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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20190203T113000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20190203T143000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20190103T202926Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190103T203234Z
UID:38388-1549193400-1549204200@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:February Lunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:SPEAKER:Nick Fish / NEW American Atheists President\n\n\nTOPIC: Meet the new AA President / AA agenda / AA April National Convention\n\n\nNick Fish is a civil rights and civil liberties activist with more than a decade of fundraising and grassroots organizing experience with many of the nation’s most prominent political organizations and progressive non-profits. A native of Michigan\, Nick studied political science at Albion College before working in Raleigh\, North Carolina managing a voter outreach office that registered more than 5\,000 new voters and knocked on 25\,000 doors in the two months leading up to the 2008 election. \nSince then\, Nick has worked in donor outreach\, marketing\, fundraising\, and field organizing\, most recently as the Development Manager for the Secular Coalition for America and previously serving as Development Director of American Atheists. \nSince 2015\, Nick has represented American Atheists in the media\, including appearances on the Fox News programs Spirited Debate\, Hannity\, and Fox and Friends\, and on countless local media outlets. He has created innovative advocacy and visibility campaigns\, including AtheistVoter\, and has developed messaging and strategy around American Atheists’ legal\, public policy\, and outreach campaigns. \n\n \nCost is $20 which includes the buffet brunch\, soft drink\, tax and tip.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2019-feb/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20181014T113000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20181014T143000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20181003T170438Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20181003T171429Z
UID:38055-1539516600-1539527400@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:October Lunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:SPEAKER:Nathan H. Lents\, Ph.D.\n\n\nTOPIC: HUMAN ERRORS: A PANORAMA OF OUR GLITCHES\, FROM POINTLESS BONES TO BROKEN GENES\n\n\nNathan H. Lents\, Ph.D. is Professor of Biology at John Jay College of the City University of New York He also blogs for Psychology Today and maintains The Human Evolution Blog. He is the author of two popular science books: Not So Different: Finding Human Nature in Animals and Human Errors: A Panorama of our Glitches\, from Pointless Bones to Broken Genes.\n\n \nCost is $20 which includes the buffet brunch\, soft drink\, tax and tip.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2018-oct/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20180909T113000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20180909T143000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20180831T225319Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180901T060018Z
UID:37936-1536492600-1536503400@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:September Lunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:SPEAKER: RICKY SILVER\n\n\nTOPIC: EMPIRE STATE INDIVISIBLE IN ACTION\, INCREASING CONSTITUENT ENGAGEMENT AND AWARENESS OF THEIR DEMOCRATIC POWER\n\n\nDEFENDING NEW YORK AGAINST THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION\, AND THOSE IN OUR STATE GOVERNMENT THAT ENABLE ITS HARMFUL POLICIES.\n\n \nThis event is free but guests are expected to purchase frood or drink from the menu to compensate Stone Creek for their space.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2018-sept/
LOCATION:Stone Creek Bar and Lounge\, 140 East 27th St.\, New York\, NY\, 10016\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20180513T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20180513T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20180503T214834Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180503T215724Z
UID:37531-1526212800-1526223600@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:May Brunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:SUBJECT: YOU’RE FIRED ATHEIST!!! WHAT ARE YOUR RIGHTS?\n\nSPEAKER: DARYL COCHRANE\, Director of the Manhattan Community Service Center & LGBTQ Communities Lead Advisor with the Community Relations Bureau of the New York City Commission on Human Rights\n\n\n\nThe cost of this event is $25 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2018-may/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20180408T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20180408T170000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20180404T170524Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180404T170900Z
UID:37456-1523199600-1523206800@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:Board of Directors Working Meeting
DESCRIPTION:SUBJECT: Board of Directors Working Meeting\n\n\nIF YOU ARE A PAID (2018) NYC ATHEISTS MEMBER;  YOU ARE INVITED TO ATTEND. \nFOR NYC ATHEISTS TO CONTINUE AND TO BE SUCCESSFUL\, WE NEED:\n1)  PAID MEMBERSHIP\, 2) ATTEND EVENTS / MEETING AND 3) SERVE (VOLUNTEER) \n1) OBJECTIVE OF MEETING\nGET MEMBERS TO BECOME BOARD MEMBERS (BASIC REQUIREMENT – PAID\n2018 MEMBERSHIP) \n2) NEED VOLUNTEERS TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY / MANAGEMENT FOR\nSPECIFIC FUNCTIONS SUCH AS: \n——  ACTIVISM\nBe involved in developing and managing activism activities / events\nSelect\, develop & execute actions \n——  AUDIO / VISUAL\nResponsible: Setup / operation / of audio / visual equipment \n——  EVENTS\nResponsible: to select and manage special events: July 4th / Blood Donation\, / Demonstrations\, etc. \n___   GRAPHICS\nComputer\, Cartoons\, Demonstration / Protest Signs \n___   LEGAL\nAdvice\, Letters\, Suits\, etc\, \n——  LOCATIONS\nResponsibility: Find new meeting / event locations \n——  MEETING ANNOUNCEMENTS\nDevelop\, distribute &  meeting announcements \n——  MEMBERSHIP\nResponsibility includes expanded NYC Atheists membership \n——  NEWS LETTER\nNeed editor / graphics / Layout ………… \n——  PRESS / PUBLIC RELATIONS\nwork with press\, media\, etc. ….. \n——  SOCIAL MEDIA\nFacebook\, Twitter\, ….. monitor & respond\, post NYC Atheists announcements\, etc. \n——  SPEAKERS\nFind speakers for NYC Atheists meetings: Brunch /\nMonthly / Other \n——  TABLING\nCommitment to participate for a set period of\ntime each tabling \n___  OTHER:  ___________________________________________ \n\n\n\nThe cost of this event is $25 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/boardmeeting-2018-apr/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20180408T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20180408T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20180329T164846Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180329T165430Z
UID:37420-1523188800-1523199600@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:April Brunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:SUBJECT: Children’s Victim Act\n\nSPEAKER: Robert Hoatson\, Ex-priest advocate to extend statute of limitations\n\nTHE PRIMARY LEGISLATION OPPONENTS ARE: THE CATHOLIC CHURCH\, THE HASDIC / ORTHORDOX JEWISH COMMUNITY AND THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA. THEY OPPOSE THE EXTENSION OF THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS OF SEXUAL ABUSE CLAIMS BEYOND ONE’S\, 23RD  YEAR; BECAUSE IT WOULD BANKRUPT THEM.\n\n\nThe cost of this event is $25 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2018-apr/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20180311T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20180311T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20180301T180258Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180301T180627Z
UID:37333-1520769600-1520780400@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:March Brunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:SUBJECT: It Felt Like Rape: A Hasidic Woman’s Journey Out of an Arranged Marriage – and the Closet\n\nSPEAKER: CHAVIE WEISBERGER\n\nChavie Weisberger married a man she’d barely met and suffered for\nyears until she realized she was a lesbian. But her greatest battle\nwas yet to come. \nChavie Weisberger\, Community Engagement Coordinator\nChavie is a Footsteps member since 2012\, and a long-time supporter of\nthe OTD (ultra-Orthodox Jewish) community. In her capacity as\nCommunity Engagement Associate\, Chavie plays a key role in building a\nnetwork of those who have already made the transition out of\nultra-Orthodoxy and are looking to be connected with Footsteps. She\nworks closely with peer mentors\, nurturing Footsteps’ online presence\,\nand assists in implementing leadership development programs. \n\nFOOTSTEPS \nFootsteps provides educational\, vocational\, professional\, social\, and\nlegal support to those seeking to enter or explore the world beyond\nthe insular ultra-religious communities in which they were raised.\nSome people from the ultra-orthodox and Chasidic communities who\nchoose to enter mainstream America may feel like cultural immigrants.\nThey may face cultural disorientation and isolation coupled with a\nlack of practical and marketable skills. \nEvery year\, hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men and women attempt to\nexplore the world beyond their insular communities. These courageous\nindividuals struggle to redefine their lives despite punitive\nreactions from family and friends\, little if any secular education\, a\nlack of experience with modern gender roles\, and\, in some cases\, a\nlimited command of English.\nFootsteps is the only organization in North America assisting people\non this journey. Based in New York\, Footsteps provides a range of\nservices\, including social and emotional support\, educational and\nvocational guidance\, workshops and social activities\, and access to\nresources. Thanks to Footsteps\, former ultra-Orthodox Jews have a\nsafe\, supportive\, and flourishing community to turn to as they work to\ndefine their own identities\, build new connections\, and lead\nproductive lives on their own terms.\nFootsteps has served over 1\,300 people since its founding in 2003.\nDemand for Footsteps’ services continues to grow exponentially. \n\n  \n\n\n\nThe cost of this event is $25 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2018-mar/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20180211T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20180211T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20180203T053656Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180203T054243Z
UID:37258-1518350400-1518361200@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:February Brunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:SUBJECT: Does Religion Have the Right to Deprive a Child of a Basic  Education? – My Fight Against the Hasidic Yeshivas\n\nSPEAKER: Naftuli Moster\, Executive Director of Young Advocates for Fair Education\n\n\nYou’ve heard the rumors\, read the articles in the newspapers and probably wondered:  Could this be true? Is it possible that a religious sect would deprive its children of a modern education\, including science and mathematics\, in order to more strongly imbue its ancient religion? \nNYCA’s February Brunch speaker says yes. He is Naftuli Moster\, executive director of Young Advocates for Fair Education (YAFFED)\, an advocacy group committed to getting Hasidic children a fair and equitable education that will help them survive in a modern world. \nSects Focus on Religious Education \nAn investigation in 2015 by the New York City Department of Education found “shockingly sub-standard education at the 39 Hasidic yeshivas in the city\,” according to a report by City Council member Daniel Dromm\, chairman of the City Council’s education committee. \n“The schools have been accused of spending relatively little time on basic education in favor of religious studies–to the point that they have produced graduates who cannot read or write English or do basic math\,” says Councilman Dromm. \nNew York state law requires private and parochial schools to provide instruction \nthat is “substantially equivalent” to what is offered in the public schools. \nHowever\, graduates of Hasidic yeshivas have told investigators that boys get just six hours of secular education a week. When they become 13\, all secular education ends and they only attend religious instruction. \nBroader Implications for Atheists \nOur February Brunch speaker Moster says his group\, YAFFED\, believes that “every child is entitled to a fair and equitable education that is in compliance with the law.” \nImpatient with the snails-pace of reform led by elected officials\, YAFFED has produced its own 90-page report titled “Non-Equivalent: The State of Education in New York City’s Hasidic Yeshivas.” The group’s goal\, Moster says\, is to get the ultra-Orthodox world to “act responsibly in preparing their youth for economic sufficiency and for broad access to the resources of the modern world.” \nFor Atheists\, this controversy goes beyond its New York locale. If  the Hasidic Jews are required by law to bring modern education into their classrooms\, what about Catholic parochial schools? What about the home-schooled children? \nIs this case the precursor to the opening up of children’s education all over our nation? Is this\, as one educator put it\, “the beginning of the end of teaching fairy tales in school?” \nCome on February 11th to hear this brave proponent for Hasidic children as you enjoy our Brunch buffet with friendly fellow non-believers. \n\n\n\nThe cost of this event is $25 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2018-feb/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20180114T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20180114T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20180101T181919Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180101T182140Z
UID:37196-1515931200-1515942000@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:January Brunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:SPEAKER: MIKE REISS\nMike Reiss has won four Emmys and a Peabody Award during his twenty-eight years writing for “The Simpsons”. He ran the show in Season 4\, which Entertainment Weekly called “the greatest season of the greatest show in history.” In 2006\, Reiss received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Animation Writers Caucus. “Springfield Confidential”\, Mike’s memoir of three decades at “The Simpsons”\, will be released by Harper Collins in June 2018. Reiss has written jokes for such comedy legends as Johnny Carson\, Joan Rivers\, Garry Shandling… and Pope Francis! For his comedic contributions to the charitable group Joke with the Pope\, in 2015 Pope Francis declared Reiss “A Missionary of Joy”. Reiss co-created the animated series “The Critic” and created Showtime’s hit cartoon “Queer Duck” (about a gay duck). “Queer Duck” was named one of “The 100 Greatest Cartoons of All Time” by the BBC. Mike Reiss has been a contributing writer to more than two dozen animated films — including four ICE AGEs\, two DESPICABLE MEs\, THE LORAX\, RIO\, KUNG FU PANDA 3\, and THE SIMPSONS MOVIE – with a worldwide gross of $14 billion. \nMike and his wife\, Denise are members of NYC Atheists. \n\n\n\nSUBJECT: WRITING JOKES FOR “THE SIMPSONS”… AND THE POPE!\nMike Reiss has won four Emmys during his three decades writing for “The Simpsons”. Born Jewish\, an atheist since age eight\, has also written seven Christmas books. \nHe was also named “A Missionary of Joy” by Pope Francis for his work with the charity “Joke with the Pope”. Reiss will discuss the uses of religion in The Simpsons\, illustrating it with rare animated clips. Hear his hilarious and amazing story. \nThe cost of this event is $20 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2018-jan/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20171210T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20171210T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20171205T052505Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20171205T054003Z
UID:37093-1512907200-1512918000@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:December Brunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:SPEAKER: SUSANA MARINEZ CONDE\nSusana Martinez-Conde is a neuroscientist and science writer. She is a professor of ophthalmology\, neurology\, and physiology & pharmacology at the State University of New York\, Downstate Medical Center.\n\n\n\nBOOK: CHAMPIONS OF ILLUSIONS\nA full-color celebration of stunning visual illusions and the science behind them.
In Champions of Illusion\, Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen Macknik present a smorgasbord of mystifying images\, many selected from their Best Illusion of the Year Contest. Whether it’s false motion\, tricks of perspective\, or shifting colors\, Champions of Illusion is packed with adventures in visual perception. If you have ever found yourself face-to-face with an utterly bewildering illusion\, you know the powerful effect such images have on the mind. The question we often ask ourselves is\, how is that possible? \nMartinez-Conde and Macknik\, who study the intersection of neuroscience\, illusions\, and stage magic\, explain just why we think we see the things we see. Featuring the most bizarre effects and unbelievable mind tricks\, along with classic illusions and illuminating descriptions of what is actually going on in your brain when you are deceived by visuals. Champions of Illusion is an electrifying mix of science and magic that you will not soon forget. \nThe cost of this event is $20 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2017-dec/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20171112T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20171112T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20171030T165242Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20171030T165638Z
UID:37019-1510488000-1510498800@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:November Brunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:TOPIC: Recovering From Religion\nSPEAKER: Gayle Jordan – Executive Director\, Recovering From Religion \nDoubt Your Beliefs? Have Questions About Changing Or Leaving Your Faith? You Are Not Alone\, And We Are Here To Help. Learning how to live after questions\, doubts\, and changing beliefs is a journey. We at Recovering from Religion are intimately familiar with this path\, and we are here to help you to cross that bridge. Our passion is connecting others with support\, resources\, community\, and most of all\, hope. We have two forms of support available below: peer support and professional support.  \nThe cost of this event is $20 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2017-nov/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20171008T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20171008T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20171002T164815Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20171002T165024Z
UID:36938-1507464000-1507474800@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:October Brunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:SPEAKER: JIM HELTON – AMERICAN ATHEISTS: NATIONAL FIELD ORGANIZER \nJim G Helton is the National Field Organizer for American Atheists. After attending the Reason Rally\, he co-founded the Tri-State Freethinkers and then became the Kentucky State Director. Under his leadership they adopted the Highway in front of the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter which also included a protest that received international attention and changed the story. He also played a key role in eliminating Gideon’s bible distributions in public schools and removing abstinence only sex education. \nMr. Helton has appeared in The Bill Nye Film\, We Believe in Dinosaurs documentaries and countless news articles which include The New York Times\, Miami Herald\, Washington Post… His activism for the separation of church and state has even reached TV specials in France\, Switzerland\, and several other countries. \nThe cost of this event is $20 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2017-oct/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170910T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170910T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20170829T165218Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170829T165814Z
UID:36865-1505044800-1505055600@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:September Brunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:SUBJECT: SECULAR MUSIC \nPERFORMER: SHELLEY SEGAL\, SINGER AND SONGWRITER FROM AUSTRALIA \nThe cost of this event is $20 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2017-sept/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170709T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170709T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20170627T170403Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170627T170547Z
UID:36734-1499601600-1499612400@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:July Brunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:SUBJECT: MY JOURNEY OF A BANGLADESHI WOMEN FROM ISLAM TO ATHEISM \nZERIN FIROZE is an outspoken Ex-Muslim\, atheist\, feminist and human right activist. Due to her advocacy for secular\, LGBT and women’s rights\, she has received death threats from groups such as Ansar-Al-Islam\, Jamaat-Shibir\, Hefajat-e-Islami and was forced to flee Bangladesh \nThe cost of this event is $20 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2017-july/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170611T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170611T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20170602T230550Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170606T205853Z
UID:36662-1497182400-1497193200@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:June Brunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:SUBJECT: CREATION STORIES / MYTHS \nA creation myth (also called a cosmogonic myth) is a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it. While in popular usage the term myth often refers to false or fanciful stories\, formally\, it does not imply falsehood. Cultures generally regard their creation myths as true. In the society in which it is told\, a creation myth is usually regarded as conveying profound truths\, metaphorically\, symbolically and sometimes in a historical or literal sense. They are commonly\, although not always\, considered cosmogonical myths – that is\, they describe the ordering of the cosmos from a state of chaos or amorphousness. \nCreation myths often share a number of features. They often are considered sacred accounts and can be found in nearly all known religious traditions. They are all stories with a plot and characters who are either deities\, human-like figures\, or animals\, who often speak and transform easily. They are often set in a dim and nonspecific past that historian of religion Mircea Eliade termed in illo tempore (“at that time”). Creation myths address questions deeply meaningful to the society that shares them\, revealing their central worldview and the framework for the self-identity of the culture and individual in a universal context. \nCreation myths develop in oral traditions and therefore typically have multiple versions; found throughout human culture\, they are the most common form of myth. \n——————————–\nSPEAKER: THOMAS LEE \nRemember tin-can telephones?  As a kid I loved the way the long\, taut string would hum as it carried the voice of a distant\, unseen speaker directly into my ear. \nFor me\, storytelling is like having a tin-can telephone with a string stretching out through time: through years\, over centuries\, and across millennia. I listen while far away\, in the distant past\, someone tells me a story; their voice still hums and vibrates\, alive in my mind.\nOnce a story reaches me\, my task is to pass it on to new listeners\, young and old. I hope they will start the story vibrating down new strings\, travelling on into an unseen future. \nHOW DID YOU BECOME A STORYTELLER? \nWhile I was living in London after college\, I ran away to Scotland one summer to work as a chef in the tiny fishing village of Crinan. While there\, I became absorbed in the stories of the Brothers Grimm\, struggling to translate them from the German. When friends asked what I was reading\, I found myself caught up in recounting these amazing\, sometimes unsettling tales. \nBack in London\, where I was training in classical theater\, I began to perform these stories for a variety of audiences. I quickly discovered I had to “unlearn” some of my theater training in order to tell stories.  Stories\, I realized\, were not texts to recite so much as maps one could follow to create a unique\, shared experience with listeners. \nMy one man play “Grimm” was produced in a late-night performance at a London pub theater called\, appropriately\, The Man in the Moon. That production went on to the Edinburgh Festival and was later excerpted on BBC-TV. \nLiving in England\, I was able to spend a lot of time in Italy and other parts of Europe\, where my understanding of folk-culture and traditional stories expanded significantly. Once established\, my appetite for traditional stories became voracious. I discovered the treasures of the British Library and spent many\, many hours tracking down elusive and ancient tales. \nThis was in the late 1980s\, when storytelling was experiencing a spontaneous revival both in England and in the United States. I was fortunate to encounter many other travelers on the same path. \nWhen I returned to America and began telling stories to children\, the real power of traditional stories struck me with a tremendous force.  Children have taught me most of what I know about stories and storytelling. \nLiving in New York City in 1999\, I began telling stories at the Metropolitan Museum of Art\, where my ability to explore the connections of stories to their broader artistic heritage took on a tremendous new depth.  In my first project there I was invited to tell a version of “Gilgamesh” based on  a new translation of three-thousand year old cuneiform tablets. \nIn 2005 I became the director of arts VOYAGE\, an arts-integration program at Spencertown Academy in Spencertown\, New York.  This program is an amazing opportunity to synthesize visual art\, history\, story\, and learning while working with many wonderful teachers and students. \nIn 2008 I was invited to be the storyteller-in-residence at R.J. Kinsella Magnet School of the Performing Arts\, in Hartford\, Connecticut.  This is a wonderful learning community where storytelling serves to enrich students’ lives in many artistic forms. \nHaving worked extensively and intensively with students and children for twenty years\, I now find myself turning back to adult audiences as often as possible.  I particularly enjoy bringing storytelling to new listeners –  adults who may not have had a story told to them for many years. \nWhen I’m not telling or researching stories\, I find myself propping up my century old farmhouse in beautiful Chester\, Connecticut\, or gardening with an amateur’s zeal. Further afield\, I visit my family on Cape Cod or\, when time and budget allow\, return to my old haunts in England and Italy. \nOne never knows where the next story might be found! \nThe cost of this event is $20 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2017-june/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170514T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170514T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20170502T170150Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170502T170533Z
UID:36548-1494763200-1494774000@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:May Brunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:SUBJECT: Fake News – Repetition Becomes Fact \nVIDEO: The Brainwashing of My Dad \nExamines the Influence of the “vast right-wing conspiracy” News Media. How right-wing news programs\, talk shows and internet sites turned her once reasonable father into a raging embodiment of intolerance and suspicion. It warns of how generations of Americans have been tricked into an angry cult-like devotion to a new conservative lord and savior: Rush Limbaugh and Fox News. \nThe cost of this event is $20 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2017-may/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170416T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170416T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20170402T031255Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170402T032138Z
UID:36474-1492344000-1492354800@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:April Brunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:SPEAKER: Katherine Stewart\nPresident\, American Atheists \nSUBJECT: Betsy DeVos and the Republican Plan to Make Charters Available for Religious Schools \nAUTHOR: The Good News Club – The Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children \nA chilling exposé of the well-funded\, highly coordinated effort by Christian Nationalists to use public schools to advance a fundamentalist agenda. \nKatherine Stewart’s chilling exposé of the well-funded\, highly coordinated effort by Christian Nationalists to use public schools to advance a fundamentalist agenda. \n“Even those well-versed in the religious right’s attempt to Christianize American institutions will likely be shocked by The Good News Club. Katherine Stewart’s book about the fundamentalist assault on public education is lucid\, alarming\, and very important.” -MICHELLE GOLDBERG\, author of Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism. \nIn 2009\, the Good News Club came to the public elementary school where journalist Katherine Stewart sent her children. The Club\, which is sponsored by the Child Evangelism Fellowship\, bills itself as an after-school program of “Bible study.” But Stewart soon discovered that the Club’s real mission is to convert children to fundamentalist Christianity and encourage them to proselytize to their “unchurched” peers\, all the while promoting the natural but false impression among the children that its activities are endorsed by the school. \nAstonished to discover that the U.S. Supreme Court has deemed this—and other forms of religious activity in public schools—legal\, Stewart set off on an investigative journey to dozens of cities and towns across the nation to document the impact. In this book she demonstrates that there is more religion in America’s public schools today than there has been for the past 100 years. The movement driving this agenda is stealthy. It is aggressive. It has our children in its sights. And its ultimate aim is to destroy the system of public education as we know it. \nThe cost of this event is $20 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2017-april/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170312T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170312T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20170301T182336Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170301T182736Z
UID:36421-1489320000-1489330800@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:March Brunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:SPEAKER: Dave Silverman\nPresident\, American Atheists \nSUBJECT: American Atheists’ Trump Action – How NYCA and AA Can Work Together \nThe cost of this event is $20 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2017-march/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170212T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170212T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20170127T073817Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170127T074138Z
UID:36167-1486900800-1486911600@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:February Brunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:SPEAKER: JOANNE SOUZA\, Ph.D\nDirector\, Biology Online / Department of Biochemistry & Cell Biology / STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY \nSUBJECT: DARWIN: One of Darwin’s unanswered questions: In what ways are humans unique among animals and how did we get that way within the process of evolution by natural selection? \nDESCRIPTION: Charles Darwin’s major contribution to science was his theory of evolution explaining biological change over time made possible by the process of natural selection. His science predicting that all life shares a common ancestor shook the religious belief systems at the time and continues to do so today. His theory was not only disruptive of traditional belief\, but also scientifically revolutionary. He started scientists in a direction that would allow them to continue to gain more insight into biological life\, culminating in the contemporary molecular revolution and initial breakthroughs in social and behavioral evolution\, including development of kin-selection theory by Bill Hamilton\, George C. Williams and others. However\, could natural selection explain the apparently unprecedented properties of humans? Could it explain that we even comprehend our own ultimate origins\, that we are highly intelligent\, and have a strong ethical and moral system? Could natural selection explain our uniquely large degree of social cooperation between non-closely related individuals\, a cooperative scale that has continued to grow in size over our ~2 million year history as a species? Could it explain our expanded language capabilities which extend far beyond those of non-human animals? Could it explain the evolution of human emotions such as guilt and moral outrage? Could it explain our ability to put a man on the Moon? We have now progressed to the point in our understanding of evolution to say\, yes\, evolution by natural selection could and did produce such a human animal. Come\, enjoy the science and contribute to a discussion on this new scientific understanding. \nThe cost of this event is $20 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2017-february/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170108T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170108T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20161219T183501Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20161219T184629Z
UID:36062-1483876800-1483887600@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:January Brunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:Speaker:  Barbara Mancini \nTopic:  The Legal Battles Over Assisted Suicide \n\nA Pennsylvania county judge has thrown out an assisted suicide case against a 58-year-old nurse named Barbara Mancini\, who was accused of homicide last year for allegedly handing her 93-year-old father a bottle of morphine. This case was also featured story on CBS’ 60 minutes. \nMs. Mancini is an advocate for Compassion & Choices\, the nation’s oldest\, largest and most active nonprofit organization committed to improving care and expanding choice at the end of life. Across the nation\, They work ensure healthcare providers honor and enable patients’ decisions about their care. \nThe cost of this event is $20 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2017-january/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20161211T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20161211T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20161202T173637Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20161202T174444Z
UID:36021-1481457600-1481468400@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:December Brunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:Video:  Written\, directed\, and produced by Roderick Bradford \nTopic: The Truth Seeker: D.M. Bennett \n\nD.M. BENNETT (1818-1882) was pronounced guilty for violating the Comstock Law in New York on March 21\, 1879. “The trial of Dr. Bennett for sending obscene matter through the mails is one of the most important of the day\,” declared The New York Sun. The judge’s ruling\, a Washington Capitol newspaper reporter opined\, “surpassed anything of the sort since Pontius Pilate\, and would make it dangerous to mail a Bible or a copy of Shakespeare to anyone.” \nOn June 5\, 1879\, the editor of The Truth Seeker was fined $300 and confinement at hard labor for thirteen months to be executed in the Albany Penitentiary. (A twelve-month sentence would have allowed the 60-year-old writer to remain incarcerated in New York City where friends and family could have visited.) “There was malice in that thirteen month sentence\,” wrote future Truth Seeker editor George Macdonald. The judge also denied D.M. Bennett’s request to have the sentence deferred until the Supreme Court could hear the case. \nD.M. Bennett was imprisoned for mailing Cupid’s Yokes\, a polemical pamphlet written by free-love advocate Ezra Heywood which promoted women’s rights and criticized puritanical obscenity laws. As an American citizen––and a passionate opponent of censorship––Bennett believed that he had the right to challenge the ill-defined Comstock Law and sell the pamphlet. \nD.M. Bennett’s conviction and imprisonment became a cause célèbre for freethinkers and free-speech advocates. Authors\, abolitionists\, physicians\, reformers\, scientists and suffragists supported Bennett’s fight for freedom of the press. A petition with more than 200\,000 names––the largest petition campaign of the 19th century––was sent to President Rutherford B. Hayes asking for a pardon for the elderly editor. \nD.M. Bennett languished in the Albany Penitentiary where\, despite suffering from the stigma attached to selling alleged “obscenity” and near death from harsh prison conditions\, he managed to write numerous unrepentant letters published in The Truth Seeker and later compiled in a book. Robert G. Ingersoll––The Great Agnostic tried to persuade his fellow Republican to pardon the gravely ill editor. The eminent attorney provided the president with a list of New York booksellers who openly sold the ubiquitous pamphlet. According to his presidential diary\, Hayes was already aware that Cupid’s Yokes was sold “by the thousand” at bookstores. \nOn his annual spring visit to observe prison conditions at Albany Penitentiary\, the Attorney General’s Acting Commissioner C. K. Chase informed Bennett that Attorney General Devens\, and every man that was prominently connected with the government had pronounced his imprisonment a “gross outrage.” Chase added\, “Yes\, that is just the way it is; every man I know of connected with the government is in favor of your liberation\, except the president\, and him alone. The fact is\, Bennett\, the church is too strong for you; that influence has secured the cooperation of the president\, and it is too strong for you.” \nChase was correct\, “every man” was in favor of Bennett’s liberation. But not the First Lady who was lobbying her “Ruddy” in the White House. Lucy Hayes a devout Methodist known to have considerable influence over her husband received advice from her pastor and along petition from Sunday school students opposing a pardon. “There is great heat on both sides of the question” Hayes wrote in his diary. “The religious world are against the pardon\, the unbelievers are for it.” Cupid’s Yokes author Ezra Heywood was also convicted\, imprisoned\, and pardoned. President Rutherford B. Hayes––pardoned the author of the pamphlet––but refused to pardon a man who merely sold it. On March 27\, 1892––a decade after D.M. Bennett’s death––Hayes confessed in his diary: “I was never satisfied\, as I would wish with the correctness of the result to which I came chiefly in deference to the courts. ‘Cupid’s Yokes’ was a free-love pamphlet of bad principles\, and in bad taste\, but Colonel Ingersoll had abundant reason for his argument that it was not\, in the legal sense\, ‘an obscene publication.’” We firmly believe that after 138 years\, D.M. Bennett deserves to be unequivocally exonerated for mailing a pamphlet which he did not write and was not obscene. Therefore\, we are asking New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to grant a posthumous pardon to D.M. Bennett: THE TRUTH SEEKER. \nThe cost of this event is $20 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2016-december/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20161113T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20161113T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20161102T150944Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20161102T151147Z
UID:35951-1479038400-1479049200@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:November Brunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:Speaker:  Panel Discussion \nTopic: What should be the atheist agenda after the election? \n\nThe cost of this event is $20 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2016-november/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20161009T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20161009T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20160927T180755Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20161004T134025Z
UID:35827-1476014400-1476025200@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:October Brunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:Speaker:  Nathan Lent \nProfessor\, Vice-Dean\, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences\nPrinceton University \nTopic: Not So Different: Finding Human Nature in Animal Nature. \nDr. Lents will present selected topics from his book\, Not So Different: Finding Human Nature in Animal Nature – We Are Not Unique in Many different Ways (see here). \nAnimals fall in love\, establish rules for fair play\, exchange valued goods and services\, hold “funerals” for fallen comrades\, deploy sex as a weapon\, and communicate with one another using rich vocabularies. Animals also get jealous and violent or greedy and callous and develop irrational phobias\, just like us. Monkeys address inequality\, wolves miss each other\, elephants grieve for their dead\, and prairie dogs name the humans they encounter. Human and animal behavior is not as different as once believed. \nIn Not So Different\, the biologist Nathan H. Lents argues that the same evolutionary forces of cooperation and competition have shaped both humans and animals. Identical emotional and instinctual drives govern our actions. By acknowledging this shared programming\, the human experience no longer seems unique\, but in that loss we gain a fuller appreciation of such phenomena as sibling rivalry and the biological basis of grief\, helping us lead more grounded\, moral lives among animals\, our closest kin. Through a mix of colorful reporting and rigorous scientific research\, Lents describes the exciting strides scientists have made in decoding animal behavior and bringing the evolutionary paths of humans and animals closer together. He marshals evidence from psychology\, evolutionary biology\, cognitive science\, anthropology\, and ethology to further advance this work and to drive home the truth that we are distinguished from animals only in degree\, not in kind. \nNathan H. Lents is professor of molecular biology and director of the biology and cell and molecular biology programs at John Jay College of the City University of New York. His work has been published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry\, Molecular Cell\, and the American Journal of Physiology\, as well as the Journal of College Science Teaching and the Chronicle of Higher Education. He also maintains The Human Evolution Blog and writes most of its content. \n\nThe cost of this event is $20 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2016-october/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160911T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160911T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20160830T194924Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160906T153607Z
UID:35263-1473595200-1473606000@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:September Brunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:Speaker:  Jeremy Kasdin\, Ph.D. \nProfessor\, Vice-Dean\, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences\nPrinceton University \nTopic: In there life beyond our own solar system? \nProfessor Kasdin says that “The Universe is teeming with planets.” So far though\, astronomers have only been able to detect potentially Earth-like planets through indirect observation. Kasdin and his NASA colleagues want to change that with a revolutionary space-based telescope and starshade. With this new observatory\, astronomers and engineers could get snapshots of some of the billions of exoplanets they estimate are located in the habitable zones of other solar systems. They could also discover which exoplanets have biomarkers—qualities that are friendly to life\, such as water\, oxygen\, and atmospheres. What’s out there? \n\nThe cost of this event is $20 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2016-september/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160710T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160710T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20160608T024717Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160703T221748Z
UID:32218-1468152000-1468162800@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:July Brunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:Speaker:  Susana Martiez-Conde \nProfessor of Ophthalmology\, Neurology\, Physiology\, and Pharmacology \nSuny Downstate Medical Center \nTopic: Neural Magic: Techniques for Tricking the Brain \nSusana Martinez-Conde directs the Laboratory of Integrative Neuroscience. Her research bridges perceptual\, cognitive\, and oculomotor neuroscience. She is best known for her studies on illusions\, eye movements and perception\, neurological disorders\, and attentional misdirection in stage magic. She has pioneered the study of stage magic techniques from a neuroscience perspective and has proposed that neuroscientists and magicians share many overlapping interests\, and that both disciplines should collaborate with one another to mutual advantage. \n\nThe cost of this event is $20 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2016-july/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160612T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160612T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20160531T125039Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160608T142951Z
UID:32113-1465732800-1465743600@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:June Brunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:Speaker:  Professor Simon Garnier \nN.J. Institute of Technology\, Biological Sciences \nProfessor Garner’s interdisciplinary research lab studies the mechanisms underlying the coordination of large animal groups\, such as ant colonies or human crowds\, and their applications to complex problems such the organization of pedestrian traffic or the control of robotic swarms. He studies how information is exchanged and transformed during interactions between the members of a group\, and how this can lead to the emergence of “intelligent” group behaviors. In short\, the study of Swarm Intelligence. \nVisit The Swarm Lab \n\nTopic: Swarm Intelligence \nHave you ever wondered why a colony of ants\, all with tiny brains\, can achieve near perfect coordination of their traffic\, while human beings with their hundreds of billions of neurons and sophisticated technologies still find themselves in traffic jams on a daily basis? This is what he studies in when he looks at Swarm Intelligence (and Swarm Stupidity)\, where the many interactions between members of a group can lead to extraordinarily efficient solutions or snowballing catastrophes. This should be a fascinating discussion! \n\nThe cost of this event is $20 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2016-june/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160508T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160508T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20160430T201656Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160501T203105Z
UID:31653-1462708800-1462719600@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:May Brunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:Speaker:  Elizabeth Raymond MD\, MPH \nSenior Medical Associate\, Gynuity Health Projects (About Dr. Raymond) \nDr. Raymond is a senior scientist at Gynuity Health Projects in New York City\, a leading international women’s health research organization. Over the past 20 years\, she has published over 75 peer-reviewed scientific papers on contraception\, abortion\, and related fields and has served as an expert witness in multiple high-profile legal cases in these areas. Her studies have been pivotal in support of FDA approval of various contraceptives and have led to numerous significant policy changes in reproductive health. \nTopic: Conducting Scientific Research in a Religion-Infused World \nA Scientist’s Behind-the-Scenes Insight into the Struggle to Conduct Science in the Face of Religious Opposition  \nOn March 29\, 2016\, the FDA approved a revised package label for mifepristone\, the primary drug used to induce medical abortion. This important update was long overdue as knowledge about the drug had advanced substantially since its initial approval in 2000. Within mere weeks\, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey\, a leading advocate for “god-given rights”\, and Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma\, who believes that freedom is “given to us by god”\, rallied the support of 73 fellow Congressional legislators to launch an effort to harass both the FDA and the scientists involved in the research under the pretense of concern for women’s health. \nOur speaker\, Elizabeth Raymond\, MD\, MPH\, is one of those scientists.  For over two decades\, she has been a prominent researcher in two fields\, contraception and abortion\, that have both been primary targets of relentless religious interference. She will share her insider perspectives on the struggle over the labeling of mifepristone and will also relate many other experiences that illustrate the ways in which religiously motivated obstructionism disrupts and undermines important scientific research. \n\nThe cost of this event is $20 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2016-may/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160410T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160410T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20160331T174326Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160331T181536Z
UID:31436-1460289600-1460300400@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:April Brunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:Speaker:  Matthew Stanley\, PhD \nAssociate Professor (faculty page) \nNYU: Gallatin School of Individualized Study \nMatthew Stanley teaches and researches the history and philosophy of science. He holds degrees in astronomy\, religion\, physics\, and the history of science and is interested in the connections between science and the wider culture. He is the author of Practical Mystic: Religion\, Science\, and A. S. Eddington (Chicago 2007)\, which examines how scientists reconcile their religious beliefs and professional lives\, and Huxley’s Church and Maxwell’s Demon (Chicago 2014)\, which explores how science changed from its historical theistic foundations to its modern naturalistic ones. His current project is a history of scientific predictions of the end of the world. Professor Stanley is also part of a nationwide National Science Found. He has held fellowships at the Institute for Advanced Study\, the British Academy\, and the Max Planck Institute. Professor Stanley was awarded a Gallatin Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. \nTopic: Galileo – The Founder of Modern Science and the Conflict Between Reason and Faith \nGalileo Galilei born 15 February 1564\, was an Italian astronomer\, physicist\, engineer\, philosopher\, and mathematician who played a major role in the scientific revolution during the Renaissance. Galileo has been called the “father of observational astronomy”\, the “father of modern physics”\, and the “father of science”. His contributions to observational astronomy include the telescopic confirmation of the phases of Venus\, the discovery of the four largest satellites of Jupiter (named the Galilean moons in his honour)\, and the observation and analysis of sunspots. Galileo also worked in applied science and technology\, inventing an improved military compass and other instruments. \nGalileo’s championing of heliocentrism and Copernicanism was controversial within his lifetime\, when most subscribed to either geocentrism or the Tychonic system. He met with opposition from astronomers\, who doubted heliocentrism due to the absence of an observed stellar parallax. The matter was investigated by the Roman Inquisition in 1615\, and they concluded that it could only be supported as a possibility\, not as an established fact. Galileo later defended his views in Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems\, which appeared to attack Pope Urban VIII and thus alienated him and theJesuits. He was tried by the Inquisition\, found “vehemently suspect of heresy”\, forced to recant\, and spent the rest of his life under house arrest. It was while Galileo was under house arrest that he wrote one of his most well known works\, Two New Sciences. Here he summarized the work he had done some forty years earlier\, on the two sciences now called kinematics and strength of materials. \n\nThe cost of this event is $20 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2016-apr/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160313T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160313T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20160303T020327Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160303T021055Z
UID:30991-1457870400-1457881200@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:March Brunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:Speaker:  Patricia Wright\, PhD \nDistinguished Service Professor \nStony Brook University \nTopic: Lemurs – Earth’s Most Diverse Group of Primates \nMadagascar is a strange place. It’s sometimes called the 8th continent due to its unique evolution and physical isolation. Ninety percent of its wildlife is found nowhere else. With no monkeys to compete with\, Madagascar’s lemurs evolved into over 100 species\, from the 3.5-inch Berthe’s mouse lemur (the smallest primate in the world) to the now-extinct giant sloth lemur (which weighed as much as a gorilla). \n\nThe cost of this event is $20 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2016-mar/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160214T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160214T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064425
CREATED:20160123T154641Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160123T160224Z
UID:29912-1455451200-1455462000@nycatheists.org
SUMMARY:February Brunch & Speaker
DESCRIPTION:Speaker:  Scott Williams\, Ph.D. \nTopic: An Afternoon with Scott Williams \nAssistant Professor of Anthropology – Center for the Study of Human Origins \nActing on a tip from spelunkers two years ago\, scientists in South Africa discovered what the cavers had only dimly glimpsed through a crack in a limestone wall deep in the Rising Star Cave: lots and lots of old bones.The remains covered the earthen floor beyond the narrow opening. This was\, the scientists concluded\, a large\, dark chamber for the dead of a previously unidentified species of the early human lineage — Homo naledi. The species name\, H. naledi\, refers to the cave where the bones lay undisturbed for so long; “naledi” means “star” in the local Sesotho language. \nIn what is being hailed as one of the most significant discoveries of the past 50 years\, a team of research specialists including two NYU anthropologists has discovered a new species of human ancestors known as Homo naledi in Johannesburg\, South Africa. \nThe team\, led by University of Witwatersrand professor Lee Berger\, has been conducting expeditions to expand the knowledge gained from new fossils that contribute to the understanding of human origins. \nThe exploration took place in the Rising Star Cave located at the Cradle of Humankind world heritage site\, where explorers found incredible amounts of fossils in a chamber\, accessible only through a narrow chute 100 yards from the cave’s entrance. \nThe 1\,500 bones\, recovered in late 2013\, were incredibly well-preserved and showed no sign of a catastrophic event\, suggesting that the previously isolated cave had been used as a burial ground for the dead. This theory is particularly notable because it indicates that Homo naledi may have thought about mortality\, a behavior that had been uniquely associated with humans. \n\nFossils excavated from the site included the complete skeletal structures of infants\, children\, adults and geriatrics. These discoveries were rare because anthropologists often uncover incompatible parts of various skeletons\, rather than an entire anatomical structure. \nNYU anthropology assistant professor and research team member Scott Williams identified fossils at the excavation site and led the study of the axial skeleton. Williams said as research continues to occur at the Rising Star Cave\, more discoveries are capable of unveiling secrets that can change our perception of human origin and evolution. \n“The Rising Star chamber has already produced the largest number of remains attributed to a fossil member of our family than any other on the continent of Africa\, and only a small portion of it has been excavated\,” Williams said. \nThe cost of this event is $20 which includes a wonderful all-you-can-eat brunch followed by our guest speaker.
URL:https://nycatheists.org/event/brunch-2016-feb/
LOCATION:The Press Box\, 932 2nd Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10022\, United States
CATEGORIES:ALL,Sunday Brunch and Speaker
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