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Our national gathering for 2011 is in Banff, nestled in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. Come for education and fun, plus natural surroundings that attract visitors from all parts of the globe. Check out our web site at http://mensa2011ag.ca/ and plan to come. The dates are May 20 through 23, 2011. Expect an international crowd and a mix of laughter and challenge, breadth and depth, games, songs and earnest debate. And don’t forget the out-of-doors. The above web site contains full detail. To volunteer in various capacities, contact Vicki Herd at vherd@shaw.ca
The Events page lists our monthly coffees and movies, dinners and social occasions. Thank you Rob for your excellent work. Readers can run their mouse over the indicated word on the Events page and – voila – our calendar appears.
The first question in our Puzzles section is difficult. No more Mr Nice Guy in this e-zine. The second is less of a challenge, but try it without pencil and paper.
Our Articles begin with a forthright examination of safety in the Gulf of Mexico. It appears that safety was deliberately flouted in the stampede for profit. And yet the blame can’t be leveled at any person or company. We’ve devised a system, call it a market economy, which places the individual and community behind money in importance. BP and Transocean share our values. They are doing what most of us do from day to day, trying to make a buck and taking chances.
Next is a study of why Johnny can’t read. You know the type of article we mean. They’ve appeared in scholarly journals and the popular press for decades. We dumb down education and then we’re surprised why graduates can’t perform the simplest task, let alone function at the cutting edge of science. Schools must become harder, not easier, if Johnny is to prosper. But we feel pity for poor Johnny. It’s not his fault that he can’t spell or read or think. And we wonder at the decay of standards. Or is all this a misconception caused by boomers grown belatedly cynical? You decide.
We look at oilsands pollution and the conspiracy of silence between government and industry. Whoa, we don’t mean overt and deliberate conspiracy. Rather we’re talking about the same needs that drive government regulators to rely on industry for information and expertise. We’re penny-pinchers, we taxpayers. We applaud when governments cut the civil service. Not enough people to draft regulations? No problem; the old regs will do till next year or the next. Not enough inspectors? Let the companies do the work and report to government offices that everything is under control. And when regulators find shoddy workmanship, we think they’re pettifogging purse-lipped idiots. We urge our leaders to ignore the experts. What competent scientist would want to work for our government in such circumstances? We get the inspection regime we deserve. Be reasonable, we say, let companies drill for oil and handle safety. Let exploitation of the oilsands proceed, until a crisis occurs or an accident, when we turn like wolves on our handlers and demand to know why we lack up-to-date procedures or why they weren’t implemented. No, it’s not the companies that are to blame. It’s ourselves.
As for the wealthy elite who manipulate the Republicans among our neighbours to the south, see our fourth feature. The tea party is more than a gathering of little guys in rebellion against the forces of evil. The hands that pull the strings belong to the richest in the nation. From which we can infer that it’s business as usual in the realm of politics. Aie de me!
