with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. John also served as Chief of Staff for former U.S. Representative Peter H. Kostmayer (D-PA), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs and Interior committees. A veteran of more than 50 political campaigns, John has published op-eds and articles on population growth for a number of news outlets including Huffington Post, GlobalPost, and RH Reality Check.

Population Connection is the preeminent grassroots group seeking to stabilize global population. It calls attention to the ramifications of rapid population growth by educating, informing, and inspiring Americans to support voluntary methods to achieve global population stabilization—especially funding for domestic and international family planning. With 300,000+ members and supporters, we educate people and motivate activism.

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Humanist Community Forum (2017-05-14): From Goddess to God: Elimination of the Feminine Divine (Karen L. Garst) from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

From Goddess to God: Elimination of the Feminine Divine

Karen L. Garst

May 14, 2017

Karen L. Garst will trace the female images and figurines of the Paleolithic through the Neolithic and examine the loss of the female deity in several cultures in the Middle East at about the same time in the Bronze Age. She will then contrast the memes of the goddess with the memes of the sole male deity that develops into monotheism in Judaism and eventually Christianity and Islam. Finally, she will show the impact religion has on the rights of women in the United States compared to less religious countries.

Karen L. Garst has a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, and is the former executive director of the Oregon State Bar. She has a blog at www.faithlessfeminist.com, a Facebook Page, a YouTube channel, and is on Twitter (@karen_garst). She is also the author of “Women Beyond Belief: Discovering Life without Religion” (2016). She obtained book blurbs for the book from Richard Dawkins, Valerie Tarico, Peter Boghossian, Rebecca Hale, John Loftus, Sikivu Hutchinson and others. The book will be available for purchase at the Forum.

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Bias, Use of Force, and the Criminal Justice System

Christopher Boscia

May 7, 2017

This presentation will provide participants with a framework to evaluate the lawfulness of police shootings of civilians. Topics to be covered include how criminal charges are instituted, the definition of homicide and its defenses, and how cognitive bias affects the evaluation of officer involved shootings.

Christopher Boscia has been a Deputy District Attorney for seven years prosecuting cases in Santa Clara County and Contra Costa County. Prior to working as a prosecutor, he was a staff member to the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice. The Commission examined the causes of wrongful convictions and evaluated the death penalty system in California.

After the Forum, please join us for a lunch at 12:30pm. The lunch is complimentary for first-time visitors and students.

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