In this issue we present a report on Asperger’s, a brief interview with Rona Altrows (W.O.Mitchell 2007 award-winner), research on imagery and stretching, a discussion of the Afghan war, computer tips, and much more. Our Comment buttons let you add your views. And you can send contributions, copies of articles you’ve read, anything you’d like in MensaMag, by clicking Contributions on the Contacts page. Ideas for regular columns? Thoughts about anything under the sun? Photos? Pipe them into us.

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Laughter makes life tolerable and signals good mental health. It relieves the morally righteous from their grim business of imposing control on the freedom of others. We’re not perfect, laughter says. We make mistakes. That’s OK, time out, we’ll get it right tomorrow or the next day. Maybe never. We all know the benefits of laughter. Why then don’t we laugh more? Perhaps the pursed-lip brigade think that laughter is suspect. Laughter wasn’t popular in the era of the puritans. It was viewed as a nervous tic, a sign of insanity or the devil. Laughter tips the hand of the socially isolated. It’s a delicate gauge of normality. Laughter at the wrong moment, too much, too little, is a litmus test. Mensa in particular is prone to Asperger-like behaviour. Its members face social isolation and the challenge of humour. The isolated aren’t facially mobile. They’re slow to get it. They don’t communicate well. Look around during a Mensa function. Study the faces. See whether they’re laughing. We’re trying to change this with MensaMag by adding a little spice, a custard pie, challenge, even irreverence. Nobody has to agree with anybody else. But laughter, now, that would be fun.

(W.O.Mitchell award winner, 2007, for A Run on Hose)

Q: A Run on Hose is written in the first person. Yet far from seeming autobiographical, the approach gives the reader a feeling of vibrancy, of breadth, depth and strength. How did your choice of the first person affect the book as you were writing it?

A: I did not choose to write in the first person. For that book, the first person just came naturally, except in the case of one piece in A Run on Hose, "Amanda’s Weekend," in which the character is so alienated from herself that the story presented itself to me in the third person. I believe in listening to the subconscious mind. If you hear the voice of a character, let her talk. I value intimacy. Maybe that’s why the characters address me directly. They say. "Let us speak our piece, damn it!" So I move over and let them say what they want. I am not telling my story. They are telling theirs.

Q: Does this book reflect your experience of Calgary? If so what does it say about the soul of the city and its people?

A: Not really. I’d love to say something deep about sense of place and all that, but the truth is that my characters place themselves where they are or want to be or feel they must be.

Q: Your book is an intense look at the private motives and voices of individuals. Do you think of yourself as an intensely private person? What is Rona Altrows really like?

A: I need lots of quiet time and also enjoy socializing. I do try to listen to what others are saying or seem to be struggling to say. People are infinitely interesting to me.

what’s the big deal?

Many recent studies show skyrocketing rates of Asperger’s Syndrome, and stories about the disorder seem everywhere on the news and internet. There is also evidence of marked increase in numbers of children with Asperger’s Syndrome at the doors of city schools and Children’s Services. Asperger’s Syndrome, a disorder primarily related to difficulties with social interaction and extreme persistent interests within a narrow scope, is one of the Autism Spectrum Disorders. The latest statistics suggest that 1 in 250 people suffer from the debility. Beware, if you’re a loner, gifted, a touch eccentric, prefer physics and engineering to psychology and social work. Watch out. You may be labeled (if not categorized or denigrated) as having Asperger’s Syndrome. So what is it, and what’s the big deal?

Asperger’s Syndrome is defined by the DSM IV TR as a disorder of impairment of social interaction and unusual behaviour and/or restricted interests, accompanied by average to above average cognitive development. To have Asperger’s these characteristics must severely impact your life. The question is who determines what’s "normal" social interaction and abnormal interest in a particular area? The notion of severe impact is also subject to debate. Asperger’s is therefore one of those disorders which purport to be objective, yet which may require assumptions which are subjective or normative in nature. Of course, a disorder may be objectively present and yet subjectively diagnosed. At our present level of knowledge, however, caution should often be the byword in determining the presence of Asperger’s and the difficulty in diagnosis should not be underestimated.

What’s the big deal? Why should neurotypicals (as Aspies fondly or not so fondly refer to those who don’t have Asperger’s) rule the roost? Why should social interests, the world of trying to understand others’ intention and mental states, prevail over the more concrete, the more exciting investigation and observation of the natural world, the world of how things work, the world of systems, machinery, mathematics, symbols and codes? Well, it shouldn’t. Unless of course it interferes with what you want to do. So if you can’t get a job because you keep bombing the interview or totally hate all your co-workers, or find yourself feeling lonely and wondering why you can’t maintain a romantic relationship, the social environment might be a bigger deal than you’d like.

This is Asperger’s Syndrome

My teacher says I’m rude.  I think I’m honest.  I don’t understand why I can’t tell someone that they have bad breath, ugly hair or to go away because I’m busy.

How can you find out if you have Asperger’s Syndrome? Although there aren’t any particular blood tests, as of yet, to determine this disorder, you can locate indicators with other medical tests. First of all, you might want to ask your mother if she saved any of your amniotic fluid (along with your baby shoes) and have it tested for higher testosterone levels. Higher prenatal testosterone levels correspond with more developed spatial skills and less developed people skills, ie Asperger’s-type. But, most moms haven’t kept the important stuff, so you might need to look elsewhere. You can go for functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) to see if your amygdala is different than neurotypicals which might explain your temper, your emotional lability, your difficulty understanding why others react to you the way they do. You might also want to undergo structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) to obtain volumetric data on your whole brain and particular regions of interest. For example, if the cells in your limbic system are more dense or if your cerebellar vermis lobule 7 and posterior section of the corpus callosum are much smaller than normal – you may have an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Unfortunately, Canadian health care probably wouldn’t cover your neuroimaging costs, you might want to try asking the research department of the Institute of Psychiatry in London or Oxford University.

If the medical route of determining whether you have Asperger’s seems too extravagant for you, you can always hone your observation skills and notice how people respond to you. Do they always take a giant step back as you start talking to them? Are you invading their personal space (what, by the way, is the exact boundary of personal space)? Are people always asking you, "are you talking to me?" or getting way too close to you as you describe the latest changes in the euro-rail train schedule or too far from you as you chat about war or terrorism? If so, perhaps your idea of conversation, conversational space and social space is very different from theirs, and your idea of personal closeness is gauged according to different parameters. Do people close the bathroom door on you and tell you that they need to be alone now, in the middle of a critical conversation that you might be having? If so you might be one of those newly identified millions with Asperger’s. But, still, it’s hard to tell.

There are terrific websites online to self-diagnose. Simon Baron Cohen’s (yes, the first cousin of Sacha Baron Cohen, alias Borat and Ali G.), has a wonderful diagnostic questionnaire. Baron Cohen (Simon) is a professor of developmental psychopathology and director of the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge. He pioneered the concept of mindblindness and the theory that autism is an extreme of the male brain. He also is spearheading the amygdala theory of Asperger’s among a myriad of other research projects. His website is found at www.autismresearch.com.

Tony Attwood, fondly known by me as the guru of Asperger’s, is also a wealth of information and has developed a diagnostic tool that can be found at www.tonyattwood.com.

So, now you know whether you’re an Aspie. Now what? Well, determine how it is impacting or interfering with your life. Do you need social coaching or assistance with social interpretation? Should you do social autopsies to determine what specific social errors you’re making that get in the way of obtaining your goals? If so, there are many people, counselors, psychologists, life coaches that may be able to assist. But, having Asperger’s, you might not be able to tolerate this friendly social advice. So, what then? Well, you might consider purchasing The Emotional-Social Intelligence Prosthesis developed by Rana el Kaliouby and Rosalind Picard. This is a small camera that is mounted on your head (hat or glasses) that is connected to a hand held computer that monitors your social partner’s expressions, classifies them and tells you how they might be feeling? How would you feel about that? So many options, so many websites, so many books and things to learn about people. But to keep things in perspective, Hans Asperger himself said, "It seems that for success in science and art, a dash of autism is essential."

(by sandra mann, M.Ed, C.Psych)

Friends -

Having attended a family function over the past weekend (June 2007), below are some photos from the trip to Blue River, B.C. (Population – 300 +/-). For those who don’t know the area, it is just over two hours driving time up Highway 5, northeast of Kamloops, or about 2½ hours drive west and south of Jasper, Alberta. It is the only stop on this stretch of highway for quite a distance - 60 miles/100 km to the north is Valemont, and 25 miles/40 km south is Avola - which is smaller than Blue River.

1. Backyard Scene. This is the view from our family members’ backyard. This area gets a LOT of snow during the winter (20 - 30 feet/ 6 - 9 m), and - no surprise - there are glaciers on the mountains in the background. While they have been receding, this year has been cool and wet, reminiscent of the mid-70’s, when temperatures were much cooler than the past 15 years or so. The brown pines on the far side of the lake show that the Pine Beetle has arrived. No one yet knows to what extent the forests will be affected, but the outlook is grim.

2. Evening shower. While on a jet-boat trip on a local lake, we stopped to see a waterfall. Here is the view looking back to the west, through the clouds and showers of late afternoon. The thick overcast created strong shadows, and it was difficult to get much color in the photos I took for much of the weekend.

3. Waterfall. At this time of year, the snow melt in the high country swells the creeks and rivulets which flow off the mountains. The cloud cover created a deep contrast, not allowing the brilliant green of the forest from being seen at its best, but the mist and coolness created by the thundering falls was a powerful experience.

4. Fresh Snow - As we left for the drive home on June 24, a dusting of fresh snow on the peaks of surrounding mountains was visible.

5. Another view of the fresh snow in the high country. Seeing snow on the peaks, while the aspen (lighter green leaves) on the slopes below are still green is something that one doesn’t see farther south. It is no surprise to know that a couple of mountain ranges to the east lie the great icefields of the Rockies.

6. Mount Robson - North of the Yellowhead Highway is Mount Robson, the tallest peak in the Canadian Rockies, at 12,972 ft/ 3954m. With the Visitor’s Center at somewhat less than 2800 feet, four miles from the peak, one gets a view of over 10,000 ft of vertical elevation change. Since the broken cloud cover had darkened the slopes so intensely, I cropped the base of the photo. This view, from the Visitor’s Center, is of the 6,000 ft elevation level and up. Unseen from this perspective are the glaciers which cascade for several miles down the north face, out of the Robson Cirque. The light mantle of fresh snow, from the previous night, is clearly visible. A small glacier, hanging on the rock face is visible to the lower right.

Enjoy,

Jim Szpajcher

Mental imagery is the picturing of something before doing it. And research shows that it matters. For example, motor imagery plus physical training produces better flexibility results than physical training alone.

Researchers divided subjects into two groups: one group imaged movement of a limb through a range-of-motion before flexibility training. The other performed the flexibility training on its own. The results showed that the first group did substantially better. Not only did they have a wider range of motion, but the group that imaged also retained its new range-of-motion for a longer time. Compared to control groups who undertake no form of mental imagery before stretching, the group that imaged also reported significantly higher levels of comfort during flexibility training.

Real world application: next time you find yourself stretching at the gym, take some time to imagine moving the limb that you are about to stretch. Do so both before and during your flexibility session. Research suggests that you will find your stretching session more comfortable and effective.

(by Dr Wendy Carvalho-Ashby BSc (Hons), MSc, DC, Personal Trainer Specialist, echiro@shaw.ca)

Western democracies tend to support their soldiers blindly. But anything done blindly normally is wrong. It’s random, emotional, incoherent, prone to disaster, like always betting on black in roulette. Why is this untrue in the case of soldiers? The reason is simple. These people, largely from blue collar families, agree to die if ordered by our elected representatives. A Prime Minister leads a vote in parliament, which sends troops halfway across the world to where British soldiers have perished like flies, the Russians failed, and where foreign armies universally meet a grisly humiliating end. It’s like the assaults on Moscow planned by Napoleon and just as optimistically by the generals of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. We put the Taliban in power then we change our minds. There’s not a chance in a thousand of success. And yet success is irrelevant. We elect candidates who lie and manipulate the truth, then expect them to make intelligent decisions about where human beings in uniform should serve their time? Shame on us. Of course our government is wrong. Our army shouldn’t be in Afghanistan. But that’s where they are. We need soldiers to defend us in this imperfect world. You and I sit at home watching TV after supper while a guy just like us takes bullets in his stomach because that’s what our government tells him to do. We elected the turkeys who send our troops to die, and then we refuse to honour the boys and girls who have more courage than we do. The strange thing is that it doesn’t matter whether the government is right or wrong, whether we belong in Afghanistan or not. Our young men and women are protecting us in the only way proper for a democracy: they go and die where parliament tells them to. If we don’t like the war, we can petition and march and demand fresh elections. But we’re cowards aren’t we? We’d rather just ignore the young guy who comes from down the street and now only has one leg, because he did what the government we elected asked him to do. Shame on us.

(by bb’s brother)

Mensa is an organization whose members have an IQ of 140 or higher. A few years ago, there was a Mensa convention in San Francisco, and several members lunched at a local cafe.

While dining, they discovered that their saltshaker contained pepper and their pepper shaker was full of salt.

How could they swap the contents of the bottles without spilling, and using only the implements at hand? Clearly this was a job for Mensa! The group debated and presented ideas, and finally came up with a brilliant solution involving a napkin, a straw, and an empty saucer. They called the waitress over to dazzle her with their solution.

"Ma’am," they said, "we couldn’t help but notice that the pepper shaker contains salt and the salt shaker…"

"Oh," the waitress interrupted. "Sorry about that." She unscrewed the caps of both bottles and switched them.

Backups 101: I’m an IT specialist. I’ve spent years advising and giving hands-on support to companies and individuals with their computer systems, but it doesn’t help a bit. Well, maybe a little bit. Most people still don’t backup their computers often enough. What should you back up and how often? daily? weekly? monthly?

It depends. If your computer is on a network drive and all your programs and essential files are on the network server, you should and probably already do have a backup solution in place. In every other situation you may be on your own.

What to use for backing up: there are inexpensive devices such as external hard drives, flash drives, and CDs or DVDs. The main differences here are speed and capacity. For the average home user the fastest and easiest to use would be an external hard drive. Flash drives are great for use with small amounts of data and are very portable. They are also quite cost effective. CDs and DVDs are slow both for backing up to and recovering data from.

There are also many simple back-up applications that you can use to avoid copy and pasting data. These apps automate the process. Examples are Winbackup 2 (liutilities.com) and Norton Ghost or Norton Save and Restore 2.0 (symantec.com). Programs like these make backups quick and easy, which is more than half the problem. If people arranged their backups to take place with a click or two, they wouldn’t panic when a program freezes or that lightening bolt strikes their building or the cat walks across the keyboard. For less than $200 you can install a backup program and buy an external hard drive that prevents anxiety tremens if you ever have to shout "my pc just crashed!"

(by steve turnbull)

You want to send someone a url, say in an email, but it’s too long to fit in a single line. Some people think they can let the email break and enter a second line. But there’s a problem. You can’t let the url slip into a second line, because invisible code is added at the break. The url won’t function properly. The answer? A free applet at arunaurl.com.

Copy the url as usual using the mouse or Ctl-C. Place it in the indicated box at arunaurl.com. Click the "make it small button". Copy the abbreviated url and paste it (Ctl-V) into the email. Hey, presto, you have a short form of the url without added code to mess it up.

(by ernest)

[this is fiction] Private Manser Prill of CFB Calgary died in Afghanistan two months ago. He was 26 years old. He’d graduated from high school with good grades, but a mixed conduct background, and he never seriously considered university or college. Academics just wasn’t his thing. He was exceptionally well liked, a good looking boy who had no trouble making friends. You could call him every parent’s hope: honest, reliable, good natured. He went out on patrol in east Afghanistan, in a region controlled – as is most of that country – by a tribal warlord. In Canada, such a person would be called the scion of a wealthy and well-established family. The warlord had to maintain the patchwork loyalties of his district and this means the poppy and its products as well as compromise with militias. In Canada, we’d translate this into white-collar crime, what the police can’t investigate because of their budgets and elected officials don’t allocate funding to prosecute because it doesn’t grab tabloid headlines.

The warlord made a deal with a poppy grower’s protector to ignore a shipment on April 14th. The protector arranged with Taliban supporters to provide escort support for the shipment. All this is normal in that part of the world. Different countries place the telescope to different blind eyes. Private Prill happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. This made him a hero, public funeral and all. While Debra Mullen, who grew up in the same town as Manser and died the same day, wasn’t a hero. She was born about 40 years before Manser and was a teacher her whole life. Students used to visit her when they returned to their home town. They’d tell her how much she meant to them. She’d encouraged them, made them like learning. Debby had a disabled son who she cared for. And she made a special effort to teach handicapped youngsters in her classroom, so they could develop as far as their abilities allowed. Her husband left her when the strain of raising their son grew too great. Their son was only two. But Debby continued. Her child was happy. He never amounted to much in the world, true, but he was happy. When he died, Debby couldn’t afford a large funeral and fortunately she didn’t survive him long, because she didn’t have much money for herself.

Manser left a couple of sexual incidents behind him when he joined the armed forces. It was one person’s word against another and in small communities this simply isn’t enough to prosecute. But Manser died a hero. He’ll be honoured and remembered wherever veterans gather and taps is played. Debby died a couple of years after she retired. She never got to enjoy herself much. But she had her students and her boy. She isn’t honoured. She’ll be forgotten when the school year books get dusty, which won’t be long. Not long at all.

(by bb)

1. Wisdom that is recondite and abstruse and profound.

2. Intellectual depth; penetrating knowledge; keen insight

3. The intellectual ability to penetrate deeply into ideas.

(submitted by patricia almost)

Five out of five. An amazing event. My wife and I agree, and we don’t agree on much. So here are the facts. First, the points were reduced from ten. Ten would be for a real folk festival. This was a continuation of stampede, a marriage between Kelly Sutherland and Sharon Jones. Sharon, should anyone not know, is a talented American musician. And much of this year’s Calgary event was American.

The trouble with American music is that it isn’t Canadian. Sure the performers are great. They have style and panache and often genius. But is a Black Canadian’s experience reflected in New York bop or southern gospel? Doubtful. In fact, no. Something my wife and I agree on. Which brings to mind: why aren’t more black Canadians playing in the Canadian festival circuit? Answer me that. And does a white Canadian really need to hear the American version of This Land is Your Land? Perhaps yes, perhaps no. The band might not have known the Canadian words. And we’re too polite to tell them. The Calgary Folk Festival was rich in Canadian music, don’t get this wrong, but the American and foreign touch was all pervasive. Yadda-yadda. Where does this get us? The Stampede analogy is apt: we’re the Grandstand show of the Canmore Festival, an event in which there’s great rapport between audience and performers. Canmore is like the Stampede’s cutting horses and craft exhibits, the guts of folk music. Canmore is the working soul that Calgary’s pizzazz transforms into spectacle. Calgary and Canmore are different worlds. There was a murmur, just the tiniest, among some attendees at Calgary: what are we doing here? The answer is that generations come and go. Music changes. Long live music.

The ambience at the Calgary Folk Festival was first class. The audience was exuberant and ranged from babies to oldsters. Everyone was safe. The electronics worked great (was the sound a bit muddy and dialogue inaudible in the evenings at the back?). Volunteers were helpful and everything was well run. A perfect event. We were kept off the grass, a good thing, and herded through chutes lined by concessions selling the usual fare. Food, including mini-doughnuts, got high priority if measured by proximity to the stages. Crafts were shunted to the side. Maybe that’s a question of how much the booths were prepared to pay. There were plenty of shady spots to rest. Think fairground and you’ll imagine the atmosphere. The smell of frying sometimes wafted overhead. But consider the recycling: excellent. And alternative food styles triumphed over the hot dog. There were politically correct tables for the Green party and others. It was a gorgeous festival with lots of music and good humour. Plenty of people danced at the night shows.

The organizers can’t win. Pick singer X and someone complains about him. Cover all the bases, and that’s what people criticize. It’s inevitable. On the other hand, folk music has a political vein that’s richly absent from Calgary. Folk carries the tragic sympathy of a nation. An artist dies a little when he sees justice betrayed, hopes dashed, opportunities missed, lives shattered. This is especially true when the rich and powerful stay serene, at the top of the ladder. Folk music is the power of the powerless. It’s unnecessary to take music away from them. Canada isn’t atypical in having taboos. But where were the songs about lying politicians, graft and corruption, the Canadians dying thousands of miles from home, where British and Russians and many others have died before? These are provocative themes, but they’re debated by many Canadians. Perhaps we’re too polite to translate our experience into song.

So the Calgary Folk Festival wasn’t quite folk. A Music Festival it was, however, and a great one. The absence of folk loses it five points. But it did an excellent job at what it aimed at. Which gets it five out of five. My wife and I agree. Which is a good thing.

Chumbawamba Acoustic

The Good Brothers

(by bb)

Wear bedclothes under your work outfit. Efficiency: you save time taking them off in the morning and putting them on at night. Emotional security: the comfort of jam-jams under your tough territorial exterior. Self-esteem: you become the centre of attention and your colleagues will speculate like crazy.

Place in order of importance and give reasons:

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg achieves independence (sort of)

Publication of Das Kapital (for sure)

Canada achieves independence (sort of)

A recent tax case from the SCC has shown that sometimes it’s not enough to file an objection to a CCRA decision. You may have to appeal to the tax court. The case turned on section 160 of the ITA, which says that CCRA can claim money back from non-arms length persons if the company giving the money is unable to pay taxes due for that year or a prior year. The case also makes the point that in certain circumstances, for example section 160 cases, CCRA is not restricted by the usual 7 year rule; it can claim tax arrears at any time. [nb this is not legal or accounting advice. Always obtain legal and accounting advice before acting or omitting to act]

(by granola)

[this is fiction] On Tuesday, July 10, 2007, Artemis Gold showed bids and offers about 50 cents apart. The range started at $1.75 - $2.25 and ended at $1.82 - $2.35. Thursday showed a narrower band, averaging 40 cents between bid and offer. The range was $1.82 – $1.24. Now what’s important here is the spread and the direction of movement. For the uninitiated, we ignore Mondays and Fridays, because those days have their own dynamics. We also avoid weeks before and after long weekends, when profit-taking and family disasters interfere with pure market forces.

Let’s call this Week 1. Week 2 had a similar chart, rising, as did week 3. Week 4 declined precipitately to below the level of Week 1 and week 5 generated a plateau at about Week 1 level with optimism at the end of Wednesday and Thursday. Week 5 looked like week 1. I intervened at that point. I bid ¾ range for half the number of shares traded on average per day in Week 1. The offerors liked my price and were eager to unload. The buyers figured I knew something and the slope steepened. I did this again for the next two days. During the next week I gradually sold most of my AG shares. In week 7, I started selling short. When the price broke, I was ready to buy and meet my obligations. Result: about $20,000 profit. Luck? Never heard of it.

(by euclid)

If you buy through Amazon.com, please use the links placed on the ‘Monthly Puzzle’ page and the ‘Member’s Section’ entry page of the national web site ( http://www.mensacanada.org). Mensa Canada receives a small commission on orders placed in this manner

General
Are you interested in participating in a variety of social, educational and recreational activities with fellow Mensans? i.e. coffee get togethers, dinners, quizzes/games, movies, concerts, lectures, museums, walks, etc. Our group is informal, unstructured, occasionally intellectually stimulating and open to new ideas. I envision a dynamic group who are committed to making Mensa Calgary a community where members can interact and enjoy each other’s company. My main objective is to establish a positive connection within the membership. If you are interested in getting together to develop some friendships and have some fun, or if you wish to provide feedback/comments, contact Patricia @ kathleen4057@yahoo.ca ["The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper." — Eden Phillpotts]

Coffee
The next Mensa coffee meetings will be held Thursday August 2, and Thursday August 16, 2007 @ 7:30 pm at the Purple Perk (2212-4th St SW). The coffee group is casual and friendly.

Sunday brunch
Contact Daryl Richardson for details, h.d.richardson@shaw.ca. This takes place monthly and you’ll appreciate that Daryl needs exact numbers for reservations.

Second Tuesdays of the month
Monthly coffee and conversation evening chez Catherine Ford, 7:30pm at 2409 Morrison St SW. BYOB.

For general queries, email Vicki Herd (vherd@shaw.ca).

1) The sun’s shadow at noon vanishes on one day of the year. But it points south on every other day. How many miles are you from the north pole?

2) Did an alien flying saucer crash in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947? And why?

3) In what ways would the universe be different if there were or were not infinitely many twin primes? What circumstances near the instant of creation could cause either to be true? Is our research into numbers like a cat trying to learn English?

4) Alpha and Beta are identical. But they are addicts of the drug True, which comes in two forms. TrueTrue forces the taker to tell truths, and FalseTrue forces the taker to tell lies. Alpha and Beta emerge from their house one day, having taken one pill each. One stands to your right and the other to your left. The person on your left says, "The person on your right is Beta, and he swallowed a FalseTrue pill." The person on your right says, "The person on your left is Alpha and he swallowed a TrueTrue pill." Who is Alpha and who Beta?

5) Short story prize

The award will go to the best short story combining intelligence, religion, mystery, adventure, sensuality, and the Calgary Stampede. Terms: 500 words or less, English, deadline tba, all other terms and winner at editor’s absolute discretion. All or some entries may be published in MensaMag. Prize consists of naming the writer the winner of Calgary Mensa’s short story contest for 2007.

6)What is shown in these pictures?

(Image courtesy Daniel Lavabre; © 2005)

(idea by Patricia Almost)

Answers to last month’s puzzles

1) [Photo contest.]

2) No entries yet.

3) On July 19, 2007, data was released announcing the 60th moon of Saturn. Its working name is Frank and it measures 2 km wide. In 1997, we only knew of 18 moons. The betting therefore is 59 as at July 5.

4) No entries yet.

5) Clock, lock, flock, frock, rock.