tampa.us.mensa.orgtampa.us.mensa.org/soundings/sounding_2018_05.pdf · articles, puzzles, jokes,...

Volunteers needed

Tampa Bay Mensa needs some of our members to step up and take on a task.

We need;

1- Scholarship Judges and someone to be the scholarship chair.

2- Editor of the sounding. We also need more members to contribute articles, puzzles, jokes, letters to the editor, trivia etc.

3- A publicity officer. This is a job for someone creative and inventiveto put our name out there.

4- Event organizers – Picnics, socials and other kinds of events

5- Someone to be on the ExComm until the new ExComm sits in October.

Tampa Bay Mensa is run entirely by volunteers. We are always in need of people willing to help. Please contact any member of the ExComm if you can help.

Save The Date!

The Tampa Bay Mensa Regional Gathering is scheduled for

Memorial Day Weekend, 2018. Be there or be □

More details to follow...

Answer to the April’s Cryptopoem:

Wacky WalksWhere –Lykes Gaslight Park, 220 Madison Ave, Tampa FL 33602

When – Sat 5/12/2018 10:45 AM – Cost $10

Wacky walks is a unique walking game. It is similar to a board game in which the power, or control shifts from one player or another. Instead of a board you’ll be navigating the Streets of Tampa with your smartphone to complete the game. The object of the game is to have fun, learn some facts about our town. Wacky walks you bring props to enhance your photos. There are only a limited number of spots so you must RSVP. If you RSVP you must pay The $10 if you can’t make it. Check payable to Tampa Bay Mensa

Contact Art Schwartz [email protected] call in evenings only 813-818-8109. More info on their website wackywalks.com

I started Early — Took my Dog — And visited the Sea —

The Mermaids in the Basement

Came out to look at me —

And Frigates — in the Upper Floor

Extended Hempen Hands —

Presuming Me to be a Mouse —

Aground — upon the Sands — …

~ Emily Dickinson

mailto:[email protected]

My Favorite Websites.

One of my favorite websites is curious.com. Every day theyfeature a “workout” of a very interesting group of articlesand videos. The idea is get 8 points. Each article and video

is worth anywhere from 1 to 8 points. If you arecompetitive you keep going until you have 8 points;

otherwise until you have read enough. There is a widerange of topics such as science, art, pop culture, history,Music etc; a topic for everyone. Below is an article fromtoday’s workout. I hope you have a favorite website that

you can share with the Sounding’s readers.

Talk about complicated relationships! These two intertwinedfigures have a total of twelve arms between them, and the

larger one has three faces. The Buddhist deity Guhyasamaja ,which means "secret union," represents an enlightened being.The figures are two pillars of Buddhism, wisdom and compas-sion; their physical union represents the ultimate state of en-

lightenment. According to Vajrayana Buddhist tradition,practitioners who meditate on the Guhyasamaja achieve a

state of blessed wisdom more quickly, possibly in a single life-time (according to Buddhism, those who don't achieve enlight-enment must go through repeated rounds of reincarnation). Inearly China, where the sculpture was made, pieces like this

were created by court artisans as gifts for distinguished monksor for members of royalty. The sculpture is included in the ex-

hibit, Divine Bodies, showing at San Francisco's Asian ArtMuseum through July 29th. The exhibit poses the question,"How can we recognizance the divine in the human, and the

human in the divine?" The Buddhist deity Guhyasamaja, with

its very human features and luminous expression, is an extra-ordinary combination of both.

TBM ExComm Meeting Minutes — April 14, 2018

Location: Sylvia’s house Meeting called to order at 3 pm. Members present: Art Schwartz, Linda Christina, Tammy Hicks, Lisa Blair, Melissa Stephens, and Sylvia Zadorozny.Members absent: Kathy Crum. Minutes of the previous meeting were already approved by the ExCommvia email. Reports Scribe: Before the meeting, Sylvia emailed: Preliminary minutes of theFebruary 24 meeting were emailed to the ExComm on the morning of

February 26th. A couple of revisions were received and incorporated in the next couple of days, and the revised version was approved by ExComm members, then printed in the April Sounding. This is the first time in a while that full minutes have been printed in the Sounding for allthe membership to read.

Treasurer: Kathy emailed this morning: I don't know what was approved for the 2018 budget, so I took some guesses from Sylvia's notes. I don't know where the Misc. Income is coming from, other than atransfer from the savings account. This will definitely use up some of our excess funds. I'm working on the Annual Report for National, and it should be ready by 4/30/18. That is all for now. Kathy also emailed financial reports, which we briefly discussed at the meeting.Kathy was officially appointed as Treasurer.

Testing Coordinator: We need to appoint someone. We discussed finding sites—are we willing to pay for sites? Need more proctors too. Linda asked about what is involved in being testing coordinator, but not a proctor (doesn’t have degree). Lisa and Melissa might be proctors. Linda will take on testing coordinator if we’ll help her when she has questions.Linda is appointed as Testing Coordinator. Scholarship: We don’t have a Scholarship Coordinator at the moment. Will search and appoint this at next meeting. Gifted Youth Coordinator: Melissa is getting ready for the RG. Working with a father on science-based projects. Maybe have a Wesley Chapel youth event/bowling. Publicity: We need to replace David Fleming, who moved to another city. Post the need for a volunteer. Mensa Cares event was part of publicity. Program Officer: Lisa emailed this morning:Ongoing Monthly Events Games Night 2nd, 3rd and Last SaturdayVery strong participation at 2nd and Last Saturday Games Night. Much thanks to event hosts Sylvia and Melissa.The new games night hosted by Joanne Gaddy in the north part of our area is just being established. Joanne has been added to Region 10 Facebook group so she can invite folks in group north of ours.Movie event for April on Face book posted by Joanne. I thanked her for her active involvement.Picnic at Dog Beach hosted by Dave Bryant in March was successful. 12participants not including dogs. Thanks Dave and Ranger.Spring Picnic was very well attended and fun. The venue was fantastic. Thanks to Sylvia and other willing helpers. I spoke to several folks there who seemed interested in hosting events and will follow up with me on guidance and support on what to do.Mensa Cares event at Feeding Tampa Bay had 7 participants April 10. Photos were taken and posted on Facebook Page. Thanks to all!

New Monthly event started in April for Gourmensans at a Korean restaurant had 7 guests. May event will do a Vietnamese restaurant. Thanks to event leaders Ronnie Dubbs and Lisa Blair.Living Social/Groupon program started. Details posted in March Sounding.Adventure Walk (Wacky Walks): event leader Art.Bowling: Melissa may do one voucher as young Mensan event. Lisa will do the other voucher.Escape Room: Just Purchased. Have interest from Jacki to be event leader. Calendar Editor: Before the meeting, Sylvia emailed: Since our last ExComm meeting, the following new events have occurred or been added to our calendar: Dog Day at the Beach, Feeding Tampa Bay/Mensa Cares, and Gourmensan dinners, as well as our Spring Picnic, and (upcoming) Margarita Bay/RG. It looks like group activities are starting to pick up again, thanks to Program Officer Lisa Blair and event hosts. Editor: Art is putting together this month’s Sounding. Having trouble with formatting, some material is protected. Tammy might take over as Editor after the RG, but suggested let’s advertise it as an open position. Melissa may have materials from youth. Webmaster: No report. (Kathy’s not here.) Membership: Tammy reported we currently have close to 600 members(114 lapsed members). If we contact lapsed members, we get 50cents if we document it—phone call or email okay. Now 44,000 members in American Mensa. Deputy LocSec: Before the meeting, Sylvia emailed: Art is skillfully handling LocSec duties, so Deputy LocSec Sylvia has nothing to report. LocSec: Before the meeting, Art emailed: I think our biggest challenge is recruiting members to take on volunteer tasks and some permanent

positions. We still need to find people to fill some of the jobs like Testing Coordinator, Publicity Officer, Editor and ExComm member. Additionally we need people to help with testing. Both proctors and "scouts" to find testing sites. I would also like to discuss creating a data repository for our community wisdom. An electronic file cabinet where jobs and tasks information could be available. I am struggling putting together this month's Sounding, getting used to the software. I have most the submissions in but formatting and dealing with "protected data" is still an issue. Hopefully it won't be March 2018 forever. Fall Picnic director: Looking for a fall picnic director. Winter Social Director: We’ll wait to see finances (after RG) before deciding whether to try a cruise this year. Spring Picnic: Before the meeting, Sylvia emailed: I estimate we had a total of between 50 and 60 attendees altogether, although not all at the same time; some guests arrived after others had already left. There was ample food, with some, but not an excessive amount, left over at the end. Art and Sapir brought tables with tablecloths to hold food contributions, which freed up shelter picnic tables for guests to sit down. Jerry Fortner, new to our group, manned the grill; we had hot dogs, hamburgers, and veggie burgers to choose from, with a wide assortment of condiments. Sylvia took photos which she posted on facebook and sent in to the Sounding. A few of us stayed late playing Quiddler, and the picnic, which started about 11 AM, wrapped up just after 5 PM. The weather was perfect, the venue (R.E. Olds Park on Tampa Bay) picturesque, the company charming, and everyone seemed to have a good time. Success! J Election Committee: Haven’t heard from Dave. RG: Tammy will send out email for publicity to entire TBM email list, talking about some programs planned, doesn’t yet have grid. Barbecue

will be on Sunday this year. Need to rent appliances. Need count for meal captains. Extensive RG discussion. People are having trouble registering online because of problems with website. Social media: No report from Belinda. Maybe we could have a page for non-members as well as one for members. Historian: No report. Other Reports? Lisa reported roughly 1/3 of members are on our facebook group, wants to recruit more members to it after the RG. Old Business Need to appoint replacements for ExComm and Editor. Summer Social—do we need to appoint Director, separate from RG director? Melissa will work with Tammy on this. Keep printing ExComm minutes. No other old business. New Business Post volunteer opportunities in Sounding. Testing in Sun City Center—Manasota has a proctor that is willing. We hope to be contacted with names of those tested, and maybe take back testing if we can get a proctor down there. Need to create electronic depository of information so we don’t lose knowledge, like Sharepoint, Google Docs, or Box. Already have some stuff on our Yahoogroups. Tammy is archivist. Ronan had Gantt charts.

Need major events and officer functions. Linda and Tammy might set this up. Post in Sounding: need content, Publicity Officer, Scholarship Chair, Editor, scouts and proctors for testing, fall picnic director, and ExComm members. Maybe think about reducing ExComm from nine to seven members. Maybe have a leadership development workshop. New business for nextmeeting. Next meeting: Saturday, June 2, at 4 pm, at Lisa Blair’s in New Tampa. Meeting adjourned at 6 pm.

Felix Martin’s Money: An Unauthorized Biography, a review by Jim Perry

In late 2008—less than two months after Lehman Brothers had gone bankrupt amid a global economic crisis—Queen Elizabeth II conducted aceremony at the London School of Economics, “the world’s oldest academic institution devoted to teaching and research in economics.” She asked the assembled faculty and dignitaries a simple question: “Whyhad none of you seen the crisis coming?” The British Academy quickly convened a series of meetings to come up with an answer, and ten months later told her that “nobody had seen the big picture.” (p. 185) Martin’s book is about the big picture of money—not merely the way it appears on coins and paper, but the way it works. It turns out that there are two logical schools of thought regarding money, the realists claiming that money simply is the coin of the realm—tin, wampum, stone wheels, silver, gold: a commodity—and the nominalists claiming that money is none of thesethings but is, rather, transferable credit. The issue is trust: realists believe they can’t trust anybody but God, and nominalists believe we can’t have a civil society without trusting each other. The big picture is what we call variously the context, the framework, the frame of reference, the perspective, the viewpoint. The big picture of a thing relates that thing to everything else in that frame of reference, but not to anything outside that frame of reference. A certain move in a game of golf might be a winning move in that game, but not a winning move in the wider world of trying to get along with your spouse, your child, or your commanding officer. Thinking of money as an end in itself is for coin collectors, not for people who use money to transact business in society. Ifmoney were really good in itself, then King Midas would have been right towant to turn everything—everything!—into gold. The Greeks knew better: if money were good in itself, there would be no limit to the good of acquiringmore of it. (pp. 150-155)

And no limit to the bad of giving it away charitably. Martin describes the horrifying decision at the highest levels of British government to allow millions of Irish to starve to death during the famine that began in 1845. How much we have forgotten since the Greeks is described here at great length in detail I find as fascinating as the logic. Adam Smith and John Stuart Mill, two of the founding giants of modern economics, turn out to have been wrong. So was their predecessor, John Locke. All were realists—Martin called then ‘naturalists’—who subscribed passionately to the Protestant belief that getting money was an unquestionable good—absolutely good, good no matter what. Either they hadn’t heard of Midas, or they had forgotten. Their writings and argumentsare cited at length: see for yourself. This may all be a consequence of the fact that we’re new at the business of being human—able to exercise judgment—and many of us don’t see free will and judgment as a viable option. For them, judgment is outside their frame of reference. It appears indistinguishable from randomness, and we all know how diabolical that is. Proposing that there are questions we cannot ask is a way of reducing the risk of getting answers we don’t like. Martin’s own view surfaces several times in the book, most obviously in theconcluding chapter. “The right criteria for choosing its [i.e., money’s] standard are not consistency and accuracy—as they are for a physical unit of measurement—but fairness and justice, or whatever you want to call the characteristic quality of a well-governed society.” (p. 258) Martin claims that “the purpose is to achieve fairness and prosperity.” (p. 265) His two big issues are, first, to what extent money should coordinate social life, and,second, how are we to prevent corruption. “Today, for the first time in a generation or more, many people—and in particular those without a vested interest in business as usual—are losing faith in the ability of the current economic system to deliver peace, prosperity, freedom, and fairness.” (p. 269) The solution, it turns out, is for an educated populace to decide what’sfair and supervise with relentless care. This, therefore, is the real point of

democracy: to decide what the money should be used for, and to oversee relentlessly the process by which it is in fact used for that. I want to add an additional observation, based on my earlier reading of MaxWeber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Rise of Capitalism. If I have not misread my Protestants, the getting of money was for them the measure of divine love, so the more money you have, the nearer you are to God. Conversely, giving money to those who don’t already have plenty is not merely foolish but a violation of divine will: the point of their suffering is to inspire them toimprove their own condition. These are two stories—two inventions, both of them probably self-serving and neither of them provable. Do we owe our brethren love, or do we owethem tough love? I don’t see any reason why the human race should exist, let alone survive for some number of generations, nor do I see any reason why any individual should exist. We do exist, and within limits we can choose whether to keep on existing. We can also choose to care about others, or not. We need to find out what’s in it for us, don’t we? And that takes us beyond what money can do, to what it should do. What’s the best thing wealth can do for those who possess it? It might sustain us and help us to find out. This entertaining and informative book, which tells us much about what can be done to money, may help us decide what is to be done with it. There are 17 illustrations, 24 pp. of Notes, a 9 p. bibliography, and a 7 p. Index.

Robert Bendiner’s Just Around the Corner, a review by Jim Perry

This is a delightful and illuminating book, not only about the Thirties but about our own time. Bendiner certainly knows how to write. To take just one instance, he opens Chapter 3 (p. 48) with this: "If it was hard in the long run for the well-to-do to forgive President Roosevelt for having saved them from the consequences of their folly, it was next to impossible to forgive him when he tried to make sure they wouldn't repeat it. As he wenthis merry way preserving the American rich from future revolution, they became first annoyed, then resentful, and at length, though not too great length, hysterical." That's not glib and it's not hyperbole, for that's pretty exactly what happened. (It also happens to be an accurate appraisal of Paul Ryan and the Koch brothers, and all their co-conspirators working today to preserve and multiply their wealth.) The author was 21 when the Thirties began, and 31 when they ended. (He published this book in 1967, after mature reflection.) During the Thirties he worked as a journalist, staff writer, and editor for several different publications, accumulating a wide range of professional experiences to supplement his and his family's personal experiences suffering through the Great Depression. He developed a sharp eye and retained his sense of humor through it all. Nine chapters describe, starting with Chapter 1, various true horrors of the Depression, and the deliberate efforts of the Hoover Administration to make it worse. Chapter 2 describes the start of FDR's efforts to make it better, including a Public Works Administration that built Boulder Dam and the aircraft carriers Yorktown and Enterprise. I did not know that. FDR's theory was that for every American put to work for wages, two other Americans would also find employment. And then, Chapter 3 describes in detail what it was like to have far more than enough money to tide you over the entire Depression while living in terror of having it taken away from you by Those People at the bottom of the social scale. (The more things change, the more they remain the same, eh?)

Chapter 6 (p. 158) reports FDR's 1936 campaign speech in which he said, "Governments can err, Presidents do make mistakes... But the immortal Dante tells us that divine justice weighs the sins of the cold-blooded and the sins of the warm-hearted on different scales. Better the faults of a Government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions ofa Government frozen in the ice of its own indifference.... There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations, much is given. Of others much is expected. This generation has a rendezvous with destiny." It appears that FDR was a pretty good writer, himself. Chapter 7 does a masterful job of showing how FDR's Administration fostered and supported the arts in all their many forms. I had no idea how much money was invested as part of what Gutzon Borglum described (p. 200) as an effort to awaken human interest in the arts. The WPA "spawnedno Mozarts." What it did instead was "to see many a talent through exceedingly thin days and to expose to those talents millions of Americans who would otherwise have remained forever innocent of anything like theircharms." There is an 8-page Index, and 24 pages of illustrations and 24 pages of photographs. This book sheds useful and interesting light on an era that profoundly changed our country in some ways, while changing our ruling class not at all. * * * I have in hand another book, titled Only Yesterday, written by Frederick Lewis Allen and published in 1931, which offers a similar overview of the Twenties. Allen's book was apparently popular, as my copy is from the thirty-fourth printing. I expect it will shed equally useful and interesting light on another recent era that also changed our country in some ways, while changing our ruling class not at all.

2017-2018 Tampa Bay Mensa Officers

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE➢Local SecretaryArt Schwartz 1909 Dover CtOldsmar, FL [email protected]

➢Deputy LocSecSylvia Zadorozny asstlocsec@ tampa .us.mensa.org

➢TreasurerKathy Crum

[email protected]

➢AuditorKevin Brawner [email protected]

➢Calendar EditorSylvia Zadorozny [email protected] ➢Gifted Youth CoordinatorMelissa Stephens 11111 N. 20th Street Tampa , FL 33612813-476-5405 giftedyouth@ tampa.us.mensa.org

➢Programs OfficerLisa Blair 18244 Collridge Dr Tampa, FL 33647 240-205-1684 jazzergirl@verizon

➢PublisherMelissa Stephens 813-476-5405 [email protected]

➢Scholarship Chair➢Vacantscholarship@ tampa.us.mensa.org

➢ScribeSylvia Zadorozny [email protected]

➢Testing CoordinatorLinda [email protected]

➢WebmasterKathy Crumwebmaster@ tampa.us.mensa.org

OTHER OFFICERS➢EditorArthur Schwartz

➢[email protected]

➢Membership OfficerTammy Hicksmembership@ tampa.us.mensa.org

➢ArchivistTammy Hicks

➢Editorial BoardArt Schwartz Thomas Thomas Melissa Stephens

➢Election SupervisorDave Bryant 16057 Tampa Palms Blvd. #150 Tampa FL 33647 [email protected]

➢Nominating Committee Chair Vacant

➢OmbudsmanMaran Fulvi ombudsman@ tampa.us.mensa.org

➢ProctorsThomas Thomas Kay Shapiro Jay Johnson

➢Publicity [email protected]

➢SIGHT CoordinatorMelissa Stephens [email protected]

➢

➢Social Directors Tammy Hicks (Fall) Art Schwartz (Winter) Sylvia Zadorozny (Spring)

Melissa Stephens (Summer) Tammy Hicks (2018 RG)

ASSISTANT OFFICERS➢Asst TreasurerVacant

➢Asst Webmasters Blinda Nemeth

➢Asst GYCKay & Steve Shapiro

➢Asst Programs Officers

Melissa Stephens Sylvia Zadorozny

➢Social Media Dir. Beinda Nemeth

REGIONAL CONTACTS➢RVC, Region 10Thomas George Thomas27647 Sky Lake Circle Wesley Chapel, FL 33544 [email protected]

FB:https://www.facebook.com/thomas.g.thomas

Twitter: @FardleBear

Tampa Bay Sounding (USPS 305-830) is published monthly by Tampa Bay Mensa

at 11111 N 20th St, Tampa, FL 33612

Periodicals postage paid at Tampa, FL

https://www.facebook.com/thomas.g.thomas

https://www.facebook.com/thomas.g.thomas

























mailto:asstlocsec@tampa

mailto:asstlocsec@tampa


tel:813-343-8850

Pos

tmas

ter:

Sen

d A

ddre

ss C

hang

es to

:

Tam

pa B

ay S

ound

ing

TIM

E S

EN

SIT

IVE

MA

TE

RIA

L

tampa.us.mensa.orgtampa.us.mensa.org/soundings/sounding_2018_05.pdf · articles, puzzles, jokes,...

Documents