May The 4th Quiz Be With You.

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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I don’t know what it is, but I can’t resist using that “May The Force Be With You” thing on this date. Sorry, but you’ll probably see another version of it next year if we’re all still around in the blogshpere.

But to get on with today’s real business, I do have another quiz for you.

The usual random selection and also as usual you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating.

Enjoy and good luck.

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Q.  1:  What word links vacations to the phonetic alphabet?

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Q.  2:  What is the collective noun for a group of owls?

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Q.  3:  ‘PL’ is the international car registration for which country?

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Q.  4:  What city is also known as the ‘City of 72 Nations’ ?

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Q.  5:  What is the highest score that can be awarded by a figure-skating judge?

            a) 2            b) 4            c) 6            d) 8            e) 10

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Q.  6:  For what operation on the brain was Antonio de Egas Moniz of Portugal awarded the Nobel prize for medicine in 1949?

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Q.  7:  Who was prime minster of China under Chairman Mao?

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Q.  8:  Which literary characters set out on a journey from the Tabard Inn, Southwark?

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Q.  9:  What is the brightest star in the night sky?

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Q. 10:  Spain has many famous ‘costas’. A point for each one of the following you can name correctly the four below and a bonus point if you get them all.

 

Costa   _  _  _  _  _  _

Costa   _  _  _  _  _

Costa   _  _  _  _  _  _

Costa   _  _  _      _  _  _

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Q. 11:  What name links the writers Kipling, Conrad and Heller?

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Q. 12:  As well as being a girl’s best friend Diamonds are a form of which chemical element?

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Q. 13:  What is the difference in paddles between canoeing and kayaking?

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Q. 14:  In which country is Liberation of Saigon Day on April 30 a public holiday?

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Q. 15:  What is created when the loop of a meander of a river is cut off and the river diverted on a different course?

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Q. 16:  The number of voting representatives in the House of Representatives was fixed by law in 1911 at what number?

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Q. 17:  What color is a Welsh poppy?

             a)  Blue            b) Yellow            c) Red            d) White

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Q. 18:  How many valves does a trumpet have?

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Q. 19:  Which is the only American state to begin with the letter ‘P’ ?

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Q. 20:  Which band were Living Next Door to Alice in 1976?

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ANSWERS

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Q.  1:  What word links vacations to the phonetic alphabet?

A.  1:  Hotel.

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Q.  2:  What is the collective noun for a group of owls?

A.  2:  A parliament.

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Q.  3:  ‘PL’ is the international car registration for which country?

A.  3:  Poland.

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Q. 4: What city is also known as the ‘City of 72 Nations’ ?

A.  4:  Tehran.

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Q.  5:  What is the highest score that can be awarded by a figure-skating judge?

            a) 2            b) 4            c) 6            d) 8            e) 10

A.  5:  The correct answer is c) 6.

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Q.  6:  For what operation on the brain was Antonio de Egas Moniz of Portugal awarded the Nobel prize for medicine in 1949?

A.  6:  Prefrontal lobotomy.

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Q.  7:  Who was prime minster of China under Chairman Mao?

A.  7:  Chou En-Lai (or Zhou Enlai).

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Q.  8:  Which literary characters set out on a journey from the Tabard Inn, Southwark?

A.  8:  The pilgrims in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.

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Q.  9:  What is the brightest star in the night sky?

A.  9:  Sirius (The Dog Star).

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Q. 10:  Spain has many famous ‘costas’. A point for each one of the following you can name correctly the four below and a bonus point if you get them all.

Costa  _  _  _  _  _  _

Costa  _  _  _  _  _

Costa  _  _  _  _  _  _

Costa  _  _  _    _  _  _

A. 10:  The correct answers are Costa BLANCA, Costa BRAVA, Costa DORADA, and the Costa DEL SOL

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Q. 11:  What name links the writers Kipling, Conrad and Heller?

A. 11:  The answer is ‘Joseph’. Joseph Conrad, Joseph Heller and although he was much better known as Rudyard Kipling his first name was also Joseph.

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Q. 12:  As well as being a girl’s best friend Diamonds are a form of which chemical element?

A. 12:  Carbon.

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Q. 13:  What is the difference in paddles between canoeing and kayaking?

A. 13:  Canoe paddles have a single face and Kayak paddles a double face.

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Q. 14:  In which country is Liberation of Saigon Day on April 30 a public holiday?

A. 14:  Vietnam.

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Q. 15:  What is created when the loop of a meander of a river is cut off and the river diverted on a different course?

A. 15:  Oxbow Lake.

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Q. 16:  The number of voting representatives in the House of Representatives was fixed by law in 1911 at what number?

A. 16:  The number of voting representatives in the House of Representatives was fixed by law in 1911 at no more than 435, proportionally representing the population of the 50 states.

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Q. 17:  What color is a Welsh poppy?

             a)  Blue            b) Yellow            c) Red            d) White

A. 17:  The correct answer is b) Yellow.

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Q. 18:  How many valves does a trumpet have?

A. 18:  A trumpet has 3 valves.

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Q. 19:  Which is the only American state to begin with the letter ‘p’?

A. 19:  Pennsylvania.

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Q. 20:  Which band were Living Next Door to Alice in 1976?

A. 20:  Smokie.

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First Day Of The Month, First Quiz Of The Month.

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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Welcome to December at the fasab blog.

We are into the last month of the year – where did the other eleven go? should be one of today’s questions perhaps.

But of course it isn’t. Instead you have the usual random selection, a few easy ones and a few quite difficult, with some more that lie between the two extremes.

As usual, if you get stuck, you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!

Enjoy and good luck.

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Q.  1:  How many quarts are there in a gallon?

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Q.  2:  Which element is used to treat indigestion and stomach acidity?

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Q.  3:  We all know that diamonds and precious gems are measured in carats, but one carat is the equivalent of how many milligrams?

            a)  100            b)  200            c)  300            d)  400            e)  500

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Q.  4:  What is the unit used to measure the thickness of silk or nylon?

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Q.  5:  In Physics, mass divided by volume is the formula for what?

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Q.  6:  If you subtracted the number of square yards in an acre from the number of square meters in a hectare, what number would you be left with?

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Q.  7:  You’ve seen them on TV and in the movies, what is the more common name for a ‘Polygraph’?

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Q.  8:  Which is the world’s largest lizard?

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Q.  9:  What does the abbreviation ‘PVC’ stand for?

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Q. 10:  What is the name of the medical oath taken by doctors?

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Q. 11:  From which trees do conkers come?

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Q. 12:  What is a Barracuda?

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Q. 13:  In human Biology what is a unit of inherited material that contains a particular characteristic?

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Q. 14:  A ‘Piebald’ horse consists of which two colors?

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Q. 15:  What is 70% of 70?

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Q. 16:  What is the first month of the year to have 31 days that follows another month of 31 days?

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Q. 17:  In 1884, what was invented by Lewis Waterman?

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Q. 18:  If I was your age ten years before you were born and I’m 50, how old are you?

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Q. 19:  What sits on a ‘dolly’ in a television studio?

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Q. 20:  Stewart Copeland was the drummer with which band?

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ANSWERS

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Q.  1:  How many quarts are there in a gallon?

A.  1:  4.

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Q.  2:  Which element is used to treat indigestion and stomach acidity?

A.  2:  Magnesium.

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Q.  3:  We all know that diamonds and precious gems are measured in carats, but one carat is the equivalent of how many milligrams?

            a)  100            b)  200            c)  300            d)  400            e)  500

A.  3:  The correct answer is b)  200.

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Q.  4:  What is the unit used to measure the thickness of silk or nylon?

A.  4:  Denier.

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Q.  5:  In Physics, mass divided by volume is the formula for what?

A.  5:  Density.

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Q.  6:  If you subtracted the number of square yards in an acre from the number of square meters in a hectare, what number would you be left with?

A.  6:  5,160  (there are 10,000 square meters in a hectare and 4,840 square yards in an acre, so your calculation should be 10,000 – 4840 = 5,160 )

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Q.  7:  You’ve seen them on TV and in the movies, what is the more common name for a ‘Polygraph’?

A.  7:  A lie detector.

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Q.  8:  Which is the world’s largest lizard?

A.  8:  The Komodo Dragon, found in the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang, and Padar.

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Q.  9:  What does the abbreviation ‘PVC’ stand for?

A.  9:  Polyvinylchloride.

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Q. 10:  What is the name of the medical oath taken by doctors?

A. 10:  Hippocratic oath.

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Q. 11:  From which trees do conkers come?

A. 11:  Horse Chestnut.

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Q. 12:  What is a Barracuda?

A. 12:  It is the name of the ferocious fish, shaped like a torpedo which is found in warm seas and is closely related to the sea-perch, although you get the point if you just said ‘fish’.

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Q. 13:  In human Biology what is a unit of inherited material that contains a particular characteristic?

A. 13:  A ‘Gene’.

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Q. 14:  A ‘Piebald’ horse consists of which two colors?

A. 14:  Black and White.

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Q. 15:  What is 70% of 70?

A. 15:  49.

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Q. 16:  What is the first month of the year to have 31 days that follows another month of 31 days?

A. 16:  August.

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Q. 17:  In 1884, what was invented by Lewis Waterman?

A. 17:  The Fountain Pen.  Established in 1884 in New York City by Lewis Edson Waterman, the Waterman pen company is still a major manufacturer of luxury fountain pens, in fact it is one of the few remaining first-generation fountain pen companies.

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Q. 18:  If I was your age ten years before you were born and I’m 50, how old are you?

A. 18:  You would be 20.

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Q. 19:  What sits on a ‘dolly’ in a television studio?

A. 19:  A camera.

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Q. 20:  Stewart Copeland was the drummer with which band?

A. 20:  The Police.

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Did You Know? Lots More Fabulous Facts Folks!

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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Welcome to another fasab fact day.

Diamonds and chocolate are just two of the delicious facts today.

Enjoy.

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There is a diamond floating in our galaxy

that is bigger than Earth

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Besides Wales, Argentina is the only other country

where Welsh is spoken by a significant minority

thanks to settlers who inhabited Patagonia nearly 200 years ago.

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Your brain was just about as big as it is now when you were born.

That’s one reason that babies have disproportionately large heads.

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Count the capt Jack Sparrows on The Pirates of the Caribbean.

There are usually three.

If you see four, you might actually have seen Johnny Depp

who sometimes hangs out in the ride in full costume for fun

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Malaria comes from the Latin phrase “mal aria” meaning “bad air”

and was used to describe the atmosphere around the swamps of Rome.

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Chocolate was included in WWII soldier rations.

According to army specification, it was designed

to taste just “a little better than a boiled potato”

so soldiers would not eat it too quickly.

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Oliver Cromwell was hanged and decapitated

two years after he had died.

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American playwright Tennessee Williams died in 1983

after he choked on a bottle cap in his hotel room.

Apparently he had been drinking.

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Kaffeklubben Island Belonging to Greenland,

is officially considered to be the northernmost point of land on Earth.

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The first Eagle Scout west of the Mississippi

is buried in San Marcos, Texas.

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In ancient Egypt, when a ruler would die all of his

servants and animals were buried alive with him.

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In 1985, New Orleans lifeguards decided to throw a pool party

celebrating their first drowning free season ever.

Ironically, after a party filled with hundreds of lifeguards,

local Jerome Moody was found dead at the bottom of the pool.

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The silhouette on the Major League Baseball logo

is Harmon Killebrew.

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The word ‘pound’ is abbreviated ‘lb.’

after the constellation ‘libra’ 

because it means ‘pound’ in Latin, and also ‘scales’.

The abbreviation for the British Pound Sterling

comes from the same source:

it is an ‘L’ for Libra/Lb. with a stroke through it

to indicate abbreviation.

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The Andy Griffith Show was the first spin-off in TV history.

It was a spin-off of the Danny Thomas Show.

If you have time why not enjoy an episode?

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Cole’s Law: Thinly sliced cabbage.

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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In case the title didn’t give it away, today is pun day!

Hurrah and enjoy!!

But first a quick medical alert….

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Medical Alert:

When you play golf iron deficiencies

can lead to a risk of increased strokes.

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I woke up this morning and forgot which side the sun rises from.

Then it dawned on me.

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I was devastated when my girlfriend left me for a dwarf.

I never thought she would stoop so low

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“I only have diamonds, clubs and spades,”

said Tom heartlessly

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Ever wonder why the person who invented the door knocker

wasn’t awarded a No-bell prize.

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I walked down a street where the houses were numbered

64K, 128K, 256K, 512K and 1MB.

That was a trip down memory lane.

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If anyone ever says to you that they’ve lost their voice,

They’re lying.

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Tires are fixed for a flat rate.

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If you suffer from kleptomania,

should you take something for it?

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I’ve taken up a part time course in counterfeiting.

I’m forging ahead.

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I broke up with my girlfriend last night.

It happened on the forecourt of a gas station.

Very emotional breakup.

She was in tears and I was filling up….

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The latest market research shows a growing trend

for eating high-fibre cereal for breakfast,

with the result that people are experiencing

greater regularity in their bowel movements.

With trends like that,

who needs enemas?

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Did you hear about the bird that sat on an axe?

It was trying to hatchet

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A boy came into the house with a sofa on his back.

His mother said,

“How many times have I told you not to accept suites from strangers!?”

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I was watching a tv program about the people in Holland who make their traditional clogs?

I thought, I’d like to try that

Wooden shoe?

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A fishing boat is working the North Sea, when suddenly it starts shipping water.

It puts out a Mayday message:

“Help! Help! We are sinking!”

A few minutes back the reply comes through:

“Zis is ze German coastguard. Vot are you sinking about?”

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I’ve eaten steak tartar,

but only on rare occasions

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un oeuf is enough as they say in France!

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My laptop is broken.

It just keeps playing “Skyfall” over and over again.

Probably because it’s a Dell.

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CLASSIFIED: For Your Eyes Only, Part Seven!!!!!!!

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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Another short selection from the classified ads file today. Misprints or misthinks? Make your own mind up, I think there is a mixture of both kinds in here. But they are funny and that’s the main thing.

Enjoy.

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Smart Thieves And Stupid Police – The Ideal Recipe For The Perfect Crime

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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Just as a bit of a contrast to yesterday’s post, today I have ten stories, which are either about thieves who were smart enough to get away with it, or police who were too dumb to catch them.

The readers can make up their own minds.

Enjoy.

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1. Double Trouble

On Feb 25, 2009, three masked robbers boldly busted into Kaufhaus Des Westens, the second largest department store in Europe.

Via a rope ladder, the men were able to enter and ransack the main floor without tripping any sensors or alarms.

But what may have been a fatal error – leaving behind a single glove – ended up creating a bizarre situation.

DNA found on the glove matched TWO people: identical twins identified as Hassan and Abbas O.

German law however requires that each person be individually convicted and because their DNA is so similar, neither can be exclusively pinned to the evidence.

German police were forced to set them both free, and the third man has yet to be found.

identical twins – how do you tell them apart?

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2. The World’s Most Famous Fugitive

No, it’s not the one about Dr Richard Kimble trying to hunt down the one-armed man, although many readers may well be familiar with this story too which is about probably the world’s most famous fugitive.

On the night before Thanksgiving, November 24, 1971, a passenger by the name of Dan Cooper boarded a plane in Portland, OR bound for Seattle.

Clad in a suit and raincoat, wearing dark glasses and carrying a briefcase, he sat silently in the back of the plane. After calmly lighting a cigarette (yes smoking was permitted in airplanes in those days), he ordered a whiskey from the stewardess and then handed her a note.

It read, ‘I HAVE A BOMB IN MY BRIEFCASE. I WILL USE IT IF NECESSARY. I WANT YOU TO SIT NEXT TO ME. YOU ARE BEING HIJACKED.’

He demanded $200,000 and four parachutes delivered to him in Seattle.

When the plane landed, he released all the passengers, save for the pilot, co-pilot, and stewardess.

Once the money was delivered in the middle of the brightly-lit tarmac, Cooper demanded the pilot take off for Mexico, flying at an altitude of 10,000 feet.

Shortly after takeoff, over the mountains northwest of Portland, the six-foot-tall Cooper strapped on a parachute and jumped.

He was never heard from again.

Did he survive?

In 1980, roughly $6000 was found of the money in bundles on a beach, but no signs of a body.

The case remains open and is the only unsolved crime in US aviation history.

The Fugitive – The Illusive Dan Cooper

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3. Cops And Robbers – Boston Style

On March 18, 1990, the day after Saint Patrick’s Day, policemen arrived at the door of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, claiming to have received a call about a disturbance.

Breaking protocol, the security officer let them in.

One of the men said he had a warrant for the guard’s arrest, and they convinced him to step away from his post.

Bad move: the “policemen” were really criminals in disguise, and they quickly handcuffed him and ordered him to call the other guard to the front, who was also subdued.

The thieves absconded with 13 paintings, including masterworks by Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Degas, worth a third of a billion dollars.

To this date, no one has been arrested in conjunction with the crime, nor have the paintings ever been recovered.

Robbers dressed as cops – would they fool you?

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4. Cops And Robbers – Japanese Style

On December 10, 1968, in Tokyo, Japan, a Nihon Shintaku Ginko Bank car, transporting 300 million Yen ($817,000 US) in its trunk, was pulled over by a policeman on a motorcycle, who warned them of a bomb planted underneath.

Since there had already been bomb threats against the bank, the four passengers exited the vehicle as the uniformed patrolman inspected below the car.

Moments later, smoke and flames could be seen under the vehicle, causing the men to run for cover.

Of course, it turned out the smoke was from a flare and the cop was a phony.

He jumped in the car and sped off with the loot.

Even though there were 120 pieces of evidence, 110,000 suspects and 170,000 police investigators, the man was never caught.

In 1975, the statute of limitations ended, and in 1988 all civil liabilities were voided, but still no one ‘fessed up.

man under car

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5. Diamonds Are Forever – Unless Someone Steals Them

The largest diamond heist in history was stolen from the world’s most impenetrable vault, located in Antwerp, Belgium.

Two floors below the Diamond Centre, it was protected by a lock with 100 million possible combinations, as well as heat/motion sensors, radar, magnetic fields, and a private security force.

However, on the weekend of Feb 15, using a series of moves that would make Danny Ocean jealous, the thieves were able to silently enter the vault, bust open the safe deposit boxes, and make off with the glittering loot.

And although the purported ring leader Leonardo Notarbartolo was caught and sentenced to 10 years, he has since been released on parole.

Notarbartolo claimed in an interview in Wired Magazine that the true take was only $20 million and was part of a larger conspiracy involving insurance fraud.

Whatever — the loot was never recovered.

Diamonds are forever – sometimes!

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6. The Disappearing $million

On Friday October 7, 1977, before Columbus Day Weekend, a bank worker counted $4 million dollars in cash and stored it in a locked money cart within a heavily guarded vault, two floors below the Chicago First National Bank.

Then poof!

Tuesday morning, the money is counted again, and exactly $1 million dollars – in $50 and $100 dominations and weighing over 80 pounds – had vanished into thin air.

In 1981, $2300 of the money showed up in a drug raid, but otherwise both the perpetrators and the cash are still at large.

cash pile

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7. The Pink Panthers

The winner for boldest burglary goes to the perpetrators of the so-called Harry Winston Heist.

On December 4, 2008, four men, three of whom wore long blonde wigs and disguised themselves as women, charmed their way into the famous Harry Winston Paris jewelry store just before closing time.

Once inside, they brandished a .357 revolver and a hand grenade and began their pillaging.

Less than 15 minutes later they escaped with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds worth an estimated $108 million US.

Investigators believe it to be the work of the notorious Serbian criminal gang The Pink Panthers, responsible for $132 million in robberies around the world.

They have never been caught.

Obviously the police needed Inspector Clouseau on the case.

Inspector Clouseau

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8. Tucker Cross Or Double Cross?

The Tucker Cross, was named after diver Teddy Tucker who, in 1955, recovered it from the 1594 wreck of the San Pedro.

It was a 22-karat gold cross embedded with sparkling green emeralds and considered priceless.

Nonetheless, Tucker sold it to the Government of Bermuda for an undisclosed sum.

In 1975, the Cross was moved to the Bermuda Museum of Art to be displayed for Queen Elizabeth II.

No one knows when or how, but during this transition, a clever thief replaced the original with a cheap plastic replica.

Presumably, this historical artifact was melted down, stripped of its jewels, and funneled into the Black Market.

The Tucker Cross

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9. Fancy A Brazilian?

No, nothing to do with Kim Kardashian or the netherlands. This happened in 2005, in Fortaleza, Brazil at the Banco Central, when a gang of enterprising thieves managed to carry off one of the biggest heists of all time. 

This heist was the result of painstaking planning by a small gang of burglars who tunneled over 250 feet to the bank’s vault from a nearby property.

The robbers used a landscaping business as a front that allowed them to move massive amounts of dirt and rock without looking suspicious.

The tunnel was expertly constructed and had sophisticated lighting and even an air conditioning system.

After three months of digging, the thieves finally broke into the vault and made off with what was equivalent to $70 million dollars.

Since then, police have made a number of arrests in connection with the burglary and recovered roughly $9 million dollars of the haul, but the majority of the suspects are still at large.

Part of the tunnel at the Banco Central  –  the police are looking into it!

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10. The Thieves Of Baghdad

On July 11th, 2007 in Baghdad a private financial institution, Dar Es Salaam, was robbed by two, or possibly three guards.

They got away with a third of a billion in cash, all US bills.

Perhaps the bank itself did not want people to start wondering where, how, and why it had so much cash at hand, so they have kept mum and there has been minimal press.

But somewhere, the successful thieves are laughing all the way from this bank.

The Thieves Of Baghdad

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