2006 Manasota Mensa, serving the Bradenton, Sarasota

APRIL
2006
Volume 17, Number 4
© 2006 Manasota Mensa, serving the Bradenton, Sarasota, Venice and Port Charlotte areas, Florida
April 9 is Pet Owners’ Independence Day
The Cheshire Cat (detail above) by Larry Dowdall, an “Outsider” painter,
apparently is happy to let us pet owners have our little harmless misconceptions
about who owns whom. The 24”x36” painting is oil on corrugated cardboard.
You Work for Uncle Sam Till May
Income Tax Facts That May Surprise
Did you know that according to studies done by various organizations
such as The Urban Institute, the Congressional Budget Office and the Tax Foundation, that:
—The average person works until mid May just to pay all of their taxes.
—More than one third of filers will pay nothing or get a bonus from the
IRS due to refundable credits for lower income families.
—2% of the population, with income above $200,000/year, will pay 40%
of the total income tax bill.
--Those making between $100,000/year and $200,000/year will pay an
additional 22% of the total income tax bill.
--In other words, nearly 2/3rds of the total income tax bill is paid for by
those families making more than $I00,000 per year!
--70% of Americans with incomes below $50,000 will pay only 10% of
the total tax burden.
--When you die, the IRS can take up to 55% of your estate depending on
how your estate is structured.
--That the highest top marginal tax rate was 94% in 1944, and the lowest
top marginal tax rate since 1932 was today’s 35%.
Manasota Email and Discussion Web Site Available
Our group has established a free email and discussion site for the use of
members and their friends. The purpose of the site is to provide a means of instant
communication among our members. The site is unmoderated, meaning anyone
can join and post without approval by the site owner. If there are violations of
group terms of service, like personal attacks, foul language, or other unacceptable material, the site will be converted to a moderated site. To join, send an email
to [email protected]. To visit the site’s home
page, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ManasotaMensa
Edgar Coudal, Site Owner
2
The 4M
Ruth’s Ramblings--By Ruth Danielle, Local Secretary
Check Your Label: Renewal Time!
WARNING: CHECK your label on this newsletter. If it says 2005 on
the top line, this will be your last issue unless you renew. Renewing now means
you won’t miss anything. If you’ve lost your renewal information, or if you were
contemplating waiting until June hoping we would call you with a reminder, I
would suggest that calling me now for assistance would
be a better approach (685-0680).
The Executive Committee has convinced me that our
group does not have to have a community service project.
Obviously, anyone who has any interest in volunteering
has a plethora of opportunities in this community. And, of
course, it’s not easy to find two or more Mensans who
want to do the same thing at the same time…
…except for Rummikub. Since that’s the case, we are
checking into holding a public Rummikub tournament in
May. To prepare you might want to come to Rummikub night at Nancy’s or invite
some of us over to “practice” Rummikub.
AS YOUR Local Secretary, I receive a copy of the “Mensa Research
Journal.” The Fall ‘05 issue has six articles on ADD/ADHD. I’ve finally finished
it (you already know by now that I’m a slow reader) and would be happy to pass it
along to whoever else wants to read it.
I must say that I’ve been quite surprised at member reluctance to have
their profile in The 4M. Reading each other’s bios was always one of the major
treats in other Mensa groups I’ve belonged to. Please don’t be shy; go to the website (www.manasota.us.mensa.org) and take a few minutes to fill out the form. If
you’re lucky it might even cause you some thought or give you some new ideas. Or
if you don’t have internet, just give Jim Kitchell a call (359-9067), and he’ll mail
you a copy of the form to be completed..
This month I probably don’t have to draw your attention to April Fools Day
or perhaps not even to St. George’s Day on April 22. However, you might not be
aware of A Drop of Water is a Grain of Gold Day, which is celebrated in Turkey on the
7th, or Finnish Language Day on the 9th, in Finland of course. (Aside: of course —
tota kai — or however it’s spelled — is the only Finnish word I remember. When I
was in Helsinki, I went to a Mensa evening where the president of that group was
moving from board to board playing chess against four or five players. He would
move to the next board, make his play, and the opponent would exclaim “Tota kai!”
accompanied by the heel of the hand to the forehead.) Back to the U.S., I was surprised to learn that Secretary’s Day (the 26th) has morphed into Administrative Professionals Day; I’m not going to celebrate that one! But I’m looking forward to National Dark Sky Week, April 22-30. I’m not sure what that is or why we celebrate it for
a whole week, but I’m looking forward to finding out. However, my absolute favorite
this month is on the 15th — no, not tax day, but National Rubber Eraser Day.
3
The 4M
THE TENTH STORY--RVC 10 Report
Tampa Bay RG May 26-29
NEXT month, May 26-29, Memorial Day weekend, means one of the
best Regional Gatherings around! Tampa Bay Mensa is putting on “Sense and
Mensability” that weekend, and I for one am ready for an
RG. I won’t go into all the details here. You can find them all
on the Region 10 website at region10.us.mensa.org and
click on “upcoming region 10 events”.
Recently a member of my local group wrote to the
LocSec to complain that there weren’t any activities in his
area. I got involved and made some suggestions about how to
host an event. I suggested that he go to the national member
directory and find his Mensa “neighbors” by typing in nearby
zip codes and then contact them. He did that. I suggested that he schedule a meal
get-together at a nearby restaurant. He did that. To shorten a long story, seven
people had a great time at lunch and plan to get together again next month. The
only reason I mention this is to remind all of us how easy it is to host an event on
the calendar. It works!
I haven’t seen many of you popping up on the Mensa Discussion Forums. They are great places to meet and discuss things, without even having to get
out of the bathrobe! See you there! And if you don’t see a topic of interest to you,
just like hosting an event, start one!
Maggie Truelove, RVC 10
3333 Honeysuckle Lane
Orlando, FL 32812
407-855-9078
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Membership Changes
Congratulations to new Mensan Max Herrera! Welcome to Mensans
moving into our area: Mara Maunder returns to Bradenton from Connecticutt for
the winter; Henry Vitan joins us in Palmetto from New York, and Alexander
Clark moved to Osprey from Virginia.
Reinstating members include Robert
Forsyth of University Park; Marjorie
Happiness is having your
Acker of Bradenton; George A. Thoown box of crayons—
mas of Sarasota; and Heather
64 colors!
Zangara. Welcome to all! We now number 274!
4
The 4M
THE OBSERVER - By Edgar F. Coudal
End of the World II
Well Said
Western Union delivered its last telegram on Feb. 2, ending a 177-year-old
run. It was done in by the long distance
phone and more recently by Internet
emails.
No more splendid telegram stories
like these two.
Billy Rose was making a movie in
Europe. Darryl Zanuck telegramed him
a 4,000-word
night letter, filled
with questions
about progress.
Rose telegramed
back: “Yes.”
Zanuck responded, “Yes
what”
Rose: “Yes, sir.”
George Bernard Shaw telegramed
Winston Churchill: “Two tickets for
opening of Candide left for you. Bring
a friend if you have one.”
Churchill cabled back: “Can’t come
opening night. Will come second night,
if you have one.”
John Cassidy, in a piece on Malcolm
Glazer’s purchase of the Manchester
United soccer team, wrote: “In Britain,
a crowded island where the cities and
towns rub up against each other like
rocks on an old stone wall . . .”
Poor Baby
\
Michael Weir, the U.S. figure skater
who dresses like a swan and describes
himself as “princessy.” panicked and
minced around badly during his final
skate, because he missed his bus to the
arena which caused him to notice, “I
couldn’t feel my aura. I was black inside.” Tim Dahlberg, sports columnist
for the AP, commented, “Tonya Harding
was tougher than this guy.”
PC Blues
Political Correctness is not
only boring, but also depressing. Consider that once-proud Secretary’s Day
(April 25) when the boss brought Gal
Friday flowers and bon-bons and took
her to some restaurant a cut above the
Walgreen’s lunch counter and maybe
even bought her a little [not too intimate,
unless THAT was called for] gift, or sent
her home an hour early, is now marked
(I doubt “celebrated”) as “National Administrative Professionals Day,” as LocSec Ruth Danielle notes in her Page 4
column. Next we’ll have a union made
up of Administrative Professionals,
Sanitation Engineers (garbagemen), Stationary Engineers (janitors), and SubSurface Excavators (ditchdiggers).
Iraq War Cost
Comedy Central News Anchor Jon
Stewart recently noted that the Iraq war
had cost more than $250 billion, or $2,083
per each American taxpayer.
He further noted that the $2,083 could
have funded food and medicine for a number of children in impoverished third
world nations, or could purchase an eightball and night with a fancy hooker, depending on the recipient of choice for the
individual’s largesse.
5
The 4M
Books
2 on Pain Management: Heal, Don’t Medicate
By Heidi Boudro
(Reprinted from Wiscom, newsletter of Wisconsin Mensa)
THE BEST books that I’ve found about chronic pain differ in approach but agree in basic premise: heal rather than medicate. Those who claim that
pain can be treated only with drugs and surgery—despite all evidence that drugs
and surgery do not resolve chronic pain-are unfamiliar with the research that shows
that diet, nutrition, avoidance of toxins, sauna, and massage do resolve pain, often
dramatically.
The most comprehensive of recent books is Pain Free in 6 Weeks by
Sherry A. Rogers, M.D. (Prestige Publishing, 2001). This book emphasizes the
similarity of all kinds of pain and is organized by treatment, such as diets, supplements, sauna, and lifestyle change.
“Pain is designed to facilitate healing,” Dr. Rogers writes. But healing is
finite. “It has an end, as opposed to chronic inflammation that perpetuates the
chemical messages of pain.” All chronic pain is inflammation and toxicity; the
source of any individual’s inflammation and toxicity can be identified and resolved.
She provides checklists of what to try and in what order, based on research (hundreds of references) and experience.
NEAL Barnard, M.Do’s Foods That Fight Pain (Three Rivers Press,
1998), is a positive, encouraging book organized by type of pain (migraine, arthritis, back pain, kidney stones, etc.).
An engaging summary of the research (hundreds of references) for each
condition presents the foods shown most often to be triggers and the nutrition
shown to help. Dr. Barnard also presents the pain-free foods (foods never associated with pain in any research study), aspects of diet that heal pain and disease,
and information about diets that everyone could profit by being familiar with.
These diets include Dr. Dean Ornish’s diet to reverse arteriosclerosis and the
macrobiotic diet often used to treat cancer and chronic disease.
6
The 4M
A Read on Finances—By Al Thomas
Emotional Trading Burns Everyone
THE SINGLE most expensive stock market trades are those made
with emotions, but, of course, you are not an emotional trader, are you?
Before you bought that stock or mutual fund, you did your research to be
sure that what you were buying would return a good profit.
You bought it and over time you look at it less and less.
When you plunked down your hard earned money
did you have any idea where you would sell it or where you
might exit the trade should the stock go down instead of up?
Have you made plans to protect those profits if it does go up?
There were many geniuses in 1999 who bought a tech
stock at $20 and saw it run to $200 only to come back down to
$2. Those who had an exit strategy probably sold out as it turned over and dropped
like a rock. They kept most of their profits as well as their original investment.
What kept those BuyNholders in? It was emotion. They fell in love with
the stock because they “knew” it was worth more and would “come back up”.
Investing is a business. Never become emotionally attached to anything
you buy. If you were in the buggy whip business in 1900 and saw the automobile
putting the horse out to pasture you easily knew it was time to sell out.
Once each month you should be checking to see if your various stocks
are advancing as planned. Forget all those pretty research reports your broker sent
you. Now you must not care anything about that company. What you care about
now is your money. As long as the stock price is advancing you may continue your
love affair, but when it starts down it is time for a divorce.
This is where emotion becomes expensive. If you just bought it your ties
are strong and you know if you sell you will have a loss. Never fall for that old
broker’s adage that you don’t have a loss until you sell. Anyone who believes that
will be eating cat food at retirement.
WHEN YOU bought that new car you knew as soon as you drove it
off the lot it would be worth 20 percent less than you paid for it. Twenty percent is
a lot and more than most folks should be willing to risk when investing.
Usually a good rule of thumb is 10%. When you drive that stock off the
exchange floor your risk should be limited. You decide how much you are willing
to lose if it goes down instead of up.
If you do sell never look back. Fagedaboudit! In 80% of those sales when
you do look back you will see you are way ahead in the money game.
Do not allow an emotional attachment to keep you in any stock or fund. It
will drain you both mentally and financially.
Al Thomas' book, If It Doesn't Go Up, Don't Buy It! has helped thousands of people make money and keep their profits with his simple 2-step method.
Read the first chapter at http://www.mutualfundmagic.com.
7
The 4M
One Size Misfits All
Procrustes and the FCAT
This letter appeared in the Orlando Sentinel, was sent along by former
Local Secretary June Brasgalla, and is reprinted with permission of the author.
AND NOW for something completely different — an FCAT letter
with ties to ancient Greece. As a high-school reading coach, I recently visited a
ninth-grade world-history classroom to talk about strategies the kids used when
reading nonfiction text. I also wanted to find out what they did when they “got
stuck” in their reading. We were knee-deep in a discussion about vocabulary strategies when a hand shot up and “George” challenged me with the following question:
“Mrs. Samuels, do you know the cool Greek story about the evil
Procrustes?”
I replied, “You mean the guy who had the one-size-fits-all bed and
stretched or lopped off the legs of his guests who couldn’t conform to it, George?”
“Yup.”
George, beaming, then explained to the class that the high-stakes FCAT
was just like Procrustes’ bed, because not everyone can fit its score requirements
and the consequences of not passing it are life changing — you don’t get your
high-school diploma even though you master all your classes and earn all your
credits. I sat there with visions of an FCAT bed (or rack) dancing in my head.
As far as I’m concerned, George doesn’t need to take the reading portion
of the FCAT — his comprehension and critical thinking skills are quite masterful
already. Using his Procrustean analogy, he showed his classmates that some of
them test differently or think differently and can’t fit the FCAT mold no matter
what we as teachers do to stretch or bend their minds.
After this concept sank in, students wanted to know if the Florida legislators who set the educational mandates for the state had all taken — and passed —
the 10th-grade FCAT reading and math components. If not, they offered to proctor
its administration and would even cut them some slack on the science portion.
And, a no-passing grade would mean they couldn’t be lawmakers. Or at the very
least, they’d have to attend remedial math and/or reading classes.
Wonder what would happen to the Procrustean FCAT then?
Deborah Samuels
New Smyrna Beach High School
8
The 4M
A Prayer to the
God of Atheists
By Meredy Amyx
Our Father, in whom I don’t believe,
This is just in case.
I’m not in a foxhole
Exactly,
But the thousand things are coming at me
And I’m not so sure
I like facing them
Alone.
So if you can deliver us from evil,
Please do.
If you can’t, it’s nobody’s fault.
So don’t feel bad.
While I’m at it,
A few less temptations would help,
Including the daily bread
And other carbs.
Oh, and I guess I should mention
There are some things I did
Willingly
That I’m really sorry for now.
Not that there’s any point in telling
You
Since there’s really nothing
There.
You know.
In godspace.
(Please don’t take this personally.)
And I never wanted the power anyway,
Much less the kingdom.
You can have them.
But if you could spare a little glory
For my small heroics. . .
Oh, well, never mind.
Amen.
This poem is reprinted with permission from Intelligencer, of San Francisco Regional
Mensa, edited by David Kirby. Meredy Amyx, a Mensan for life and a former editor of various Mensa
publications, is a member of a 4-M family since her husband and two sons are also members.
9
The 4M
Table-Top Players Alert
Discount on Gaming Magazine
DO YOU LIKE board games, brainteasers and strategy? Introducing Knucklebones magazine - the table-top game publication for people who like
to have fun and enjoy flexing their cranial muscles. The National Office of American Mensa has wangled deal that offers a half-price subscription: pay $14 instead
of $27.95 when you subscribe.
Six times a year you will receive a fresh and original publication that
focuses on the hottest new board games as well as classic favorites, and is full of
trivia, puzzles, strategy games, entertaining brainteasers, reviews, information, strategy and game history. Knucklebones offers diverse content sure to capture the
attention and imagination of anyone who loves games - from the casual player to
even the most passionate game enthusiast.
To subscribe, have the code 501360 in hand and visit www.kbones.com
http://www.kbones.com/ or call 800/331-0038, ext. 1.
Governor’s Program Described
Gifted Teen Classes on Florida Campuses
TERRI TUMLIN, Manasota Mensa’s Gifted Children Coordinator,
sends along a link to the state’s program for gifted and talented students in grades
8-12. Following is the introduction to the program on the linked page:
“The purpose of the Governor’s Summer Program is to provide an opportunity for
outstanding, gifted, and high-achieving students to participate in and use the resources of
the universities and colleges in the State of
Florida.
“Institutions of higher education, public or private, submit proposals to provide day
or residential, summer programs for gifted and
high-achieving students entering grades 8-12.
The goal is to use the academic strengths and
unique instructional resources of the sponsoring institution to provide participating students with learning experiences not available in their secondary education programs.
“Information about programs selected for the Governor’s Summer Program is sent to all 67 Florida school districts to encourage the participation of
outstanding secondary students.”
More information about the program including the offering at Manatee
Community College is available at:
http://www.firn.edu/doe/commhome/pdf/govsummr.pdf
The file is also online at our group’s blog, whose eddress is:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ManasotaMensa/
10
The 4M
Game players at a recent gathering included (from left) Elizabeth Dexter,
Linda Mason, Mara Maunder, Amy Menard, and John and Terri Tumlin.
You, Your Sign, and Your Car: Aries
For those born between March 21 and April 20
(Ed Note: Someone said, “You have everything else flying around in The
4M--member writtten articles, crosswords, anagrams, bridge, financial advice,
unrhymed poetry,, book reviews. nutball Commie and Neanderthal positions, and
those are just for starters. So how about an astrology column?” OK. You got it.)
Aries on wheels has the enthusiasm of Toad of Toad Hall - they’re the
road hogs of the Zodiac. Aries go nuts as easily as blinking and their positive
qualities—assertiveness and enthusiasm—go into orbit if someone cuts them off.
Some 90 per cent of road-rage cases are Aries. Aries man will be first out the car
for a chat with “the other driver” but soon calms down if the culprit is an Aries
woman. Aries woman will shamelessly try the “who me?” flutter of eyelashes and
the other driver will melt. Or she may
knee him the groin. Either way, she
Happiness is an envelope
wins. White van man is probably an
Aries.
containing a rebate check
Vehicle: Preferably something with a
you wrote away for
gun turret. Failing that, a Hummer.
months ago.
Favorite Music: Ride of the Valkyries.
Passenger Information: Take cover.
11
The 4M
BRIDGE-By Keith Falkner, Senior Master, ACBL
Bad Luck Implies Good Luck!
South deals
Both Vul
North
♠A643
♥Q852
♦84
♣A5 3
West
♠ K Q J 10 5
♥♦ Q 10 7 5 2
♣ J 10 7
East
♠987
♥ A K 10 9 7
♦J63
♣Q6
South
♠2
♥J643
♦AK 9
♣K9842
Bidding:
Lead:
South West
1♣
1♠
3♥
pass
pass
pass
King of spades
North
DBL
4♥
pass
East
2♠
DBL
South’s opening and West’s overcall are natural.
North’s Negative Double shows nine or more points and four
hearts. When South bids three hearts, a mild stretch, North
carries on to game. East, looking at five strong trumps and
facing a partner with the strength to make a vulnerable overcall, doubles. Wouldn’t you double with East’s cards?
Declarer realizes that East’s double must be based
on strong trumps, and concludes that any attempt to draw
trumps would bring a lot of trouble. It is easy to see five
winners in aces and kings, so the trump suit must somehow
bring in five more tricks, if South is to make the ten-trick contract. Declarer wins
trick one with the ace of spades, trumps a spade in the South, cashes the ace and
king of diamonds, ruffs a diamond in dummy, and ruffs another spade in hand.
South’s king of clubs and North’s ace of clubs win the next two tricks, bringing
declarer’s trick total to eight. These cards remain, with North on lead:
12
The 4M
North
♠6
♥Q85
♦♣3
West
♠QJ
♥♦ Q 10
♣J
East
♠♥ A K 10 9 7
♦♣ -
South
♠♥J6
♦
♣984
Declarer needs two tricks. When North’s last spade is led, East has a
problem with no solution. If East ruffs low, South wins a ninth trick with the jack
or hearts, then leads a club which East trumps; East must then lead hearts and give
North a tenth trick with the queen. If East ruffs the spade high, East’s forced heart
leads give South a trick with the jack of hearts and North another trick with the
queen. Either way, the doubled contract succeeds.
When a double alerts you to horrible distribution in the trump suit, scramble
as many tricks as possible early in the hand, then watch for opportunities to complete your contract when the trump-laden defender must lead trumps to your advantage.
Big Brother Bobbie Has Eye on All
WiredJanuary 2006 notes that automated cameras at downtown London intersections report trafffic violations so well that 13,000 arrests were made in one
year. The cameras read the license numbers, alert cops when a stolen car is noted,
and report traffic violations along with the plate numbers.
The Brits like this so much that they are going to spend $43 million to
install cameras on EVERY MAJOR ROAD and EVERY IMPORTANT INTERSECTION in the U.K. They will read 35 million plates a day. The bobbies expect
that every stolen car will thus be recovered and every traffic violation noted and
prosecuted, greatly increasing vehicular safety and traffic fine income.
There go the rolling stops, five over, and blowing the light at 3 a.m.
13
The 4M
Puzzlements
To gain mention here as worthy of your M wallet card, EMAIL your answers
to the puzzles by the 15th of the month to [email protected] or POSTAL mail
to Edgar Coudal, 5452 Azure Way, Sarasota, 34242 or PHONE (941) 349-9329.
Minimum Moves Metamorphose Maker
Last month, we asked you to get from TENTS to HOUSE in SEVEN or
fewer intermediate steps. One solution was TESTS, PESTS, POSTS, POUTS,
ROUTS, ROUTE, ROUSE Getting it or shorter were Bill Arnold, Mark Broadus,
Jack Combs, Dwight Gill, Carl Hammen, Barbara Horton.
This month, get us from DRUNK to CRASH in 10 or fewer steps.
Anagram Angst
The four tough guys of books and film you were asked for last month were:
MIKE HAMMER • SAM SPADE • DIRTY HARRY • COLUMBO
Getting them were Arnold, Broadus, Ray Cole, Combs, Gill, Hammen, Horton,
Sam Perkins, Frank Stevens
This month, unscramble these three popular Florida garden plants
HER STRONG FAN * FLING GARTERS * ARABS DID RIP FOE
Cryptological Craziness
Last month’s Cryptogram: I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased when I read the description: No good in a bed,
but fine against a wall. Eleanor Roosevelt.
Getting it were Broadus, Walt Brustlin, Reni Cohen, Cole, Combs, Gill, Hammen,
Horton, Perkins, Stevens, Bonnie Vasquez
Now, try this one:
EWJ YL EYOADWE WVOXKHPS: WPBSMAPO AF
ZYFFAGEH AL BYX CYP'S TPYJ JMWS BYX WVH
SWETAPO WGYXS. QHLL KWMYPHB.
14
The 4M