ABC

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

Hi and welcome to another fasab quiz day.

If you know about history, geography, politics, technology, music, movies, cars and a lot of other stuff then you should do okay.

And as always, if you get stuck , you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!

Enjoy and good luck.

Q. 1: Who or what is a ‘FLOTUS’?

Q. 2: Most of you will have heard of the company called ‘3M’ but what do the three ‘M’s stand for?

Q. 3: Everyone has heard about the Titanic and probably seen at least one of the movies depicting its fateful inaugural voyage, but to which shipping line did the Titanic belong?

Q. 4: What waterway did Britain buy a share of in 1875?

Q. 5: In 1975 King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was assassinated by which male member of his family?

a) son b) grandson c) nephew d) father

Q. 6: What are the terms ‘Hi-Fi’ and ‘Wi-Fi’ abbreviations of? (A point for each correct answer.)

Q. 7: In 1935, British engineer Robert Watson-Watt was working on a ‘death ray’ that would destroy enemy aircraft using radio waves. What did he invent instead?

Q. 8: General Leopoldo Galtieri was president of which South American country in 1981 and 1982?

Q. 9: When did the construction of the Berlin Wall begin and in what year was it demolished? (A point for each correct answer.)

Q. 10: What makes of car were featured in the following movies? (A point for each correct answer, and a bonus point if you get them all correct.)

a) Herbie, The Love Bug b) Back To The Future

c) Smokey And The Bandit d) Bullitt

Q. 11: In which year did South Africa have its first all-race elections?

a) 1990 b) 1992 c) 1994 d) 1996

Q. 12: One of the best television mini-series ever made was the western ‘Lonesome Dove’, but what were the names of the two lead characters and who were the actors who played them? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you get all four names correct.)

Q. 13: Held by Cuban athlete Javier Sotomayor, what is the current Men’s High Jump World Record?

a) 2.37 m b) 2.39 m c) 2.41 m d) 2.45 m e) 2.47 m

Q. 14: ‘Operation Barbarossa’ was the codename used by the Germans for their plans to invade which country in 1941?

Q. 15: What is considered to be the hottest desert in North America? (A bonus point if you know in which State it is located.)

Q. 16: Who was ‘Mork’ and who was ‘Mindy’ in the hit TV sitcom ‘Mork & Mindy’ originally broadcast from 1978 until 1982 on ABC? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you can name both correctly.)

Q. 17: From which country did Norway secure its independence in 1905?

Q. 18: Approximately how many rifles did American factories produce during World War II?

a) 1 million b) 3 million c) 5 million d) 7 million e) 9 million

Q. 19: It is the name of a hybrid between a mandarin and a sweet orange and Winston Churchill’s wife, what is it?

Q. 20: Who was ‘Talking To The Moon’ in 2011?

ANSWERS

Q. 1: Who or what is a ‘FLOTUS’?

A. 1: FLOTUS is the First Lady Of The United States, or currently Mrs Obama.

Q. 2: Most of you will have heard of the company called ‘3M’ but what do the three ‘M’s stand for?

A. 2: ‘3M’ is an abbreviation of ‘Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing’.

Q. 3: Everyone has heard about the Titanic and probably seen at least one of the movies depicting its fateful inaugural voyage, but to which shipping line did the Titanic belong?

A. 3: The name is mentioned in the movies, it is the White Star Line.

Q. 4: What waterway did Britain buy a share of in 1875?

A. 4: The Suez Canal.

Q. 5: In 1975 King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was assassinated by which male member of his family?

a) son b) grandson c) nephew d) father

A. 5: Answer c) his nephew.

Q. 6: What are the terms ‘Hi-Fi’ and ‘Wi-Fi’ abbreviations of? (A point for each correct answer.)

A. 6: ‘Hi-Fi’ and ‘Wi-Fi’ are abbreviations of ‘High Fidelity’ and ‘Wireless Fidelity’.

Q. 7: In 1935, British engineer Robert Watson-Watt was working on a ‘death ray’ that would destroy enemy aircraft using radio waves. What did he invent instead?

A. 7: Robert Watson-Watt’s ‘death ray’ evolved into RADAR, otherwise known as ‘radio detection and ranging’.

Q. 8: General Leopoldo Galtieri was president of which South American country in 1981 and 1982?

A. 8: Argentina.

Q. 9: When did the construction of the Berlin Wall begin and in what year was it demolished? (A point for each correct answer.)

A. 9: Construction of the Berlin Wall began in 1961 (August 13^th) and it was demolished in 1989.

Q. 10: What makes of car were featured in the following movies? (A point for each correct answer, and a bonus point if you get them all correct.)

a) Herbie, The Love Bug b) Back To The Future

c) Smokey And The Bandit d) Bullitt

A. 10: a) Herbie, The Love Bug featured a Volkswagen Beetle

b) Back To The Future featured a DeLorean DMC-12

c) Smokey And The Bandit featured a Pontiac Trans Am

d) Bullitt featured a Ford Mustang GT fastback

Q. 11: In which year did South Africa have its first all-race elections?

a) 1990 b) 1992 c) 1994 d) 1996

A. 11: The correct answer is c) 1994.

A. 12: The two lead characters in the Lonesome Dove TV miniseries were ‘Captain Augustus “Gus” McCrae’, played by Robert Duvall, and ‘Captain Woodrow F. Call’, played by Tommy Lee Jones.

Q. 13: Held by Cuban athlete Javier Sotomayor, what is the current Men’s High Jump World Record?

a) 2.37 m b) 2.39 m c) 2.41 m d) 2.45 m e) 2.47 m

A. 13: The correct answer is d) 2.45 m (8 ft 1/2 in), achieved in Salamanca, Spain on July 27^th 1993.

Q. 14: ‘Operation Barbarossa’ was the codename used by the Germans for their plans to invade which country in 1941?

A. 14: It was the codename for their plans to invade Russia.

Q. 15: What is considered to be the hottest desert in North America? (A bonus point if you know in which State it is located.)

A. 15: The Mojave Desert, located primarily in southeastern California is considered to be the hottest desert in North America.

Q. 16: Who was ‘Mork’ and who was ‘Mindy’ in the hit TV sitcom ‘Mork & Mindy’ originally broadcast from 1978 until 1982 on ABC? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you can name both correctly.)

A. 16: The series starred Robin Williams as Mork and Pam Dawber as Mindy McConnell.

Q. 17: From which country did Norway secure its independence in 1905?

A. 17: Sweden.

Q. 18: Approximately how many rifles did American factories produce during World War II?

a) 1 million b) 3 million c) 5 million d) 7 million e) 9 million

A. 18: The correct answer is d) approximately 7 million rifles were produced in American factories during WWII.

Q. 19: It is the name of a hybrid between a mandarin and a sweet orange and Winston Churchill’s wife, what is it?

A. 19: Clementine.

Q. 20: Who was ‘Talking To The Moon’ in 2011?

A. 20: Bruno Mars. Here he is……

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“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

You could perhaps be forgiven for thinking that the title indicated that today’s post is about the weather, but it isn’t. Instead I’m doing a Sunday Sermon (otherwise known as a rant) about things Middle Eastern.

It is a part of the world about which most of us know very little, but a place that has affected, and will affect, all our lives dramatically.

If you listen to CNN or ABC or any of the other media outlets you would be left with the impression that what has been happening in the Middle East and the terrorist offshoots that it has spawned is solely a religious crusade by Muslims against all other religions, particularly the Christians and the Jews.

Granted that type of hatred does exist and is being fomented by demented Islamic clerics within the Muslim community both at home and abroad, but it is by no means the whole picture.

Just as there are many different sects within, for example, the Christian faith, there are different denominations within the Muslim faith also.

The latter consists of two main factions, the Sunnis and the Shiites, and a lot of what has been, and is happening in the Middle East has its roots in a sectarian conflict and power struggle between these two factions of Islam.

It’s always difficult, and a little bit dangerous, to try to sum up a long standing conflict in a couple of paragraphs, but basically what happened was that after the death of the Prophet Muhammad his followers split into two factions, those who accepted Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s father-in-law, as the rightful successor (the Sunnis) and those who believed that Ali, Muhammad’s son-in-law, should be successor (the Shiites).

Rather than find common ground over the centuries the differences and bitterness remained and are still being played out throughout the Middle East today.

Syria, where the politicians seem hell bent on involving us next, is a prime example of this sectarian conflict. The Assads, who have been in power for over forty years, are Alawaites which is a branch of Shia Islam. Currently there is an attempt to overthrow the Assad regime by opposing forces that come from the Sunni faction.

The Sunnis comprise around three-quarters of the Syrian population, as opposed to about 12% to 15% for the Shias, and that will be used as justification for siding with the forces trying to overthrow Assad. The fact that Syria under Assad participated in the US-led Gulf War against Saddam Hussein in the 1990-91 Operation Desert Storm will be quietly forgotten, as will the fact that Hamas, regarded as a terrorist organization by most Western states including the US, Canada, and the EU, supports the Syrian Opposition.

However, the real reason that America and her allies will side with the Sunni faction has nothing to do with the lofty goal of establishing democracy in Syria. In fact it has very little to do with Syria at all, but everything to do with Saudi Arabia.

The ruling Sheiks and the vast majority of the population in Saudi Arabia are Sunni, but there is also a significant Shia population in the country and it contains Mecca and Medina, the two holiest cities of Islam, which are a focal point for all Muslims.

Are you getting the picture?

If by chance Assad’s regime were to survive and perhaps emerge stronger than ever, some Western nations are afraid that it would give encouragement to those Shia and fundamentalist factions within Saudi Arabia to also create unrest there too, which in turn would have a devastating effect on oil supplies and oil prices and further damage the already weak economies in the West.

It won’t work out as planned though. These things never do. Eventually there will be some kind of disruption within Saudi Arabia and the economic consequences will be felt worldwide.

But in the meantime that’s what Syria is really all about, according to me anyway. And until someone can come up with a better explanation I for one will not believe the claptrap from the politicians and their tame media front men.

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Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy

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