HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: hollombe@polymath.tti.com (The Polymath)
Subject: Re: Mensa national versus local, New York City
Organization: The Cat Factory
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 19:28:06 GMT

In article <26Jul92001200@miracle.com> phil@miracle.com (Phil Hill) writes:
}hollombe@polymath.tti.com (The Polymath) writes:
}>
}>GLAAM manages to print and distribute thousands of copies of a 32 - 40
}>page newsletter every month with available funds.
}>
}>The newsletter money from American Mensa is supposed to be enough to
}>publish a calendar of local events and mail it out first class, period.
}>Financing anything more is up to the local group.  I suggest you start by
}>applying for a 2nd class permit, as we did.  Then consider taking on some
}>advertising for additional revenue, as we do.
}
}Jerry, you had better check your facts here.  I am under the impression that
}GLAAM suplements it's newsletter through contributions from the members of
}it's group.  I've seen the GLAAM newsletter, and it's impressive.  But there
}is _NO_ way they can produce it on the budget given by national.

Please re-read what I wrote.  My whole point is that further funding is up
to the local group.  That said, I've been a member of GLAAM since 1976 and
I've never paid more than my annual dues for the newsletter.  However, as
I noted above, "Lament" carries a lot of advertising.

}Can you explain how GLAAM produces a newsletter twice our size, with two-color
}glossy covers for *LESS* then we do?  And you should note that 2nd class postage
}for a 8 1/2 x 11 newsletter is HIGHER than that for a 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 newsletter.

Our covers aren't glossy and seldom two-color.  We went to the 8.5 x 11
format because it's cheaper to produce that size. (I'm not familiar with
the details of the decision, but that's what they told me when I asked
about the switch).  Likewise, the cover and internal artwork takes
production costs into account.  We avoid some things because they require
heavier, more expensive presses to produce.

}Books open to inspection: I get a copy of the Mensa financial statment.  It's
}as vague as they come.  There are no details.

Have you asked to see the details?  I haven't, but I'd be very surprised
if they weren't forthcoming.  Perhaps Ms. Cooper would care to comment.

}If billion dollar corparations can move their headquarters, I'd say that Mensa
}could do it also.

I never said they couldn't or shouldn't -- only that the decision might
not be as straightforward as it first appears.

The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe, M.A., CDP, aka: hollombe@polymath.tti.com)
Head Robot Wrangler at Citicorp                   Turn the rascals out!
3100 Ocean Park Blvd.   (310) 450-9111, x2483     No incumbents in '92!
Santa Monica, CA  90405 {rutgers|pyramid|philabs|psivax}!ttidca!hollombe
From: SSR48327@VAX1.UTULSA.EDU (Syed Shibli)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: Why GREENSleaves?
Date: 25 Jul 92 23:38:52 GMT
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mcbeanb@brandonu.ca writes:

>In article <1992Jul23.134510.4261@ugle.unit.no>, mortenaa@Lise.Unit.NO (Morten Aagaard) writes:
>> Why is most vegetation green? Is this a result of random evolution or
>> is there any particular reason for not growing blue?
>
>Cuz the chlorophyll pigments make them green...  without chlorophyll you
>get a real dull plant that's no fun at parties.

  I remember extracting some cholorophyll from a few leaves as part of
  Biology lab. Pure cholorophyll is actually more bluish than green.
  I think the green hue comes from the mixture of sugar and the
  cholorophyll itself. 

-- 
                                              --Syed Shibli
                                                ssr48327@vax1.utulsa.edu
                                                +1 918 631 3257
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
From: johnson@sleipnir.mnesouth.corp.mot.com (Mark Johnson)
Subject: Re: Why GREENSleaves?
Reply-To: johnson@sleipnir.mnesouth.corp.mot.com
Organization: Motorola Wireless Enterprises, Schaumburg, IL
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 15:07:49 GMT

In article <1992Jul24.074017.21569@u.washington.edu>, jswthomp@milton.u.washington.edu (James Thompson) writes:
=)In article <711950747.F00004@blkcat.UUCP> Dave.Aronson@f120.n109.z1.fidonet.org (Dave Aronson) writes:
=)
=)>Of course, the ultimate would be something that absorbed ALL colors (unless
=)>maybe there's some reason I'm missing).  So why didn't plants based on some
=)>black catalyst predominate?  Maybe they just didn't happen to happen - one must
=)>keep in mind the statistical nature of evolution and mutation.  Or maybe in
=)>spite of reflecting some colors, chlorophyll happens to work best of all the
=)>stuff that happened to happen.  The world may never know....
=)
=)Nothing to do with plants or chlorophyll, but I remember reading in a book
=)about solar water heaters, that the best substance for painting the pipes was
=)not black, but happened to be either green or brown, I don't remember which.
=)It seems that there is more power available in the infrared portion of the
=)solar spectrum than anywhere else, and this particular substance absorbed
=)infrared better than most black paints do.  The difference was enough to
=)more than offset some slight inefficiency in the green wavelengths.  Could
=)be a similar tradeoff in chlorophyll?
=)
Perhaps there were once black plants, but they all died of boredom?
-- 
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  "Johnson"                              | "                               " |
|  johnson@sleipnir.mnesouth.corp.mot.com |               -- Marcel Marceau   |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  Disclaimer:  It's just my Tourette's Syndrome acting up again.             |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
From: jswthomp@milton.u.washington.edu (James Thompson)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: Genius sperm bank
Date: 31 Jul 92 18:02:05 GMT
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle

In article <49587BD7C0205567@ccfvx3.draper.com> seb@draper.com (Steve Bacher Batchman) writes:
>After all that talk about how idiotic it was for Nobel prize winners to
>offer their sperm, now we seem to have evidence that, contrary to the
>pooh-poohers and maysayers, Genius Sperm Kids really DO have higher
>intelligence (however you define it)!
>
>Steve Bacher (Batchman)

What?  You mean facts may have some sway even in the face of political
correctness?

I remember the PC outrage that followed the claims by Dr. Shockley, et al.,
who proposed furthering human intelligence by selective breeding.  I also
remember that the outrage was just that.  No rebuttal to their arguments,
just high-intensity flame.

I watched a (Donohue-formula) talk show the other night.  A man who had
written a book about the advantages of older men dating younger women was
being grilled and drilled by an audience of mostly-middle-aged-women.  The
man's point was that 1) he was more attracted to younger women, and 2) most
of the over-30 women he has met were bitter and antagonistic; younger women
tended to treat him better.  The audience responded by collectively saying
that the man had no right to choose his own personal mate this way, and
generally acted bitter and antagonistic and abusive.

I read a number of posts this week on Usenet by a man who claims to
want nothing to do with an organization whose membership chooses to associate
with people who, like themselves, score well on tests.  He makes continual
claims that this practice is racist and evil, but he just keeps on
participating in the group on the net.

Isn't Life a fun game?


Jim Thompson (jswthomp@u.washington.edu)
From: zlsiida@fs1.mcc.ac.uk (dave budd)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: IQ vs. Faith
Date: 28 Jul 92 13:46:25 GMT
Organization: Manchester Computing Centre
Originator: netnews@uts.mcc.ac.uk

In article <92072318497@genesis.nred.ma.us> pmailman@genesis.nred.ma.us (Paul Mailman) writes:

>In article <zlsiida.1000@fs1.mcc.ac.uk> zlsiida@fs1.mcc.ac.uk (dave budd) writes:
>>
>>> MS> I believe that the universe was made by an infinitely-large
>>> MS> Persian cat.
>>
>>>You damm fool!!! you sorry damm fool!!  Everyone knows that an american
>>>shorthair did the dead.
>>
>>Wrong wrong wrong: it was the great FROG that created the earth.  

>"Before the Beginning, there was this Turtle..."
>       -- the Firesign Theater, "I think we're all Bozos on this bus"

Blimey, guvnor, there's a chap ere oo's aksherly got one of them old 
Firesign Theatre albums!  I thought they'd all decayed into dust by now!
I wonder if ee reads Terry Pratchett's books as well?  coz they've got that 
dum ole turtle myth too!


(how many crappily faked accents did YOU spot?)
From: mike_steiner@qm.claris.com (Mike Steiner)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: National Dues (was Re:  Mensa national versus local, New York City)
Date: 29 Jul 92 17:54:42 GMT

In article <1992Jul29.152102.28146@eagle.lerc.nasa.gov>, drich@sandman.lerc.nasa.gov (Daniel Rich) writes:
> 
> In article <155jojINNkai@network.ucsd.edu>, jwp@chem.ucsd.edu (John Pierce) writes:
> |> drich@sandman.lerc.nasa.gov (Daniel Rich) writes:
> |>  > 
> |>  > Mensa is a *social* organization, and for my $39/year (of
> |>  > which the local group gets around $7 if I remember correctly) the
> |>  > national office provides only a single (rather worthless) magazine.
> |> 
> |> That is, of course, untrue.
> |> 
> |> -- John W Pierce
> |>    LocSec, San Diego Mensa
> 
> Having been a loc sec, EXCOMM member, RG chair, and area coordinator,
> could you tell me what about the above is untrue?  True the national
> office provides member lists and mailing labels, but as an individual
> member, I only see the local newsletter and the Bulletin.  That isn't
> much for $39....
> 
> When you make a statement like that, provide a little more information. 

For one thing, the national bulletin is not "rather worthless."  True,
there are some parts of it that I don't particularly enjoy, but other
members do enjoy them--and some other members probably don't enjoy the
parts that I do.  For another, inside those covers, you get two magazines;
the national one and the international one.  So, you get two magazines.

Do you mean that you never get to see your mailing label?  And, if you
volunteer to work at your group's fold and mutilate party (or whatever
the equivalent is where you are), you would see more than just one
mailing label.  [this paragraph is partially in jest]

You get the botique; you get the local officers training sessions (which
are not restricted to local officers--anyone can attend them; at least in
this region, they can).  You get the periodic directories (which is an
extra-cost item, but from what I understand, the charge does not fully
recover the expenses, which are therefore covered by portions of the dues).
Part of the dues goes to paying for the blanket insurance policy for the
organization--which (I believe) covers such things as accidents at RGs.
(You do go to RGs, I presume, since you have been an RG chair.)

I could continue, but I think that you see my point.  BTW, my credentials
are at least as good as yours.  In addition to the posts you mentioned,
I have also been an RG registrar, a newletter editor, and a member of
local and national NomComs.  Oh, I have never been an area coordinator,
though.
From: hollombe@polymath.tti.com (The Polymath)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: TRUE BLUE?
Date: 30 Jul 92 19:18:26 GMT
Organization: The Cat Factory

In article <1992Jul28.205220.2240@ugle.unit.no> mortenaa@Lise.Unit.NO (Morten Aagaard) writes:
}How come the sky is blue?

Scattering of higher visible frequencies in the upper atmosphere.

The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe, M.A., CDP, aka: hollombe@polymath.tti.com)
Head Robot Wrangler at Citicorp                   Turn the rascals out!
3100 Ocean Park Blvd.   (310) 450-9111, x2483     No incumbents in '92!
Santa Monica, CA  90405
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
From: sya@pe1.pe.utulsa.edu (Syed Shibli)
Subject: Re: IQ vs. Faith
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 92 19:01:18 CDT
X-Received: by usenet.pa.dec.com; id AA06795; Mon, 27 Jul 92 17:07:39 -0700
X-Received: by inet-gw-1.pa.dec.com; id AA07495; Mon, 27 Jul 92 17:07:36 -0700
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X-To: rec.org.mensa.usenet


sonic@artgate (Curtis Swanson) writes:

>In article <1992Jul25.172727.4948@cbnewse.cb.att.com> gmark@cbnewse.cb.att.com (gilbert.m.stewart) writes:
>
>>Wasn't it Oral Roberts that saw a 300-foot Jesus or something?
>
>I heard he saw one 900 ft tall.  I have a videotape of a commedian who made
>a whole routine about it.  I'll post his name and where it came from if 
>there's interest......

  He saw it in his dream. There's a bronze statue next to the Prayer
  Tower on the Oral Roberts University campus. It depicts Jesus's hands
  clapsed together and pointed towards the sky, as if in prayer. The 
  statue itself is massive. Apparently Roberts wanted a 900-foot statue.
  But sculptors argued that that would be impractical. So they designed a 
  pair of hands such that if you would extend a body from the statue, the
  figure would look 900 feet tall. The designers built it true to scale.

--
  Syed Shibli                           | Tel: +1 918 631 3257
  505 South Gary, #14, Tulsa, OK 74104. | ssr48327@vax1.utulsa.edu




Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
From: billmcc@seanews.akita.com (Bill McCormick)
Subject: Re: T: To All MENSA Members...
Organization: SEANEWS - Seattle Public Access News & Mail
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 20:35:30 GMT

> sat@ailab.ncsu.edu

Ah, not only is he a virus, he's a *mutating* virus.  Off I go to edit my
kill file again.

"Scott Tai", you're a dick.

Bill
-- 
SEANEWS        [] Seattle News + Mail []         +1 206 937 9529
billmcc@seanews.akita.com                          Public Access

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M/TN?83RRF=O3*L0#N4B(ZU2 !/?F>,^J.LO%G*DA/Z\ '=!FL(5S7H2W;_T&
M$/;[OJV=/%6- WFVTR#(''.](%&>D+[#H)%X6^-*P\QHN$Q<DD >/'RJ"CH%
" !?[
 
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From: nick+@pitt.edu (Nick C De Mello)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: T: To All MENSA Members...
Date: 25 Jul 92 22:25:05 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh

* 
* Only if they have their own newsgroups! :-)
* 
* You may be wondering -- Did I have a bad week and decide to take it out
* on MENSA?  Did I not qualify so I have an on-going vendetta against MENSA?
* Am I a social egalitarian with a hatred for any kind of an elite 
* organization?  The answer is none of the above.  My real agenda is not to
* pound on MENSA, but instead concerns something different; specifically,
* the question of what MENSA is and, more importantly, what MENSA should be.
* MENSA has both the structure and charter to be something great, but it is
* far from that now, and that's a shame.
* 

  I admit I'm a little confused.  If I understand right, you do not
object to clubs restricted to people of certain, arbitrary, qualities:
age, religion, or certain scores on IQ tests - in general.  You object
to this criteria in mensa because you believe that it has the potential
to be "something great."  Do you mean that it should be above this type
of behavior?

  What do you think mensa should be?  What "greatness" do you think it
has the potential to fullfill?  Why do you think it has that potential? 

  
                                           - Nick

 
-- 
   _/   _/  _/  _/_/_/   _/   _/  
  _/_/ _/  _/  _/   _/  _/_/_/
 _/ _/_/  _/  _/       _/ _/                    Nicholas C de Mello
_/   _/  _/   _/_/_/  _/   _/                     Nick+@pitt.edu
From: mike_steiner@qm.claris.com (Mike Steiner)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: T: To All MENSA Members...
Date: 28 Jul 92 17:05:17 GMT

In article <1992Jul27.214609.12298@ncsu.edu>, scott@ailab.ncsu.edu (Scott Andrew Tai) writes:
> 
> 
> In article <EePr0kO00VRSMCTT95@andrew.cmu.edu>, "Stephen P. Marting" 
> <sm6h+@andrew.cmu.edu> writes:
> 
> |> So you're saying then that every organization should be open to
> |> everyone?  Since Mensa "discriminated" against others when they accepted
> |> me because of my SAT scores, then other organizations, say NCSU,
> |> shouldn't "discriminate" by using SAT scores?
> 
>      No one can deny that minority groups in this country do poorly on
> standardized intelligence tests, particularly on the SAT and PSAT.
> Schools, universitites, and Old Guard fans everywhere use this to
> uphold their own racial stereotypes, to label minority groups as
> "ineducable."

As important as this is, it is competely irrelevant to this discussion.
 
>      Personally, I have absolutely no doubt that blacks, Hispanics, 
> and other minorities are of equal intelligence, on average, to the 
> average white.  I do not want to accuse MENSA of racism here, but 
> how the hell do you explain these testing differences?  If you assert 
> that IQ and aptitude tests measure skills that are unrelated to 
> differences in education and social background (which is the position
> of all psychometric purists), you can come to only two logical 
> possibilities:

Bullshit, "I don't want to accuse Mensa of racism;"  You have continually
accuse Mensa of racism.  Once again, you have proven yourself to be a
liar.  
 
[racist lies and garbage omittied]

> PS to Mike Steiner:
> Get some rest; take your vitamins.  Don't be obnoxious.  You are NOT as 
> smart or precious as you think you are.  You are a lump of dysfunctional 
> proteins riding on a creaky old planet with 5 billion other lumps 
> weighing it down.  Grow up.

And you are a proven racist bigot, a liar, a hypocrite, a moral and ethical
coward, and a fool.  You don't have the guts to use your own name or location;
you hide behind an alias--just like a Klansman hides behind his white sheet.
You are a gutless wonder who has no redeeming social value whatsoever--in
other words, you are obscene.  You are a walking pestilence on the face of the
earth.

You are the last person on earth to tell anyone to grow up; you're the very
embodiement of the spoiled brat.  So, why don't you crawl back under the
rock you emerged from, and join the rest of the vermin?
Organization: Sophomore, Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 02:08:51 -0400 
From: "Stephen P. Marting" <sm6h+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: SPAM: To All MENSA Members...

Excerpts from rec.org.mensa: 27-Jul-92 Re: T: To All MENSA Members... by
"Scott Andrew Tai"@ailab.ncsu.edu 
>      I think there is a major need for some kind of advocacy or activist 
> organization supporting intelligence.

Oh, then I totally see where your misunderstanding has come about.

You want to see an organization that seeks to promote a positive picture
of intelligence - one that is opposed to the anti-intellectualism around
today, an "activist organization," to use your own words.

However, for Mensa to BE that group, it would have to officially hold a
position on those topics ("dumbing-down" textbooks, eliminating gifted
programs, mainstreaming high-intelligence students, etc.) - namely, that
they are bad, or shouldn't happen.

This is a no-no.  Mensa cannot have opinions.  Only its members can. 
This rule is VERYvery strong, and WILL not be changed.  Most Mensans do
not WANT it to be changed - we didn't join a political activist group,
we don't want it to be one.

So what you want Mensa to be goes against one of Mensa's strongest
principles.  I would favor the group you're talking about.  I might even
join it, or donate to it.  But it will never be Mensa.  Please refocus
your energies on one of the OTHER high-IQ [or high-test-score, if you're
going to pick nits] organizations.

I only hope you respond to this posting of mine, as you haven't to the
last one I made.  I'm not flaming you, I'm just showing you where your
desired goal is logically impossible.

So do we have an end to your Mensa(n)-bashing now?  See, Scott, once you
actually and finally came out and stated your position, things can be
worked out rather quickly.  I'm just sorry they couldn't have worked out
better for you.

And before you bring up what I see as the primary response to this post,
most Mensans that I know _already_ hold those beliefs.  Some of them are
very vocal about it.  Only none of them are allowed to say that _Mensa_
holds these beliefs.  We are ALREADY as close to your desired goal as we
can be.  There is no room for any further change.

--
Spam is:               | This statement needs no qualifiers.
Steve Marting          | Most people never call me this.
spam+@cmu.edu          | A cute address that wastes computing resources.
sm6h+@andrew.cmu.edu   | Above and below are forwarded here.
R746SM6H@CMCCVB.bitnet | Extra storage space.
>>Coming soon?<<       | Mail to here is *anonymously* forwarded to me.
"Is 'Spam' a word?" - Parker Lewis Can't Lose
From: zlsiida@fs1.mcc.ac.uk (dave budd)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Ducks (was Re: Why mammal lips?
Date: 27 Jul 92 11:13:29 GMT
Organization: Manchester Computing Centre
Originator: netnews@uts.mcc.ac.uk

In article <920725184211.2080b106@VAX1.UTULSA.EDU> SSR48327@VAX1.UTULSA.EDU (Syed Shibli) writes:

>  I don't really know why mammals are lipped. But I do know
>  that I'd hate to look like a duck.

This duck goes into a chemist's, picks up a tube a lip salve.
The assistant says "that'll be 78pence please"        [OK read cents]
The duck says "Put it on my bill"




The old ones are the best.

+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  I don't take part in any sport that requires me to change clothes  |
|  Dave Budd, MCC, Oxford Rd, Manchester, England   (44)061-275-6033  |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
From: cc697@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Eric Oppen)
Subject: Trip to China---Comments?
Reply-To: cc697@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Eric Oppen)
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 92 03:12:02 GMT


   Did anybody that posts on here, or who reads this newsgroup, go on
the recent Mensa-sponsored trips to the Peoples' Republic of China?
My mother, Margaret Oppen, went, and I'm curious to hear what other 
people had to say.

   Please reply via e-mail as well as on here, since I don't often get a
chance to log-on the net.

  Eric Oppen
-- 
Technomad.  Portmanteau word from a novel I'm roughing out, about
a nomadic culture in a "cyberpunk" dark future.  I thought it up
before Cyberpunk 2020 ever came out.  On ISCA and Quartz, they
know me as a Flame-god.  cc697@cleveland.freenet.edu
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa