centuries | fasab

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

Hi, and welcome to another quiz for Monday.

A random mixture of general knowledge, history, geography, politics, sport, movies, etc., all designed to get you thinking.

As usual, if you get stuck, the answers can be found waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!

Enjoy and good luck.

Q. 1: Name the only boxer to knock out Mohammed Ali?

Q. 2: In what Clint Eastwood movie did Gene Hackman appear as the President of the United States?

Q. 3: When Steve Jobs set up the Apple computer company in 1976 who was his partner?

Q. 4: What phrase was used to describe the German empire under Hitler?

Q. 5: Which Shakespearean character, haunted by the ghost of his murdered father, shares his name with a small settlement of people?

Q. 6: Which group was made up of a cowboy, an Indian, a policeman, a biker, a GI and a builder?

Q. 7: Which war drama, first seen on British Television in October 1972, depicted life in a German castle used for prisoners of war?

Q. 8: Who murdered the well known singer Marvin Gay?

Q. 9: What is the Spanish word for ‘Conqueror’?

Q. 10: The term “Expletive Deleted” came into fashion as a result of the publication of the transcript of what?

Q. 11: Which notorious gang were involved in the famous gunfight against the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday at the O.K Corral?

Q. 12: How did David kill Goliath?

Q. 13: Which island volcano is west of Java, unless in the movie where it is east of Java, and erupted in 1883 causing 36,000 deaths?

Q. 14: Who published ‘Centuries’ in 1555, a book of rhyming prophesies going up to the year 3797?

Q. 15: The Clayton Bulwer Treaty signed in 1850 concerned the construction of what?

Q. 16: In which year was the first Afro-American elected to the US Congress?

a) 1870, b) 1906, c) 1928 d) 1960

Q. 17: Who is the only US president to have never been elected?

Q. 18: Which company owned most of what is now called Canada in the early colonial days?

Q. 19: Which country has the world’s oldest flag?

Q. 20: Which famous actor sang ‘We Are Ready’ at the end of the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games?

ANSWERS

Q. 1: Name the only boxer to knock out Mohammed Ali?

A. 1: Larry Holmes, in 1980.

Q. 2: In what Clint Eastwood movie did Gene Hackman appear as the President of the United States?

A. 2: Absolute Power.

Q. 3: When Steve Jobs set up the Apple computer company in 1976 who was his partner?

A. 3: Stephen Wozniak.

Q. 4: What phrase was used to describe the German empire under Hitler?

A. 4: It was known as the ‘Third Reich’.

Q. 5: Which Shakespearean character, haunted by the ghost of his murdered father, shares his name with a small settlement of people?

A. 5: Hamlet.

Q. 6: Which group was made up of a cowboy, an Indian, a policeman, a biker, a GI and a builder?

A. 6: Village People.

Q. 7: Which war drama, first seen on British Television in October 1972, depicted life in a German castle used for prisoners of war?

A. 7: Colditz.

Q. 8: Who murdered the well known singer Marvin Gay?

A. 8: His father.

Q. 9: What is the Spanish word for ‘Conqueror’?

A. 9: Conquistador.

Q. 10: The term “Expletive Deleted” came into fashion as a result of the publication of the transcript of what?

A. 10: The Watergate Tapes.

Q. 11: Which notorious gang were involved in the famous gunfight against the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday at the O.K Corral?

A. 11: The Clantons.

Q. 12: How did David kill Goliath?

A. 12: With a stone from a sling.

Q. 13: Which island volcano is west of Java, unless in the movie where it is east of Java, and erupted in 1883 causing 36,000 deaths?

A. 13: Krakatoa.

Q. 14: Who published ‘Centuries’ in 1555, a book of rhyming prophesies going up to the year 3797?

A. 14: Nostradamus.

Q. 15: The Clayton Bulwer Treaty signed in 1850 concerned the construction of what?

A. 15: Panama Canal.

Q. 16: In which year was the first Afro-American elected to the US Congress?

a) 1870, b) 1906, c) 1928 d) 1960

A. 16: a) 1870.

Q. 17: Who is the only US president to have never been elected?

A. 17: Gerald Ford.

Q. 18: Which company owned most of what is now called Canada in the early colonial days?

A. 18: The Hudson Bay Company.

Q. 19: Which country has the world’s oldest flag?

A. 19: Denmark. (Maybe we should have a whip round and buy them a new one?)

Q. 20: Which famous actor sang ‘We Are Ready’ at the end of the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games?

A. 20: Jackie Chan.

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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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