“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”
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Another midweek treat.
The latest batch of newspaper headline nightmares.
Hope you find something in this example of stupidity to make you smile.
Enjoy
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“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”
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Another delve into the fasab fact file today.
If you are interested in facts, information or trivia there will hopefully be something in here for you.
Enjoy.
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The first Ford cars had Dodge engines.
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The oldest known goldfish lived to 43 years of age.
Its name was Tish.
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There are only thirteen blimps in the world.
Nine of them are in the United States.
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In 1967, the IMAX film system was invented by Canadians
Graeme Ferguson, Roman Kroitor, Robert Kerr, and William C. Shaw
and premiered at Expo 67.
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Texas is also the only state that is allowed to fly its state flag
at the same height as the U.S. flag.
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The typical lead pencil can draw a line
that is thirty five miles long
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Pollsters say that 40 percent of dog and cat owners
carry pictures of the pets in their wallets.
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A meteor has only destroyed one satellite,
which was the European Space Agency’s Olympus in 1993.
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The average American drinks about 600 sodas a year.
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When Queen Elizabeth I of England died
she owned over 3,000 gowns
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The smallest man ever was Gul Mohammed (1957-1997) of India,
who measured 1 feet, 10 inches
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Before the fur trade had started in Canada,
it was estimated that there were over 6 million beavers
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In 1962, the first Wal-Mart opened up in Rogers, Arkansas
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The Saguaro Cactus, found in South-western United States
does not grow branches until it is 75 years old.
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Japan has approximately 200 volcanoes
and is home to 10% of the active volcanoes in the world
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The Dutch people are known to be
the tallest people in Europe
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The word Nike comes from Greek Mythology.
Nike is the goddess of victory and was often depicted
as a small winged figure carried by the goddess Athene.
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The long fibers that are found in the banana plant
can make paper approximately 3000 times stronger than regular paper.
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The city of Seoul has been the capital city of Korea
for more than 600 years
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In Ivrea, Italy, thousands of citizens celebrate the beginning of Lent
by throwing oranges at one another.
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“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”
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Welcome to another quiz day on the fasab blog.
As usual a random selection of questions, some quite difficult, but some that you should find easy enough.
When you are done check the answers which are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below – but NO cheating!
Enjoy.
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Q. 1: What is the name of the art form that translated means ‘beauty writing’?
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Q. 2: The Blue Fairy is a kindly figure in which Disney classic? (Now you knows this!)
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Q. 3: What is the name of the Spanish soup served cold?
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Q. 4: What is the longest poisonous snake in the world?
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Q. 5: Eric Weisz is still believed by some to have made the first successful powered flight in Australia on March 18, 1910. Weisz was better known around the world under which stage name?
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Q. 6: Which region in the Pacific ocean is also the name of a character in the Dr. Doolittle stories?
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Q. 7: What is the name of the world’s oldest licensed whiskey distillery and in which country is it located? (a point for each answer)
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Q. 8: Contestants from which three countries have won the most Miss Universe titles?
(Take some bonus points if you know how many titles they have won.)
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Q. 9: Which word, used in the world of espionage, stems from John Le Carre’s 1974 novel ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’?
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Q. 10: ‘Kristal’ and ‘Krug’ are examples of which wine?
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Q. 11: In space an ‘Event Horizon’ surrounds what kind of region?
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Q. 12: Who was the first Hollywood actress to appear on a postage stamp?
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Q. 13: When the definition of a desert is ‘an area with an average annual precipitation of less than 250 millimetres per year’; on which continent is the largest desert in the world?
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Q. 14: ‘Varig’ is the national airline in which country?
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Q. 15: Name the American artist who uses Campbell’s Soup cans in his pop art?
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Q. 16: What did American POW’s call the Hoa Lo prison camp in North Vietnam?
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Q. 17: Widely used to orient buildings and even furniture, the term ‘Feng shui’, what is the English translation of this term? (Two words.)
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Q. 18: Which breed of horse is also the name for a kind of bean?
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Q. 19: Who was the only heavyweight champion to finish his boxing career with a perfect record? (49 wins-0 defeats).
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Q. 20: Which film producer with a vegetable as a last name, was, until his death, involved in most of the James Bond films?
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ANSWERS
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Q. 1: What is the name of the art form that translated means ‘beauty writing’?
A. 1: Calligraphy.
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Q. 2: The ‘Blue Fairy’ is a kindly figure in which Disney classic? (Now you knows this!)
A. 2: Pinocchio.(Did you get the clue? ‘Knows’ = ‘nose’, whoops, not pun day, sorry!)
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Q. 3: What is the name of the Spanish soup served cold?
A. 3: Gazpacho.
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Q. 4: What is the longest poisonous snake in the world?
A. 4: The King Cobra.
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Q. 5: Eric Weisz is still believed by some to have made the first successful powered flight in Australia on March 18, 1910. Weisz was better known around the world under which stage name?
A. 5: Harry Houdini.
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Q. 6: Which region in the Pacific ocean is also the name of a character in the Dr. Doolittle stories?
A. 6: Polynesia. In the series of books, Polynesia is Doctor Dolittle’s parrot.
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Q. 7: What is the name of the world’s oldest licensed whiskey distillery and in which country is it located? (a point for each answer)
A. 7: Old Bushmills Distillery, located at Bushmills, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
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Q. 8: Contestants from which three countries have won the most Miss Universe titles?
(Take some bonus points if you know how many titles they have won.)
A. 8: USA (8: 1954, 1956, 1960, 1967, 1980, 1995, 1997, 2012),
Venezuela (6: 1979, 1981, 1986, 1996, 2008, 2009), and
Puerto Rico (5: 1970, 1985, 1993, 2001, 2006).
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Q. 9: Which word, used in the world of espionage, stems from John Le Carre’s 1974 novel ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’?
A. 9: Mole.
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Q. 10: ‘Kristal’ and ‘Krug’ are examples of which wine?
A. 10: Champagne.
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Q. 11: In space an ‘Event Horizon’ surrounds what kind of region?
A. 11: A Black hole.
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Q. 12: Who was the first Hollywood actress to appear on a postage stamp?
A. 12: Grace Kelly.
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Q. 13: When the definition of a desert is ‘an area with an average annual precipitation of less than 250 millimetres per year’; on which continent is the largest desert in the world?
A. 13: The Antarctic. (Most people would say ‘The Sahara’ which is the largest ‘hot’ desert area in the world.)
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Q. 14: ‘Varig’ is the national airline in which country?
A. 14: Brazil.
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Q. 15: Name the American artist who uses Campbell’s Soup cans in his pop art?
A. 15: Andy Warhol.
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Q. 16: What did American POW’s call the Hoa Lo prison camp in North Vietnam?
A. 16: The Hanoi Hilton.
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Q. 17: Widely used to orient buildings and even furniture, the term ‘Feng shui’, what is the English translation of this term? (Two words.)
A. 17: Feng shui translated into English means ‘Wind-Water’.
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Q. 18: Which breed of horse is also the name for a kind of bean?
A. 18: Pinto.
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Q. 19: Who was the only heavyweight champion to finish his boxing career with a perfect record? (49 wins-0 defeats).
A. 19: Rocky Marciano.
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Q. 20: Which film producer with a vegetable as a last name, was, until his death, involved in most of the James Bond films?
A. 20: Albert R (Cubby) Broccoli.
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So how did you do?
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“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”
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A few weeks ago we had a short series of what were called ‘perfectly timed photos’ because in most cases the shutter was clicked at just the right moment to achieve the perfect result.
This lot are similar in so far as the end result is effective and hopefully amusing, although they are a bit more contrived or ‘set up’ to achieve the required result.
Have a look and see what you think.
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“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”
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Yes, as always the clue is in the title.
It’s pun day!
Enjoy – you know you do.
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I’ve just got a make-shift job
at the computer keyboard factory.
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A Limbo dancer married a Locksmith yesterday…
…the wedding was low key.
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As a paranoid schizophrenic, I take
the elevator alone to my top floor apartment…
I can’t handle the stares.
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I do all my addition in my head.
It’s the thought that counts.
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My teacher said to our class the
other day that she hates suck-ups.
I couldn’t agree more.
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I was just about to nail some shelves to the wall.
Then I thought, screw it.
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Corrugated roofs.
are really groovy.
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So they finally found Osama a couple of years ago,
talk Abbotabad place to hide!
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What do cheap hotels and
tight designer jeans have in common?
No ballroom.
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When the captain of the ill fated Costa Concordia
was asked if he knew where he was going he replied
“off course”
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Woke up this morning after a heavy night
of drinking to find out that I’d gone bald.
Which is strange because normally
I go for brunettes.
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A tennis ball walks into a bar.
The barman says,
“Have you been served?”
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My horse had a win at the races today.
I have no idea how he filled in the betting slip.
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I saw two people hailing a taxi today and thought:
“What strange religion do they belong to?”
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Princess Diana died on the 31 August 1997
having been staying at the Ritz, Paris.
Margaret Thatcher died April 8, 2013
having been staying at the Ritz, London.
I’ve been saying it’s a conspiracy for years
but everyone else thinks it’s just crackers.
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My maths teacher asked me,
“Do you understand inequalities?”
I replied, “More or less.”
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Without a doubt, my favorite
Robin Williams movie is Mrs Fire.
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I’ve got a friend who’s a female private investigator.
Although he prefers to be called a gynecologist.
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There’s two things I don’t like about a politician,
his face.
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Saw a woman today who opened the door in her nightie.
I thought, “That’s a funny place for a door.”
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“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”
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Welcome to the fasab blog.
It’s newspaper headline nightmares day. Day nine of this series to be exact.
And they don’t get any better – thank goodness.
Hope you enjoy this latest batch.
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“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”
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Here we go with another random selection of facts from the files.
There’s bound to be something new in this lot, so read on and, of course….
Enjoy!
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McDonald’s daily customer traffic is larger
than the population of Great Britain
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The placement of a donkey’s eyes in its head
enables it to see all four feet at all times!
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President Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)
was not only the first President to ride in an automobile,
but also the first President to travel outside the country
when he visited Panama.
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Camel’s have three eyelids.
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A man wore 70 items of clothing in a Chinese airport
to avoid the bagging charge.
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Above the Supreme Court is a basketball court
known as the Highest Court in the Land.
Clarence Thomas tore his Achilles in a 1993 game.
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Your brain consumes 25 watts of power while you’re awake.
This amount of energy is enough to illuminate a lightbulb.
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Hedenophobes have a fear of pleasure.
They won’t be reading this blog then!
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Prostitution is not and has never been illegal in Canada.
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Ramses brand condom is named after
the great pharaoh Ramses II
who fathered over 160 children.
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The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world.
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The first license plate on a car in the United States
was issued in Denver, Colorado in 1908.
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The “Dull Men’s Hall of Fame” is located in Carroll, Wisconsin
– and, no, I am not on their roll of honor!
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Studies have shown that swearing when in pain
can release pain-killing endorphins.
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Common Cobra venom is not on the list of top 10 venoms
yet it is still 40 times more toxic than cyanide.
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“Lassie” was played by a group of male dogs;
the main one was named Pal.
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The record for the most weddings is held by King Mogul of Siam,
who had 9000 weddings and 9000 wives
– and 9000 mother-in-laws *@#!.
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In 1984, a Canadian farmer began
renting advertising space on his cows.
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In ancient Greece “idiot” meant a private citizen or layman;
in modern America it means a politician!
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You use 14 muscles to smile and 43 to frown.
Keep Smiling!
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“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”
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Another chance to pit your wits against the fasab quiz archives with another random set of twenty questions.
Although there are one or two very easy ones, I think quite a lot of them are difficult this time, but here’s your chance to prove me wrong.
As always the answers are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below – but NO cheating.
Enjoy and good luck!
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Q. 1: What does the http:// in web URLs stand for?
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Q. 2: What is the hood ornament on a Rolls Royce called?
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Q. 3: Which former president of the United States, in his college days, worked as a male model, and even appeared on the cover of Cosmopolitan?
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Q. 4: In what country would you find the strangely named lakes “Titicaca” and “Poopo”?
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Q. 5: Sleeping through the winter is called “hibernation,” but what is the word that describes sleeping through hot and dry periods like summer?
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Q. 6: Members of the band “ZZ Top” are famous for their beards, but what was the surname of the only member who hadn’t got one?
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Q. 7: In 1918 the so-called “Spanish Flu” spread around the world killing tens of millions of people, but where did the outbreak start?
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Q. 8: Who was the only U.S. president never to sign a bill into law?
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Q. 9: On which continent are the 50 tallest mountains on Earth are all located? (This is easy if you think about it)
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Q. 10: Which world famous company’s name means “three oceans” in Japanese because the company’s founder wanted to sell his wares across the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific oceans?
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Q. 11: How old was Albert Einstein, a genius if ever there was one, when he learned how to drive?
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Q. 12: What was the first ever registered domain name?
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Q. 13: What city is America’s skyscraper capital?
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Q. 14: Earlier this month the United States celebrated its birthday, but what is the only other country in the world to celebrate its birthday on July 4th?
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Q. 15: Who is O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois named after?
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Q. 16: The citizens of which country eat more donuts per capita than any other?
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Q. 17: What European country is the world’s leading exporter of false teeth?
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Q. 18: At more than 3.3 million square miles, what is the name of the world’s largest hot desert?
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Q. 19: We have all seen a Snellen Chart, but what is it?
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Q. 20: Possibly some of you have said “!#@%” when faced with a difficult question in this test, but what is the name for symbols such as “!#@%” that are used to indicate swearing in comic strips?
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ANSWERS
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Q. 1: What does the http:// in web URLs stand for?
A. 1: The http:// in web URLs stands for “Hyper Text Transfer Protocol.”
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Q. 2: What is the hood ornament on a Rolls Royce called?
A. 2: The Spirit of Ecstasy.
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Q. 3: Which former president of the United States in his college days, worked as a male model, and even appeared on the cover of Cosmopolitan?
A. 3: Former president Gerald Ford wasn’t always gray-haired and paunchy — in his college days, he worked as a male model, and even appeared on the cover of Cosmopolitan.
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Q. 4: In what country would you find the strangely named lakes “Titicaca” and “Poopo”?
A. 4: In Bolivia, South America.
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Q. 5: Sleeping through the winter is called “hibernation,” but what is the word that describes sleeping through hot and dry periods like summer?
A. 5: Sleeping through hot and dry periods like summer is called “estivation.”
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Q. 6: Members of the band “ZZ Top” are famous for their beards, but what was the surname of the only member who hadn’t got one?
A. 6: Ironically, the only member of ZZ Top without a beard has the last name Beard.
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Q. 7: In 1918 the so-called “Spanish Flu” spread around the world killing tens of millions of people, but where did the outbreak start?
A. 7: The so-called “Spanish Flu” of 1918 started at a military camp in Kansas before spreading around the world and killing millions.
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Q. 8: Who was the only U.S. president never to sign a bill into law?
A. 8: William Henry Harrison was the only U.S. president never to sign a bill into law — he died before having the opportunity.
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Q. 9: On which continent are the 50 tallest mountains on Earth are all located? (This is easy if you think about it)
A. 9: Mount Everest, the tallest mountain on Earth is located in the Himalayas in Asia so since it has to be one of the 50 tallest mountains on Earth, they all have to be located in Asia.
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Q. 10: Which world famous company’s name means “three oceans” in Japanese because the company’s founder wanted to sell his wares across the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific oceans?
A. 10: Sanyo means “three oceans” in Japanese.
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Q. 11: How old was Albert Einstein, a genius if ever there was one, when he learned how to drive?
A. 11: Albert Einstein never learned how to drive.
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Q. 12: What was the first ever registered domain name?
A. 12: The first registered domain name was symbolics.com. It was registered on March 15th, 1985.
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Q. 13: What city is America’s skyscraper capital?
A. 13: Chicago is America’s skyscraper capital. The city has more 1,000-foot tall buildings than any other U.S. city.
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Q. 14: Earlier this month the United States celebrated its birthday, but what is the only other country in the world to celebrate its birthday on July 4th?
A. 14: The only other country in the world to celebrate the United States’ birthday, July 4th, is Denmark.
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Q. 15: Who is O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois named after?
A. 15: O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois is named after Al Capone’s lawyer’s son, Lt. Cmdr. Butch O’Hare.
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Q. 16: The citizens of which country eat more donuts per capita than any other?
A. 16: Canadians eat more donuts per capita than any other country.
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Q. 17: What European country is the world’s leading exporter of false teeth?
A. 17: Liechtenstein is the world’s leading exporter of false teeth.
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Q. 18: At more than 3.3 million square miles, what is the name of the world’s largest hot desert?
A. 18: At more than 3.3 million square miles, the Sahara Desert is as large as the world’s next 20 largest hot deserts combined.
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Q. 19: We have all seen a Snellen Chart, but what is it?
A. 19: The eye test chart with the big ‘E’ on top is known as the Snellen Chart.
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Q. 20: Possibly some of you have said “!#@%” when faced with a difficult question in this test, but what is the name for symbols such as “!#@%” that are used to indicate swearing in comic strips?
A. 20: Symbols such as “!#@%” that are used to indicate swearing in comic strips are called grawlix.
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“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”
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Here comes the Sunday Sermon folks!
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Before his first election victory the platform was one of “change” and “yes we can”, not very specific policies but the implication was that everything would get better under his administration, and people went for it.
Guess what?
“No he couldn’t” and “nothing changed”, not for the better anyhow.
Then last year during the re-election campaign he said, “We refuse to let Detroit go bankrupt”, and people went for it again.
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Guess what?
Detroit is bankrupt! Yes, last Thursday, Detroit became the largest U.S. city to declare bankruptcy, filing for Chapter 9 protection.
Are you seeing a trend here?
You should.
But it’s not all Obama’s fault. By no means. He’s just the latest in a long line of clueless politicians who made big promises and had no idea how to pay for them.
So how did it get this bad?
How did the city of Detroit that was once the powerhouse of America, and from whose industry came wealth creation that stimulated the entire economy, get to the stage of being bankrupt?
Sadly, what has happened to Detroit is the culmination of decades of political incompetence and graft and corruption.
For example, the most recent mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, is currently facing charges of racketeering conspiracy, extortion, bribery, mail and wire fraud, filing false tax returns and income tax evasion, Quite a guy!
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It is also the culmination of years of union’s self-serving greed that meant, for example, that every car Detroit manufactured had to be sold at a loss – if it were to sell any at all.
But the problem goes even deeper than that.
Detroit is just the latest example of political and economic stupidity that has been allowed to fester within many western nations. It is not just an American malaise. The very same thing has happened in other countries, like Britain.
And it has happened because American and British politicians got the idea that their countries were a bit better than everyone else’s.
That they could leave the blue collar stuff like steel-making, ship building, car assembly and everything else that created true wealth for a nation, to be done by other ‘inferior’ places such as Japan, Korea, Taiwan and more lately China.
They actively helped to destroy their own manufacturing base through lack of investment, over taxation, needless government interference and over-regulation, etc.
Worse than this, they thought they could replace real industries making real money, with ‘service’ industries.
They never figured out that the former is the foundation that means you can afford the luxury of the latter!
And guess what? They still haven’t!
So instead of making real money, greedy banksters were allowed to conjure imaginary money out of nowhere. Then they were allowed (and encouraged) to invest money that didn’t exist in products that weren’t real either! And of course they lost the money.
And the governments were willing accomplices to this fraud. When they could’t balance their books they simply printed more money and used this imaginary wealth in their economic statistics reports to show everyone how well they were doing.
Detroit is just the latest and biggest example of what the policy of living well beyond your means….. means!
So is this the end for this once great city?
Absolutely not. In fact it might be the making of it. There are going to be tough times ahead, but getting rid of a crippling $20 billion debt, which their bankruptcy will do, at the very least makes a recovery a possibility.
The halcyon days may be gone and never to return because of the damage the politicians have done. But there will be better days ahead.
When you reach the bottom you may bounce around there for a while but eventually the only way is back up.
If the politicians let you, that is.
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“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”
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Last Saturday I talked about the movie ‘Lost in Translation’ and how trying to communicate in a language that you don’t understand can have comic consequences.
I have had a few dodgy experiences using things like Google translator or Bing’s verson or even Bable Fish, but thankfully none quite as bad as this next bunch of signs.
Enjoy.
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All of which goes to prove that it is easier to get the
message across using symbols instead of words!
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fasab 