HSMNY: Meeting Schedule for the 2014 Season

⁽¹⁾ Thursday, January 9, 2014:

We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM downstairs in the Social Hall at the New York Society for Ethical Culture, located at 2 West 64th Street at Central Park West, New York, NY 10023-7183 [ click here for map ].

The title of this event is "People's Right to Know, a presentation and discussion".

What would Corliss Lamont say about "The People's Right To Know?" He'd be speaking and writing about the dangers to our Civil Liberties, with U.S. Government secrecy, surveillance, use of targeted assassination, and punishing whistleblowers and journalists!

Basically, a democracy depends on an educated and informed public. We evaluate our education system as well as media. How well do these systems help us meet these objectives? We try to balance this off with the need for security. How well is this balance being negotiated?

The discussion will be led by Beth Lamont and Steve James. If you like, please bring your own information to share with other like-minded Freethinkers at the meeting.

You're welcome to bring food items for sharing, but some snacks are available. Also, there will be important books of Corliss Lamont, including The Philosophy of Humanism. Hoping to see you soon.

Please call Beth for more information.

⁽²⁾ Thursday, January 23, 2014: We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the upstairs private room at the Moonstruck East Restaurant, located at 449 Third Avenue at the Southeast corner of East 31st Street, New York, NY 10016-6026 [ click here for map ].

The title of this event is "Afraid of the Dark: Humanity at the Crossroads, by Dr. Sheldon Solomon".

Why does our society have the many problems that we currently are experiencing, particularly concerning the environment, violence, and inequality? Our special guest will help us understand these issues in terms of the psychology and human motivation behind them.

Photo of Sheldon Solomon.

Sheldon Solomon, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychology and Interdisciplinary Studies at Skidmore College. His current research in experimental social psychology is primarily concerned with the psychological functions of self-esteem and the effects of specific political and economic institutions on mental health. He is one of the foremost authorities on Terror Management Theory, a means of examining human response to mortality anxiety. He has published over one hundred social psychology papers and is co-author of In the Wake of 9/11: The Psychology of Terror. His presentation, Afraid of the Dark: Humanity at the Crossroads, will provide unique insight to contemporary issues and possible solutions that humanity desperately needs.

The first hour of the meeting will be devoted to socializing, catching up and announcements. Dr. Solomon will begin at 7:00 PM.

There will be books by Corliss Lamont available, and snacks provided. Food can be ordered from the restaurant as well. Please attend. We hope to see you at the meeting.

Please call Beth for more information.

Hello Humanist Meeting would-be attendees! Because of the unreasonably stormy weather, this evening's Meeting for Thursday, February 13th, is "officially" postponed until next week: Thursday, February 20th, same time, same place, same speakers, when we'll get together to honor Charles Darwin! Stay warm!

However, if any of you have already gauged the depth of the snow and determined that you can DO IT...a few of us who live nearby will be there to greet you and applaud your bravery! We guarantee that we'll celebrate anyway, and have fun!

⁽³⁾ Thursday, February 13/20, 2014: We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the upstairs private room at the Moonstruck East Restaurant, located at 449 Third Avenue at the Southeast corner of East 31st Street, New York, NY 10016-6026 [ click here for map ].

Come Celebrate Darwin Day with Us!
(rescheduled from February 13 due to weather)

Photo of Charles Darwin.

Darwin Day is an international celebration of science and humanity held on or around February 12, the day that Charles Darwin was born on in 1809. Specifically, it celebrates the discoveries and life of Charles Darwin — the man who first described biological evolution via natural selection with scientific rigor. More generally, Darwin Day expresses gratitude for the enormous benefits that scientific knowledge, acquired through human curiosity and ingenuity, has contributed to the advancement of humanity.

We will have two speakers at the celebration, Student Alfred Kaminsky and Dr. Leonard Finkelman:

Student Alfred Kaminsky will speak on "The Antibiotic Arms Race, Natural selection up Close" and lead a discussion on the importance of Charles Darwin and the recognition of Darwin Day.

Second, Dr. Leonard Finkelman will speak on the subject of "De-extinction and Darwin".

In The Origin of Species, Darwin wrote that once a species goes extinct, "the same identical form never reappears". One hundred and fifty years later, scientists announced plans to resurrect the Woolly Mammoth through genetic engineering. Was Darwin wrong? The answer to that question depends on the philosophy one adopts. We will examine some of the philosophical views relevant to biologists' current pursuit of de-extinction and how those views relate to Darwin's original work.

Leonard Finkelman received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the City University of New York Graduate Center in 2013. His research focuses on issues in Philosophy in Biology and particularly those related to paleontology and classification. In addition to this research, he has written on topics in ethics, possible-world semantics, and human nature. He will also occasionally indulge interests in astronomy, prehistoric art, science fiction, and graphic novels.

We look for an exciting and informative evening!

Please note that because this meeting is being held in a restaurant, food and adult beverage of your choice will be available for purchase.

For questions, please call Beth Lamont or e-mail HSMNY Executive Director Stephen James.

Note: This event is listed on the International Darwin Day Foundation website.

⁽⁴⁾ Thursday, February 27, 2014: We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the upstairs private room at the Moonstruck East Restaurant, located at 449 Third Avenue at the Southeast corner of East 31st Street, New York, NY 10016-6026 [ click here for map ].

The title of this event is "Why is American Education Failing?".

Our special guest speaker for the evening will be Hugh McGuire, a public policy analyst who has worked with the Connecticut State Legislature.

According to a 2012 analysis by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA):

Among the 34 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, the United States is ranked 26th in mathematics, 17th in reading, and 21st in science.

Mathematics scores for the top-performer, Shanghai-China, indicate a performance that is the equivalent of over two years of formal schooling ahead of those observed in Massachusetts, itself a strong-performing U.S. state.

While the U.S. spends more per student than most countries, this does not translate into better performance. For example, the Slovak Republic, which spends around USD $53,000 per student, performs at the same level as the United States, which spends over USD $115,000 per student.

Students in the United States have particular weaknesses in performing mathematics tasks with higher cognitive demands, such as taking real-world situations, translating them into mathematical terms, and interpreting mathematical aspects in real-world problems.

Please note that because this meeting is being held in a restaurant, food and adult beverage of your choice will be available for purchase.

For questions, please call Beth Lamont or e-mail HSMNY Executive Director Stephen James.

⁽⁵⁾ Thursday, March 13, 2014:

We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM downstairs in the Social Hall at the New York Society for Ethical Culture (NYSEC), located at 2 West 64th Street at Central Park West, New York, NY 10023-7183 [ click here for map ].

The title of this event is "An evening with Ramsey Clark".

Photo of (William) Ramsey Clark.

William Ramsey Clark is an American lawyer, activist and former public official. He worked for the U.S. Department of Justice, which included service as United States Attorney General from 1967 to 1969, under President Lyndon B. Johnson. He supervised the drafting and played an important role in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Civil Rights Act of 1968. Since leaving public office, Mr. Clark has led many progressive activism campaigns, including opposition to the War on Terror, and was an opponent of both the 1991 and 2003 Persian Gulf Wars. As a lawyer, he has offered legal defense to controversial figures such as Slobodan Milosevic, Saddam Hussein, and Lyndon LaRouche.

Mr. Clark testified recently at three trials against U.S. drone wars. He was quoted as saying, "These [drone attacks] are CIA summary executions. It's a violation of international law." He is the founder of the International Action Center (IAC), which helped found the protest organization A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism).

Mr. Clark is a recipient of the Gandhi Peace Award and the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award.

You're welcome to bring food items for sharing, but some snacks will be available. If you plan to attend, you may RSVP at Meetup.

For questions, please call Beth Lamont or e-mail HSMNY Executive Director Stephen James.

A small one-page PDF flyer is available for download via the link below. Please distribute widely.

Humanist_Society_of_Metropolitan_New_York_2014-03-13.pdf (44,299 bytes).

⁽⁶⁾ Thursday, March 27, 2014: We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the upstairs private room at the Moonstruck East Restaurant, located at 449 Third Avenue at the Southeast corner of East 31st Street, New York, NY 10016-6026 [ click here for map ].

The title of this event is "U.S. support for the International Criminal Court".

Our special guest speaker for the evening will be John L. Washburn, a graduate of Harvard Law School, Convener for the American Non-Governmental Organizations Coalition for the International Criminal Court (AMICC), and Co-Chair of the Washington Working Group on the International Criminal Court (WICC).

The AMICC, founded in 2001, joined the Columbia University Institute for the Study of Human Rights (ISHR) in November 2010 and advocates full U.S. support for the International Criminal Court (ICC).

122 countries are States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Out of them 34 are African States, 18 are Asia-Pacific States, 18 are from Eastern Europe, 27 are from Latin American and Caribbean States, and 25 are from Western European and other States.

The United States has yet to become a State Party to the ICC.

This should prove to be a very timely, interesting, and informative meeting. Please attend.

Please note that because this meeting is being held in a restaurant, food and adult beverage of your choice will be available for purchase.

For questions, please call Beth Lamont or e-mail HSMNY Executive Director Stephen James.

⁽⁷⁾ Thursday, April 10, 2014: We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the upstairs private room at the Moonstruck East Restaurant, located at 449 Third Avenue at the Southeast corner of East 31st Street, New York, NY 10016-6026 [ click here for map ].

The title of this event is "Ongoing Economic Crisis: Short and Long Term Prospects".

Photo of Richard Wolff.

Our special guest speaker for the evening will be Richard D. Wolff, Professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is currently a Visiting Professor in the graduate program in International Affairs at The New School for Public Engagement in New York. Wolff is the author of many books, including Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism, Occupy the Economy: Challenging Capitalism, and Capitalism Hits the Fan: The Global Economic Meltdown and What to Do About It. He hosts the weekly hour-long radio program Economic Update on WBAI (Pacifica Radio) and writes regularly for The Guardian, Truth-out.org, and the MRZine. His appearances include the Charlie Rose Show, Democracy Now!, Al Jazeera English, Thom Hartmann, RT-TV, and NPR. His personal work can be found at rdwolff.com. Wolff lives in New York with his wife and frequent collaborate, Dr. Harriet Fraad, a practicing psychotherapist.

Dr. Wolff is co-founder of Democracy at Work, a project, begun in 2010, that aims to build a social movement whose goal is to transition to a new society whose productive enterprises (offices, factories, and stores) will mostly be Workers' Self-Directed Enterprises in which all the workers who collaborate to produce its outputs also serve together, collectively as its board of directors, forming a true economic democracy.

Dr. Wolff is highly knowledgeable of his subject and is a dynamic and engaging speaker and this presentation should be quite educational for all who attend.

Please note that because this meeting is being held in a restaurant, food and adult beverage of your choice will be available for purchase.

For questions, please call Beth Lamont or e-mail HSMNY Executive Director Stephen James.

⁽⁸⁾ Thursday, April 24, 2014: We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the upstairs private room at the Moonstruck East Restaurant, located at 449 Third Avenue at the Southeast corner of East 31st Street, New York, NY 10016-6026 [ click here for map ].

The title of this event is "Humanism and Mental Health".

Our special guest speaker for the evening will be Robert Cameron Heihn, HSMNY Chapter President and a past Psychoanalytic Fellow (2011-2013) of the Contemporary Freudian Society in New York. Robert will facilitate a discussion on mental health.

Have you ever noticed that some of the American Humanist Association's most famous recipients of the Humanist of the Year award have been psychiatrists and psychologists? Schools of psychology from behaviorism (B.F. Skinner, 1972) to psychoanalysis (Erich Fromm, 1966) to Humanistic Psychology (Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow, 1964 and 1967, respectively) are represented among those who've received the AHA's highest honor (and we should note that Corliss Lamont, after whom our chapter is named, was both Humanist of the Year of 1977 and President Emeritus of the AHA).

Please come join a lively discussion on mental health and its relation to Humanism. Humanists have powerfully influenced the discourse of what it means to be mentally healthy and to foster mental health, and some (Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, and Erich Fromm to name a few) have also been quite vocal in their championing of the Humanistic worldview. Whether you agree with 1973's Humanist of the Year Thomas Szasz that mental illness is a myth, with Albert Ellis (1971's Humanist of the Year) that a rationally understood and lived life leads to mental health, or with any of the aforementioned thinkers, please feel free to come discuss your ideas with others in a welcoming and open environment. This is a complex topic, and even many Humanists have disagreed with one another on the meaning of mental health!

Please note that because this meeting is being held in a restaurant, food and adult beverage of your choice will be available for purchase.

For questions, please call Beth Lamont or e-mail HSMNY Executive Director Stephen James.

⁽⁹⁾ Thursday, May 8, 2014: We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the upstairs private room at the Moonstruck East Restaurant, located at 449 Third Avenue at the Southeast corner of East 31st Street, New York, NY 10016-6026 [ click here for map ].

The title of this event is "Understanding Libertarianism".

Photo of Tom Stevens.

This evening's meeting will feature a panel discussion with Dr. Tom Stevens, John Clifton, David Bodine, and Alton Yee, moderated by Stephen James, HSMNY Executive Director.

The panel will discuss the basics of the Libertarian philosophy and political beliefs. The members will explore common ground with Humanism, as well as Libertarian interpretation and response to contemporary issues such as the War in Afghanistan, the threat of war with Russia, the war on drugs, mass incarceration, the American economy, the environment, economic inequality, and racism. Audience participation will be encouraged.

Dr. Tom Stevens is the Chair of the Libertarian Party of Queens County, Chair of Empire State Libertarians, Executive Director of Stonewall Libertarians and served two terms on the Judicial Committee of the National Libertarian Party. Last year, he served as State Chair of the Pennsylvania Libertarian Party. Dr. Stevens is also Chair of the Objectivist Party and ran for President in 2008 and 2012 as the candidate of the Objectivist Party, officially on the ballot in Colorado and Florida.

John Clifton is the current Libertarian Party candidate for New York State Comptroller, and was an LP Gubernatorial Candidate and LP Senatorial Candidate in the past. He was three times State Chair of the New York Libertarian Party.

David Bodine is an attorney who has worked in Manufacturing, Health Care, Hospitality, Engineering and Real Estate. He is currently working as pro-bono attorney on behalf of persons unable to afford competent counsel, and who are under pressure from government agencies. Mr. Bodine is a student of political philosophy, economics, history, and an avid reader of current publications of all views. He holds a JD degree from Boston University Law School, a BS in Philosophy and Mathematics from Trinity College, and an MA in Journalism from Columbia University.

Alton Yee is Director of Fundraising for the Manhattan Libertarian Party.

Please note that because this meeting is being held in a restaurant, food and adult beverage of your choice will be available for purchase.

For questions, please call Beth Lamont or e-mail HSMNY Executive Director Stephen James.

⁽¹⁰⁾ Thursday, May 22, 2014: In lieu of our regularly scheduled fourth Thursday of the month meeting, members of the Humanist Society of Metropolitan New York will be attending an event to be held in the Auditorium at the New York Society for Ethical Culture (NYSEC), located at 2 West 64th Street at Central Park West, New York, NY 10023-7183 [ click here for map ]. Please see NYSEC's description of the event below, and we look forward to seeing you on Thursday night.

The title of this event is "Honoring Pete Seeger's Vision".

Presented by New York City Friends of Clearwater (NYCFC) and NYSEC, you are invited to come hear wonderful performers and great friends of Pete Seeger share in song and remembrances. Learn about Pete's vision for our planet and all people.

Performers include the Walkabout Clearwater Chorus, David Amram, Guy Davis, Christine Lavin, Oscar Brand, Charlie King, David Bernz, Jacob Bernz, Matt Emmer, and Happy Traum.

Speakers include Manna Jo Greene, Environmental Director of Hudson River Sloop Clearwater; Chief Oren Lyons, Onondaga Faithkeeper; Paul Gallay, Riverkeeper President; Donna Smith, NYC Friends of Clearwater President; and Presidents of Sloop Clubs and Past Presidents of NYCFC.

A portion of the proceeds go to the Pete Seeger Environmental Educators Network, a NYCFC Project to promote Pete's ideals and the promise of youth.

Corliss Lamont and Pete Seeger had a shared vision for humankind. A video of Corliss and Pete, shot in 1992, can be found on the Corliss Lamont Website.

What: "Honoring Pete Seeger's Vision"
Date: Thursday, May 22, 2014
Time: 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM
Location: New York Society for Ethical Culture, 2 West 64th Street, New York, NY 10023-7183
Admission: Admission is $13.59 ($12.00 + $1.59 Fee).

You can RSVP at NYSEC and purchase tickets to this event through Eventbrite.

For questions, please call Beth Lamont or e-mail HSMNY Executive Director Stephen James.

⁽¹¹⁾ Thursday, June 12, 2014: We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the upstairs private room at the Moonstruck East Restaurant, located at 449 Third Avenue at the Southeast corner of East 31st Street, New York, NY 10016-6026 [ click here for map ].

The title of this event is "Left Forum 2014 Report".

Left Forum (logo).

This evening's meeting will feature a report by Steve James, Pamela Timmins, and Beth Lamont on happenings at this year's annual Left Forum conference.

The theme for Left Forum 2014, held May 30 thru June 1 at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York (CUNY), 524 West 59th Street (between 10th and 11th Avenues), New York, NY, is "Reform and/or Revolution: Imagining a World with Transformative Justice".

Now celebrating its 10th year, Left Forum is the largest annual conference in the United States of the broad spectrum progressive intellectuals, activists, scholars, organizations and the interested public. Each year thousands of conference participants come together in New York City to discuss pressing local, national and global issues; to better understand commonalities and differences, and alternatives to current predicaments; or to share ideas to help build social movements to transform the world.

Be prepared for an interesting and engaging report from these three HSMNY Chapter Leaders!

Please note that because this meeting is being held in a restaurant, food and adult beverage of your choice will be available for purchase.

For questions, please call Beth Lamont or e-mail HSMNY Executive Director Stephen James.

⁽¹²⁾ Thursday, June 26, 2014:

We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM downstairs in the Social Hall at the New York Society for Ethical Culture (NYSEC), located at 2 West 64th Street at Central Park West, New York, NY 10023-7183 [ click here for map ].

The title of this event is "The Art of Controversy: Political Cartoons and Their Enduring Power".

Victor S. Navasky (Caricature by Edward Sorel).

Victor S. Navasky (Caricature by Edward Sorel).

Our special guest speaker, Victor S. Navasky, Publisher Emeritus, The Nation magazine, will talk about his most recent book, The Art of Controversy: Political Cartoons and Their Enduring Power, and why political cartoonists and caricaturists, too often dismissed as "unserious", "irrelevant" and "trivial", have been censored, threatened, incarcerated, and even murdered for their art. Political cartoons have not only been capturing the zeitgeist throughout history, but shaping it as well.

Moreover, our speaker asks, if, indeed, under certain circumstances images turn out to be more powerful than words, what are the implications for democratic, humanist endorsement of First Amendment free speech values?

Along with his 2013 work, The Art of Controversy: Political Cartoons and Their Enduring Power, Mr. Navasky is also the author of A Matter of Opinion (2005), Naming Names (1980), which won the 1982 National Book Award for Nonfiction, and Kennedy Justice (1971). For many years the editor of The Nation, and then its publisher, Mr. Navasky has taught at a number of colleges and universities including Princeton University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he currently chairs the Columbia Journalism Review. He has contributed articles and reviews to numerous magazines and journals of opinion, and has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and a George Polk Award. Mr. Navasky is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Mr. Navasky, a graduate of Swarthmore College (1954) and Yale Law School (1959), is a highly engaging speaker with a strong background in writing, editing, and publishing, and all are invited to attend this meeting.

For questions, please call Beth Lamont or e-mail HSMNY Executive Director Stephen James.

You can RSVP (optional, but recommended) through Facebook or Meetup.

⁽¹³⁾ Thursday, July 10, 2014: We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the upstairs private room at the Moonstruck East Restaurant, located at 449 Third Avenue at the Southeast corner of East 31st Street, New York, NY 10016-6026 [ click here for map ].

The title of this event is "Humanistic Judaism".

Edward J. Klein (photo).

Our special guest speaker is Edward J. Klein (Ed) / Yekhezkel Katan (Zeke). By profession, he is a lawyer, Certified Public Accountant and a trained classical musician, who plays Clarinet in the Amore Opera Company in Manhattan.

He was a Reconstructionist Jew for nine years and had his epiphany in 1980 listening to the Larry King radio show which had Sherwin Wine as one of the interviewees. Reconstructionism quickly became his "halfway house".

At the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism he received his Madrikh designation and Music Director in 2001 and received his Masters in Secular Humanistic Judaism in 2012. He is completing his Masters in Judaic Studies at Brooklyn College/City University of New York. His Rabbinic ordination is scheduled for November 15, 2014.

He is one of the founders of the Queens Society for Humanistic Judaism, which became the Queens Community for Cultural Judaism and is the Madrikh of the QCCJ and the Long Island Havurah for Humanistic Judaism. He is a longtime member of the Congress of Secular Jewish Organizations and the Society for Humanistic Judaism. He is on the Board of Governors of the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism.

Please note that because this meeting is being held in a restaurant, food and adult beverage of your choice will be available for purchase.

For questions, please call Beth Lamont or e-mail HSMNY Executive Director Stephen James.

You can RSVP (optional, but recommended) through Facebook or Meetup.

Thursday, July 31, 2014: We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the upstairs private room at the Moonstruck East Restaurant, located at 449 Third Avenue at the Southeast corner of East 31st Street, New York, NY 10016-6026 [ click here for map ].

The title of this event is "Pentagon Wars".

Sara Flounders (photo).

Our guest speaker for this Special Meeting is long time friend, courageous author/editor/activist Sara Flounders! Sara is Co-Director of the International Action Center, founded 22 years ago by Ramsey Clark to oppose U.S. militarism, racism, and war. Flounders is an editor and co-author of 10 books on U.S. wars.

Sara has organized fact-finding delegations to countries and struggles targeted by the U.S. government, including Palestine, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Sudan, Syria, Cuba, and Colombia to build solidarity and understanding and challenge the corporate media propaganda used to justify U.S. wars. She has helped build support during the trials and ongoing appeals of many U.S. political prisoners. For the past few weeks she has been intensely involved in solidarity rallies and demonstrations for Palestine.

Gather, join with other like-minded activists and plan!

Please note that because this meeting is being held in a restaurant, food and adult beverage of your choice will be available for purchase.

For questions, please call Beth Lamont or e-mail HSMNY Executive Director Stephen James.

A small one-page PDF flyer is available for download via the link below. Please distribute widely.

Humanist_Society_of_Metropolitan_New_York_2014-07-31.pdf (40,228 bytes).

You can RSVP (optional, but recommended) through Facebook or Meetup.

⁽¹⁵⁾ Thursday, August 14, 2014: We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the upstairs private room at the Moonstruck East Restaurant, located at 449 Third Avenue at the Southeast corner of East 31st Street, New York, NY 10016-6026 [ click here for map ].

The title of this event is "Palestine: The Arab-Israeli Conflict".

Edward Klein (photo).

Our guest speaker will be Edward Klein, who will discuss the ongoing conflict in Gaza and Israel.

Ed Klein is one of the founders of the Queens Society for Humanistic Judaism, which became the Queens Community for Cultural Judaism and is the Madrikh of the QCCJ and the Long Island Havurah for Humanistic Judaism. He is a longtime member of the Congress of Secular Jewish Organizations and the Society for Humanistic Judaism. He is on the Board of Governors of the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism.

He was a Reconstructionist Jew for nine years and had his epiphany in 1980 listening to the Larry King radio show which had Sherwin Wine as one of the interviewees. Reconstructionism quickly became his "halfway house".

At the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism he received his Madrikh designation and Music Director in 2001 and received his Masters in Secular Humanistic Judaism in 2012. He is completing his Masters in Judaic Studies at Brooklyn College/City University of New York. His Rabbinic ordination is scheduled for November 15, 2014.

By profession, Mr. Klein is a lawyer, Certified Public Accountant and a trained classical musician, who plays clarinet in the Amore Opera Company in Manhattan.

Please note that because this meeting is being held in a restaurant, food and adult beverage of your choice will be available for purchase.

For questions, please call Beth Lamont or e-mail HSMNY Executive Director Stephen James.

You can RSVP (optional, but recommended) through Facebook or Meetup.

⁽¹⁶⁾ Thursday, August 28, 2014: We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the upstairs private room at the Moonstruck East Restaurant, located at 449 Third Avenue at the Southeast corner of East 31st Street, New York, NY 10016-6026 [ click here for map ].

The title of this event is "Climate Change".

Dr. James E. Hansen (photo credit: Arnold Adler).

Dr. James E. Hansen (photo credit: Arnold Adler).

Our special guest speaker is Dr. James E. Hansen, formerly Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, currently Adjunct Professor at Columbia University's Earth Institute, where he directs a program in Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions. He was trained in physics and astronomy in the space science program of Dr. James Van Allen at the University of Iowa. His early research on the clouds of Venus helped identify their composition as sulfuric acid. Since the late 1970s, he has focused his research on Earth's climate, especially human-made climate change. Dr. Hansen is best known for his testimony on climate change to congressional committees in the 1980s that helped raise broad awareness of the global warming issue. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1995 and was designated by Time Magazine in 2006 as one of the 100 most influential people on Earth. He has received numerous awards including the Carl-Gustaf Rossby and Roger Revelle Research Medals, the Sophie Prize and the Blue Planet Prize. Dr. Hansen is recognized for speaking truth to power, for identifying ineffectual policies as greenwash, and for outlining actions that the public must take to protect the future of young people and other life on our planet.

Dr. Hansen will give a presentation entitled Speaking Truth to Power: A Scientist's View of the Climate Crisis.

It is not difficult to show that government policies in response to the unfolding human-made climate crisis are deceptive and feckless. The tragedy is that actions needed to stabilize climate, rather than being painful to society, would have multiple benefits including stronger economies, improved security, more good jobs, and more equitable opportunities for individuals. Despite failure of governments to date, there is a real potential for rapid phasedown of fossil fuel use and climate stabilization. However, success requires appropriate pressure on government by the public. The greatest threat is the attitude that it is fruitless to try to change the situation.

In addition to Dr. Hansen's presentation, we will discuss goals, aspirations, possible outcomes, and our potential involvement in the upcoming People's Climate March, scheduled to take place in Manhattan on Sunday, September 21, 2014.

Please come prepared to make suggestions and present ideas.

The March will follow an NYPD-approved route, beginning at Columbus Circle, proceeding over on 59th Street to 6th Avenue, down 6th Avenue to 42th Street, then right on 42th Street to 11th Avenue. The route passes by some famous landmarks, including Rockefeller Center and Times Square.

The People's Climate March is organized by 350.org, a U.S. based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that is building a global climate movement through online campaigns, grassroots organizing, and mass public actions. Coordination is via a global network active in over 188 countries. The name "350" is derived from the perceived need to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide molecules in the atmosphere from the current level of about 400 PPM (parts per million) to at most 350 ppm, a proposition first espoused by Dr. Hansen.

Please note that because this meeting is being held in a restaurant, food and adult beverage of your choice will be available for purchase.

For questions, please call Beth Lamont or e-mail HSMNY Executive Director Stephen James.

You can RSVP (optional, but recommended) through Facebook or Meetup.

Click for full-size image

⁽¹⁷⁾ Thursday, September 11, 2014: We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the upstairs private room at the Moonstruck East Restaurant, located at 449 Third Avenue at the Southeast corner of East 31st Street, New York, NY 10016-6026 [ click here for map ].

The title of this event is "Climate Change: Solutions".

We will discuss proposed solutions to the climate change problem, including HSMNY participation in the following upcoming events: showing of The Future of Energy documentary movie at the New York Society for Ethical Culture (NYSEC) on Tuesday, September 16; 24 Hours of Reality, the fourth annual live-streamed multimedia show dedicated to sparking action on climate change sponsored by The Climate Reality Project, taking place Tuesday-Wednesday, September 16-17; the "A Global Climate Treaty: Why the United States Must Lead" event at the NYSEC on Saturday, September 20; and of course, the People's Climate March on Sunday, September 21, organized by 350.org.

Corey D. Kaup (photo). Our special guest is Corey D. Kaup, president of Kaup Communications, a New York media production and consultancy firm established in 1983. Corey is an award winning filmmaker and journalist who has worked as a writer, actor, musician, composer, and photographer and is an expert in designing and solving problems for complex media technology systems. He is the author and publisher of the visionary philosophy of science, Nothingness Theory, and author and publisher of its first practical application, the 2012 eBook Taking back America: An Immediate Solution to America's Economic, Political and Environmental Crises, available in Kindle format from Amazon and in ePub, mobi, and PDF editions from BookBaby.

Corey describes his book as a call to action to enable us, the American people, to supply our own energy, revive our economy and re-institute democracy in America's failing political system, asserting that these three problems are inextricably interconnected and cannot be solved separately. The book outlines the steps needed to enable us to do this right now by establishing a decentralized economy in which we create our own jobs and political influence. The book shows how this will be accomplished by taking control of the real source of wealth and power: energy, water, and food, and is a blueprint for what we can do right now to create a healthy, diverse and decentralized economy of, by and for the American people.

Please note that because this meeting is being held in a restaurant, food and adult beverage of your choice will be available for purchase.

For questions, please call Beth Lamont or e-mail HSMNY Executive Director Stephen James.

You can RSVP (optional, but recommended) through Facebook or Meetup.

⁽¹⁸⁾ Thursday, September 25, 2014: We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the upstairs private room at the Moonstruck East Restaurant, located at 449 Third Avenue at the Southeast corner of East 31st Street, New York, NY 10016-6026 [ click here for map ].

The title of this event is "Secret History of the United States".

Our esteemed speaker, Joel Simpson, observing from a font of wisdom on Princeton Road, Union, New Jersey, is worried about political "amnesia" in the US! "The Secret History of the United States Over the Past 50 Years: Our Two Coups d'état, Two Wars and the Demise of Democracy" is the full title of his talk. Don't miss this event!

Joel Simpson (photo).

He reminds us: "The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war in order to avoid allowing a head of state to take the country into war to advance special interests-dynastic or territorial as in the past, or commercial or military as in our present. But right-wing forces that mostly stay in the background have managed to subvert this Constitutional process and through two unspeakable acts, change the course of our country to send it into two hugely costly wars that have proven immensely profitable to them, win or lose. Much information is available on how this came about, but our mainstream media studiously ignore it, promoting instead an anodyne and false narrative that blames a lone assassin or nefarious outside forces. These narratives have come under increasing attack as the years go by and evidence against them builds. Yet the truths about what really happened would be so upsetting to so many people, and potentially so 'destabilizing,' that major news organizations like the New York Times and even The Nation avoid them. Nonetheless, a thorough grasp of these truths is essential to understanding the political and economic predicament we're in as we face even greater challenges to ourselves, to the rest of humanity, and to the Earth as we know it."

Please attend this important meeting and share your experiences with the many concerns and the various Actions; tell us the story from your own observations and participation.

Please note that because this meeting is being held in a restaurant, food and adult beverage of your choice will be available for purchase. To allow our speakers to be uninterrupted, let's do food service early, say until 7:15 or so. Because we must vacate the room at 9:00 PM, we can always eat later, downstairs. Some of us will always stay late. We can't stop sharing our Humanist Philosophy. Hoping to see you soon!

For questions, please call Beth Lamont or e-mail HSMNY Executive Director Stephen James.

You can RSVP (optional, but recommended) through Facebook or Meetup.

⁽¹⁹⁾ Thursday, October 9, 2014: We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the upstairs private room at the Moonstruck East Restaurant, located at 449 Third Avenue at the Southeast corner of East 31st Street, New York, NY 10016-6026 [ click here for map ].

The title of this event is "Privacy is a Human Right".

Our guest speaker, Anoush Ter Taulian, lifetime activist for social justice, will present an indigenous woman's perspective on the effects of the erosion of our human right to privacy by corporations, governments and culturally unaware individuals. What are the dangers of constant surveillance and targeting to an indigenous Armenian activist who has stood up to Turkey's denial of the 1915 Armenian Genocide? How are privacy rights violations affected by the fact that capitalism and racism ensures that many people are without jobs, homes, healthcare and can't even afford Internet access?

Anoush Ter Taulian (photo).

Privacy, Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is defined by Wikipedia as "...the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves, or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. When something is private to a person, it usually means there is something to them inherently special or sensitive." Learn how activists at the 2014 HOPE X conference, Welcome to Hackers on Planet Earth, have compiled valuable information on the many ways our privacy has been invaded and sold. Also learn about the Indigenous Bill of Rights and how to be careful and respectful of indigenous privacy rights.

Anoush Ter Taulian created and coordinated a volunteer women's prison art program for eight years at the Federal Correctional Institute at Pleasanton, California. An Artsakh war veteran, she volunteered for nine years in the Artsakh Liberation forces to help free part of the Armenian homeland under control by Azerbaijan. She has produced radio shows for over 20 years on Pacifica radio stations, mainly WBAI-FM in New York. She has spoken in universities, churches, at the U.N. and at the Left Forum about the 1915 Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman Turks.

Please note that because this meeting is being held in a restaurant, food and adult beverage of your choice will be available for purchase. To allow our speakers to be uninterrupted, let's do food service early, say until 7:15 or so. Because we must vacate the room at 9:00 PM, we can always eat later, downstairs. Some of us will always stay late. We can't stop sharing our Humanist Philosophy. Hoping to see you soon!

For questions, please call Beth Lamont or e-mail HSMNY Executive Director Stephen James.

You can RSVP (optional, but recommended) through Facebook or Meetup.

⁽²⁰⁾ Thursday, October 23, 2014: We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the upstairs private room at the Moonstruck East Restaurant, located at 449 Third Avenue at the Southeast corner of East 31st Street, New York, NY 10016-6026 [ click here for map ].

The title of this event is "America: From where? To where?".

Our guest speaker, David Sprintzen, will discuss the historical development of American experience and the challenges that we are now confronting.

David Sprintzen (photo).

David Sprintzen is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at LIU/Post, and a founder and for seven years co-director of its Institute for Sustainable Development. He is author of four books and numerous articles, including Camus: A Critical Examination, Sartre and Camus: A Historic Confrontation, and most recently, Critique of Western Philosophy and Social Theory.

He is founder and a leader of the Long Island Progressive Coalition (LIPC) since 1979, member of the board of Citizen Action of New York for more than two decades, a founder and officer of Long Island Jobs with Justice, and a long-time member and past board member of the Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island (EHSLI).

Please note that because this meeting is being held in a restaurant, food and adult beverage of your choice will be available for purchase. To allow our speakers to be uninterrupted, let's do food service early, say until 7:15 or so. Because we must vacate the room at 9:00 PM, we can always eat later, downstairs. Some of us will always stay late. We can't stop sharing our Humanist Philosophy. Hoping to see you soon!

For questions, please call Beth Lamont or e-mail HSMNY Executive Director Stephen James.

You can RSVP (optional, but recommended) through Facebook or Meetup.

⁽²¹⁾ Thursday, November 6, 2014: We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the upstairs private room at the Moonstruck East Restaurant, located at 449 Third Avenue at the Southeast corner of East 31st Street, New York, NY 10016-6026 [ click here for map ].

The title of this event is "Election Results Discussion".

We will be celebrating or commiserating about the overall results of Tuesday's election. Please bring friends and family and any announcements that you wish to share. We will also be promoting the appearance of Dennis Kucinich and Elizabeth Kucinich in NYC on "Armistice Day" which they prefer to call Veteran's Day, November 11th, insisting that, rather than for honoring our warriors, the origin of the celebration was for the Cessation of War.

Dennis and Elizabeth Kucinich have been touring the country engaged in describing a different kind of World Security, not based upon militarization, but on values much akin to those espoused by Humanists. More details to come about the Kucinichs' November 11 event, and where it will be held.

Please note that because this meeting is being held in a restaurant, food and adult beverage of your choice will be available for purchase.

For questions, please call Beth Lamont or e-mail HSMNY Executive Director Stephen James.

You can RSVP (optional, but recommended) through Facebook or Meetup.

Thursday, November 13, 2014: We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the upstairs private room at the Moonstruck East Restaurant, located at 449 Third Avenue at the Southeast corner of East 31st Street, New York, NY 10016-6026 [ click here for map ].

The title of this event is "Veterans For Peace".

Our special guest speaker is William J. Gilson, President of Veterans For Peace - NYC Kaufman/Pahios Chapter 034, a global organization of military veterans and allies working to end all wars. Bill is a U.S. Navy veteran of the Korean War era (1954-58).

Bill Gilson (photo).

The purpose of Veterans For Peace is to increase public awareness of the costs of war, restrain our government from intervening in the internal affairs of other nations, end the arms race, eliminate nuclear weapons, seek justice for Veterans and all victims of war, and to abolish war as an instrument of national policy.

Please note that because this meeting is being held in a restaurant, food and adult beverage of your choice will be available for purchase. To allow our speakers to be uninterrupted, let's do food service early, say until 7:15 or so. Because we must vacate the room at 9:00 PM, we can always eat later, downstairs. Some of us will always stay late. We can't stop sharing our Humanist Philosophy. Hoping to see you soon!

For questions, please call Beth Lamont or e-mail HSMNY Executive Director Stephen James.

You can RSVP (optional, but recommended) through Facebook or Meetup.

⁽²²⁾ Thursday, November 20, 2014: We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the upstairs private room at the Moonstruck East Restaurant, located at 449 Third Avenue at the Southeast corner of East 31st Street, New York, NY 10016-6026 [ click here for map ].

The title of this event is "The Growing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement Against Apartheid Israel".

Our special guest speaker, Michael Letwin, will provide an update on growing support for the Palestinian-led movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, including the Block the Boat movement and upcoming vote in UAW Local 2865.

Michael Letwin (photo).

Mr. Letwin is former president of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys/UAW Local 2325, and co-founder of Labor for Palestine and Jews for Palestinian Right of Return.

He is a founding member of Block the Boat NYC, a member of the Organizing Collective of the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, and veteran of the antiwar, anti-racist and anti-apartheid movements since the 1960s.

Please note that because this meeting is being held in a restaurant, food and adult beverage of your choice will be available for purchase. To allow our speaker to be uninterrupted, let's do food service early, say until 7:15 or so. Because we must vacate the room at 9:00 PM, we can always eat later, downstairs. Some of us will always stay late. We can't stop sharing our Humanist Philosophy. Hoping to see you soon!

For questions, please call Beth Lamont or e-mail HSMNY Executive Director Stephen James.

You can RSVP (optional, but recommended) through Facebook or Meetup.

⁽²³⁾ Thursday, December 4, 2014: We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the upstairs private room at the Moonstruck East Restaurant, located at 449 Third Avenue at the Southeast corner of East 31st Street, New York, NY 10016-6026 [ click here for map ].

The title of this event is "Food Security".

At this time when we experience, or know of, Happy Families that are enjoying the season and sharing traditional holiday meals, a Humanist ethical and compassionate consideration would naturally fall upon the inhumane inequities of homelessness and hunger; the story of those who are NOT invited to the bountiful tables. We will meet to discuss this inhumane inequity.

If you have personal knowledge of a family or a person who may not have access to a dinner on this occasion, please consider sharing? Invite them to attend this meeting, especially as the irony that we are comfortably meeting in a restaurant to discuss these issues, does not escape scrutiny.

The title of our discussion, Food Security, has multiple dimensions. Here follows a world focus statement from the United Nations:

The World Food Summit of 1996 defined food security as existing "when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life". Commonly, the concept of food security is defined as including both physical and economic access to food that meets people's dietary needs as well as their food preferences. "Food security is built on three pillars: 1) Food availability: sufficient quantities of food available on a consistent basis. 2) Food access: having sufficient resources to obtain appropriate foods for a nutritious diet. 3) Food use: appropriate use based on knowledge of basic nutrition and care, as well as adequate water and sanitation."

There are many other considerations, such as food propagation and harvesting. "Food Chains" is a current movie that explores the conditions and abuse of food workers. Another consideration is the intrusion of GMOs, and contamination of our water with fracking. We will have information from the Food & Water Watch organization, and possibly a representative from this group.

Local practices that allow usable food to be wasted and destroyed will be discussed, with suggestions on how we as a Humanist group might be instrumental in making beneficial changes citywide or even statewide. Please bring your OWN information and bring your OWN experience for presentation to the group. All are welcome! Looking forward to sharing with you. Come join the discussion.

Please note that because this meeting is being held in a restaurant, food and adult beverage of your choice will be available for purchase.

For questions, call Beth Lamont or e-mail HSMNY Executive Director Stephen James.

You can RSVP (optional, but recommended) through Facebook or Meetup.

⁽²⁴⁾ Thursday, December 18, 2014: We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the upstairs private room at the Moonstruck East Restaurant, located at 449 Third Avenue at the Southeast corner of East 31st Street, New York, NY 10016-6026 [ click here for map ].

The title of this event is "The Forbidden Bookshelf".

Our special guest speaker for this evening's chapter meeting is Mark Crispin Miller, a Professor of Media, Culture and Communication in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development at New York University. In his presentation, Prof. Miller will address the question, "How are books suppressed in the United States?".

Professor Mark Crispin Miller (photo).

While the state is not allowed to ban them outright, many books—we cannot know how many—have been disappeared by powerful interests using a broad range of tactics. Prof. Miller will discuss this sort of censorship, by way of introduction to Forbidden Bookshelf, the new book series that he's editing for Open Road Media.

Prof. Miller is the author of several books, including Boxed In: The Culture of TV, The Bush Dyslexicon: Observations on a National Disorder, Cruel and Unusual: Bush/Cheney's New World Order and Fooled Again: The Real Case for Electoral Reform. He is also the editor of Loser Take All: Election Fraud and the Subversion of Democracy, 2000-2008 and the Forbidden Bookshelf series, published by Open Road Media. His essays and articles have appeared in many journals, magazines and newspapers throughout the nation and the world, and he has given countless interviews worldwide.

Please note that because this meeting is being held in a restaurant, food and adult beverage of your choice will be available for purchase. To allow our speaker to be uninterrupted, let's do food service early, say until 7:15 or so. Because we must vacate the room at 9:00 PM, we can always eat later, downstairs. Some of us will always stay late. We can't stop sharing our Humanist Philosophy. Hoping to see you at the meeting!

This will be the final HSMNY chapter meeting in calendar year 2014. In January, we'll return to our usual second Thursday and fourth Thursday of the month schedule. We look forward to seeing you again next year.

For questions, please call Beth Lamont or e-mail HSMNY Executive Director Stephen James.

You can RSVP (optional, but recommended) through Facebook or Meetup.

Humanist Society of Metropolitan New York

The Corliss Lamont Chapter of the American Humanist Association

2014 Schedule