“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy” .
Yes, apparently gray and white matters as you will find out in one of today’s selection of unusual facts.
Hope you enjoy the others as well. .
. During the production of the video game Deus Ex,
one of the artists forgot to add
the Twin Towers to New York City.
His mistake was explained by
way of a terrorist attack.
The year was 2000.
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Switzerland has
208 mountains over 3,000 meters high
and 24 over 4,000 meters.
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The male brain contains more gray matter
whereas the female brain contains more white matter.
White matter basically increases the speed
of transmission of all nerve signals,
which ultimately allows women to process thoughts
more rapidly than their male counterparts.
Don’t fret guys, you’ll get this
in another nano second or two.
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Genghis Kahn wanted the location
of his grave to be unknown
(somewhere in present day Mongolia)
so his funeral escort killed everyone they met
along the way and he even demanded that
a river be diverted to run across his grave
so it could never be disturbed.
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Although their civilization has declined and been conquered,
in many rural parts of Mexico and Guatemala
Mayan language and culture perseveres.
In fact, there are an estimated 7 million Maya
still living in and around the Yucatan Peninsula.
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The modern chainsaw was invented by Scottish
doctors to help with Symphysiotomy.
This is a surgical procedure that widens the
pelvis in order to assist in childbirth.
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China is among the countries with
the highest air pollution in the world.
Breathing air in Beijing, the country´s capital,
increases the risk of lung cancer in the same way
as smoking 21 cigarettes a day.
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In 1883 Sir Hiram Maxim created the Maxim gun.
The world’s first machine gun would go on to
revolutionize warfare and was used in both World Wars.
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Some rich people in Moscow buy
ambulances and use them to drive around
because the traffic is so bad.
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Operation Mockingbird was a secret campaign
begun in the 1950s by the
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
to influence media.
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After being frustrated by the service
he was receiving at Bank of America,
Dalton Chiscolm sued them
for $1.7 billion trillion.
During the trial a professor of mathematics
was even called in to testify about
how big the number was.
To give you an idea,
Earth’s total combined GDP was $60 trillion that year.
Summer is beckoning but not before you try another fasab quiz.
Twenty more random questions to test your knowledge.
As usual if you get stuck you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!
Enjoy and good luck.
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Q. 1: How many leaves are there on a shamrock?
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Q. 2: It is the name of a region in Western Europe, a unique language, a close fitting bodice and a common form of the ball game Pelota. What is it?
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Q. 3: What nationality was the first person to reach the North Pole alone and on foot?
a) Finnish b) English c) Norwegian d) Swedish
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Q. 4: Which mode of transport did Christopher Cockerell invent in the 1950’s?
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Q. 5: What word links a herb or other small vegetable growth, the buildings, equipment, etc., of a company or an institution, or a shot in snooker where the cue ball hits a red ball which hits another red ball to make it go into a pocket?
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Q. 6: What city in the United States of America is known as the “City of Oaks” because of the many oak trees that line the streets in the heart of the city.
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Q. 7: What is a female bear called?
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Q. 8: Gävleborg, Gotland and Uppsala are among the counties of which country?
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Q. 9: In which Olympic sport are there ‘Normal Hill’ and ‘Large Hill’ events?
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Q. 10: In Greek mythology who went in search of the ‘Golden Fleece’ ? (You get a point for the name of the leader, the name given to his followers and two bonus points for the name of their ship.)
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Q. 11: What color originates from a famous 16th Century Italian painter and what color is it? (A point for each correct answer.)
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Q. 12: Which English city has more than 100 miles of canal?
a) London b) Birmingham c) Manchester
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Q. 13: Which empire ruled most of India and Pakistan in the 16th and 17th centuries?
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Q. 14: What writer created the famous Baker Street detective?
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Q. 15: Which black and white bird has the scientific name ‘Pica pica’ ?
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Q. 16: What is the name given to that part of the North Atlantic bounded by the Gulf Stream on the west, the North Atlantic Current on the north, the Canary Current on the east, and the North Equatorial Current on the south.
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Q. 17: If you added together all the voting seats in the US Senate and House of Representatives, how many idiots could sit down?
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Q. 18: Name the star of the movie ‘Taken’.
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Q. 19: What company, still in existence, was at one time the largest landowner in the world, having 15% of the land in North America?
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Q. 20: Finally a chance to beef up that points score. What were the eight original tokens used in the board game ‘Monopoly’ ? (A point for each correct answer and two bonus points if you get all eight correct.)
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> ANSWERS
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Q. 1: How many leaves are there on a shamrock?
A. 1: Three (3).
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Q. 2: It is the name of a region in Western Europe, a unique language, a close fitting bodice and a common form of the ball game Pelota. What is it?
A. 2: Basque.
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Q. 3: What nationality was the first person to reach the North Pole alone and on foot?
a) Finnish b) English c) Norwegian d) Swedish
A. 3: The correct answer is c) Norwegian. He was Børge Ousland and he walked there by himself in 1994.
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Q. 4: Which mode of transport did Christopher Cockerell invent in the 1950’s?
A. 4: The Hovercraft.
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Q. 5: What word links a herb or other small vegetable growth, the buildings, equipment, etc., of a company or an institution, or a shot in snooker where the cue ball hits a red ball which hits another red ball to make it go into a pocket?
A. 5: A ‘plant’.
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Q. 6: What city in the United States of America is known as the “City of Oaks” because of the many oak trees that line the streets in the heart of the city.
A. 6: Raleigh, North Carolina, is known as the “City of Oaks”.
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Q. 7: What is a female bear called?
A. 7: A ‘sow’.
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Q. 8: Gävleborg, Gotland and Uppsala are among the counties of which country?
A. 8: Sweden.
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Q. 9: In which Olympic sport are there ‘Normal Hill’ and ‘Large Hill’ events?
A. 9: Ski jumping.
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Q. 10: In Greek mythology who went in search of the ‘Golden Fleece’ ? (You get a point for the name of the leader, the name given to his followers and two bonus points for the name of their ship.)
A. 10: His name was ‘Jason’, his followers were the ‘Argonauts’, and the name of their ship (after which the followers were named) was the Argo.
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Q. 11: What color originates from a famous 16th Century Italian painter and what color is it? (A point for each correct answer.)
A. 11: Titian, a brownish-orange color.
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Q. 12: Which English city has more than 100 miles of canal?
a) London b) Birmingham c) Manchester
A. 12: The correct answer is b) Birmingham.
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Q. 13: Which empire ruled most of India and Pakistan in the 16th and 17th centuries?
A. 13: The Mughal Empire.
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Q. 14: What writer created the famous Baker Street detective?
A. 14: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, his creation was Sherlock Holmes.
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Q. 15: Which black and white bird has the scientific name ‘Pica pica’ ?
A. 15: The (Common) Magpie.
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Q. 16: What is the name given to that part of the North Atlantic bounded by the Gulf Stream on the west, the North Atlantic Current on the north, the Canary Current on the east, and the North Equatorial Current on the south.
A. 16: It is called the Sargasso Sea.
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Q. 17: If you added together all the voting seats in the US Senate and House of Representatives, how many idiots could sit down?
A. 17: 535 (100 + 435).
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Q. 18: Name the star of the movie ‘Taken’.
A. 18: Liam Neeson.
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Q. 19: What company, still in existence, was at one time the largest landowner in the world, having 15% of the land in North America?
A. 19: Hudson’s Bay Company.
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Q. 20: Finally a chance to beef up that points score. What were the eight original tokens used in the board game ‘Monopoly’ ? (A point for each correct answer and two bonus points if you get all eight correct.)
A. 20: Wheelbarrow, Battleship, Racecar, Thimble, Old-style shoe (or boot), Scottie dog, Top hat, Iron.
First Monday of November and the first quiz of November.
It may be a different month but the format remains the same. Twenty random questions to test you general knowledge.
And as usual, if you get stuck, you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!
Enjoy and good luck.
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Q. 1: How are you related to the sister-in-law of your dad’s only brother?
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Q. 2: There has been a TV series and a movie named “The Equalizer”, which actors played the leading characters in each?
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Q. 3: What are the names the capital city of New Zealand and its most populous city and on which island are they situated? (A point for each correct answer.)
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Q. 4: If a doctor gave you 5 pills and asked you to take 1 pill every 30 minutes, how many hours would it take you to consume all the pills?
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Q. 5: In what country was the game ‘Chinese Checkers’ (or ‘Chinese Chequers’) invented?
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Q. 6: What are the three main types of Whiskey, defined by how they are distilled?
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Q. 7: Where were the first modern Olympic Games held?
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Q. 8: If 5/8 of the children in a school are boys and the school consists of 2400 students, how many girls are there?
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Q. 9: How many meters, yards or feet are there in a ‘nautical mile’?
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Q. 10: ‘Marble’ is a form of which type of rock?
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Q. 11: Where would you find a chicken’s ‘oysters’?
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Q. 12: In what US city was the original TV series ‘NCIS’ based, and what are the locations for the two spin-off series? (A point for each correct answer.)
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Q. 13: A related question to the previous one, what do the letters ‘NCIS’ stand for?
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Q. 14: Approximately what proportion of the continental land mass is located in the Northern Hemisphere?
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Q. 15: Which chemical element has the highest melting point at normal pressure?
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Q. 16: What artist was famous for his paintings of matchstick men?
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Q. 17: What is the study of birds called?
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Q. 18: What metal, often used by sculptors, is an alloy of copper and tin?
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Q. 19: What is produced by the rapid expansion of atmospheric gases suddenly heated by lightning?
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Q. 20: Finally one for all you vintage gamers, where did you find cherry strawberry orange apple grape bird?
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ANSWERS
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Q. 1: How are you related to the sister-in-law of your dad’s only brother?
A. 1: She’s your mom.
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Q. 2: There has been a TV series and a movie named “The Equalizer”, which actors played the leading characters in each?
A. 2: Edward Woodward in the TV series and Denzil Washington in the recent movie.
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Q. 3: What are the names the capital city of New Zealand and its most populous city and on which island are they situated? (A point for each correct answer.)
A. 3: Wellington is the capital of New Zealand and Auckland is its most populous city with approximately 1.4 million inhabitants. Both are situated on the North Island.
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Q. 4: If a doctor gave you 5 pills and asked you to take 1 pill every 30 minutes, how many hours would it take you to consume all the pills?
A. 4: 2 hours. You took the first pill as soon as the doctor gave them to you.
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Q. 5: In what country was the game ‘Chinese Checkers’ (or ‘Chinese Chequers’) invented?
A. 5: Germany (in 1892, called Stern-Halma, a variation of earlier American game Halma.
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Q. 6: What are the three main types of Whiskey, defined by how they are distilled?
A. 6: They are ‘Scotch’, ‘Irish’ and ‘Bourbon’.
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Q. 7: Where were the first modern Olympic Games held?
A. 7: They were held in Much Wenlock, Shropshire, England in 1850 and annually for a while afterwards, inspiring the Athens Olympiad of 1896 and the Olympic movement. (You get a point if you said ‘England’ and three points if you knew the exact location.)
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Q. 8: If 5/8 of the children in a school are boys and the school consists of 2400 students, how many girls are there?
A. 8: 900 (If 5/8 of the children in a school are boys, then 3/8 of the children in that school are girls. (5/8 + 3/8 = 1) 3/8 of 2400 = 3/8 * 2400 = 900)
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Q. 9: How many meters, yards or feet are there in a ‘nautical mile’?
A. 9: A nautical mile is a unit of distance that is approximately one minute of arc measured along any meridian and by international agreement has been set at 1,852 metres exactly, or approximately 2,025 yards or 6,076 feet.
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Q. 10: ‘Marble’ is a form of which type of rock?
A. 10: Limestone.
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Q. 11: Where would you find a chicken’s ‘oysters’?
A. 11: Chicken Oysters are two small, round pieces of dark meat on the back of poultry near the thigh. Some regard the “oyster meat” to be the most flavorful and tender part of the bird, while others dislike the taste and texture.
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Q. 12: In what US city was the original TV series ‘NCIS’ based, and what are the locations for the two spin-off series? (A point for each correct answer.)
A. 12: The original NCIS TV series was set in Washington DC and the spin-off shows are set in Los Angeles and New Orleans.
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Q. 13: A related question to the previous one, what do the letters ‘NCIS’ stand for?
A. 13: They stand for ‘Naval Criminal Investigative Service’.
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Q. 14: Approximately what proportion of the continental land mass is located in the Northern Hemisphere?
A. 14: Approximately two-thirds.
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Q. 15: Which chemical element has the highest melting point at normal pressure?
A. 15: ‘Tungsten’ is the chemical element with the highest melting point, at 3687 K (3414 °C, 6177 °F)[4] making it excellent for use as filaments in light bulbs. The often-cited carbon does not melt at ambient pressure but sublimes at about 4000 K; a liquid phase only exists above pressures of 10 MPa and estimated 4300–4700 K.
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Q. 16: What artist was famous for his paintings of matchstick men?
A. 16: Laurence Stephen Lowry, better known as ‘L.S. Lowry’ (Nov 1st 1887 to Feb 23rd 1976).
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Q. 17: What is the study of birds called?
A. 17: The study of birds is called ‘Ornithology’.
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Q. 18: What metal, often used by sculptors, is an alloy of copper and tin?
A. 18: Bronze.
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Q. 19: What is produced by the rapid expansion of atmospheric gases suddenly heated by lightning?
A. 19: Easier than you thought, it’s ‘thunder’.
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Q. 20: Finally one for all you vintage gamers, where did you find cherry strawberry orange apple grape bird?
As most of you know, the main focus of this blog is on the stupidity of the politicians and bureaucrats who do all that they can to make our lives less enjoyable and free than they could be without such unwanted and idiotic interference.
Occasionally, however, I like to feature quite the opposite, things and people who are exceptional in their chosen field, whether that be science, sport, engineering, music or whatever.
Today’s post is one of the latter and is a wonderful selection of caricatures that I received in a recent email. Unfortunately I don’t know the names of the exceptional artists who did these drawings, otherwise I would be more than happy to acknowledge them. Nonetheless I think as wide an audience as possible deserves to be able to view their work and what follows I hope will be a small part of that.
Enjoy, I think you will. And if you feel the urge please let me know you favorite or favorites.
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THE END
(Copyright to all drawings belong to the original artists)
![Deus_Ex_charity[1]](https://fasab.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/deus_ex_charity1.jpg)
fasab 