Food Bank Brown Bag Warning and KASHA picnic this Sunday

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Dear <<First Name>>,

Did you recently receive a Brown Bag on your doorstep from the BC Thanksgiving Food Drive? It originally looked like the bag that I had receieved previously from the Secular Central Okanagan Food Bank and I was just about to put food in the bag when I noticed the logo difference.

If you go to the BC Thanksgiving Food Drive Facebook page, you will notice that their related pages are all from the Latter Day Saints which is a Mormon organization. Maybe they give out food in a secular fashion and don't proselytize, but who knows. It doesn't seem honest the way that they are distributing the bags with no real information on who they are. It is also not clear which food banks the food actually goes to.

We have secular food banks here. Donate to the Secular Central Okanagan Food Bank, if you want your resources to be given without god.

We are planning to have our annual picnic on September 26th. Fire, rain and the plague had prevented our picnic over the summer, but we are certain we can meet this time.

Our annual KASHA picnic will be at Boyce-Gyro Beach Park on Lakeshore Drive. It's the one with the big red apple!

Boyce-Gyro Beach Park has a beach and a lovely picnic area.

We will be practicing physical distancing, as per BC Health Guidelines.

Look for the KASHA signs near the beach.

We will NOT be sharing food, so please bring your own lunch, non- alcoholic drinks, and snacks.

At 12:30 pm, we will enjoy our own lunches.

Check out the KASHA calendar for more information.

If you are interested in getting more involved and have some ideas for a project, let me know. We are all ears, come to the picnic and let us know what you would like to see in the winter.

Sincerely,
Nina
grow@askuskelowna.ca
KASHA - Kelowna Atheists, Skeptics & Humanists Association
Inquire with us at askuskelowna.ca
You can now become a member via our secure website payment system HERE

Are the Taliban and Western Far Right Groups similar? How does extremist ideology affect your life as a racialized person in Canada?

Are you a visible minority in Canada? Do you feel sometimes that you are racialized here in Canada?

If you self-identify as a racialized person, please come to discuss with us as being a racialized atheist/agnostic comes with questions of identity that are our own and that are imposed by others.

The following articles are suggested to read before the meeting.

https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/taliban-victory-energises-us-far-right-and-enrages-indian-one

The U.S. far right has a curious affinity for the Taliban
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/09/03/far-right-america-taliban/
Western far-right groups claim Taliban victory as their own
https://www.politico.eu/article/far-right-taliban-afghanistan-social-media-facebook-twitter/

Bring a take-out dinner while we socially distance, eat dinner and discuss the term.

Come chat with us under the covered area in Ben Lee Park in Rutland. The covered area is on one side of the water park. We will have a sign.

Bring a chair or blanket in case we don't get a bench.

We will be practicing social distancing as per BC Health Guidelines.

We think these can be interesting questions to discuss as being a racialized atheist/agnostic comes with questions of identity that are our own and that are imposed by others.

https://www.meetup.com/Racialized-atheists-agnostics-kelowna/

I was talking to my son-in-law who is a 2nd year resident Dr. in Edmonton; he is working in the ICU where 90% of the ICU is taken up by COVID patients with the majority of them being unvaccinated.

No matter how they made their decision not to take the vaccine, they almost always want it too late.

But what was interesting the most to me, was that once people face the possibility of their death in ICU, they are willing to take any experimental procedure the medical system has to offer, no matter what the risk. No debating the 'questionable medical system' any more when you are facing imminent death and all you have is the medical system.

For me, the pandemic is similar to a car speeding into a wall head on.

Do you have time to research if the seat belt that you are wearing will save you, because there are a very small fraction of cases where the seat belt will cause more harm?

I have noticed that people make risk decisions mostly based on their own personal data and have a very difficult time understanding absolute risk vs relative risk.

Here is a good video on the different types of risk and how we are influced by the media: Drugs & The Media: Relative vs. Absolute Risk
The video is produced from https://bodyofevidence.ca/. - This Canadian group has some really good podcasts on of health and safety debunking.

Learn some philosophy while stuck at home

Michael Sandel is an ethics professor at Harvard. He has recorded several of his courses at Harvard and hosts a BBC talk show. Below are the links.

https://justiceharvard.org/justicecourse/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b075ft6f

Webinars & Town Halls on the KASHA website

Thanks to Darrel, we now have a page of interesting webinars and town hall meetings from BC Humanists, Center for Inquiry Canada and Amnesty International that you can watch.
If you just can't watch another Netflix show or commercial TV, tune in here to see issues that are relevant to you. KASHA WEBINAR PAGE

You can also catch up on some of our previous newsletters HERE.

Thanks, Darrel, for all your work!

We are officially an affliate local group member with BC Humanists. We receive support to help connect with humanists and atheists in our area. We become part of a larger network of non-religious people across the province by joining with other groups.

The British Columbia Humanist Association has been providing a community and voice for humanists, atheists, agnostics, and the non-religious of Metro Vancouver and British Columbia since 1982. They support the growth of Humanist communities across BC, provide Humanist ceremonies, and campaign for progressive and secular values.

Please consider joining the BCHA if you support our combined efforts.

KASHA needs volunteers:

Forum Speakers: We are looking for volunteers to be speakers/facilitators. If you are interested in presenting, we have a set of criteria and an approval process. We want to make sure that all the topics will be of interest to our members. So no, we won't be approving of how astrology effects your mood.

You can download the forum criteria here.

Ideas: If you are a member and you have an idea for a speaker, are interested in starting another cafe meet-up in your area, like to write about KASHA topics, and/or want to protest something... let us know.

KASHA Board Meetings

If you are an official paid member and would like to read our minutes or attend a meeting, please let me know.
The dates of the meetings are on the events calendar, we are trying to meet once a month.
Warning: Our minutes are rather crytpic, but you will probably understand the main clinchers. Any warm new heartbeats detected at the meeting might also be given tasks. But we are not discouraging our members from attending, in fact, we would love it if you could come.

Please Go To our Events Calendar for up to date information on events.
KASHA - Kelowna Atheists, Skeptics & Humanists Association
Inquire with us at askuskelowna.ca
Join our FACEBOOK page. Join the KASHA MEET-UP group
Become a member HERE