11/11 Psychology of Life Force Energy & Happiness

Texts for this class
1. Toru Sato, The Ever-Transcending Spirit, pp. 1-37.
2. Brene Brown TED talk (below) 

Exophilosophy Presentation for MILES Oct. 30th 2017

Jerusalem UFO (2011)



Gulf Breeze UFO (1995)



Mexican Air Force video of UFO (2004)

The 2004 USS Nimitz footage of the "ticktack" UFO.

11/6 Philosophy of Extraterrestrial Contact

An Introduction to Exo-Philosophy, the newest branch of philosophy

Texts for this class

1. This documentary (above)
2. Historic first serious coverage of ufology by NYTimes in Dec. 2017 
2. Stanton Friedman, "The Case for the Extraterrestrial Origin of Flying Saucers"

Recommended



3. Five Large Scale Scientific Studies Prove that ETs are Real and Here (video below)

"Only small secrets need to be protected. The large ones are kept secret by the public's natural incredulity."         
                                      Marshall McLuhan



Other resources

5. The Disclosure Project
6. The Anchorage Incident - Expert Witness
7. Black Box evidence of close encounters
8. Blog for PH199 Exophilosophy

9. Dr. Vood's Alien TV, my YouTube channel

The Grays jazz-funk show this weekend

Dear Philosophers,

My band The Grays is performing this Saturday, Nov. 5th at The Sound Retreat Studio in Chester, CT. This musical project is one of my passions and I am reading looking forward to this gig, which will feature two incredible horn players joining our jazz-funk trio. Our original music is inspired by Jeff Beck, Frank Zappa, Miles Davis and others. You are cordially invited.

Venue: The Sound Retreat is a beautiful sound healing studio on 96 Cedar Lake Road in Chester, CT at the edge of Cockaponsett State Park, a beautiful place to go for a walk before the show if you have the time. 

Date/Time: Saturday, November 5th, 8-11 PM

Tickets: $40/car and you can bring up to 4 people per car.You can purchase tickets here. The show is almost sold out, so if you wanna catch the show you’ll need to get your ticket online asap.

Facebook Event Page for this event

You can listen to a track from a recent rehearsal here.

11/4 White Supremacy, Racism and Reparations

Text for this class
1. Ta-Nehisi Coates, "The Case for Reparations"
2. P. R. Lockhart, "The 2020 Democratic primary debate over reparations, explained"

10/28 DIY class tonight

Dear Philosophers,

Class is cancelled tonight. We will resume our discussion on Wednesday 10/30 by looking at mass incarceration, prison abolition and restorative justice. If you haven't reviewed all of the documents I posted last week, please do so. I've also added two more pieces for you time check out for Wednesday. Please spend class time tonight listening to these pieces and giving them some deep mindfulness. Best to you, Justin

1. An interview with prison abolitionist Miriame Kaba by Chris Hayes

2. An interview with Danielle Sered, Director of Common Justice, a Brooklyn-based restorative justice project, on Amy Goodman's Democracy Now.

10/28 Mass Incarceration, New Jim Crow, Prison Abolition

Dear Philosophers,

Next week we will delve into three related issues having to do with contemporary social justice: mass incarceration, racism and the legacy of slavery, and the prison abolition and restorative justice movement. I cannot make it to class on Monday, Oct. 28th and I'm looking to find someone to screen Ava Duverney's Netflix documentary "The 13th" in class for you. Check in with this blog for more information about next week's schedule. In the meanwhile, read and watch the documents below. :)

Texts for this class

1. 1. Read: John Washington, "What is Prison Abolition?"

2. Watch: Angela Davis on Prison Abolition vs prison Reform



2. Listen: Michelle Alexander on mass incarceration and war of drugs



Other texts

1. Angela Davis, Are Prisons Obsolete?

2. To hear about my own experiences teaching in a women's prison you can check out my paper "Teaching in Angela's Cave"

Questions

How does the U.S. criminal justice system create and maintain racial hierarchy through mass incarceration? 

How does the current system of mass incarceration in the United States mirror earlier systems of racialized social control?

What is needed to end mass incarceration and permanently eliminate racial caste in the United States?

What would a society without the need for prisons look like?

A. Some Facts about Race and Mass Incarceration

1. We imprison more people than any other country.

2. The U.S. has over 2.4 million behind bars, an increase of over 500% in the past thirty years

3. We have 5% of the world’s population; 25% of its prisoners

4. People of color represents 60% of people in cages

5. One in eight black men in their twenties are locked up on any given day

6. Lifetime likelihood of a white man being incarcerated: 1 in 17

7. Lifetime likelihood of a black man being incarcerated: 1 in 3

8. Black men are 6.5% of US population and 40.2% of incarcerated population

9. 75% of people in state prison for drug conviction are people of color although blacks and whites see and use drugs at roughly the same rate. In NYS, 94% of those imprisoned for a drug offense are people of color.

10. The number of drug offenders in state prison has increased thirteen-fold since 1980

11. 5.3 million Americans are denied their right to vote

12. Over the past two decades, state spending on prisons grew six times the spending of higher education.