Southeast Michigan Mensa

Until it is deemed once again safe to return to meeting as a group, Southeast Michigan Mensa will be presenting a series of lectures on Zoom. Attendees must pre-register at: https://tinyurl.com/SEMM-0321-Gathering. The event’s Zoom URL and instructions for connecting will be sent to those who are pre-registered, about an hour before the presentation. The number of attendees will be limited, so please pre-register early.

The Land of Oz, The Witch, and My Mom
Ten Things You Might Not Know about “The Wizard of Oz” and My Mother, Margaret Hamilton

The Wicked Witch of The West was terrifying. Remember the first time you saw that green face? Margaret Hamilton will always be remembered for her role, in the 1939 film classic “The Wizard of Oz.” The movie holds up so well, it’s worth watching annually, or introducing to a young relative who is ready for the rite of passage, or maybe some friend who lived their life under a rock. 

The American Film Institute ranked Hamilton’s Wicked Witch, number 4 on a list of the 50 Best Movie Villains of All Time. And Hamilton’s iconic line: “I’ll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!”, is probably responsible for more childhood nightmares than almost any movie line. The film has thrilled and frightened, in a good way, fans of all ages for over eighty-one years! During that time, the film and Margaret Hamilton’s portrayal of the Wicked Witch, have become a part of our popular culture.

Originally a kindergarten teacher, brought up oh so properly in early twentieth century Cleveland, and a single mother to her son, Margaret Hamilton had a full life before and after taking on the role that defined her public persona. She appeared in 127 TV shows and movies, about 100 plays, and countless radio shows and commercials. An accomplished actress, she was also a classy, kindhearted person, who never lost her dedication to the care and education of children. Probably the only thing wicked about her, was her sense of humor.

So please join us on Saturday, March 20, when Margaret Hamilton’s son, Hamilton Meserve, will be with us via Zoom to share his personal memories of his mother, the making of “The Wizard of Oz”, (Including the scene that almost killed her) as well as events across the many ensuing decades. This will be a great event for all who love this classic motion picture and want to know more about it, and Mr. Meserve’s fascinating mother.

Hamilton Meserve is now retired and lives in Maine with Helen, his wife of fifty-nine years. He’s enjoyed a happily diverse career, working in international banking (opening countries in Asia and the Middle East for Citibank); owning seven community newspapers in New York’s Hudson Valley from the 1980s to the 1990s, and until 2006, working with Helen in Running Battle Antiques for which (from 1990 to 2006) they did up to twenty-five national shows a year. Hamilton is currently a County Commissioner in Lincoln County, Maine. In addition, he is president of Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club, and Treasurer of The Boothbay Region Land Trust and The Friends of the Harbor Theatre, which is, not surprisingly, devoted to classic cinema.

The Zoom window will open at 630pm for mingling. The program starts at 7pm.

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Enjoy this member-only, free one day event featuring speakers, games, and fun. Join us wherever you are!

Register now at: 
https://tinyurl.com/SEMMantics42registration2021

Check M-Pathy for more details!

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“Until it is deemed once again safe to return to meeting as a group, Southeast Michigan Mensa will be presenting a series of lectures on Zoom. These programs are “members only” events, and not open to the public.  Members should consult this month’s newsletter to register.  If you are not a member, why not join us?  See how at the “Join Now” tab above.”

Unbelievably screwed-up intelligence operations rarely make headlines unless people die or major political figures are involved. What screws up a carefully planned operation? Most of the time it is ignorance or personality driven guidance and direction from people who have attained senior decision-making positions without ever having spent a day “on the street.”

For example, a person who spent their entire career in signals intelligence (SIGINT) wearing headphones, listening to enemy radio conversations, or supervising soldiers wearing headphones, is promoted to lieutenant colonel, assigned to be a department chief, and suddenly has the responsibility of approving human intelligence (HUMINT) operations involving real people illegally crossing borders, to carry out clandestine activities. It is analogous to a TV repairman being asked to do open-heart surgery.

On the other hand, an experienced HUMINT operator, who served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam demands his subordinates use some of the same tactics and methods from those conflicts in post-Cold War Europe. When his subordinates question his guidance, they get fired, their operation goes down in flames, and the operator gets pushed into a dark corner until they retire.

In his thirty-three-year career as a multi-disciplined intelligence operator and analyst, our speaker this month, Robert Dukelow, participated in or provided support to several operations that should have been stamped SNAFU, maybe even FUBAR, rather than SECRET. Tales based on these operations have been fictionalized in Dukelow’s books, which were cleared for publication by the NSA and the Pentagon’s security offices. You should not, therefore, hear any currently classified information in this presentation.

Robert Dukelow lived 27 years in Germany. The fictional books he’s authored are filled with humor, spy stories, and strong women. After working 33 years as an Army counterintelligence special agent in Europe, Afghanistan, and the Pentagon, his German is superb. His Hungarian is marginal. His Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Turkish, and Japanese can get him in trouble. He now lives in Arizona, where he writes, gardens, teaches, hikes in the mountains, and says he’s having more fun than an old guy at his age should probably expect.

Join us on Saturday, January 16, to hear former Army Intelligence officer Robert Dukelow tell some of the astounding stories behind the stories of America’s intelligence operations. The Zoom room will open at 6:30pm for mingling. The program starts at 7:00pm.

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“Until it is deemed once again safe to return to meeting as a group, Southeast Michigan Mensa will be presenting a series of lectures on Zoom. These programs are “members only” events, and not open to the public.  Members should consult this month’s newsletter to register.  If you are not a member, why not join us?  See how at the “Join Now” tab above.”

For SEMM member, Amanda Holm, the answer was: What is broad-based knowledge, nerves of steel, and timing? Alex Trebek butchered the pronunciation of Livonia, and almost called her a bed wetter instead of a bead weaver, but Amanda still persevered and ended up a winner on “Jeopardy!”

Now lots of smart people know tons of trivia and get told, “Hey, you should be on Jeopardy!” But what’s it like when that pipe dream comes true? Well here’s your chance to find out! Amanda will be with us on Saturday, December 19 to give you the answers (always in the form of a question) on everything you always wanted to know about being on the “grande dame” of game shows, but were afraid to ask. Questions such as; How does someone get on Jeopardy? How do you prepare for questions that could be on any imaginable subject? And what’s host Alex Trebek really like?

Amanda is a Project Manager at Henry Ford Health System (all opinions are hers, not theirs); wife & mom of a blended family with four kids, ages 5 to almost 18; her hobbies include: reading, making beaded jewelry, reading, baking all sorts of goodies, and reading. She’s been a SEMM member for about 10 years, and was all set to whip up a Chocolate Feast and a host of Decadent Desserts for the 2020 Regional Gathering when… well, you know. Amanda has drifted steadily eastward across Michigan through her life, with a brief dip southward to the Washington, DC area. She holds a Masters degree in Public Health and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, both from the University of Michigan (double Go Blue!).

So join us at 7:00pm, on Saturday, December 19, for this rare opportunity to find out first-hand from our own Amanda Holm, how it feels to actually go for broke in full view of millions of people, how life changed after appearing on Jeopardy, and maybe what actually happened to the money she won… or maybe not. The Zoom room will open at 6:30pm for mingling. The program starts at 7:00pm.

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“Until it is deemed once again safe to return to meeting as a group, Southeast Michigan Mensa will be presenting a series of lectures on Zoom. These programs are “members only” events, and not open to the public.  Members should consult this month’s newsletter to register.  If you are not a member, why not join us?  See how at the “Join Now” tab above.”

For David Tenenbaum, an Orthodox Jew, life has not been the same since February 1997. That’s when he was suspended from his job of 13 years as an engineer at the Army’s Tank Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) headquarters in Warren, and the media reported that he was suspected of being a spy for Israel.

Some of those involved in the investigation characterized Tenenbaum as another Jonathan Pollard, a Navy analyst sentenced to a life term for giving classified material to Israel in the 1980’s and paroled in 2015. Mr. Tenenbaum was interrogated at length by the FBI and Army intelligence, polygraphed, placed (along with his wife) under 24-hour surveillance and his home was searched. Items collected as evidence in the FBI’s search of his home included a drawing by one of his children of some Hebrew letters, which the FBI suspected to be a coded message.

After more than a year of investigation, the FBI officially closed the case. The U.S. Attorney’s office declined to prosecute, stating: “There is no question that if evidence existed which would prove this case, then these agents would have found it.”

Mr. Tenenbaum returned to work at TACOM and his security clearance was eventually restored. Yet despite having never been charged, some of his colleagues still shunned him on both a personal and professional level, fearing guilt by association, and/or believing him to have evaded prosecution due only to a lack of evidence, and that he was, in fact, a traitor. 

In 2008 the Department of Defense’s Inspector General issued a scathing condemnation of the investigation, and ruled the allegations against Tenenbaum were “both false and initiated with a discriminatory intent.”

Twenty-two years after the investigation ended, David Tennenbaum is still involved in litigation, but the Army steadfastly refuses to make Tenenbaum whole and compensate him for the false accusations against him.

Join us on Saturday, November 21 to learn what Mr. Tenenbaum actually did to merit such intense scrutiny by the government, if the investigation actually was motivated by prejudice, and the personal toll of the government’s actions on an American family. The Zoom window will open at 630pm for mingling. The program starts at 7pm.

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