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As You Like It (i.e., What Topics Would YOU Like to Discuss?)

Alex Havasy, discussion facilitator

11 a.m., April 25, 2021

At this Sunday Forum, Alex Havasy will facilitate an audience discussion of topics that audience members suggest. Something you think is interesting or important that hasn’t gotten the coverage you feel it deserves, and that Humanists may have a special take on.

For suggested topics that could easily take one or more Forums to learn about and discuss, and if you suggest a topic that isn’t covered at this meeting, we may be able to build a later Forum around that topic.

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

If you don’t intend to ask any questions or make any comments during this Forum, then please click the below link on Sunday around 11 a.m. in order to view the Forum as it occurs (in real time):

www.facebook.com/humanistcommsv/live

Note the new website above for streaming the Forum.

If you may want to ask a question or make a comment during this Forum, then please click the below link on Sunday around 11 a.m. in order to view, and possibly take part in, the Forum as it occurs (in real time):

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/314247393?pwd=d285R2VxWWdNcmk4NHdPaVNpWjc4dz09

(Note: this is a different link than has been posted here previously.)

If you don’t have the Zoom app installed on your desktop computer, then joining the meeting via the above link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer, and then take you to the meeting.

You can also install the Zoom app on your smart phone, and then enter:

314247393

as the meeting number, and

255787

as the passcode, to get to this Zoom meeting.

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

Stuttering

John Ahlbach

11 a.m., April 18, 2021

This Sunday, John Ahlbach will give a talk on his work with support groups for people who stutter.

John Ahlbach has been involved in the stuttering community his whole life. He was the executive director of The National Stuttering Project from 1981 to 1995, and then founded Friends: The National Association of Young People Who Stutter. John was a high school teacher for 40 years until his retirement.

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

www.facebook.com/humanistcommsv/live

Note the new website above for streaming the Forum.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/314247393?pwd=d285R2VxWWdNcmk4NHdPaVNpWjc4dz09

(Note: this is a different link than has been posted here previously.)

You can also install the Zoom app on your smart phone, and then enter:

314247393

as the meeting number, and

255787

as the passcode, to get to this Zoom meeting.

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Stuttering – John Ahlbach
from Humanist Community-SiliconValley
on Vimeo.

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

Creating the Burke-Gilman Trail

Jim Todd

11 a.m., April 11, 2021

At this Sunday’s Humanist Forum, Jim Todd will discuss “Creating the Burke-Gilman Trail”.

Jim Todd was a resident of Seattle and lived only three doors from the railroad right-of-way at its midpoint in Seattle. He was also on the faculty of the Political Science Department of the University of Washington and his office on campus was immediately adjacent to the railroad right-of-way. He would get to and from the campus than bicycling down a trail on the abandoned railroad right-of-way! Jim says that he likes to think that he was fundamentally motivated by the larger public interest to convert the right-of-way into a public hiking and biking trail, but he feels a need to disclose his personal interest as well.

Jim Todd will discuss how the Burke-Gilman Trail came to be. In the fall of 1970 the Burlington Northern Railroad announced that it planned to abandon its right-of-way running through Seattle and into suburbs north and east of the city. The right-of-way closely follows the shorelines of two lakes and links a dazzling array of major attractions including several large city parks, a major shopping center, and the University of Washington campus. Its conversion to a public hiking and biking trail promised to offer a route to a variety of destinations, as well as recreational and commuting benefits.

Despite the obvious attractiveness of the idea of converting the about to be abandoned railroad right-of-way to a hiking and biking trail, it almost immediately became clear that the idea would not implement itself, that opposition to the idea would emerge, that the BN had its own plans, and that other ideas about how the right-of-way should be used would be proposed. The City of Seattle and King County each had jurisdiction over different portions of the right-of-way. They would inevitably have a major say on what would become of the right-of-way. They had planning and development capabilities as well as funding abilities and limitations to consider. They also had to take into consideration the politics of choosing whatever course of action they might decide to take.

Jim will describe how all of these factors played out and ultimately resulted in the creation of the Burke-Gilman Trail.

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

https://www.echoplexmedia.com/humanist

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/314247393?pwd=d285R2VxWWdNcmk4NHdPaVNpWjc4dz09

(Note: this is a different link than has been posted here previously.)

You can also install the Zoom app on your smart phone, and then enter:

314247393

as the meeting number, and

255787

as the passcode, to get to this Zoom meeting.

———-

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

Videos and Discussion – How to Fix a Democracy

Facilitated by Alex Havasy

11 a.m., April 4, 2021

At this Sunday’s Humanist Forum, Alex Havasy will host as we watch and discuss 4 short videos on ways to make a government more democratic. After the videos, we’ll discuss what you believe would improve democracy and what you think might make it worse.

The videos are: The Rule that Broke American Politics, a 6 minute YouTube video on the history of the filibuster; An Election System that Puts Voters (Not Politicians) First, a 10:19 minute TED Talk by Amber McReynolds on voting in the U.S.; 3 Ways to Upgrade Democracy for the 21st Century, a 14 minute TED talk by Max Rashbrooke about novel governing precedures that have empowered citizens; and What If We Replaced Politicians with Randomly Selected People?, a 19:20 minute TED Talk by Bret Hannig.

You can view the videos at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt4jHLteXag

https://www.ted.com/talks/amber_mcreynolds_an_election_system_that_puts_voters_not_politicians_first

https://www.ted.com/talks/max_rashbrooke_3_ways_to_upgrade_democracy_for_the_21st_century#t-14130

and

https://www.ted.com/talks/brett_hennig_what_if_we_replaced_politicians_with_randomly_selected_people#t-238746

———-

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

https://www.echoplexmedia.com/humanist

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/314247393?pwd=d285R2VxWWdNcmk4NHdPaVNpWjc4dz09

(Note: this is a different link than has been posted here previously.)

You can also install the Zoom app on your smart phone, and then enter:

314247393

as the meeting number, and

255787

as the passcode, to get to this Zoom meeting.

———-

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

Recycling

Louise Bruce

11 a.m., March 28, 2021

At this Sunday’s Humanist Forum, Louise Bruce will discuss “Recycling”.

Each year Californians discard and landfill 38 million tons of garbage. Meanwhile, more than 200,000 young Californians will experience homelessness this year and unemployment is growing to record highs. One organization, the San Jose Conservation Corps (SJCC), seeks to simultaneously foster a healthier environment while building economic opportunity for Silicon Valley’s young adults experiencing barriers to employment by providing innovative job training. At our upcoming meeting, Louise Bruce, SJCC’s Director of Zero Waste and Recycling will share how their organization is capturing value and resources from our local waste stream and training the next generation of zero waste professionals.

Louise Bruce joined the San Jose Conservation Corps as Zero Waste & Recycling Director in October 2019. She devoted her early career to advancing composting and organic waste recycling in New York City, as a key climate change intervention. Louise oversaw the NYC Department of Sanitation’s (DSNY) organics programs, including the implementation of the nation’s largest municipal food and yard waste recycling program, which now serves 3.5 million residents. During her tenure with DSNY, she also created and implemented the inaugural NYC Food Waste Fair, developed an updated curriculum for the NYC Master Composter Program and grew the City’s community composting and food scrap drop-off operations. Louise earned a Master of Urban Planning degree from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service and Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University. In 2016, she was awarded The University of California Global Food Initiative’s 30 Under 30 distinction.

To learn more about Louise and her previous work in New York City, check out this 2017 interview with FoodPrint: https://foodprint.org/blog/louise-bruce-empowers-nyc-communities-by-advocating-for-citywide-composting/.

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