The GrandMaster... Intelligence

The GARANDMASTER- John Defensor, Raul Teehankee, Amiel Aguilar Cabanlig and CHESS grandmaster Eugene Torre

By Rony V. Diaz

THE conventional wisdom about intelligence is that it’s inherited. Children of bright parents are generally brighter than the progeny of the less bright. This was the theory that was propounded in 1994 by Richard J. Herrenstein and Charles Murray in their book The Bell Curve. It has been roundly denounced as racism masquerading as science although the authors drew their conclusions from a large body of research in both psychology and the cognitive sciences that they evaluated with great care and circumspection. The opponents of the hereditarian theory of intelligence found it easier to question the authors’ motives rather than their methodology. Studies on intelligence are fraught. Establishing heritability is slippery. Furthermore, however “detached” a researcher would like to be, subtle biases and ambiguities are bound to color his or her judgments. IQ tests measure intellectual inequalities that are, many believe, natural and not cultural. There are even those who go as far as to theorize that intelligence is encoded in the genes. This is the basis of the belief that Azhkenazi Jews are the brainiest ethnic group followed by East Asians, whites in generals, with the blacks bringing up the rear. It’s therefore a great service to all of us that Robert E. Nisbett, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Michigan at Dearborn, published last month Intelligence and How to Get It. Why Schools and Culture Count (W.W. Norton). He began with a careful critique of hereditarism, which he countered with nonhereditary factors in determining intelligence. Nisbett accepts IQ tests as instruments that measure something “real.” They measure “fluid” intelligence (abstract reasoning skills) and “crystallized” intelligence or knowledge. Within the same family there are inequalities in fluid intelligence. Nisbett, however, rejects the hereditarian claim that 75 percent to 85 percent of intelligence is inherited. He thinks that it’s less than 50 percent. The higher estimates were made by comparing blood relatives—identical twins, fraternal twins, siblings—who grew up with different adoptive families. But adoptive families are not all the same. The more affluent tend to give their adopted children more “cognitive stimulation” than the poorer ones. The data then yield erroneously high estimates of IQ heritability. The right conclusion is that there’s no fixed value for heritability. The average difference in IQ is entirely environmental. Using this logic, Nisbett explained the disparity in average IQ between white and black Americans. The IQ gap is purely environmental. In fact, this gap is closing. Over the last 30 years, the measured difference in IQ between white and black children has decreased from 15 points to 9.5 points. From studies in population genetics, Nisbett found that African-Americans as a consequence of slavery, have on average about 20 percent European genes. But the proportion of European genes ranges widely among individuals—from near zero to more than 80 percent. The conclusion is inescapable: if the gap is genetic, then blacks with more European genes ought to have, on average, higher IQs. The fact is they don’t. As regards the higher intelligence of Ashkenazi Jews and East Asians, Nisbett found that if the IQ tests were properly designed and normed, Americans would score slightly higher than East Asians. If differences in IQ are largely environmental, then what can be done to eliminate intellectual disparities? The most dramatic results came from adoption. When poor children are adopted by wealthier parents, their IQ increases by 12 to 15 points. Early childhood education increases the intelligence of children measurably. Nisbett is for scaling up pre-school programs because even in adolescence, those children are 10 points ahead in IQ than those who did not attend a pre-school program. For older kids, Nisbett recommends telling high school students that intelligence is expandable and they are in control of their own IQ. Students, once convinced, tend to work harder and earn higher grades. This is particularly true of girls who have been made to believe that they are genetically disadvantaged in science and math. Once this mindset is overcome, they excel because they are deprived of an excuse for failure. I suggest that parents, teachers and school administrators give up the idea that children are differently endowed intellectually. Cognitively, we are all equal. And good education can do a lot to expand the brainpower of a nation.

nauseating ads

Alito Malinao of the Manila Times wrote a very interestig article..."While you are watching the early evening TV newscast, Manny Villar suddenly appears on the screen. He is visiting a dilapidated house with a leaking roof in Moriones, Tondo. He tells you that he and his eight siblings grew up in that house. Then an elderly lady thanks Villar for making her dream of owning a house a reality.

A few minutes later on the same newscast, Mar Roxas is seen pedaling a pedicab. In his “padyak-padyak” commercial, he tells the young boy, the regular pedicab driver, not to lose hope. His parting words are “Hindi ko kayo pababayaan,” a spin from the funereal song, “Hindi kita malilimutan,” a bad omen for Roxas’ presidential ambition.

Then, the face of Mayor Jejomar Binay of Makati is splashed on the screen with testimonials of the sick, the elderly, and schoolchildren, the supposed beneficiaries of Binay’s “welfare state” style of governance in Makati. His commercial is dubbed “Ganito kami sa Makati, Ganito Sana sa Buong Bansa.”

Another TV newscast is interrupted by Vice President Noli de Castro who urges everyone to take advantage of the government’s low-interest housing loans and the restructuring program of Pag-IBIG for delinquent borrowers.

Other latecomers but with the same vacuous TV campaign ads are Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro telling everybody to prepare for calamities and disasters, Sen. Loren Legarda with her “pagkain, hindi Cha-cha; trabaho, hindi Cha-cha . . . aalagaan ko kayo” commercial, and MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando who styles himself as the Lee Kuan Yew of the Philippines (translation: likoanniyo or U-turn slots with concrete barriers that have caused the death of several motorists).

These commercials, which are repeated over and over again on radio, are irritating, disgusting, suffocating and nauseating. Because they are so crudely done without any cerebral message, they not only pollute the airwaves but also insult our intelligence.

Why do we have to suffer these inanities? Can the authorities not do something to stop this cruel insensitivity to public opinion displayed by our publicity-hungry politicians?

Stupid provision

Unfortunately for us, the authorities cannot do anything because of the stupid provision of the Omnibus Election Code.

Even if everybody knows that they are already campaigning and some of them have even announced their intention to run for president, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has said that they are not legally considered candidates because they have not yet filed their certificates of candidacy.

Section 79 of the Omnibus Election Code states that an individual may be considered a candidate only if he or she has filed a certificate of candidacy before the Comelec. The filing of the certificate of candidacy for president is still on November this year.

This issue was settled last year when the Comelec junked the petition of Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago to declare the appearance of politicians in commercial advertisements as an election offense.

The Comelec said it has no power to restrict politicians from appearing in advertisements to endorse products or promote an advocacy because this is not prohibited under the Omnibus Election Code.

“The commission recognizes that there is a need to quell the less than noble practices complained of by the petitioner [Santiago]. However, as the law stands, these practices cannot be restrained or punished,” the Comelec stressed.

Top spenders, big losers

If the media handlers of the presidential bets think that the more their candidates are exposed in the media, the better their chances of winning in next year’s polls, they should think again.

In the 2007 elections, Prospero Pichay and Villar were the biggest spenders in political ads. Pichay spent P151.72 million followed by Villar with P138.28 million. Both have exceeded the allowable limit of P135 million, computed at P3 per voter of the estimated 45 million votes.

What happened to them?

Pichay was thrashed in the polls and Villar, despite his massive campaign ads, landed only fourth, overtaken by Legarda, who placed first, Chiz Escudero and even by Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

The other big spenders in political ads who also lost in the 2007 senatorial derby were Michael Defensor, Tito Sotto, Tessie Aquino-Oreta and Ralph Recto. On the other hand, Antonio Trillanes 4th, who did not have any campaign ad and was unable to campaign because he was and is still detained, was number 11.

What to do?

These political ads will become more frequent and more annoying when election campaign starts. But unless the election law is amended, we are helpless.

Henrietta de Villa, chairman of the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) and the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, said that the best way to show our outrage over the premature campaigning and circumvention of the law by these candidates is not to vote for them in the 2010 elections.

I agree with her and I think that this is what we should all do when we enter the polling booths next year."

MIKE DEFENSOR at 40

“In life we shall find many men that are great, and some that

are good, but very few men that are both great and

good.” Charles Colton

Butch Acebuche, Marj Defensor-Lopez, Raul Teehankee, Amiel Cabanlig, John Defensor, Florence Defensor, Sen. Manny Villar, Mojo Javier, Mike Defensor, Atty. Chat Zamora, Paulo Lopez

Mike and his loving family!

The solid batch of 86'

J.Flavier, M.Rosal, J.Defensor, A.Cabanlig, A.Alejandrino,N&A DeVilla

Back to the 80's

Ai Ai De las Alas

Dr. Robert Nazal and Ai Ai

Victorina's fav' Mayor Recom Echeverri

the anatomy of pure evil

Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff was sentenced Monday to 150 years in jail for masterminding an “evil” multibillion-dollar investment scam that cheated thousands of people around the world.

“It is the judgment of this court that Bernard Madoff should be sentenced to 150 years in jail,” Judge Denny Chin said as he handed down the maximum term possible on 11 charges of fraud, theft and perjury.

He described Madoff’s crimes as “extraordinarily evil” and said it was “not merely a bloodless crime that takes place on paper but one that takes a staggering human toll.”

The tough sentence came even after Madoff, the former chairman of the Nasdaq, made a courtroom apology to his victims. “I am sorry,” he told them simply. “I don’t ask for forgiveness.”

“I leave a legacy of shame to my family. I am responsible for a great deal of suffering and pain. I live in a tormented state,” said the disgraced 71-year-old financier who now faces spending the rest of his life in prison.

Judge Chin gave Madoff 10 days to appeal, but noted there had not been a single letter from friends or family testifying to his good deeds. “The absence of such support is telling,” he said.

Madoff’s wife, Ruth, finally broke her silence Monday to lash out at her husband, saying: “All those touched by this fraud feel betrayed; disbelieving the nightmare they woke to.

“The man who committed this horrible fraud is not the man whom I have known all these years,” she said in a statement.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs weighed in later by saying the maximum sentence handed to Madoff would send an effective warning to other investors.

“The judge wanted to send a very strong signal to anybody that invests money on behalf of others of the amazing responsibility that they have to those investors and to the country,” he said, adding “that message will be heard loud and clear.”

Prosecutors say about $13 billion was handed to Madoff. The financier himself has talked about losing some 50 billion dollars, which is believed to be the amount that would have been paid out had the funds been properly invested.

Among Madoff’s victims were Hollywood and international celebrities, several of the world’s bestknown banks and Jewish charities, some of which were forced to close after the scheme unraveled.

The funds were then used to pay out “dividends” to investors in what is known as a “Ponzi scheme.”

One lingering issue is how to return the stolen funds. Of the billions of dollars that were lost, prosecutors say only one billion has been recovered. (manila times)

Flying Coffins?

A long times ago I warned the Victorina council regarding the airworthiness of Zest Air’s MA60. I even told ABS-CBN’s RG Cruz that the Chinese made MA6o that were being sold cheaply to third-world countries like Zimbabwe, Congo, Zambia, Laos, Indonesia, Bolivia and other countries and Africa is bad news. During a raffle, I was given a free round trip ticket to Caticlan but I never bothered to use it.

Yesterday, Zest Airways flight Z2-863 overshot the runway at Caticlan prompting the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to close the airport. Investigators are now verifying eyewitnesses’ reports that the plane landed almost at the middle of the 1,050-meter- long runway. Just last January, another MA60 plane overshot the runway. Reports said strong winds caused the aircraft’s landing gear to explode, hitting the airport fence. After swerving 180 degrees, the plane was, with registry number RP-C8893 crashed into the airport’s passenger lounge.

Zest Air owner Alfredo Yao said the MA60 plane with tail number RPC 8992 exceeded the runway of Godofredo Ramos Airport in Caticlan, Aklan because of the abnormal weather.

There were no reported injuries among the passengers, comprising of 50 adults, four children and one infant. The passengers were evacuated from the plane by the responding airport rescue team and were ferried to the terminal by bus. Caticlan is the seventh busiest airport in the Philippines and the third busiest in Western Visayas. It is also the hub of Southeast Asian Airlines serving the most destinations in and out of the neighboring Malay, Aklan.

Gokongwei-led Cebu Pacific Air Inc., canceled some of its Caticlan flights because of the Zest Air incident. The trustworthy SEAIR, diverted some of its 12 Manila-Caticlan-Manila flights after CAAP closed the airport. PAL Express, also canceled its six Manila-Caticlan-Manila flights while mounting extra flights to Kalibo to accommodate their affected passengers.

Can we really trust Zest Air?

Estrada should follow Roh's example!

Joseph Estrada was been found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of plunder by the Sandiganbayan and was later pardoned. He was charged with violation of Republic Act 7080, or Anti-Plunder Law on four counts and also for perjury for lying about his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) for the year 1998. Estrada should have faced a penalty of reclusion perpetua, or imprisonment ranging from 20 years and one day to 40 years, with civil interdiction of marital authority and of disposal of property, and perpetual absolute disqualification from public office or profession based on RA 7080, or Anti-Plunder Law. The anti-graft court ordered the freezing of Estrada’s accounts estimated at $87 million including protection money from illegal gambling operators, embezzled tobacco taxes, and commissions from insider trading.

The PLUNDERER was later set free!

When Former South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun was tried by his country for corruption, he left a suicide note for his family that family lawyer Moon Jae-in handed out to South Korean media. The former Korean President said;

"I am in debt to too many people," the note reads. "Too many people have suffered because of me. And I cannot imagine the suffering they will go through in the future." Roh's suicide came amid an investigation into a bribery scandal that had tarnished his reputation. Prosecutors were investigating the former president for allegedly receiving $6 million (ONLY) in bribes from a South Korean businessman while in office. Roh's wife was scheduled to be questioned by prosecutors Saturday, and Roh was planning to answer a second round of questions next week.

Roh had said he was ashamed about the scandal… I commend him for his remorse for the sins of his past. I hope PLUNDERER Estrada follow the footsteps of the former Korean Premiere. Maybe your nation can forgive you!

Villar and Jun Lozada... together at last!

The proclamation made by nuns that they will go with Jun Lozada wherever he goes — even a jail cell — seems to be tickling the funny bone of some “journalists” like Ellen Torsesillas. Though the nuns’ objectives may seem noble, for a lot of people this image is quite idiosyncratic of Lozada- a crooked Chinese carpetbagger who has illegally amassed wealth from dishonesty. This brouhaha may just turn Lozada into a senator in 2010 especially with the interest shown by the party of Manny Villar to include him in their senatorial slate. Babes Rumualdez thinks that this may backfire on Manny Villar since a lot of people have become a bit cynical of politicians, particularly presidentiables, with the perception that everything at this point is calculated to give them the edge for the 2010 election.