Annual Brunch at Pacific Buffet & Grill

Join us at Pacific Buffet, 20 Ives Rd #301C, Wallingford for our end-of-year brunch. The restaurant's phone number is (203) 269-6888.

Potluck Dinner, Annual Business Meeting and ALEC Boycott Talk

We will start with a potluck dinner at 7:00 PM. Please bring a dish to share. About 7:45 PM we will start our annual business meeting at which we will elect officers for 2019, consider a bylaw change, and vote on several other items of business.

Following the business meeting, in place of the usual Winter Solstice Party we will have a brief talk on the American Legislative Exchange Council, a leading anti-progressive organization backed by some of America's largest companies.

There's a PDF with a list of the items to be decided at the business meeting here.

Book Discussion Group: “The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve”

In November and December we have been reading books by two critically acclaimed authors we have enjoyed at previous discussions.

Our book for December is “The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve” by Stephen Greenblatt (author of “The Swerve,” which was a previous selection for the group).

Copies are widely available in public libraries in Connecticut, and at local and online booksellers.

Humanist Explorations: Stone becomes Flesh - The Alchemy of Bernini

An identifiable genius by the age of eight, Gian Lorenzo Bernini executed the art that gave ancient Rome the beauty we see today. A brilliant artist, architect and sculptor, he is recognized as being the craftsman who was able to transform a block of cold static marble into figures that seem alive. This documentary by the historian Simon Schama will plumb your mind and emotions in ways you would have not thought possible.

Dinner & Discussion: Secular Values Voter

The Secular Coalition for America runs the Secular Values Voter website . They posit the four values of a secular voter are freedom, inclusion, equality and knowledge. On their website they define each of these values and highlight some key issues. Do you think their four values are good choices or would you pick differently? Do you agree with their definitions? Do you think they’re overlooking any key issues?

Join us at the Wood ‘n’ Tap at 2100 Dixwell Avenue in Hamden. Please RSVP via meetup or programs@cthumanist.org.

November board and standing committee meetings

All members are welcome to attend. This is our last board meeting of the year. We hold our annual membership meeting in December in place of the board meeting.

Monthly Meeting: Race Politics and Cannabis

Our guest speaker Aaron J Romano will present “Race Politics and Cannabis,” a presentation that reveals the racially discriminatory origins of cannabis prohibition nationally and within the State of Connecticut.

A criminal defense attorney from Bloomfield, Aaron J. Romano is also legal counsel for CT NORML (the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws). Aaron is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Law and has been practicing law for twenty years.

This presentation is based on the research he performed for a case currently in litigation in Connecticut.

Book Discussion Group: “The Wizard and the Prophet”

Our selection for November 17 is “The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow’s World” by Charles C. Mann, an incisive portrait of the two little-known twentieth-century scientists, Norman Borlaug and William Vogt, whose diametrically opposed views shaped our ideas about the environment, laying the groundwork for how people in the twenty-first century will choose to live in tomorrow’s world. Mann is the best-selling, award-winning author of 1491 and 1493.

Copies are widely available in public libraries in Connecticut, and at local and online booksellers.

Humanist Explorations: Immigrant Prisons

This month we will watch the hour-long Immigrant Prison Series from Brave New Films to learn more about the immigrant prison industry. This includes four short documentaries: Immigrant Prisons, Immigrants for Sale, No More Detention: Free Pastor Noe, and Trauma at the Border. With the current surge of anti-immigrant rhetoric, stock in the immigrant prison industry is skyrocketing and more ICE agents are being hired to patrol communities and lock up immigrants all while giant corporations turn a profit. A discussion will follow.

Dinner & Discussion: Meatless Mondays?

Have you heard of the public health awareness campaign started in 2003 called “Meatless Monday?” “Our goal is to reduce meat consumption by 15% for our personal health and the health of the planet.” (https://www.mondaycampaigns.org/campaigns/meatless-monday/) Care2 has a list of reasons to reduce meat consumption https://www.care2.com/greenliving/is-the-meatless-monday-movement-for-you.html. Scientific American printed an excerpt of a Vaclav Smil’s book, “Should We Eat Meat?” (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/should-humans-eat-meat-excerpt/), if you’re up to a longer read. Finally, TIME printed an article that doesn’t claim we need meat in our diet now, but it does claim our ancestors needed meat to survive (http://time.com/4252373/meat-eating-veganism-evolution/). What do you think. Is joining this global movement the humanist thing to do?

Join us at the Wood ‘n’ Tap at 2100 Dixwell Avenue in Hamden. Please RSVP via meetup or programs@cthumanist.org.

October board and standing committee meetings

All members are welcome to attend.

Book Discussion Group: “Brother, I'm Dying”

Our book for October is Brother, I'm Dying by author and McArthur Fellow Edwidge Danticat

Copies are widely available in public libraries in Connecticut, and at local and online booksellers.

Monthly Meeting: Cohousing and Sociocracy

Cohousing started in Denmark in the 1960s and was brought to the United States in the 1970s. Although there are several cohousing communities in other New England states, Rocky Corner in Bethany is the first in Connecticut to actually break ground.

As a type of intentional community, a cohousing community may cover many acres or less than a city block, but it conforms to principles that foster social relationships among its residents.

Community participation and self-management are hallmarks of cohousing. The self-governance model that has been proven successful in cohousing communities is called sociocracy.

Join us ofor an educational presentation on cohousing and sociocracy by educator and founding member of Green Haven Cohousing, Marie Pulito. Marie has been working on the Rocky Corner project since 2006.

There are still a few houses available at Rocky Corner. If you want more information, go to www.rockycorner.org.

We will start with half an hour of coffee and conversation at 7:00 PM followed by the main presentation at 7:30 PM.

Humanist Explorations: Surviving Mengele

Twins Eva Mozes Kor and Miriam Mozes were amongst Dr. Josef Mengele's horrific twin study subjects at the Auschwitz Concentration camp. They are the only members of their immediate family to survive the Holocaust. Miriam, the older sister, died in 1993. Eva has worked tirelessly to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive, and in 1994 she founded CANDLES (Children of Auschwitz Nazi Deadly Lab Experiments Survivors). Her work eventually led her to forgive the Nazis. We will show Eva's first talk at Google, "Surviving the Angel of Death," published September 18, 2015. Come hear her remarkable story. If you can't join us, please consider watching at home https://talksat.withgoogle.com/talk/surviving-the-angel-of-death.

September board and standing committee meetings

All members are welcome to attend.

Dinner & Discussion: Callout Culture

The April 13, 2018, episode of NPR’s Invisibilia (https://www.npr.org/2018/04/13/601971617/the-callout) asks the question, “What is the role of pain in making social change?” Feel free to listen or read the transcript. This is pretty long, so this is the only preparation for the discussion. Please notice: how the main character changes throughout her life, who plays judge and jury in the story, and the ways in which the kind of justice meted out in the story differs from official government-administered justice.

Join us at the Wood ‘n’ Tap at 2100 Dixwell Avenue in Hamden. Please RSVP via meetup or programs@cthumanist.org.

Monthly Meeting: Protect Your Money and Identity Online

In the internet age, your money and identity are more easily accessible to thieves than ever before. Over the years, almost everyone has had a credit card number stolen as a result of hacked store computer systems. Insurance companies have lost laptops containing sensitive information. Scammers pretending to be officials from Microsoft telephone in an attempt to gain privileged access to people’s computers. Even with all these threats, you can reduce your risk by following a few fairly simple guidelines, by being able to recognize common scams, and by having a plan in place to respond when your data has been compromised.

Carol Siddall has been an IT professional for over twenty years, has been online since last century, and has seen lots of scams over the years. She knows that security has to be easy because scammers are clever and persistent. Carol will tell us the basics of choosing a secure password (that you can remember), avoiding some common scams, and developing some simple habits that will help protect you when you’re not even aware you’re in danger.

We will start with half an hour of coffee and conversation at 7:00 PM followed by the main presentation at 7:30 PM.

New Haven Pride Block Party

2018 is the 20th anniversary of the New Haven Pride celebration. HAC will be tabling, along with Yale Humanist Community, somewhere on Center Street in New Haven. There will be information booths, vendors, food (in the lot between Center and Crown Streets) and entertainment.

Come and show your support for New Haven's LGBTQIA community.

(If you'd like to help run our table, contact one of the officers.)

Book Discussion Group: “Fantasyland”

Our book for September is “Fantasyland: How America went Haywire: a 500-Year History” by journalist Kurt Andersen.

Copies are widely available in public libraries in Connecticut, and at local and online booksellers.

Humanist Explorations: Dolores

For Labor Day weekend we offer another chance to see one of the most popular videos at this year's Social Cinema series at USNH.

Dolores Huerta is among the most important activists in American history. As an equal partner with Cesar Chavez in founding the first farm workers unions, Dolores tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice alongside Chavez, becoming one of the most defiant feminists of the 20th century.

Dinner & Discussion: The Overton Window

Conservative pundits like the concept. Glenn Beck even wrote a novel based on it and named after it. It’s not a new or partisan idea, though. Notice the last quote in its Wikipedia article https://tinyurl.com/o5mrmqm is from Frederick Douglass. You’ve never heard of it until recently only because someone finally gave it a name. So here are a couple of articles that should help you get a sense of it. From 2016: https://tinyurl.com/y7fb2c7t and from 2018: https://tinyurl.com/yclubd8o

Do you think this is only a political phenomenon, and can you think of some non-political examples?

August board and standing committee meetings

All members are welcome to attend.

Monthly Meeting: Humanism in the Age of Trump

Connecticut attorney and humanist activist Dan Blinn will talk about how humanism can operate in the era of President Donald Trump at our monthly meeting on August 20 at 7:00 PM. at 700 Hartford Turnpike in Hamden.

Dan’s presentation will focus on what it means to be a humanist in America when so many of the administration's values are antithetical to humanist values; how humanists can find common ground and mutual respect when interacting with Trump supporters; and how humanists can find purpose and fulfillment in the face of Trumpism.

Dan Blinn is a humanist organizer, activist, and speaker. He is the founding president of Hartford Area Humanists and one of the founding co-chairs of the Connecticut Coalition of Reason, of which HAC is also a charter member organization. Dan was recently recognized by the American Humanist Association for his work as a humanist activist and organizer when he was presented with the AHA’s President’s Award at the Annual AHA Conference in May in Las Vegas. A graduate of the Humanist Institute, Blinn is also an attorney who handles consumer protection matters on behalf of consumers.

Book Discussion Group: “Lab Girl”

Our book for August is “Lab Girl” by geobiologist Hope Jahren. The discussion will take place Saturday, August 18, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. in the library at 700 Hartford Turnpike, Hamden.

• “Engrossing. . . . Thrilling. . . . Does for botany what Oliver Sacks’s essays did for neurology, what Stephen Jay Gould’s writings did for paleontology.” – The New York Times
• Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography.
• Named one of TIME magazine’s “100 Most Influential People”
• An Amazon Top 20 Best Book of 2016
• A Washington Post Best Memoir of 2016
• A TIME and Entertainment Weekly Best Book of 2016

Copies are widely available in public libraries in Connecticut, and at local and online booksellers.

Humanist Explorations: The Chain

Steve says "The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, is a classification of vices (part of Christian ethics) that has been used since early Christian times to educate and instruct Christians concerning fallen humanity’s tendency to sin. In the currently recognized version, the sins are usually given as wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony. In the late twentieth century, this story by the late British Dramatist, Jack Rosenthal, puts a unique twist on this ancient concept as we follow seven people, each guilty of a capital sin as they move house, and unwittingly interact with one another. Humorous and touching, it exposes the weaknesses and bonds that tie humans together. In the fashion of “La Ronde”, you will be drawn in as well."

(Rosenthal was the author of "Interview Day", which we watched in 2015.)

Dinner & Discussion: What Do You Mean by Spiritual?

“Yale scientists have identified a possible neurobiological home for the spiritual experience — the sense of connection to something greater than oneself,” begins this Yale News article reporting on a paper published in the May 29th issue of the journal Cerebral Cortex . A more thorough reporting of the paper can be found at Quartz . What the paper made clear was that what one calls a “spiritual experience” is unique to each person. Contrast that with Pew Research defining the term by reading their questions under the heading “Spiritual concepts embraced by some, rejected by others in Western Europe” in this article. If you google the dictionary definition of spiritual you will find five entries at Merriam-Webster and a full dozen at dictionary.com.

So how do you handle the word “spiritual?” Do you use the term? Do you feel you’re understood when you do? Can you define what you mean when you use it?

We will discuss this at our next discussion dinner at the Wood ‘n’ Tap at 2100 Dixwell Avenue in Hamden.

July board and standing committee meetings

All members are welcome to attend.

Book Discussion Group: “Lincoln in the Bardo”

Our book for July was the novel “Lincoln in the Bardo” by George Saunders. We held the meeting outside at USNH.

Copies are widely available in public libraries in Connecticut, and at local and online booksellers.

Monthly Meeting: Connecticut's Healthcare Advocate

The featured speaker at our monthly meeting will be Ted Doolittle, Connecticut's Healthcare Advocate. Ted will tell us about the work of the Office of the Healthcare Advocate (OHA).

A graduate of the University of Connecticut School of Law (J.D.) and Harvard University (A.B.), Ted’s career has spanned healthcare, legal practice and law enforcement. He’s been a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, Assistant Attorney General for the State of Connecticut, Associate General Counsel in the Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department at UnitedHealthcare, and more recently was Deputy Director of the Center for Program Integrity at Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service.

As Connecticut’s healthcare Advocate, Ted oversees a team of specialists who provide free assistance to Connecticut Healthcare consumers with plan selection, education, enforcement of healthcare rights, and improving healthcare access. OHA helps educate employers, healthcare providers, and others about the procedures and regulations of managed care. OHA also works with the Connecticut and National legislatures to improve access to the healthcare system.

If you’ve ever had (or known someone who has had) any kind of problem getting or using healthcare, you’ll wish you had known about this sooner.

We will start with half an hour of coffee and conversation at 7:00 PM followed by this timely and informative talk at 7:30 PM. Please bring anyone you think may benefit from learning about this!

Humanist Explorations: The Sweetest Sounds

The evolution of the creative mind and the understanding of the human predicament is the focus of this biography of one of America's great composers, Richard Rodgers. From his schooldays at Columbia University, to his extended relationships with two brilliant lyricists, Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein, Rodgers plumbed the mind in innumerable ways and created musical plays for The Broadway Theater that still have a lasting impact today. Join us for this enlightening film, most appropriate for the current holiday.

We’ll watch a documentary and discuss the life and works of Richard Rodgers at 2:30 PM on Saturday, July 7, at 700 Hartford Turnpike in Hamden.

(You may recall we watched a film on Oscar Hammerstein in February of 2017. This presentation will give us the rest of the story of the Rodgers and Hammerstein duo.)

Dinner & Discussion: Should HAC Join the Connecticut Coalition to Regulate Marjuana?

We have been invited to join the Connecticut Coalition to Regulate Marijuana (https://www.regulatect.org). Is this something that the Humanist Association of Connecticut should consider? At least read the “about” section of their website, which explains their mission and lists current coalition members. Should HAC join or endorse the coalition? We will discuss this invitation at our next discussion dinner at the Wood ‘n’ Tap at 2100 Dixwell Avenue in Hamden.

June board and standing committee meetings

All members are welcome to attend.

Annual Picnic at Gayle & Gordon's Home

.Join us for our Annual Picnic on Saturday, June 23th, from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the lovely home of Gayle Walter and Gordon Daniell in New Haven. The picnic will be held rain or shine.

Gayle and Gordon will provide hot dogs and veggie burgers. Please bring a side dish or dessert to share! More details are in the June newsletter.

Book Discussion Group: “One Nation Under God”

Our book for June is “One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America” by historian Kevin M. Kruse.

From the cover: “We’re often told that the United States is, was, and always has been a Christian nation. But in ‘One Nation Under God,’ historian Kevin M. Kruse reveals that the idea of ‘Christian America’ is an invention—and a relatively recent one at that.

Copies are widely available in public libraries in Connecticut, and at local and online booksellers.

Humanist Explorations: The Triangle Fire

We’ll watch a documentary and discuss The Triangle Fire at 2:30 PM on Saturday, June 2, at 700 Hartford Turnpike in Hamden.

Dinner & Discussion: Should HAC Take the Pro-Truth Pledge?

You may recall that our March monthly meeting was a presentation on the Pro-Truth Pledge by Dr. Gleb Tsipursky. Should the Humanist Association of Connecticut sign the pledge as an organization? What would it mean to our organization? Please review what the pledge is all about at https://www.protruthpledge.org/. The menu item “public figures” includes organizations that have signed the pledge. The blog page even includes links to YouTube videos of elected officials taking the pledge! We will discuss this option at our next discussion dinner at 7:00 PM on May 28 at the Wood ‘n’ Tap at 2100 Dixwell Avenue in Hamden.

May board and standing committee meetings

All members are welcome to attend.

Monthly Meeting: Ken Feder - Strange Archaeology: A Field Guide to Some of the Oddest Archaeological Sites in North America

Ken Feder, Ph.D. returns with a talk entitled “Strange Archaeology: A Field Guide to Some of the Oddest Archaeological Sites in North America.”

Did the ancient people of Utah live among dinosaurs and did they depict them in their rock art? Did some of those same ancient people encounter visitors from other planets, painting images of those extraterrestrials on canyon walls in the American Southwest? Have archaeologists discovered evidence of the presence of wandering Jews in ancient America, explorers who left their mark by engraving the Ten Commandments in Hebrew on rocks in New Mexico? And Ohio? And Tennessee? Finally, have archaeologists discovered the existence of the far western outpost of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, not in Africa, but in Guadalupe, California? If you’ve been paying attention to Ken Feder’s many lectures to the Humanist Association of Connecticut, you’ve already guessed that the answers to all of these questions is a resounding “No!” Join him as he provides a preview of some of the extraordinary claims about American antiquity that he explores in his upcoming book, Strange Archaeology: A Field Guide to Forty of the Oddest Sites and Claims in North America.

Ken is a professor of Archaeology at Central Connecticut State University, author of seven books and the co-author of another. He has been on BBC’s Horizon and Nationl Geographic’s Is It Real?

We will start with half an hour of coffee and conversation at 7:00 PM Followed by our main presentation after brief announcements at 7:30 PM.

Humanist Explorations: Virginia Lee Burton; A Sense of Place

Connecticut Food Bank Walk Against Hunger

We walked in the Connecticut Food Bank Walk Against Hunger at Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven. Registration started at 1 PM with the walk at 2 PM. It was a longer walk than last year.

Dining Out for Life

We dinied at Caffe Bravo, 794 Orange Street, New Haven in aid of AIDS Project New Haven.

Dinner & Discussion: Bitcoin/Blockchain/So What?

Blockchain is the new technology that makes Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies possible. But did you know that blockchain has the potential to be as revolutionary as double-entry bookkeeping? Find out why in this article from MIT’s Technology Review (www.technologyreview.com/s/610781/in-blockchain-we-trust), and bring your dreams about the future blockchain could make possible to dinner at the Wood-n-Tap at 2100 Dixwell Avenue in Hamden.

April board and standing committee meetings

All members are welcome to attend. This meeting will also be held at the new, later, time slot.

29th Anniversary Meeting: Connecticut Food Bank

In May, 2009, the Humanist Association of Connecticut fielded its first team for the Connecticut Food Bank’s Walk Against Hunger. We’ve participated almost every year since then, including this year. But have you ever wondered how this walk fits into the big picture of addressing hunger in Connecticut?

Bring a dish to our potluck Anniversary Meeting on Monday, April 16, when we welcome Mia Freedenfeld, the Special Events Manager for the Connecticut Food Bank. We’ll find out the reality of who’s hungry in Connecticut today, what resources are available to help hungry people, and how the Connecticut Food Bank fits into the mix of resources. We’ll learn how the walk helps, and how we can help beyond the walk.

Mia joined the Connecticut Food Bank in February of 2017, just in time to take over planning for last year’s walk. She has been involved in events for the not-for-profit world for thirteen years and especially enjoys being able to engage the community in the mission of the food bank.

Our anniversary meeting is a potluck, so please bring a dish to share, and remember we’ll have anniversary cake! We’re planning on giving the night’s collection to the Connecticut Food Bank, but Mia has agreed to bring a collection box, so if you remember, please bring a non-perishable food item.

We will start with a potluck dinner at 7:00 PM. The main presentation will follow brief announcements at 7:30 PM.

Book Discussion Group: “The Blithedale Romance”

Our book for April is “The Blithedale Romance” by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Note: The April Book Discussion will occur on the 2nd Saturday, April 14, instead of the 21st.

Copies are widely available in public libraries in Connecticut, and at local and online booksellers.

Humanist Explorations: The Gilded Age

Note the earlier start time due to the length of the documentary.

Dinner & Discussion: Feeling Foolish

“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.” - Richard P. Feynman

According to the justice Department, only 15 percent of fraud victims report the crimes to law enforcement. There are all kinds of frauds people fall for, and not all are considered crimes. Here are a couple of stories from The Atlantic: one about romantic fraud and one about people in a cult, including the cult leader.

People who realize they've been victims of frauds often don't report the fraud because they recognize they were fooling themselves and thus feel partially responsible for their victimization. Here are explanations of four common ways people fool themselves.

Can you think of some times you’ve been fooled, you’ve fooled yourself, or you’ve seen others fooled? Come and talk this over with your friends on Monday, March 26 at the Wood-n-Tap at 2100 Dixwell Avenue in Hamden at 7:00 PM.

March board and standing committee meetings

All members are welcome to attend. This meeting will also be held at the new, later, time slot.

Monthly Meeting: The Pro-Truth Pledge

Are you concerned with the rising tide of fake news and alternative facts in our public discourse? What if you had the power to do something about it? Join us on Monday, March 19, because our speaker, Dr. Gleb Tsipursky, knows exactly how you can help orient the world toward truthfulness.

Dr. Gleb Tsipursky is passionate about promoting truth-oriented behavior, rational thinking, and wise decision-making in public discourse. He researches these topics as a professor at Ohio State University, and serves as the President of Intentional Insights, a nonprofit devoted to popularizing these topics. Its main current focus is the Pro-Truth Pledge, , a project that aims to reverse the tide of lies and promote truth in public discourse through combining behavioral science and crowd-sourcing. He has authored a number of books, most notably “The Truth Seeker’s Handbook: A Science-Based Guide” and “Find Your Purpose Using Science,” and has a new book forthcoming in 2018, “The Alternative to Alternative Facts: Fighting Post-Truth Politics with Behavioral Science.” Pieces by him regularly come out in prominent venues such as Time, Scientific American, Psychology Today, Salon, Truthout, The Huffington Post and reason-oriented venues such as The Humanist, Skeptical Inquirer, Free Inquiry, American Atheist Magazine, and Patheos. He has appeared as a guest on network TV, including affiliates of Fox and ABC, and radio stations such as NPR, WBAI (New York City), KGO (San Francisco), and 700WLW (Cincinnati), as well as reason-oriented podcasts, such as Ra-Men Podcast, The Scathing Atheist, Serious Inquiries Only, and The Humanist Hour.

We will start with half an hour of coffee and conversation at 7:00 PM. The main presentation will follow brief announcements at 7:30 PM.

Book Discussion Group: “Margaret Fuller: A New American Life”

Our book for March is “Margaret Fuller: A New American Life” by Pulitzer Prize winning biographer Megan Marshall.

Copies are widely available in public libraries in Connecticut, and at local and online booksellers.

Humanist Explorations: Typhoid Mary, Personal Liberty versus Public Welfare

Dinner & Discussion: What is Treason Anyhow?

If you search for the term "treason" on google, you can find out who was accusing President Obama of treason in 2005 as easily as you can find the last time President Trump used the term (and then claimed it was a joke). It's one of those terms that gets used too frequently and possibly without full knowledge of its meaning.

Treason is addressed in the Constitution as well as in a law. Here are three readings of commentary to explain the American legal application of the official charge of treason.

The one with no irritating advertisements is from The Heritage Foundation. Legal Dictionary has a very informative discussion:. Thefreedictionary.com also has a nice explanation.

Does the law on treason seem too strict or too broad? Does it matter that the legal definition departs from popular understanding of the term? Is it important to do something about it, and if so, do you have any ideas about what we might be able to do about it?

Come and talk this over with your friends on Monday, February 26 at the Wood-n-Tap at 2100 Dixwell Avenue in Hamden at 7:00 PM.

February board and standing committee meetings

All members are welcome to attend. This meeting will also be held at the new, later, time slot.

Monthly Meeting: Darwin Day is YUGE! Believe me!

Darwin Day is celebrated around the world on or near February 12 every year. It is a celebration of science and reason. Yet it is ignored, and even scoffed at, by many. In his talk entitled “Darwin Day is YUGE! Believe me!” Pat McCann will explore Darwin, evolution, and why humanists participate in celebrating Darwin Day.

Pat McCann has been an atheist and practicing humanist for 40 years but officially discovered humanism only 10 years ago. He began his activism for the secular community of Connecticut in 2012 after attending the first Reason Rally. Pat is a past President of the Hartford Area Humanists, chair of the Secular Coalition for Connecticut, and a past co-chair of the Connecticut Coalition of Reason.

Pat earned a BS in Science from Fairleigh Dickinson University, an MS in Molecular Biology from Rutgers University, and an MBA in Marketing from UConn. He holds a 3rd degree black belt in Washin-ryu Karate-do.

Book Discussion Group: “The Righteous Mind”

Our book for February was “The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion” by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt.

Copies are widely available in public libraries in Connecticut, and at local and online booksellers.

Humanist Explorations: Sacred Cod

January board and standing committee meetings

This meeting was held later than usual to let participants do more with their Sunday afternoon. This was the start of another experiment to find the best time to hold the board meeting.

Book Discussion Group: “The Machine Stops” & “A Story of the Days to Come”

Instead of a book for January, we read two early science fiction short stories, “The Machine Stops” by E.M. Forster & “A Story of the Days to Come” by H.G. Wells.

Copies of the stories are widely available in anthologies in public libraries in Connecticut, and at local and online booksellers. They are also available online as they are out of copyright.

Monthly Meeting: Travels in Northern Germany and the Czech Republic

Our program was our traditional January travelogue from Steve & Susan Boshi, this time covering their trip to Northern Germany and the Czech Republic

Steve said “The cities of Berlin and Dresden, bombed to smithereens during the Second World War Seventy years ago, have risen from the ashes, and are vibrant and beautiful destinations. Prague, the lovely medieval capital of The Czech Republic, escaped, largely unscathed, and continues to flourish. We will explore the highlights of these places along with some time in Karlovy Vary ( Karlsbad) a spa town on the German-Czech border, and Gorlitz, on the Polish-German border, a perfectly preserved location which served as the filming location for the 2014 film, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”.”

Humanist Explorations: Sacred Cod