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Meeting Announcement
Date:
Sunday,
Sunday, November 22,
2009
Date: Sunday, September 27, 2009 Time: 5:00 PM Place: Great Wall Buffet Restaurant (Private Banquet Room) 4832 W. Saginaw Hwy. Lansing, Michigan 48917  (517)
327-9500(Optional $8.25 buffet or other entrées from the menu) RSVP appreciated
Meeting Announcement Date:
Sunday,
June 28,
2009
Meeting Announcement Date:
Sunday,
May 31,
2009
Meeting Announcement Date:
Sunday,
February 22th,
2009
Meeting Announcement Date:
Monday,
December 28th,
2008
Meeting Announcement Date:
Sunday, October
26, 2008
Meeting Announcement Date:
Sunday, August
24, 2008
Meeting Announcement Date:
Sunday, July
27, 2008
Meeting Announcement Date:
Sunday, May
18, 2008
Meeting Announcement Date:
Sunday, January
27, 2008
Meeting Announcement Date: Sunday, October 28, 2007 Time: 5:00 PM Place: Oodles of Noodles Restaurant (Banquet Room) 1020 Trowbridge Road East Lansing, Michigan (Optional $11.95 buffet or other entrées from the menu) RSVP appreciated Meeting Announcement Date: Sunday, September 16, 2007 Time: 5:00 PM Place: Oodles of Noodles Restaurant (Banquet Room) 1020 Trowbridge Road East Lansing, Michigan (Optional $11.95 buffet or other entrées from the menu) RSVP appreciated You may email me or call anytime at 517-750-3887 Meeting Announcement Date: Sunday, August 26, 2007 Time: 5:00 PM Place: Oodles of Noodles Restaurant (Banquet Room) 1020 Trowbridge Road East Lansing, Michigan (Optional $11.95 buffet or other entrées from the menu) RSVP appreciated You may email me or call anytime at 517-750-3887 Meeting Announcement Date: Sunday, June 24, 2007 Time: 5:00 PM Place: Oodles of Noodles Restaurant (Banquet Room) 1020 Trowbridge Road East Lansing, Michigan (Optional $11.95 buffet or other entrées from the menu) RSVP appreciated You may email me or call anytime at 517-750-3887 Jim Meeting Announcement Date: Sunday, May 20, 2007 Time: 5:00 PM Place: Oodles of Noodles Restaurant (Banquet Room) 1020 Trowbridge Road East Lansing, Michigan (Optional $8 buffet or other entrées from the menu) RSVP appreciated You may email me or call anytime at 517-750-3887 Jim Meeting Announcement Date: Sunday, April 29, 2007 Time: 5:00 PM Place: Oodles of Noodles Restaurant (Banquet Room) 1020 Trowbridge Road East Lansing, Michigan (Optional $8 buffet or other entrées from the menu) RSVP appreciated You may email me or call anytime at 517-750-3887 Jim Meeting Announcement Date: Sunday, March 25, 2007 Time: 5:00 PM Place: Oodles of Noodles Restaurant (Banquet Room) 1020 Trowbridge Road East Lansing, Michigan (Optional $8 buffet or other entrées from the menu) RSVP appreciated You may email me or call anytime at 517-750-3887 Jim Meeting Announcement Date: Sunday, February 25, 2007 Time: 5:00 PM Place: Oodles of Noodles Restaurant (Banquet Room) 1020 Trowbridge Road East Lansing, Michigan (Optional $8 buffet or other entrées from the menu) RSVP appreciated You may email me or call anytime at 517-750-3887 Jim Meeting Announcement Date: Sunday, January 28, 2007 Time: 5:00 PM Place: Oodles of Noodles Restaurant (Banquet Room) 1020 Trowbridge Road East Lansing, Michigan (Optional $8 buffet or other entrées from the menu) RSVP appreciated You may email me or call anytime at 517-750-3887 Jim The Mid-Michigan Atheists and Humanists will be hosting a 2006 Winter Solstice Dinner Celebration. This event will be held on December 17th starting at 5:00 PM at the Banquet Room of Oodles of Noodles Restaurant located at 1020 Trowbridge Road, East Lansing. All are welcome to join us for fun, food, drinks and entertainment. |
Hello everyone, This is a reminder of our next lively MMAH Dinner Meeting to be held at 5:00 pm, Sunday, November 22, 2009. Venue: Great Wall Buffet Restaurant (Private Banquet Room) 4832 W. Saginaw Hwy. Lansing, Michigan 48917  (517)
327-9500
Click on Get Directions for interactive map (not to be confused with the World Buffet Restaurant on the same strip mall, located west of Mall Drive that runs N-S between the 2 restaurants) RSVP appreciated to provide an approximate head count for reserving the Private Banquet Room. You can email or call me anytime at 517.750.3887 or 517.914.2278 (cell). ********
We have
been fortunate to have had a line of terrific
speakers for our monthly meetings in this past
year. We did not schedule a speaker for this
coming meeting so we can provide time for members to
mingle to get acquainted with a number of new members
we have gained in past months.
We are delighted that Dr. Vivek Palavali will be the feature speaker who will talk about his perspective on religion, humanism, and the philosophy of living life fully. Dr. Palavli is a brain surgeon and author of the book, A Mindful Life: A Brain Surgeon's Personal Experiences and Philosophical Reflections on Living Life Fully. He also is the producer of the film Creator of God: A Brain Surgeon’s Story. This film has won the Best Documentary Film Award when recently shown at the Film Festival in Pasadena, California, and also won the Best Documentary Film Award when more recently shown to a packed house at the Film Festival in Ferndale, Michigan. Dr. Palavali’s talk will include showing a trailer of Creator of God and some other short films he has produced. 
"Past is a dream Future is a fantasy Today is the reality" ---- Buddha I am an epicurean in philosophy and a brain surgeon by profession. I enjoy nature, philosophy, science, oil painting and world travel. Born in India, I migrated to the USA in 1986 and now I am an American citizen. Naturally inquisitive, I have been curious to figure out the best way to live this one and only life. During residency training at the University of Chicago and practicing neurosurgery for 12 years in Michigan, I dealt with many unexpected tragedies that patients suffer, which made me realize that life is fragile and must be revered and enjoyed to the best possible extent, every day. As a consequence I authored the book, A Mindful Life: A Brain Surgeon's Personal Experiences and Philosophical Reflections on Living Life Fully. I have also been on a quest, since my teenage years, to find an answer to the big question, "Does God really exist?" That philosophical inquiry took me through a global journey. Of course, I took a video camera during those world travels and couldn't resist producing a documentary film, Creator of God: A Brain Surgeon's Story. I couldn't sit still watching the incessant images of children dying, getting debilitated or displaced from their families and homes due to crusades and jihads around the world. All of this done in the name of God. I had to document my point of view, from a brain surgeon's perspective on whether God exists or not. I believe in love and peace. ---Dr. Vivekanand Palavali Check out http://surgeonscut.com/ for more information about Dr. Palavali - his book, his films, and his blog by navigating the site. We are anticipating a good turnout for this meeting. Please RSVP to provide an approximate headcount for reserving the Private Banquet Room that can accommodate 100+ people. Program: We are pleased that Jennifer Bixby will again be the featured speaker at this meeting. The title of her presentation is So, you think you can...think?: The Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life. Humanists and Atheists tend to highly value critical thinking skills, yet even the most disciplined of minds can succumb to a wide variety of logical and analytical errors. Learn how the human brain's survival mechanisms, that evolved and adapted over millions of years, sometimes miss-serve us in our present context. We'll explore the idea that many of the mistakes we make are not so much a result of irrationality, but of flawed rationality, and we'll discuss methods of "outsmarting" our own brains! Jennifer Bixby: Jennifer graduated from The University of Michigan in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering and a Bachelor of Art in Spanish Literature. In 2000 Jennifer completed a Master of Divinity at Southern Methodist University. She worked as a pastor of a congregation for four years, then as a Navy chaplain for another four years before settling into secular humanism. Currently she works in Lansing for the Department of Environmental Quality, providing engineering review for air permits. Jennifer says “When my face is not in a good book, I am likely to be found running, skiing, swimming, scuba diving, sky diving, hiking, biking...or falling down.” This is another opportunity to meet with Jennifer to share mutual interests, to hear her presentation, and to participate in spirited discussions. Special Announcement: At this meeting we will formally announce the appointment of Jennifer Bixby to the position of Events Coordinator. Her responsibilities will include assisting in program planning, arranging local social get-togethers and other activities between monthly meetings for maintaining a happy and healthy mind and body. Jim Hong, Director Mid-Michigan Atheists and Humanists The guest speaker planned for this meeting will be rescheduled for a future meeting due to schedule conflict. We will take this opportunity to have everyone participate in open forum discussions on topics of interests, and to meet new people who have joined us in recent months. RSVP is appreciated to provide a headcount estimate to ensure adequate services. Jim Hong, Director Hello everyone, Mark your calendar for the next MMAH Dinner Meeting to be held at 5 pm, Sunday, February 22, 2009 at 1020 Trowbridge Road, East Lansing, Michigan 48823. We are pleased to announce that Chris Callaway will be the featured speaker for our meeting this month. The topic of his presentation is “A Secular Understanding of the World”. Following the presentation will be a question and answer period. Chris is an extraordinarily gifted high school senior at Howell, Michigan. He is presently a member of the Michigan Army National Guard, and is a vetted candidate for Intelligence Service. After discovering the fascination of books at age 14, Chris developed an insatiable appetite for reading and learning, and has averaged reading a book a week ever since. He already is well versed in a broad range of academic areas that include science, economics, religion, history, politics, and philosophy. We look forward to everyone attending this meeting to participate in the discussions and to get acquainted with Chris along with several new people who had joined our last meeting as well as with any new people joining this coming meeting. Special Note The Banquet Room where we normally hold our monthly meetings without charge is yet not available this month, as it will serve temporarily as the main dining room. Reserved for our meeting this month is the adjacent dining room. Also, the buffet is temporarily available only at lunch, so dinner entrées will have to be ordered from the menu individually. Note the time changed from the previous 6 pm to 5 pm. (See details in the Announcement below) Jim Hong, Director Mid-Michigan Atheists and Humanists Hello everyone, Mark your calendar for our MMAH Winter Solstice Celebration Party to be held on Sunday, December 28th (see details below). Your presence is requested to join fellow members in this year-end merriment that includes food, drinks, conversations, and door prizes. Recently, a father of a 7-year old daughter called me to express his concern over his daughter’s confusion resulted from witnessing an exhibition at the public school where she goes in which feats of strength were demonstrated by some religious charlatans. She said they tore in half phone books and broke bricks, claiming that they gained their strength through the power of prayers. Furthermore, they passed out flyers that encouraged the kids to attend the church where they can witness more such demonstrations. This is clearly a Separation of Church and State issue for our group to address. The father contacted me after discovering MMAH online, and has accepted my invitation to attend our meeting Sunday to discuss this matter with us in person. Please attend this meeting to express your thoughts on this and other issues needing our attention. Jim Hong, Director Mid-Michigan Atheists and Humanists Hello everyone, This is a reminder of the MMAH Meeting to be held on Sunday, October 26th (See Meeting Announcement shown below for details). Our program will be a panel discussion to discuss some of the critical political issues our country is currently facing and the associated fundamental principles and philosophies involved. With our country now in an economic meltdown along with the continual transgressions of the Executive Branch of our government over the past 8 years under the Bush Administration, it behooves us all to pause and reflect on what is happening to our country and consider what measures need be taken to counteract this downward spiral. Considering just the economic situation, is it that what is occurring with our economy the inevitability that has arrived under a capitalistic society which unavoidably brings out the greedy nature of man that short-circuits the “Trickle-Down Economics Theory” by more and more jobs being shipped overseas to cheaper labor markets? How might the “Bottom-Up Economics Theory” extolled by John R. Talbot in his book “Obamanomics” would fare under scrutiny? These and other questions will be raised for discussion in our upcoming meeting in which our former guest speaker Mr. Jim Peterson will start of reviewing for us the principles of capitalism and tell why it should work and why it may appear not to be working as well as it should. To add dynamics to our discussion, I have invited several special out-of-town guests who are steeped in philosophy, government, and economics to attend our meeting and participate in the panel discussion to provide thought provoking perspectives that may challenge our conventional thinking and enlighten us as well. We look forward to everyone to attend this expected lively meeting to contribute their thoughts to the discussion. Jim Hong, Director Mid-Michigan Atheists and Humanists Hello everyone, What considerations would you make in deciding which of the 2 proposed energy plans in the document as attached herewith is more viable? This exercise is a prelude to our MMAH group having a speaker, Mr. Mark Thompson, giving a talk at a future meeting on the topic, “How to be an Informed Skeptic: The Application of Critical Thinking.” Mr. Thompson is the organizer for the Southeast Michigan Branch of Center for Inquiry (CFI), and had made an excellent presentation on this same topic a few months ago at a CFI Meeting which some of us attended. In a conversation I had with Mr. Thompson at their last meeting, he graciously volunteered to be our guest speaker at future meetings on topics of choice. The dates for his presentations are under consideration. Our next dinner meeting will be at 6 pm, Sunday, August 24, 2008. Unless a speaker is scheduled early enough for the meeting this month, we will adopt the meeting format of the Detroit Atheists Meetup group whereby each person will in turn get to speak on a subject they find of interest, or on any of the following suggestions: 1. Something that happened in the past month 2. Something in the news 3. An upcoming event 4. If you are new, you might tell us about yourself 5. A philosophical issue that you've been thinking about 6. Something that you want to get the rest of us involved in 7. Books, newspaper articles, magazine articles that you've read 8. Websites or podcasts that you've discovered 9. Movies that you've seen, that are in current release, or soon to be released 10. Separation of Church and State Issues Stay tuned for meeting update. Jim Hong, Director Mid-Michigan Atheists and Humanists Hello everyone, Mark your calendar for our next MMAH Dinner Meeting that will start at 6pm, Sunday, July 27, 2008. Our program will feature Mr. Bob Henderson, a retired mechanical engineer whose avocation is the study of history, religion, politics, and science and technology. Bob will give a review of Senator Obama's book, "The Audacity of Hope," and contrast Senator Obama's visions and policies with those of Senator McCain. You can count on some lively discussions in the question and answer period that will follow, especially with the public being invited. A good turnout is expected, and we look forward to everyone attending to offer their reasons for why we should choose one candidate over the other for the all important next President of the United States. Hi all, In our MMAH Meeting this coming Sunday, May 18th, we will hold an open discussion on the role of religious beliefs regarding the political candidates. In the present political climate, it should be interesting for all you rational people to attend this meeting to express your thoughts, and perhaps to consolidate our thoughts as to who the best presidential candidate and running mate should be and why. We can also discuss other topics of interest you may have. Jim Happy New Year everyone, Hope members who were not able to attend our Winter Solstice Celebration Event had as much fun over the holidays as we revelers at the Event did. We are pleased by the good turnout, and appreciate the participation of distance travelers from Detroit, Monroe, Jackson, and Illinois. Our next meeting will be held on Sunday, January 27th starting at 5 PM at Oodles of Noodles Restaurant (see Meeting Announcement below). We are in the process of arranging speakers for our future meetings, and are presently in touch with 2 prospects. If you know of speakers we might try to engage for future meetings, or if you wish to give a talk on some topics, please let me know. Additionally, please let me know your thoughts on meeting agendas, topics for discussions, and critical issues related to Separation of Church and State that we should consider addressing. I have downloaded the debate aired on ABC between the Rational Response Squad (RSS) and the evangelical minister, Ray Comfort and actor Kirk Cameron about the question of whether or not God exit. Representing the Rational Response Squad is the nom de guerre Brian Sapient and his colleague, known as “Kelly." (The two have received enough death threats from the lambs of Jesus that they find it wise to obscure their surnames.) The RRS is best known for its involvement with the Blasphemy Challenge, which merrily invites people to post their video clips on YouTube denying the Holy Spirit. They're proselytizers in their own right, bent on recruiting the youth of a Christian nation to think for themselves. (By the way, “Angry Little Girl” was shown as one of the people who took up the Blasphemy Challenge. See the attachment for links to the popular video clips of “Angry Little Girl,” who is an outspoken Atheist, exercising her civil liberty through YouTube.) Representing the Supreme Being were evangelical minister Ray Comfort and actor Kirk Cameron - Mike Seaver on 123 episodes of the sitcom Growing Pains and, more recently, Buck Williams in three films adapted from the apocalyptic Left Behind novels. After watching the debate for the second time, I thought it was pretty doggone neat. I particularly like the part where the Rational Response Squad stumped Ray Comfort and actor Kirk Cameron where they couldn’t come up with anything to say when the moderator asked for their response to the Rational Response Squad. The moderator did a very good job of keeping the debate interesting and on track by asking pointed questions to members on both sides of the issue. Furthermore, the debate is in line with our thoughts about developing talking points which could be helpful for when we get into discussions with the religious. Also, the talking points can be printed in flyers and/or pamphlets for public distribution. I am considering showing the video of the debate at the next meeting by projecting it onto a large screen, as I think even members who might have watched it during its original TV broadcast will still enjoy the entertainment and the fun in sharing a few chuckles with fellow members, as we discuss the debate and talking points afterwards. Please give me your opinion on this consideration in sufficient time before the next meeting, and be on alert for a meeting update. We look forward to a good turnout for this January meeting to kick off the New Year, and to get acquainted with new people who recently had joined our group and to welcome others who attended our Winter solstice Celebration and expressed their intention to attend future meetings. Jim Hong, Director Mid-Michigan Atheists and Humanists Hello everyone, Mark your calendar for the next MMAH dinner meeting in which our guest speaker will be Mr. Ian Sacks who is President of “Profit Makers LLC” which provides effective solutions to businesses for maximizing productivity and profitability (See http://www.profitmakers.com/). Mr. Sacks is a well-informed person on many issues facing our country and the world today. He is particularly concerned by the lack of critical thinking on issues by the general public, politicians, "news" media, and too many of the scientific community. As an example, he will elaborate on the prevalent perception of "critical" global warming being principally caused by the activities of man. He will challenge this perception, and explain why he believes the promulgation of "critical" global warming has serious negative ramifications and may be the biggest scam of our lifetime. It matters not that you may already have an opinion on the issue of "critical" global warming. The fun in our group discussions is the challenge to rationally examine conflicting views. Join us for another fun-filled evening to interact and share your thoughts with fellow members. This event will be free and open to the public. It will be announced in the Lansing City Pulse, Noise, and other media. RSVP appreciated, as we anticipate a good turnout and want to ensure that adequate accommodation and services will be provided at the facility of our meeting. Information on event forthcoming. Hello everyone We will be meeting in a private room adjacent to the north side of the bar, as the Banquet Room where we normally meet is under renovation. More information to come. Hello everyone, Mark your calendar for the next meeting of MMAH to be held at 5 PM, on Sunday, June 24, 2007 at the Banquet Room of Oodles of Noodles Restaurant located at 1020 Trowbridge Road, E. Lansing, MI. (517) 333-7171. We are pleased that 4 new people joined our meeting of May 20th. Mark Farris filled us in on the status of the television production project, which resulted in a discussion of various ideas people were contributing. That meeting also included a speaker that was added on a last minute’s notice. Gerry Dunn gave a talk on The Power of Words in Effective Communication, which everyone found most profoundly inspiring. The program for the upcoming meeting on June 24th will include a premier screening of a video clip produced by Mark Farris and one produced by Tony Boling who has joined our group at our last meeting. The video clips will be projected onto a decent size screen for enhanced viewing. We look forward to everyone attending this meeting to provide support, offer suggestions and meet the new people joining us. Jim Hong PS: The restaurant has announced that the buffet for Sundays through August will be $11.95, as it will include extensive sea food entrées. You may also order selections from the menu. Hello everyone, Please mark your calendar for the next MMAH meeting to be held at 5 PM, Sunday, May 20, 2007 at the Banquet Room of Oodles of Noodles Restaurant located at 1020 Trowbridge Road, E. Lansing, MI. (517) 333-7171. Topics for discussion will include a review on the status of our Television Production Program. Also, we will be treated to some very interesting videos that will be projected onto a movie screen. We welcome your thoughts and suggestions on our program. We look forward to seeing you and others you know who might be interested in attending our meeting. Jim Hong Hello everyone, This is a reminder of the next MMAH meeting to be held at 5 PM on Sunday, April 29, 2007 at Oodles of Noodles Restaurant. Three of our members, Mark Farris, John Kelly, and Zach Wilson will be making presentations at this meeting. Zach has joined our group last month. He is a high school student, and is delighted in discovering our group. At age 14, he was writing a page defending religion until he got to about page 800 when he found it becoming more and more difficult to rationally justify what he was writing. Since then Zach has read a lot of material on philosophy, history, and how religion has negatively impacted the world. Zach is now a staunch defender of atheism, and is excited about the opportunity to give a talk, titled “The hypocrisy of Religion.” We look forward to everyone attending the presentations and to share in the lively discussions that will follow. Jim Hello everyone, Please mark your calendar for the next MMAH meeting to be held at 5:00 PM, Sunday, March 25th at the Banquet Room of Oodles of Noodles Restaurant, located at 1020 Trowbridge Road, East Lansing, Michigan; 517-333-7171. With the 20 new people who had joined us since our January meeting, we are looking for a good turn out this month in which everyone can get better acquainted. Furthermore, I have received confirmation from other members who said they will be bringing some of their friends to this meeting as well. In earlier meetings, we brought up the subject of our group producing television programs for public broadcasting. So far we have had 2 special meetings in this regard with a number of people who had expressed interest in participating in this venture in some capacity. We welcome anyone else who might be interested but have not yet indicated so. Gary Andrews, an award winning independent television and video producer attended our special meeting of March 11th and provided encouragement and valuable suggestions on program production. Additionally, we also were privileged to have at our special meeting, Richard Liscombe, who is a seasoned debater with religionists and conservative on televised programs. Richard is a MSU graduate whose avocation is the studied anthropology, politics and religion, and has traveled throughout much of Asia and other part of the world. He is very excited about our group and enthusiastic in participating in our program production. It is gratifying to be able to also draw upon Richard’s broad experience and insight. Mark Farris from Monroe, Michigan is the progenitor of this television program project. He is presently involved with developing a prototype segment which he believes will be ready for in-house review and comments at our upcoming meeting on March 25th. We look forward to everyone attending this meeting to offer support and suggestions. Jim Hong Hello everyone, We are pleased that our first meeting of the year in January had a good start with 11 new people joining us. Please mark you calendar for our next meeting which will start at 5 pm on Sunday, February 25, 2007 at the Banquet Room of Oodles of Noodles Restaurant, located at 1020 Trowbridge Road, East Lansing, Michigan; 517-333-7171. Included in the discussions of our last meeting was that regarding effective activism. We will take up this topic again in our next meeting, for subsequently a new vision as to how we may accomplish that objective has been brought to our attention. Other topics of interest will be discussed as well. Jim Our next meeting will be held at 5 PM, Sunday, January 28, 2007 in the Banquet Room of Oodles of Noodles Restaurant located at 1020 Trowbridge Road, East Lansing, MI. Everyone is encouraged to attend this first meeting of the year to meet and greet new people as well as to participate in developing a vision for future endeavors of our group. For 2007, we plan to grow, get organized, and steadily build our programs, activities, and membership. Your input and participation is increasingly important and valued. You may email me or contact me anytime at 517-750-3887 with your thoughts and/or attend our meetings to discuss your thoughts in person with our group. Thank you, Jim Hong Tentative Schedule of Events 1. 5:00 PM: Cash Bar - Meet and Greet; Silent Auction opens; Mystery Bag Raffle Tickets and 50/50 Raffle Tickets (for 50% of the Pot) go on sale. 2. 5:45 PM: Dinner ($8 buffet or order from menu); raffle every 15 minutes for Mystery Bags. 3. 6:45 PM: Talent Show. We now have 11 entries for our Talent Show. 4. 8:00 PM: Silent Auction Closes; 50/50 Raffle Ticket Winner and the Grand Prize Winner (drawn from the pool of all raffle tickets (including tickets from Winners of the 15-minute Raffles) announced. For more information visit www.mmah.org or contact Jim Hong anytime at 517-750-3887 |
