Contents

President’s Column by Beth Rappaport

Greetings Palm Beach Area Mensans,

The first invoices from American Mensa regarding membership renewals for 2023-2024 have gone out. It is never too soon to renew, and our group enjoys seeing the lists of continuing members. Your membership means so much to us and we hope you enjoy being part of our organization. If you are unsure about renewing, please do not hesitate to reach out and share your concerns. Contact details are listed in this newsletter.

Last month I had a pop-up trivia contest with two questions. I am certain you were in suspense since the last newsletter, so I am happy to share the answers with you.

Q: How many counties are within our group's boundaries ?

A: Seven

Q: What are the names of those counties?

A: Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Okeechobee, Highlands*, Glades, and Hendry*

Sincerely,
Beth

* Only a portion

Notes from the Disk of the Editor... by Dan Tobias

I have been informed that my predecessor as editor, Molly Leban, has passed on 12/16/22. (Laura Bulawski, Molly's frequent roommate at AGs, told me about this.) After being editor she also served as LocSec for a few years, and did lots of other volunteer work for Mensa over the years. To this day, a lot of the content and formatting of these newsletters still takes after the publication she put out that I inherited (though of course I've put my own touch on it as all editors do). We will all miss her.

Like other Mensa members whose memberships expire this April Fools Day (anyone without a life membership or a multi-year membership that goes past this year) I received a renewal notice. I plan on renewing, and I hope you do too!

On to a subject I like to go on about (and still don't hear much from readers on whether they enjoy or are offended by it... please write in, both favorably and unfavorably; I don't bite!): "woke" language policing. A particularly silly example of this has just turned up; an office within the University of Southern California's School of Social Work has declared the word "field" to be racist because it supposedly reminds people of agricultural work done by slaves and migrant farm workers. So no more being outstanding in your field (or out standing in your field if you're a farmer); academic field work is now "practicum work", using an obscure Latin word (until somebody declares that Latin is too Western-centric and insists they substitute Swahili or Navajo).

This seems at the moment to be just an outlier, not a massive trend; no other institutions have followed suit, and most people at least privately think this is silly, though there seems to be a lot of social pressure to stay silent about it if you do think that's going too far, lest you attract the ire of people like a social worker association president quoted in the NPR article about it as saying "I don't know what going too far means... Does that mean going too far to treat people with dignity and respect and remove all language that oppresses people? Then kudos to that department." Such people can get you canceled in some circles.

Nonetheless, when I asked the sometimes-woke ChatGPT about it, it said "I'm sorry, but I am not aware of any evidence to support the claim that the word ‘field' perpetuates anti-Blackness, or that it should be avoided in academia. ‘Field' is a commonly used word in a variety of academic disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, and geography, to describe research that is conducted outside of the laboratory in a natural or real-world setting." (ChatGPT likes to say it's sorry.)

So, do I have to stop talking about strawberry fields forever? And is Sally Field politically incorrect too?

The latter might not be a total loss, if it puts a damper on the incessant promotion for her latest movie, 80 for Brady. I mean, it's a vaguely interesting movie I'll probably watch once it reaches home video, but the studio's marketing types seem to be really going into overdrive pushing it. You can't turn on the TV without seeing something about it, whether it's the heavily repeated commercials or segments about it on every talk, variety, and news show, morning, afternoon, evening, and late-night. And the movie isn't even out yet as I write this.

Those marketers must have been annoyed when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost in the playoffs, so that Brady won't be in the Super Bowl, something that would have presumably been helpful for a film centering on a Brady Super Bowl premiering right around that time. This might be the end of the story of a man named Brady, or maybe not... he still hasn't said for sure whether he's retiring or coming back for another year, and he's already retired and un-retired twice.

Also in the NFL playoffs, being from New York myself, I have lots of family members who are disappointed the Giants lost to the Eagles, but I do know a big Eagles fan down here in Florida and will probably see the Super Bowl at his house (first time I've gone out of my house on Super Bowl day since Covid), so I kind of hope the Eagles go on to it; that'll be fun.

RVC Message by Thomas George Thomas, Region 10 Vice Chair

In my previous column, I mentioned that the next meeting of the American Mensa Committee (AMC) would be in January or February, but schedules among the AMC members didn't align, so the Spring meeting will be held at the National Office in Hurst, TX on Saturday, March 11, 2023. The Late Spring meeting will be held remotely on Saturday, May 20, and the Summer meeting will be held at the Annual Gathering in Baltimore on Thursday, July 6. Details on all of these meetings will be posted in advance under their respective dropdowns at https://www.us.mensa.org/lead/amc/meeting-reports/

In my December column, I mentioned that there would be a change coming to the Region 10 Members Community on Mensa Connect. All members of Region 10 (Florida) are automatically enrolled in this Community, with a choice on how to see messages (Real Time, Digest, or Online (No Mail)). Some members were using it for open discussion, yet while some of these discussions were interesting, they drove other members to turn off all notices from this Community to avoid unsolicited email. The result was that members were missing information directly related to Mensa events, such as local group Zoom meetings or the Regional Gathering in Central Florida.

A new Subcommunity called Region 10 General Discussion has been created to accommodate those who want to have open discussions. This is an opt-in Subcommunity, which means members will have to request to join. Members of Region 10 will automatically be accepted upon request. To join this list, please visit https://connect.us.mensa.org/communities/local-groups/region-10 and click Region 10 Members Community, then click the Subcommunities tab on the far right. There will be a link to Region 10 General Discussion that you can select. Alternatively, you can log in to https://connect.us.mensa.org/home and type General Discussion in the search box, which will provide links to General Discussion (all American Mensa members have access to this community) and Region 10 General Discussion (open only to Florida members).

Now that this Subcommunity has launched, topics in the Region 10 Members Community will be limited to Mensa matters only. It will continue to be open automatically to all Florida members, but no off-topic discussions

In prior odd-numbered years, this is the time when the American Mensa election season would be kicking off. But in 2019, a Bylaws referendum was passed to change the term length from two years to three, and the election won't be happening until 2024.

I don't expect to be running for RVC again next year, since I'm in my fifth term and that's the longest anyone has ever served as RVC in American Mensa. It's important to have leadership volunteers preparing for the next cycle so you don't wind up having me appointed again. Ideally, there would be a nominating committee to seek qualified candidates, but another Bylaws referendum in 2015 removed the Nominating Committee, so candidates are self-selecting. From both personal experience and observation, most newly-elected members of the AMC are unprepared for the difference in process from serving at the national level as opposed to the local level, and an RVC is not a "Super-LocSec", as one person thought it was. It has, however, been a gratifying experience to serve in the role, and I recommend it for anyone who is willing to put forth the commitment.

I would suggest that anyone interested in serving at the national level get their feet wet by checking the Volunteer Marketplace (https://www.us.mensa.org/volunteer/volunteer-marketplace/) to see if there are any positions that interest you. At this writing, there are six positions available on the National Membership Committee, and other positions open up throughout the year, especially in July. Additionally, I will be posting information on various roles on the Region 10 Members Community to give people a better sense of what is going on, so make sure you're set up to get those messages.

Until next month (or until I see you online),

Thomas George Thomas
Email: RVC10@us.mensa.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thomas.g.thomas
Mensa Connect https://connect.us.mensa.org/communities/local-groups/region-10
Region 10 Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MensaRegion10/

Letter to the Editor, by Ed Wujcia

Dan,

I enjoyed the AI artwork and the AI story.The AI writing isn't graceful yet, but it's scary-good.

In the first picture from the holiday party, I am pictured between John Dassau and Denisa Sorensen. Unfortunately, the picture is not me, but another Ed, a better-looking one at that, named Ed Sorensen.

Please recalibrate your facial recognition software.

Regards
Ed Wujcia

Editor's Note: No AI was involved in captioning the pictures, so I must take responsibility for the error. Sorry.

Treasurer's Report, by Leslie Trowbridge

Palm Beach County Mensa Balance Sheet as of 12/31/2022
Assets:
Checking/Savings:
PNC Money Market $7,354.52
PNC Bus. Checking $2,082.62
Total Assets $9,347.14

Liabilities and Equity
Liabilities $0
Total Equity $9,347.14
Net Worth $9,347.14

Income Statement for January 1 - December 31, 2022
Income
Local Group Support $5,062.85
Interest earned $0.73
Total Income $5,063.58

Expense
Newsletter $3,766.72
Bank Charge $1.68
Local Functions and Meetings $1,530.78
Total Expense $5,299.18

Net Loss $235.60

Seasons 52 Review, by Elissa Rudolph

The first Second Sunday dinner of 2023 proved that best-laid plans sometimes do not stay put. We reserved for 6, and ended up with 12, which the restaurant could not accommodate in one group. A few dropped out and the final number was 9. Six is actually a good number to start with, but some establishments want to either charge to make a reservation or are unmovable on the initial number. If we had knowledge of future events, then then we would have reserved for 9 to begin with. All who showed up were seated, but in two groups: Steven Wallach and Barbara, Dan Tobias, Nancy and David Jauvtis, Don Jacobs, Sharron Ronco, Debbie Williams and Elissa Rudolph. A fine time was had by all! Join us for February's Second Sunday Dinner at Kaluz, in Wellington.

Theodore Talk, by Brad Lucht

The title of the February Theodore Talk is, "Comedy is a Funny Business". This virtual event will take place on Zoom February 26 at 2:30 CT. (3:30 ET)

From class clown to comedy kingpin, Dustin Kauffman has been making people laugh, one way or another, for most of his life. He first appeared in front of a crowd at an open mic night in 1999. He started touring in 2003, appearing in clubs in New York, Chicago, Seattle and Los Angeles. Tired of life on the road, he returned to Kansas City in 2014, where he ... sold flooring. Which he was very good at. But still, it didn't carry the same thrill as entertaining people. So he began thinking about his own comedy club. In the summer of 2018 he signed a 5-year lease on what used to be a Waid's Diner, and before that a small four-screen movie theatre. In April of 2019 the Comedy Club of Kansas City opened. At least for a while, until Covid shut it down.

Dustin will talk about what it is like to run a comedy club. From obtaining a liquor license to booking comedians like Andy Dick, Andrew Dice Clay, Emo Philips, Margaret Cho, Paul Rodriguez and Marsha Warfield, it may not be as funny as you think.

Register at https://tinyurl.com/3v7ejms5 .

You must register with an email address associated with your Zoom account. If you don't have one, you can sign up for a free Zoom account at https://zoom.us/signup.

Short Science Fiction — 1984 Revisited, by Greg Krumney

"You are dead," said the voice from the telescreen, "Remain exactly where you are. Make no movement until you are so ordered."

Julia and Winston stood frozen, waiting for the Thought Police to arrive. To break a rule meant punishment, blows from the police. They didn't have to wait long. Every twitch, every hint of movement was punished with a blow from a truncheon.

They had endured several minutes of this when the room erupted in shouts, then screams. The police seemed to be losing their footing and fell to the ground twitching.

"Good thing they had the electricity on today," said a man in coveralls. "If you stay where you are," he pointed to the shiny area of the floor where they were standing, "until we clear this," he gestured to immobile bodies, "rubbish away, you'll be free to go."

He looked at their panicked faces. "No more will come. Those watching the screen will see you struck over and over. He smiled, "It's on a loop."

He led them out of the building and a crowd-filled street. A Police Patrol helicopter lay burning on the side of a hill, downed by several pieces of rope attached to stones.

--

The Ministry of Truth was being fed lies. Between the telescreens in the Ministry and the Proles neighborhoods lay a grey nondescript building. Hidden under the false floor were banks and banks of machines. The images on the Ministry's screens repeated every seven days, showing the same good thinking behavior over and over.

The reality was quite different. Freed from the constant surveillance, the people spoke of those had been disappeared, of torture endured. Hate Week had been going on for over a month and the building rage was aimed at Big Brother and all he stood for.

Thought Police sent out to patrol disappeared without a trace.

--

The insurgency spread from city to city. Disrupting the surveillance network was the first priority. It wasn't complicated or difficult -- years of complacency left the video feeds open to tampering. Next came the training. "Teach your children," was the code phrase. Finally, they attacked the Ministry of Love to liberate weapons. Once freed, some prisoners took vengeance on their guards, locking them in cells filled with their own rats. When the guards could no longer remain awake, they fell to the ground and were quickly consumed.

--

A faint haze of smoke hung over Oceania. Black smoke wafted out of the giant white buildings that housed government activities. Most of the telescreens were dark, some due to the power outage, others lay in the streets, torn from their mounts and cast it out a window.

Only the capital city remained...

--

Mr. Obrien stood stiffly. "Yes sir, you should be safe in here. These walls will hold off an army if needed." Suddenly the lights flickered and went out. Somewhere a generator started and they came back on. There was a rumbling sound coming from doors, from the crowd onside.

"Launch the weapon. If we destroy the city, they will give up the struggle. We kill everyone we can find, broadcast the carnage and it'll be over," said the portly man with the ubiquitous face.

"Launch confirmed, sir," said a minion from the Ministry of Peace. He studied the console with growing alarm. "The target coordinates keep changing. Someone else has control..." "The target is now...us." The remaining ministers and Big Brother rushed to the doors. Stones and trash piled outside held them shut.

Mr. Obrien approached Big Brother and addressed him, "You disappeared my wife, my children. You unpersoned my mother." He pulled out a small weapon and fired. His minions stepped back as Big Brother grabbed his knee and fell to the ground. "Nasty little gun," Obrien said, looking at the weapon, "a gift from your friends at the Ministry of Love. We'll all be dead in a few more minutes, but you'll go first. Even now, the bullet is grinding its way to your heart. When it reaches the target, it will explode. If only briefly, you'll know the fear, anger and pain you brought all of us.

Short Science Fiction by Greg Krumrey. Reprinted by permission from MSLaneous, the newsletter of St. Louis Area Mensa.

Birthdays

New Arrivals

Joined: Charles Bierds (Stuart)
MoveIn: Jeffrey Blum (Lake Worth)
Joined: Brooke Buchbinder (Palm Beach Gardens)
Rejoin: Neil Evangelista (Boca Raton)
Joined: Brett Flynn (Port St Lucie)
Rejoin: Gerald Roth (Delray Beach)
Joined: Milo Thomas (Port St Lucie)
Joined: Colby Zimmerman (Lake Worth)

Departures

MoveOut: Katrina Waite (Casselberry)
Also, former editor/LocSec Molly Leban deceased December 16, 2022.

Mensaversaries

CURRENT STATS: 200 paper, 260 electronic.

NOTE: Mensaversaries are calculated by the National Office based on continuous membership. Lapses of 1 year or more "reset" the join date. If you believe your record is in error, contact the National Office at 817-607-0060, or MembershipDirector@americanmensa.org.

2022 - 2024 PALM BEACH AREA MENSA LOCAL GROUP OFFICERS & VOLUNTEERS

* ExComm Board

Web: palmbeach.us.mensa.org   Facebook: PalmBeachAreaMensa
Meetup: mensa-100   Mensa Connect: Palm Beach Area Mensa

Mensans Eat, Meet & Greet and...

Check for updates on Meetup and Facebook, and be sure to RSVP there or by phone/email, as details are subject to change.

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Some of the things exhibited at the Morikami Museum, photographed by Elissa Rudolph. Bonsai trees and things made of paper.