Returning Vets

Thursday, June 2, 2016, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

Skye recommended a recent TED Talk about how Vets returning from war feel alienated, not just because of the trauma of combat, but because of the nature of the society they are returning to. Returning Vets have been a sensitive topic since their shameful treatment in the Vietnam era. So now we careful to say, "Thank you for  your service" to any person in the military.  

For our next meeting, we will discuss the needs of Vets and some programs designed for them, HERE and HERE.

Opioid Abuse

Thursday, May 26, 2016, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

Opioid abuse has been quietly growing for a long time, but the story exploded in the media during the coverage of presidential race in New Hampshire. We now know that opioid addiction is a national problem affecting all age and economic groups. President Obama and Speaker Ryan have pledged to address the problem, and we are now seeing executive actions and bills passed.

A 2015 book, Chasing the Scream by Johann Hari, has challenged our current notions of drug addition. Hari claims that drug addiction was originally not a serious problem. It became a problem because of the war on drugs, which had its origin in racism.

We will discuss the current opioid epidemic and how the the views in Hari's book affects the solution. Here are the videos for the meeting:

• How the ‘quietest’ drug epidemic has ravaged the U.S.
• Opiate abuse amongst pregnant women soars
• Seniors and prescription medications
• Congress address opioid abuse without new funding
• Johann Hari's TED Talk
• Partial summary on Hari's book

Science Credibility

Thursday, May 19, 2016, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

Now more than ever we need science to guide us, but in today's politics even science is under attack. Here are some videos illustrating the problem:

• Jimmy Kimmel on climate denial
• John Oliver on science hype
• Ben Goldacre on fudging science

Internet Playground

Thursday, May 12, 2016, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

Are all those viral videos on the Internet just a bunch of silliness, or can it lead to anything important? For our next meeting we will see some TED talks about why people love viral videos and how they can lead to unintentional usefulness.

• Kevin Allocca - Why videos go viral
• Charlie Todd - Improv Everywhere
• Magda Sayeg - Yarn Bombing
• Chris Anderson - How web video powers global innovation
• Eric Whitacre - Internet Choir

The Last WHCD

Thursday, May 5, 2016, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

Obama hosted his last White House Correspondents Dinner last Saturday. He did not disappoint. The WHCD is called the Nerd Prom for a good reason. You need to be very familiar with current events the get the jokes. We will review Obama's talk so we can pickup the jokes we missed.

Here are clips from other WHCD:

• Collection of the best moments of past WHCD 
• Trump moments from the 2011 dinner
• My pick of Obama's best moments not in other videos we already seen

Also, the song played at the beginning of Obama's talk at the 2016 WHCD, is When I'm Gone. See if it captures the emotion of Obama's leaving the White House:

The above song, also know as Cups, has a fascinating HISTORY.