Weekly Free Speech Forum established Jan. 6, 1951
College of Complexes
The Playground for People Who Think
sustaining the academic tradition of “One Fool at a Time”
Every Saturday at 5:00 PM CT
Dapper's Restaurant
2901 W. Addison, Chicago Free Parking
Tuition $3.00 and food/drink purchase
All meetings open to the public, no membership is maintained
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Upcoming Presentations:
April
Special Earth Day Series of Speakers
April 20th
The Agenda and Activities of the Illinois Green Party (ILGP)
Meeting # 3,763 - Anna Schiefelbein, State Secretary
"The Illinois Green Party (ILGP) is a diverse group of individuals dedicated to advancing the Greens’ Ten Key Values in our political and social lives. The ILGP is both a political party and a membership organization. The ILGP is affiliated with the Green Party of the United States and is part of the international Green movement. The Global Greens have affiliated Green parties in 72 countries around the world!
We understand why many people don’t want anything to do with politics: Our political system has become so corrupt and sickening that it turns off most voters. But that is due to the behavior of the two corporate parties. Decades of choosing between evils has led us to a place where we are facing numerous, interconnected crises. We need real solutions to the life and death issues we face! We need to build a people-powered alternative that is independent of the corporate parties and their corruption."
Membership https://www.ilgp.org/membership/
Chicago Greens http://www.illinoisgreens.org/
April 27th
Plastic Free; How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and so can You
(book review)
Meeting # 3,764 – Janice Gintzler, environmental activist
The speaker states that “It starts with a discussion about paper or plastic. Then it details all the different numbers 1-7 and what kind of plastic they are.
Beth Terry was recovering from surgery and saw a baby Albatross on a beach, decomposed enough that one could see what it ate: plastic. She is an accountant and creates a database of all the plastic in her home. Then she gets rid of that little by little. She write a blog about her activity and the blog became the book.
The first thing we can do is to bring our own bags whenever we step out of our homes. Always be prepared. That is a Girl Scout mantra.”
Information: https://myplasticfreelife.com/plastic-free-how-i-kicked-the-plastic-habit-and-how-you-can-too/
May
May 4th, Special May Day Speaker
Why the Market Isn't Free: The Rigged Economy, and Why We Should Repeal the Taft-Hartley Act
Meeting # 3,765, Joseph W. Kopsick, political analyst and college regular
Speaker states hat I plan to cover:
1) How to define a free market, including views on whether the market is free, from various political perspectives;
2) Whether the markets - including the market to represent workers - are rigged, and how to prove it;
3) Various interpretations of what "anarcho-capitalism" means;
4) How right-libertarians feel about various types of unions and union activities;
5) What the Taft-Hartley Act does to hurt our ability to engage in boycotts and strikes;
6) Why I believe that more right-libertarians should find it acceptable to repeal the Taft-Hartley Act; and
7) What consequences such a repeal would have upon union-employer relations, and upon how we define a private company.
May 11th
New 2024 Edition of
"A Realistic Path to Peace
From Genocide to Global War... and How We Can Stop It"
Meeting # 3,766 - by Dee C Knight (Author)
About the Author About the Book https://realpathtopeace.com/
Dee Knight was an editor of Amex-Canada, the newsletter of American exiles and expatriates who went to Canada in resistance to the Vietnam war. He was part of national organizing efforts to oppose the U.S. invasion of Iraq, resulting in protest actions of millions of people in the United States and across the globe. His writing appears at DeeKnight.blog, and at RealPathToPeace.com.
"A Realistic Path To Peace" delves into the causes of Israel’s genocide against Palestinians, describes the crisis of war in eastern Europe (Ukraine and Russia), West Asia and East Asia, sorting truth from propaganda. It examines the role of the Big Lie in developing public consent and blunting popular opposition, and describes ways countries around the world as well as the general public are pressing for peace.
The world is in a crisis now. As its empire declines toward collapse, the United States leadership is making a series of disastrous errors. The “neocons” in Washington, DC, are determined to maintain U.S. global domination regardless of what it might take. The stakes are high for them. They seem to believe that if they “allow” any other
country to challenge their global leadership, their whole system could fall apart.
So they are prepared to do whatever it takes. Supporting genocide in Israel—by providing weapons, money, and a bizarre “moral justification” for horrific genocidal bombing—is a sign of what it takes. Blowing up the Nord Stream pipeline was another sign of what it can take.
Western European leaders have been rounded up and bludgeoned into a unified NATO alliance against Russia, and in support of Israeli genocide against Palestinians. This alliance—originally composed of “north Atlantic” countries under U.S. leadership at the end of World War II—is now also being extended to Asia. It’s a quest to curb China’s historic economic success, which threatens Western domination of global trade.
A new peace movement is emerging. It faces enormous obstacles, including a gigantic wave of war hysteria engineered in Washington, magnified exponentially by a captive mainstream media that seems to have abandoned all pretense of critical journalistic independence and objectivity. But as facts emerge and truth surfaces, the movement for peace will intensify.
Combined with the horrific results of sanctions and war, these facts and truths can be expected to bring ever greater waves of opposition and resistance into the fray."
May 18th
A Disturbing Discussion on Safe Rail Transport
with specific concerns regarding Nuclear Materials
Beyond Nuclear + NEIS, Nuclear Energy Information Service
Meeting # 3,767 - Dave A. Kraft who is a safe-energy/anti-nuclear advocate, NEIS, Nuclear Energy InformationService, director https://neis.org/
David co-founded NEIS with seven other activists in 1981, to provide the public with credible information about the hazards and effects of nuclear power and waste; and the viable alternatives to replace them.
Kevin Kamps, Radioactive Waste Watchdog
Beyond Nuclear is an organization which aims to educate and activate the public about the connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapons and the need to abandon both to safeguard our future. Beyond Nuclear advocates for an energy future that is sustainable, benign and democratic. The organization works with diverse partners and allies to provide its members, the public, government officials, and the media with the critical information necessary to move humanity toward a world beyond nuclear. https://beyondnuclear.org/
May 25th
On November 7th is America Doomed for a New Dark Age, or Are we headed for a Bright future? A Comprehensive Summary of the Republican Criminals who are Plotting to Steal the 2024 Election, using legal loopholes in our voting laws
Meeting # 3,768 - Andy Anderson, Tim Bolger, college regulars
The speakers asks us “Will America head into a new, permanent dark age with the installation of criminals masquerading as Republicans, led by the psychopathic, megalomaniac, Donald Trump?” Or is America headed into a new age of green clean environmental conditions addressing climate change?”
Andy Anderson, of the Northwest Information Service, assisted by college regular, Tim Bolger, will present a comprehensive summary of the Republican criminals, to steal the 2024 election, using legal loopholes in our voting laws.
We will also present a series of measures, in general opposed by the Republican party, that will keep America democratic, home of the free, clean and green, among other issues.
June
June 1st
Life’s Not Financially Fair - Why?
Meeting # 3,769 - Tom O'donnell - a young man says no one knows the reason
The speaker states that "Life hasn’t been financially fair for the last 5,000 years…For the average person, money is hard to come by, thus making house, food, clothes, etc. hard to come by and that makes life hard, sad and problem filled…
- I asked people why this is, no one knew, I researched and discovered reason is due to an unfair property law…In my presentation I will explain the origins and what life was like before the unfair law took over…
- Solution - I propose people learn root cause and brainstorm ways to use their power to make a small change in the law so life becomes fair.”
June 8th
Chicago Bird Collision Monitors (CBCM)
Advocating for Migratory Birds
Meeting # 3,770 - Annette Prince, Director
It is estimated that more than a billion migratory birds die in North America each year from collisions with buildings. From residential structures to high-rise buildings, collision deaths are ranked as one of the greatest threats to bird populations after habitat loss.
Chicago Bird Collision Monitors (CBCM) is a conservation project working since 2003 to address the problems that lights and building designs pose to birds that pass through urban areas. Volunteers recover thousands of dead and injured birds from more than 200 different species each spring and fall. The project raises awareness, educates and advocates for bird safety measures. Learn about efforts and methods to protect migratory species from the hazards of lights and glass at our homes and in our communities.
Annette Prince has worked on local and national conservation projects as well as wildlife education and rehabilitation programs over the last thirty-five years. She joined the grass-roots project – Chicago Bird Collision Monitors sixteen years ago and became its director in 2005 helping to advance its mission to rescue, educate and advocate for the protection of birds impacted by urban hazards/threats.
Information http://www.birdmonitorns.net/
June 15th
A Short History of the Dialectic Materialism of Marxism,
and How It Reflects Reality
Meeting @ 3,771 - Sidney Cohen, long-time college regular
"Dialectical materialism, a philosophical approach to reality derived from the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. For them, materialism meant that the material world has objective reality independent of mind or spirit and ideas arise only as products and reflections of material conditions."
June 22, 29
Open
Meeting # 3,772, 73 - contact the Program Coordinator Charles Paidock if you would like to speak at
cpaidock@hotmail.com or (312) 842-5036, (312) 714-7790 cell
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The next open dates are
June 22, 29
Contact the
Program Coordinator
if you would like to speak at
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