Monday, November 1: 11:00 a.m. Miller Center Forum: A Survey of the Situation in the Middle East

COLONEL W. PATRICK LANG is a retired senior officer of the U.S. Military Intelligence and U.S. Army Special Forces, who trained as a Middle East specialist and served there for many years. He was the first professor of Arabic at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served as the Defense Intelligence Officer for the Middle East, South Asia, and terrorism.

Tuesday, November 2: 6:00 a.m to 7:00 p.m. Election Day

Thursday, November 4 - Sunday, November 7: Virginia Film Festival

Friday, November 5: The U.Va. Center for Politics at the 2010 Virginia Film Festival

"Primary" at 3:15 p.m. Regal 3 Downtown, Charlottesville
Robert Drew's groundbreaking documentary follows Senator John F. Kennedy in his race against Senator Hubert Humphrey in the 1960 Democratic Primary in Wisconsin. Center for Politics Senior Historian Andrew Bell will introduce the film.

"Freedom Riders" at 6 p.m. U.Va. Culbreth Theatre
In 1961, more than 400 Americans stared down the dangers of Deep South racial tensions to make a statement about segregation. The film offers interviews with many of the individuals involved, from the journalists who covered it and politicians who stood against it, to the riders themselves, who overcame pressure from all sides to earn the attention of the Kennedy administration in their struggle to desegregate public highway transit. A discussion will follow moderated by Professor Larry Sabato with original Freedom Riders Dion Diamond Sr. and Joan Mulholland, and director Stanley Nelson.

More information and tickets are available on the Virginia Film Festival website at www.virginiafilmfestival.org.

Saturday, November 6: 2:00 p.m. "I Am" at U.Va. Newcomb Theatre
U.Va. alumnus and director Tom Shadyac, (Patch Adams, Ace Ventura, Bruce Almighty and Evan Almighty) returns to the Virginia Film Festival with his compelling new film I Am, a documentary centered around two fundamental questions: "What's wrong with the world?" and "What can we do about it?" Discussion with director Tom Shadyac will follow the screening.

More information and tickets are available on the Virginia Film Festival website at www.virginiafilmfestival.org.

Monday, November 8: 11:00 a.m. Miller Center Forum: Showdown in Virginia: The 1861 Convention and the Fate of the Union

WILLIAM W. FREEHLING is one of the most distinguished American historians of the Civil War era and a Bancroft Prize winner. He is Singletary Professor of the Humanities Emeritus at the University of Kentucky and Senior Fellow at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. The author of numerous books, including “Prelude to Civil War,” Freehling will discuss how Virginia was brought into the war in 1861. A book signing will follow his Miller Center Forum.

Tuesday, November 9: 11:30 at the Monticello Room, Westminster Canterbury Sponsred by Clergy and Laity United for Peace and Justice: Hear Local Tea Party Chair Carole Thorpe. The Congressional elections will be over. Here’s your chance to learn about a “game changer” in that contest from the Chair of the Charlottesville chapter of the Tea Party.

Friday, November 12: 11:00 a.m. Miller Center Forum: Is Immigration Reform Politically Possible Under the Obama Administration? This Miller Center Forum is part of a series on Latin America.

As the nation struggles to define its immigration policy, EDWARD SCHUMACHER-MATOS, director of Harvard’s Initiative on Immigration and Integration Policy and Studies, will analyze the difficult choices America faces in solving the current immigration crisis. An expert on Latin American affairs, Schumacher-Matos writes a nationally syndicated column for The Washington Post Writers Group and is currently working on a book on unauthorized immigration. He was the managing editor of The Wall Street Journal Americas, a foreign correspondent for The New York Times, a member of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team at The Philadelphia Inquirer, and founded the Rumbo chain of Spanish-language newspapers in Texas.

Monday, November 15: 11:00 a.m. Miller Center Forum: Wired for War

What are the implications of robotics and other new technologies for war, politics, ethics, and law in the 21st century? Senior Brookings Fellow and director of its 21st Century Initiative PETER WARREN SINGER presents his findings in a new bestselling book, “Wired for War.” Named by Foreign Policy Magazine to the Top 100 Global Thinkers List of 2009, Singer is considered one of the world's leading experts on changes in 21st-century warfare. A book signing will follow his Miller Center Forum.

Tuesday, November 16: Noon. LWV Community Dialogue: The State of the Constitution: What Americans Know. At Monticello HS. Sean O'Brien, PhD, Executive Director of the Center for the Constitution at James Madison's Montpelier will lead a review of the results of a nationwide survey. The event is free and open to the public.

Bag lunch available, $8, if ordered by November 15. Call 970 1707 or email to lwv@avenue.org. May be picked up after 11:30.

Tuesday, November 16: 5:30 p.m. Miller Center Special Event: Electricity: Invisible Threat to America's Economic and National Security Thomas F. Farrell, chairman and CEO of Dominion Resources. As national and global electricity consumption grows, America must come to grips with a host of challenges relating to environmental, economic, and national-security issues. Coal, the predominant fuel for current electricity generation, brings environmental challenges because of CO2 emissions, while nuclear power raises different concerns, and alternative fuels present their own economic and distribution problems. Also, national-security officials have recognized that the U.S. electrical grid is vulnerable to acts of terrorism, while there are disturbing reports that cyber-spies have already penetrated the system. What are the choices—as well as the challenges—for America’s electricity future?

This event is free and open to the public. A reception with light refreshments will begin at 5:30 p.m., and the program begins promptly at 6:00 p.m. Please RSVP to (434) 924-6049 or sak3u@virginia.edu.

Friday, November 19: 11:00 a.m. Miller Center Forum: Brazil in the World. This Miller Center Forum is part of a series on Latin America.

As Brazil plays an ever-expanding role in regional and world politics, PAULO SOTERO MARQUES, director of the Brazil Institute of the Woodrow Wilson Center, will discuss the future of Brazil in world affairs and this fall’s presidential race. Sotero served as the Washington correspondent for Estado de S. Paulo, a leading Brazilian daily newspaper. He has also been a regular commentator and analyst for BBC radio’s Portuguese-language service and Radio France Internationale. In 2009, Sotero joined the adjunct faculty of George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs.

Wednesday, November 24: 11:30 a.m. at the Freedom Wall.Pre-Thanksgiving Rally to End the Millionaire Bailout and Help the Unemployed. Contact: Harold Folley 984-4655 X 231 harold@virginia-organizing.org

Friday, December 3: 11:00 a.m. Miller Center Forum: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

Although Jim Crow laws have long been abolished, MICHELLE ALEXANDER argues that a surprising percentage of the African-American community remains trapped in a subordinate status—much like their grandparents before them. This is the subject of Alexander’s provocative new book, “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.” A long-time civil rights advocate and litigator, Alexander won a 2005 Soros Justice Fellowship and now holds a joint appointment at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity and the Mortiz College of Law at Ohio State University. She also served as a law clerk for Justice Harry Blackmun on the U.S. Supreme Court. A book signing will follow her Miller Center Forum.

Friday, December 10: 11:00 a.m. Miller Center Forum: The Fall Term of the U.S. Supreme Court

CBS News Chief Legal Correspondent JAN CRAWFORD contributes regularly to the "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric," "The Early Show," and "Face The Nation," as well as CBS Radio News and CBSNews.com. Crawford served as a regular contributor to CBS News from 2005 to 2006.

Friday, January 7: 5:30 p.m. A reception to honor Delegate David J. Toscano will be held at The Space Downtown (210 W. Water St.) Charlottesville.

To become a sponsor and/or RSVP contact Sarah Buckley at sarah@davidtoscano.com or 434-220-1660. Tickets are $75. Sponsorships: Supporter: $250 Friend: $500 Patron: $1,000 Host: $2,500.

Saturday, January 15: 7:00 - 10:00 p.m. The 5th annual Grace Tinsley Scholarship fundraiser at the Elks Club just off Route 20 north. It will include live music by the CHS Jazz Ensemble, heavy hors d'oeuvres, a talk by a college student who received one of our scholarships, and of course great people!

Tickets are $30; available at Quilts Unlimited (on the Mall), Rose Hill Market, and at the door. For more, contact Russ Linden at russlinden@earthlink.net