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As usual, the first weekend of the month is chock full of BES
activities.<br>
<ul>
<li>It begins with the <b>1st Saturday Coffee House</b>, Jan. 3 at
7:00 pm, featuring poet/musician Tom Swiss</li>
<li>The <b>Poetry Group</b> meets Sun. Jan. 4 at 9:30 am</li>
<li>Platform, Sun Jan 4 at 10:30 am, <b>An Electricity Model for
the 21st Century</b>, Stuart Hirsch, BES Member (see details below)<span
style="font-size: 13pt; font-family: "Californian FB"; font-weight: bold;"></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Californian FB";">Sun.,
Jan. 4 12:30 pm, <b>Board Meeting</b>, m</span>embers welcome</li>
<li><big><small>Finally this Sunday bring in </small><b>MOVABLE
TREATS for MOVABLE FEAST</b></big> Baking warms up the whole house,
so why not do some extra this month and give even more so Moveable
Feast can also give more? Remember to wrap your desserts in serving
size portions and label them. Mark your desserts if they contain nuts.
Avoid desserts that have heavy icings or that contain alcohol. They
will be greatly appreciated.</li>
</ul>
<u>Other activities this month:<br>
</u>
<ul>
<li><b><big>NEW!</big> Movie Night:</b> Fri., Jan. 9 - 7:30 pm <b>Daughters
of Wisdom</b>,“an intimate profile of the nuns of Kala Pongo, a rare
Buddhist monastery for women high in a remote region of northeastern
Tibet.” The monastery is “quietly contributing to the empowerment of
women in Tibetan Buddhist culture.”</li>
<li><b>Mindfulness Meditation:</b> Sun., Jan. 11 - 9:30 am<span
style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";"> </span>Come and sit with us
(on chairs, not meditation cushions unless you bring your own) for a
guided meditation based on the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh. No
meditation experience necessary. Facilitated by <b>Karen Elliott</b>.
<br>
</li>
<li><b>Ethical Action Breakfast:</b> Sun., Jan. 18 - 9:00 am Bring
a $5 contribution and be prepared to eat, listen, and talk about
putting our ethics into action. What’s happening with the Red Line
project? What about the death penalty in Maryland? Come find out the
answers.</li>
<li><b>Newcomers’ Meeting:</b> Sun. Jan. 25 - 12:30 pm New to the
Society and interested in learning more? Attended a meeting or two?
Thinking about joining? Come to the Newcomers’ Meeting, and learn more
about Ethical Culture and about our Society—its history, its
philosophy, and its organization. Meetings last about one hour.<br>
</li>
</ul>
<u>Sunday Platforms: 10:30 am </u><br>
<br>
Jan. 4 <b>An Electricity Model for the 21st Century</b>, Stuart
Hirsch, B.E.S. Member<br>
<blockquote>Today Maryland, the nation, and the world face increasing
energy demands, the global warming, and environmental destruction in no
small part caused by the production of electricity. Unlike other energy
technologies which can be stored and used when necessary, electricity
must be supplied on demand. Thus our current electric utility
model evolved into its present expensive, inefficient, environmentally
destructive, vulnerable, and socially unjust system. This talk will
examine another option to our current electric utility model and
present methods of transitioning from our current 19th century model to
a 21st century system that can meet our demands for electricity locally
and throughout the world via an electric power system modeled after the
internet . <br>
<br>
<small><b>Stuart Hirsch</b> is a retired electronics technician
and project manager with an interest in energy efficiency and advanced
technology. Stuart has given talks to other humanist groups including
Baltimore Secular Humanists and Human Values Network, on this and other
energy related topics. </small><br>
</blockquote>
Jan. 11 <b>Ending Homelessness</b>, Kevin Lindamood, Vice President of
External Affairs for Health Care for the Homeless<span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Californian FB"; color: black;"><br>
</span>
<blockquote><span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Californian FB"; color: black;">Kevin
Lindamood will discuss the realities and underlying causes of
contemporary homelessness in America, the work of Health Care for the
Homeless in Maryland to reduce the incidence and burdens of
homelessness, and the public policies necessary to build a more
socially just society in which homelessness is increasingly rare and
brief.</span><span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Californian FB"; color: black;">
<o:p></o:p></span>
<p class="standardbodytext10" style="text-align: justify;"><span
style="font-size: 6pt; font-family: "Californian FB"; font-weight: bold;"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]-->
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-bottom: 2.4pt; text-align: justify;"><small><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Californian FB"; font-weight: bold;">Kevin
Lindamood </span></small><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Californian FB";"><small>has
worked at the intersection of homelessness and health since 1993 as an
outreach worker, clinical social worker, city bureaucrat, community
organizer, public policy advocate, fundraiser, and nonprofit
administrator. He received a Masters Degree in Social Work and
Community Organization from the University of Michigan in 1997. Kevin
was a past organizer for the National Health Care for the Homeless
Council, working to integrate direct service and advocacy at nonprofit
organizations. Currently, Kevin is the Vice President of External
Affairs for Health Care for the Homeless, where he oversees the
agency’s community relations, public policy, and financial development
work. Kevin also is an adjunct instructor for the University of
Maryland School of Social Work .</small> </span><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Californian FB"; color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</blockquote>
Jan. 18 <b>Anti-Racist Activism in Ethical Culture</b>, Hugh
Taft-Morales, Ethical Culture Leader-in-Training<br>
<blockquote>In 1922, Langston Hughes wrote that, “Tomorrow, I'll be at
the table, when company comes nobody'll dare say to me, ‘Eat in the
kitchen,’ then. Besides, they'll see how beautiful I am and be
ashamed.” Eighty-five years later, while diversity in the White House
holds promise for America, there are still few African Americans at the
table. Corporate leadership is still predominantly white, a
disproportionately high rate of black men are in prison, and people of
color suffer disproportionately from poverty and unemployment. As an
inheritor of invisible racial privilege and liberal guilt, Hugh
Taft-Morales will share his insights about moving towards an empowering
multicultural perspective. Platform Theme Question: How does Ethical
Culture begin to get more diversity of all forms at our table in a way
that honors the inherent worth of every one and strengthens our
humanist faith?<br>
<br>
<small><b>Hugh Taft-Morales</b> is an Ethical Culture
Leader-in-Training enjoying serving the Northern Virginia Ethical
Society as an Intern Leader for a year. He is finishing a three-year
leadership certification program with the Humanist Institute. He
taught philosophy and history for twenty-five years in Washington, D.
C.. Hugh served on the Board of the Washington Ethical Society from
2002-2006, the last year as president. He will serve this coming year
as Secretary of the AEU National Leaders Council.<br>
In 1986 he earned a Masters in Philosophy from University of Kent at
Canterbury, England. He lives in Takoma Park with his wife, Maureen, a
Latin American analyst for the Congressional Research Service. They
have three wonderful children – Sean (21), Maya (16), and Justin (13).
Sean is currently serving as FES representative to the AEU Board.
Hugh’s hobbies include yoga, squash, watching NCAA college basketball,
writing and singing lyrics and playing guitar. </small><br>
</blockquote>
Jan. 25 <b>In Search of Time</b>, Dan Falk, Science Writer<br>
<blockquote>Time is at once intimately familiar and yet deeply
mysterious. It is thoroughly in-tangible: we say it flows like a river
- yet when we try to examine that flow, the river seems reduced to a
mirage. No wonder philosophers, poets, and scientists from Aristotle
to Einstein have grappled with the enigma of time.<br>
The mystery of time has captivated science journalist Dan Falk, who
sets off on an intellectual journey in his latest book, In Search of
Time: The Science of a Curious Dimension (St. Martin's Press, November
2008). In this illustrated talk, Dan will discuss some of the most
intriguing aspects of<br>
time: how our ancestors first learned to measure it; how Newton and
Leibniz argued over its nature; how Einstein linked time and space; and
a brief look at the physics of time travel and the paradoxes it seems
to entail.<br>
<br>
<small><b>Dan Falk</b> has written about science for the Globe and
Mail, the Toronto Star, The Boston Globe, The Walrus, SkyNews,
Astronomy, Sky & Telescope, and New Scientist, and has been a
regular contributor to the Canadian radio programs Ideas and Quirks
& Quarks on the CBC radio network. His awards include a Gold Medal
for Radio Programming from the New York Festivals and the Science
Writing Award in Physics and Astronomy from the American Institute of
Physics. His first book, Universe on a T-Shirt, won the 2002 Science in
Society Journalism Award from the Canadian Science Writers'
Association. He lives in Toronto.</small><br>
</blockquote>
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