Barrack Obama – You’re Fired!

June 19, 2015June 18, 2015 fasab Business, Current Events, Politics 2016, accumulating vast war chests of cash, attractive wife, Barrack Obama, battle, better equipped, campaign, candidacy, candidate, candidates, cast a very big media shadow, charisma, commentate on things political, Conservatives, Current Events, cursing the fact, Democrats, detractors, Donald Trump, done deals, ego is huge, election, elections, end up in anyone's pocket, entertainer, entertaining, Federal Elections Commission, Foreign Policy, frumps, fund his own campaign, getting his own way, GOP, GOP hopefuls, got value for his money, half-heartedly, Hilary, Hilary Clinton, hired and fired, independent voters, Jackie Kennedy, Jed Bush, love him or hate him, made a fortune, made his own way in life, media simply cannot ignore him, money, more fun finding out, negotiated hard, New York City, next President, numerous, Obama, Opinion, People, people want to hear what he has to say, personification of the American success story, poke fun, political mouth pieces, politicians, politics, post-election, President, Presidential campaign, presidential election, pro-business and jobs, pro-NRA, pseudo-intellectuals, Rants, real estate, reminiscent, Ronald Reagan, Sarah Palin, sexist remark, show of wealth, spend less, Thoughts, Trump, tv, undecided, US president, used to winning, vociferous, voters, vulgar, win the nomination, would-be's

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

So he’s finally gone and done it.

He nearly did it before.

Then he thought about it, and then he didn’t do it.

But this time he has done it – for now anyway.

Love him or hate him there is one thing for sure – a Presidential campaign with Donald Trump fully committed is going to be a lot more entertaining than one with Sarah (what day of the week is it?) Palin, Jeb (not another one) Bush, or even Hillary (no, really I’m not lying) Clinton.

Donald Trump’s show of wealth for some may sometimes border on the vulgar, but he is the personification of the American success story. He’s made a fortune, and more than once.

But is Trump equipped to be President?

Or perhaps a more appropriate question, is Trump better equipped to be President that the other hopefuls?

Whatever way you phrase the question I think the answer has to be ‘Yes’ he is better equipped. Not that that says a lot when you look at the other contenders.

Trump has made his own way in life, done deals, hired and fired, negotiated hard, got value for his money, and done a lot of it in New York City which is not the easiest place to succeed in real estate.

Contrast that with some of the other would-be’s who have spent much of their lives as the political mouth pieces for whoever could pay them the most.

Trump is also an entertainer and a man full of charisma – you know when he has walked into a room.

He and his name are also well known, which is a very big plus in an election. It means that he can and will appeal to conservatives like himself (tough on foreign policy, pro-NRA, pro-business and jobs, etc), but also to undecided and independent voters in much the same way as Ronald Reagan was able to do.

He also has the money to fund his own campaign if he chooses to do so. It is a big plus both for him and for people thinking of voting for him. Trump will not have to end up in anyone’s pocket post-election and he can start his campaign right away rather than waste time accumulating vast war chests of cash.

He’ll also find that he will have to spend less than the others to get his message out there. He won’t have to pay millions to get on to TV because when the people want to hear what he has to say the media simply cannot ignore him.

Trump is also used to getting his own way and used to winning. His ego is huge and won’t allow him to approach the battle half-heartedly.

He’s also got an attractive wife, more reminiscent of Jackie Kennedy than some of the frumps we have had to put up with before and since. But I suppose that is a sexist remark these days and should be disregarded – although believe me it won’t be by the voters.

Trump’s detractors will be both vociferous and numerous. The GOP hopefuls , mostly a collection of Senators and Governors, will not like him stealing whatever little thunder they may think they have. The Democrats, especially Hillary will be cursing the fact that the GOP has someone who can cast a very big media shadow over them. And a lot of the pseudo-intellectuals who commentate on things political will poke fun at Trump, although it will be a tough job for them to find a better equipped candidate in either party.

All in all then a presidential election with Trump involved is a much better prospect than one without him.

That doesn’t mean he’ll be the next President.

It doesn’t even mean he will win the nomination.

But it does mean that we have more fun finding out who will do both those things.

Trump has about another two weeks to file his papers with the Federal Elections Commission to make his candidacy official. Let’s hope he really does run this time, he’s going to look pretty silly now if he doesn’t.

As I said earlier, more than anything else Trump is an entertainer.

I’m looking forward to being entertained.

Roll on 2016.

=================================

Friday The 13th, Part Two.

March 13, 2015January 30, 2015 fasab Current Events, Factoids, Numbers, Phobias, Unusual 13 eyewitnesses, 13 guests, 13 hours, 13th floor, 13th guest at the Last Supper, 19th century, 20th century, airports, Alfred Hitchcock, amuse guests, Apollo 13, attending business meetings, author, avoiding traveling, bandit, betrayed Jesus, Bible, biography, born on Friday August 13 1926, box office, BoxOfficeMojo.com, brains, Butch Cassidy, buy or sell stocks, Colorado, composer, contrary, Cornell University, Crawford "Cherokee Bill" Goldsby, Cuban leader, Current Events, Curtis Hotel, Denver, die in traffic accidents, dinner party, director, directorial debut movie, dun dun dunnnnn, education, elevator shaft, Entertainment, explosion, fact, facts, fear of Friday the 13th, fear of the number 13, feature film, Fidel Castro, film franchise, financial problems, Finland, first reference, Franklin D Roosevelt, Friday 13th, Friday 13th Part Two, Friday the Thirteenth, Fridays, friggatriskaidekaphobia, gallows with 13 steps, gate 13, gimmick, Herbert Hoover, hide under their duvet, hospitals, hotels, independent horror movie, information, lucky, lucky number, making large purchases, moviegoers, movies, murdered 13 victims, New York Times article, newspaper, no written evidence, normal business, novel, number 13, number of full moons in a year, Oklahoma, origin, outlaw, outlaws, Pagans, paraskevidekatriaphobia, professional 14th guest, psychological thrillers, psychology, quatorzieme, remembering the good old days, reward of $1300, Rossini, scientific name, skyscrapers, Spanish-speaking nations, stock broker, stock brokers, stockbroker's attempts to take down Wall Street, strong fear, superstition, superstitious diners in Paris, The Mirror, Thomas Gilovich, Thomas W Lawson, travel on the 13th day of any month, triskadekaphobia, Tuesday The 13th, unluckiest day of the month, unlucky connection, unlucky Friday 13th, US president, walk under a ladder, women

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

What do you know, it’s Friday 13th AGAIN.

Second one in two months and there will be another in November 2015 too.

How lucky is that?

Well, I guess not so lucky if you suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobia (also known as friggatriskaidekaphobia), which is a fear of Friday the 13th, or even triskadekaphobia which is the scientific name given to a fear of the number 13 itself.

It shouldn’t be that much of a surprise really. The longest period that can occur without a Friday the 13th is 14 months, and every year has at least one and sometimes, like this year, three Friday the 13ths.

There is no written evidence for a “Friday the 13th” superstition before the 19th century, the first reference to an unlucky Friday the 13th coming in an 1869 biography of the composer Rossini who died on Friday November 13, 1868.

The superstition only gained widespread distribution in the 20th century, although the origin is believed to have come from the Bible, the association stemming from the idea that the 13th guest at the Last Supper was the one who betrayed Jesus prior to his death, which occurred on a Friday.

Hotels, skyscrapers and even hospitals have been known to skip out on creating a 13th floor due to its unlucky connection and even airports sometimes quietly omit gate 13. The Curtis Hotel in Denver, Colorado, on the other hand uses the superstition as a gimmick to amuse guests by playing the “dun, dun, dunnnnn!!” theme in the elevator shaft for guests as they arrive on the 13th floor.

Sometimes research seems to add weight to the superstition. A study in Finland, for example, has shown that women are more likely to die in traffic accidents on Friday the 13th than on other Fridays.

And, according to a report from U.K.’s newspaper, The Mirror, 72 percent of United Kingdom residents have claimed to have had bad luck experiences Friday the 13th. The readers polled admitted to avoiding traveling, attending business meetings and making large purchases on this unlucky day, with 34 percent admitting to wanting to “hide under their duvet” for the upcoming dates. The study did not speculate if their luck would have been better if they had gone about their normal business!

Former US President Franklin D. Roosevelt had a strong fear of the number 13 and refused to host a dinner party with 13 guests or to travel on the 13th day of any month. US President Herbert Hoover had similar fears.

Maybe he did what superstitious diners in Paris do – hire a quatorzieme, or professional 14th guest.

I don’t think Cuban leader Fidel Castro had the same fears because he was born on Friday, August 13,1926, as was the celebrated outlaw Butch Cassidy (born on. Friday, April 13,1866).

Speaking of outlaws, Oklahoma bandit Crawford “Cherokee Bill” Goldsby murdered 13 victims, and was captured after a reward of $1300 was posted. At his trial, 13 eyewitnesses testified against him, the jury took 13 hours to render a verdict of guilty. He was hanged on April 13,1896 on a gallows with 13 steps!

Stock broker and author Thomas W. Lawson, wrote a novel in 1907 entitled “Friday the Thirteenth,” about a stockbroker’s attempts to take down Wall Street on the unluckiest day of the month. Reportedly, stock brokers after this were as unlikely to buy or sell stocks on this unlucky day as they were to walk under a ladder, according to accounts of a 1925 New York Times article.

The independent horror movie Friday the 13th was released in May 1980 and despite only having a budget of $550,000 it grossed $39.7million at the box office in the United States – not unlucky for it’s backers. In fact the “Friday the 13th” film franchise continues to sweep up its box-office competition. According to BoxOfficeMojo.com, the dozen films named after the haunted holiday have raked in more than $380 million nationally, with an average gross of $31 million per feature.

Another director noted for his suspenseful psychological thrillers, Alfred Hitchcock, was born on the Friday 13th in August 1899, although he also had a run in with bad luck on that date too when his directorial debut movie called “Number 13,” never made it past the first few scenes and was shut down due to financial problems. He is supposed to have said that the film wasn’t very interesting. We’ll never know!

Also with movies in mind there was a feature film based on the unlucky events of Apollo 13, launched on 13:13 CST, April 11,1970, which barely escaped becoming a doomed flight when an explosion disabled the craft occurring on April 13th (not a Friday in case you are interested).

According to Thomas Gilovich, chair of Psychology at Cornell University, our brains are known to make associations with Friday 13th in a way that would give favor to the “bad luck” myths. He explains this by saying that “if anything bad happens to you on Friday the 13th, the two will be forever associated in your mind and all those uneventful days in which the 13th fell on a Friday will be ignored.” It’s a bit like remembering the good old days and forgetting the bad ones!

Always contrary, pagans believe that 13 is actually a lucky number since it corresponds with the number of full moons in a year and in Spanish-speaking nations, Tuesday The 13th is regarded as unlucky rather than Friday!

So I guess you just have to make up your own mind whether you believe Friday 13th is unlucky or not.

I’m hoping of course that the fact that you have landed on this blog today is good luck rather than bad.

It was good luck for me, please call again.

===================================

Can You Handle The Quiz?

December 8, 2014December 8, 2014 fasab Questions, Tests Absynth, Bergrisar, bounce, boxer, British naval intelligence officer, challenging, children's story, Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang, color, Cornucopia, country, cranberry, Daityas, directed, education, eight different members of the D'Ascoyne family, England, Entertainment, famous movie, Fionn mac Cumhaill, first European to cross the Pacific Ocean, first professional fight, first Twitter user to reach 20 million followers, Formula One World Driver's Championship, France, general knowledge, Geography, Greece, H-3, H-4, harvested, history, IMAX, IMAX Cinemas, inches, Italy, Japanese, jfk, large screen, martial art, mechanical wonders, movie, movie star, movies, music, mythology, nationality, nature, Nephilims, never elected, Nixon, oldest universities in Europe, Patagons, Police Chief of Fayetteville, politics, popular singer, Portuguese-born navigator, President, questions, quiz, quizzes, ripe, secret love, shortest, Sir Alec Guinness, sold, sport, tallest President of the United States, test, tests, Tunney Hunsaker, Turkey, up and down, US president, Vice President, way of the sword, West Virginia, wild turkeys, won, world war ii, wrote

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

Hi and welcome to another week.

Today’s quiz has a few questions that I think you will find quite challenging, plus one or two that you should breeze through with ease.

But the only way to find out is to have a go.

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

Enjoy and good luck.

Q. 1: What goes up and down, but still remains in the same place?

Q. 2: Who directed both JFK and Nixon?

Q. 3: Before being harvested and sold, an individual cranberry must bounce at least how many inches high to make sure they aren’t too ripe?

a) 2 inches b) 3 inches c) 4 inches d) 5 inches

Q. 4: What World War II British naval intelligence officer wrote the children’s story ‘Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang’?

Q. 5: Who is the only US President who was never elected as either President or Vice President?

Q. 6: The ‘H-3’ and the ‘H-4’, built in 1757 and 1759 were mechanical wonders. Who constructed them both and what were they used for? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you get them both correct.)

Q. 7: What does the term ‘Cornucopia’ mean?

Q. 8: To nearest 1000, in the year 1800 how many wild turkeys were there in Turkey?

Q. 9: The two oldest universities in Europe are both found in which country?

a) France b) England c) Italy d) Greece

Q. 10: Who was the tallest President of the United States and who was the shortest? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you get them both correct.)

Q. 11: In which 1949 movie did Sir Alec Guinness famously play the role of eight different members of the D’Ascoyne family?

Q. 12: Who won this year’s (2014) Formula One World Driver’s Championship and what was his nationality? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you get them both correct.)

Q. 13: ‘Fionn mac Cumhaill’, ‘Bergrisar’, ‘Daityas’, ‘Patagons’ and ‘Nephilims’ are all examples of what?

Q. 14: What does ‘IMAX’, as in the large screen IMAX Cinemas stand for?

Q. 15: Which boxer’s first professional fight was against Tunney Hunsaker, Police Chief of Fayetteville, West Virginia, on October 29, 1960?

Q. 16: Which Portuguese-born navigator was the first European to cross the Pacific Ocean?

Q. 17: Who was the first Twitter user to reach 20 million followers?

Q. 18: Which martial art takes its name from the Japanese for ‘way of the sword’?

Q. 19: What color is ‘Absynth’?

Q. 20: Which popular singer and movie star had a ‘secret love’ in 1954 and in which famous movie did it feature? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you get them both correct.)

ANSWERS

Q. 1: What goes up and down, but still remains in the same place?

A. 1: Stairs!

Q. 2: Who directed both JFK and Nixon?

A. 2: Oliver Stone.

Q. 3: Before being harvested and sold, an individual cranberry must bounce at least how many inches high to make sure they aren’t too ripe?

a) 2 inches b) 3 inches c) 4 inches d) 5 inches

A. 3: The correct answer is c) 4 inches.

Q. 4: What World War II British naval intelligence officer wrote the children’s story ‘Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang’?

A. 4: Ian Fleming, much better known as author of the James Bond novels.

Q. 5: Who is the only US President who was never elected as either President or Vice President?

A. 5: Gerald R Ford, who became the 40th Vice-President when Spiro Agnew resigned the position and who subsequently became the 38th President of the USA, when he took over the job after Richard M Nixon resigned.

A. 6: John Harrison. H-3 and H-4 were the first successful maritime chronometers.

Q. 7: What does the term ‘Cornucopia’ mean?

A. 7: Literally ‘Horn of Plenty’, used as a symbol of abundance.

Q. 8: To nearest 1000, in the year 1800 how many wild turkeys were there in Turkey?

A. 8: The correct answer is ‘None’, the wild turkey it is a native North American bird.

Q. 9: The two oldest universities in Europe are both found in which country?

a) France b) England c) Italy d) Greece

A. 9: Many people think it is England with the famous Oxford and Cambridge Universities, but the correct answer is c) Italy. Parma (1065 AD) and Bologna (1119 AD)

Q. 10: Who was the tallest President of the United States and who was the shortest? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you get them both correct.)

A. 10: Abraham Lincoln was the tallest at 6′ 4″, and James Madison was the shortest at 5′ 4″.

Q. 11: In which 1949 movie did Sir Alec Guinness famously play the role of eight different members of the D’Ascoyne family?

A. 11: Kind Hearts and Coronets.

Q. 12: Who won this year’s (2014) Formula One World Driver’s Championship and what was his nationality? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you get them both correct.)

A. 12: Lewis Hamilton who is British.

Q. 13: ‘Fionn mac Cumhaill’, ‘Bergrisar’, ‘Daityas’, ‘Patagons’ and ‘Nephilims’ are all examples of what?

A. 13: Giants.

Q. 14: What does ‘IMAX’, as in the large screen IMAX Cinemas stand for?

A. 14: IMAX stands for ‘Image Maximum’.

Q. 15: Which boxer’s first professional fight was against Tunney Hunsaker, Police Chief of Fayetteville, West Virginia, on October 29, 1960?

A. 15: Cassius Clay. (Sorry, but you do not score a point if you only said ‘Muhammad Ali’, he did not change his name until 15 years later after converting to Sunni Islam in 1975.)

Q. 16: Which Portuguese-born navigator was the first European to cross the Pacific Ocean?

A. 16: Ferdinand Magellan (1480 – 1521).

Q. 17: Who was the first Twitter user to reach 20 million followers?

A. 17: Lady Gaga.

Q. 18: Which martial art takes its name from the Japanese for ‘way of the sword’?

A. 18: Kendo.

Q. 19: What color is ‘Absynth’?

A. 19: Green.

A. 20: Doris Day and the movie was Calamity Jane.

===============================================

Shock Headline – The President Agrees With Me!

August 31, 2014August 30, 2014 fasab Current Events, Politics, War Afghanistan, America, anti-Assad, Assad, Assad regime, attacked, beyond any and all doubt, blog, Christians, confused, correcting the mistake, crux, Current Events, cynics, debacle, does not understand the severity of the problem, fellow Muslims, fight against the terrorists, Foreign Policy, foreign policy failure on a grand scale, fundamentalist Islamic state, funding, hatred, humble pie, idiots, ill-informed politicians, iraq, ISIS, Islamic terrorists, long term threat, middle-east, militant, most powerful man in the world, most powerful military organization in the world, murdered, noise, none of our business, November elections, Obama administration, Obama team, Obama's team, Opinion, politicians, politics, President of the United States, process, Rants, Republican camp, same side, support ISIS, syria, targets, Terrorists, the president, the Sunday Sermon, Thoughts, US, US Administration's problem, US president, Vietnam, volte face, War, well armed, well funded, well supported, west, wrong move, wrong reasons

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

The Sunday Sermon

I’ve been saying it for a long time – and now the President of the United States agrees with me – he doesn’t know WTF he’s doing!

I can’t say as I take much satisfaction from his admission though.

The US President is the most powerful man in the world and he has at his disposal the most powerful military organization in the world.

Yet he doesn’t know what to do with it, when to do it, or even who to aim it at!

A bit of it, belatedly and half-heartedly, is now pointing at ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria. Yes, you’re right, they are the very same Islamic terrorists he was funding for a while in Syria! He says he wasn’t, but in practice he was.

Confused?

You should be.

Because the Obama Administration certainly is!

Indeed Obama’s team of idiots have confused themselves to the degree that they don’t know what to do and are afraid to do it even if they did!

The situation is not being helped by the noise coming from the equally ill-informed politicians in the Republican camp either. Some cynics would say they are doing a lot of it with the November elections in mind!

As I’ve said before on this blog, America has never been good at foreign policy. There are so many examples over the years to prove this beyond any and all doubt (Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, now Syria). But this latest debacle could turn out to be foreign policy failure on a grand scale.

This is simply down to the fact that, even yet, the Obama administration clearly does not understand the severity of the problem. They haven’t managed to process the long term threat that a well armed, well supported and well funded group like ISIS can become.

Everyone – except the President and his people apparently – knows that these terrorists will not be content even if they are allowed to establish a fundamentalist Islamic state in the Middle East. Their hatred of anything and everything in the West is total.

In fact, as we have seen in Iraq and Syria, their hatred even extends to fellow Muslims who they do not consider to be ‘militant enough’ and they have attacked and murdered them in just the same ways as they have attacked and murdered Christians.

In Syria, which is none of our business, the Obama team thought they wanted the Assad regime removed, and to get that done they thought they could support ISIS (or the anti-Assad fighters of whom ISIS were always destined to be a big part).

Now the US may well find itself on the same side as Assad in a fight against the terrorists. And that may be the crux of the US Administration’s problem. They made the wrong move, at the wrong time, in the wrong place, for all the wrong reasons and correcting the mistake will require a major volte face and sizeable portion of humble pie.

Are they big enough to swallow it?

We’ll see.

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Oranges, Oceans And Olympics? – Oh, Oh, Oh, It Has To Be Quiz Day!

July 28, 2014July 22, 2014 fasab Questions, Tests American woman, Andes Mountains, archaeologists, axe murders, baby eel, bacteria, baseball star, Bolivia, color, countries, country, crimes of treason, deepest part of the world's oceans, detective, discovery, Earth's moon, education, English language words, Entertainment, Fall River, father, feet, Frank Sinatra, fruit, games, general knowledge, Geography, history, I Get A Kick Out Of You, jail sentence, key to understanding, Kojak, lake, Lizzie Borden, longest border with Canada, married to Marilyn Monroe, mass of our solar system, Massachusetts, millions of dollars, modern Egyptian hieroglyphs, modern Olympics, mountain, movies, music, New York Yankees, official capitals, one billion, one million, one thousand, one trillion, Orange, Pacific Ocean, paintings, Paramount Pictures logo, pardoned, Peru, politics, posthumously, Queensland And Northern Territories Air Service, questions, quiz, Quiz Day, quizzes, Robert E Lee, science, skipping-rope rhyme, sought after, South Africa, space, sport, stars, stepmother, sun, television, therein, tv, TV series, US president, US state, Vincent Van Gogh, volume, wrote the song

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

Welcome to another fasab quiz.

A good mixture of easy, difficult and maybe one or two tricky questions for you today.

But if you get stuck you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!

Enjoy and good luck.

Q. 1: Was the color orange named after the fruit, or was the fruit named after the color orange?

Q. 2: Approximately how much of the mass of our solar system does the Sun take up?

a) 59% b) 69% c) 79% d) 89% e) 99%

Q. 3: What is the deepest part of the world’s oceans known as?

Q. 4: What was the discovery that gave archaeologists the key to understanding modern Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Q. 5: You’ve seen it hundreds of times at least, but how many stars surround the mountain on the Paramount Pictures logo?

a) 12 b) 22 c) 32 d) 42

Q. 6: Since the beginning of the modern Olympics, in 1896, what are the only two countries to have participated in every Games. (A point for each correct answer.)

Q. 7: Who played detective Kojak in the long running TV series?

Q. 8: Approximately how many bacteria are on each of your feet?

a) one thousand b) one million c) one billion d) one trillion

Q. 9: What is the name of the lake situated on the border of Peru and Bolivia in the Andes Mountains? (You know it, it’s a very well known name.)

Q. 10: What was the name of the New York Yankees baseball star who was once married to Marilyn Monroe?

Q. 11: Which US state has the longest border with Canada?

Q. 12: Lizzie Borden was an American woman, from Fall River, Massachusetts, who was famously accused of the axe murders of her father and stepmother. It was a famous case memorialized in a popular skipping-rope rhyme: “Lizzie Borden took an axe, And gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, She gave her father forty-one.” How long was her jail sentence?

Q. 13: Without rearranging any of its letters, how many English language words can you make from the seven letter word “therein”? (You can have a point for each word you can make, so potentially a good score here!)

Q. 14: They are now worth millions of dollars each and much sought after, but how many of his paintings did Vincent Van Gogh sell while he was alive?

Q. 15: What is Queensland And Northern Territories Air Service better known as?

Q. 16: South Africa is the only country with three official capitals, what are they? (A point for each correct answer, and a bonus point if you can correctly name all three.)

Q. 17: What is a baby eel called?

Q. 18: What is greater, the volume of the Earth’s moon OR the volume of the Pacific Ocean?

Q. 19: Which US President pardoned Robert E. Lee posthumously of all crimes of treason?

Q. 20: Probably the most famous version is by Frank Sinatra, but who wrote the song “I Get A Kick Out Of You”?

ANSWERS

Q. 1: Was the color orange named after the fruit, or was the fruit named after the color orange?

A. 1: The color orange was named after the fruit.

Q. 2: Approximately how much of the mass of our solar system does the Sun take up?

a) 59% b) 69% c) 79% d) 89% e) 99%

A. 2: The correct answer is e) 99%.

Q. 3: What is the deepest part of the world’s oceans known as?

A. 3: The deepest part of the world’s oceans is known as the Mariana Trench or Marianas Trench, located in the western Pacific Ocean, to the east of the Mariana Islands.

Q. 4: What was the discovery that gave archaeologists the key to understanding modern Egyptian hieroglyphs.

A. 4: The discovery of the Rosetta Stone finally provided the key to understanding modern Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Q. 5: You’ve seen it hundreds of times at least, but how many stars surround the mountain on the Paramount Pictures logo?

a) 12 b) 22 c) 32 d) 42

A. 5: The correct answer is b), there are 22 stars surrounding the mountain on the Paramount Pictures logo.

Q. 6: Since the beginning of the modern Olympics, in 1896, what are the only two countries to have participated in every Games. (A point for each correct answer.)

A. 6: The only two countries to have participated in every modern Olympic Games are Greece and Australia.

Q. 7: Who played detective Kojak in the long running TV series?

A. 7: Telly Savalas.

Q. 8: Approximately how many bacteria are on each of your feet?

a) one thousand b) one million c) one billion d) one trillion

A. 8: There are about one trillion bacteria on each of your feet.

Q. 9: What is the name of the lake situated on the border of Peru and Bolivia in the Andes Mountains? (You know it, it’s a very well known name.)

A. 9: It is called Lake Titicaca.

Q. 10: What was the name of the New York Yankees baseball star who was once married to Marilyn Monroe?

A. 10: He was Joe DiMaggio.

Q. 11: Which US state has the longest border with Canada?

A. 11: Alaska.

A. 12: She was acquitted and no one else has ever been charged with the murders.

A. 13: There are ten English language words that can be made out of the word “therein” without rearranging any of its letters: the, there, he, in, rein, her, here, here, ere, therein, herein.

Q. 14: They are now worth millions of dollars each and much sought after, but how many of his paintings did Vincent Van Gogh sell while he was alive?

A. 14: Vincent Van Gogh sold exactly one painting while he was alive, the Red Vineyard at Arles.

Q. 15: What is Queensland And Northern Territories Air Service better known as?

A. 15: QANTAS, the name of the Australian national airline.

Q. 16: South Africa is the only country with three official capitals, what are they? (A point for each correct answer, and a bonus point if you can correctly name all three.)

A. 16: South Africa’s three official capitals are Pretoria, Cape Town, and Bloemfontein.

Q. 17: What is a baby eel called?

A. 17: A baby eel is called an elver.

Q. 18: What is greater, the volume of the Earth’s moon OR the volume of the Pacific Ocean?

A. 18: Bit of a trick question here. The volume of the Earth’s moon is the same as the volume of the Pacific Ocean.

Q. 19: Which US President pardoned Robert E. Lee posthumously of all crimes of treason?

A. 19: Gerald Ford.

Q. 20: Probably the most famous version is by Frank Sinatra, but who wrote the song “I Get A Kick Out Of You”?

A. 20: Cole Porter. Sorry Frank but this is MY favorite version….

================================================

What Day Is It? – It’s Quiz Day, And That Wasn’t One Of The Questions!

June 9, 2014June 3, 2014 fasab Questions, Tests $300 million, 1979, ABBA, adjusts the opening, aliens, assassinated, beautiful, Britain’s Royal Family, broken off, career, Chinese dynasty, Ching, city of Rome, clockwise, clouds, Cold War, cord, counter-clockwise, country, dessert, dried fruit, education, electricity, Entertainment, fairy tales, famous man, fantasy novels, Galapagos Islands, general knowledge, Geography, Greece, Hans Christian, Harry Potter, highest priced painting in the world, history, Ireland, island country, Jin, June 14th, largest city in North Carolina, Latin word, member, men who served, merry-go-round, Ming, movie, movies, Mullaghmore, music, mythical founder, mythology, named, Napoleon, old name, painted, politics, port city, Qing, questions, quiz, Quiz Day, quizzes, returned safely, sailing, sales price, second best bed, slats, slayer, small clouds, sporting tournament, star trek, Tang, tasers, television, The Card Players, title, tv, twin brother, U-boats, US president, USA, venetian blind, videos, war-like race, White House, wife, wife of King George III, wills, world war ii, wrote, WWII, Xin, YouTube

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

No, sorry, no points if you said it was Quiz Day, even though you are right.

Twenty more challenging questions for you to ponder over.

So get a pot of coffee going and try you hand at these.

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

Enjoy and good luck.

Q. 1: You’ve heard of tasers, you’ve probably seen videos of them on TV or YouTube, but what do the letters ‘T-A-S-E-R’ stand for?

Q. 2: Out of the 40,000 men who served on U-boats during World War II, approximately how many returned safely?

a) 100% b) 75% c) 50% d) 25% e) 15%

Q. 3: When did the Cold War end?

Q. 4: On which side of a venetian blind is the cord that adjusts the opening between the slats?

Q. 5: To which country do the Galapagos Islands belong?

Q. 6: What member of Britain’s Royal Family was assassinated whilst sailing from Mullaghmore in Ireland in 1979?

Q. 7: Harry Potter is a very famous and successful series of seven fantasy novels, who wrote them?

Q. 8: Does a merry-go-round turn clockwise or counter-clockwise?

Q. 9: Which popular dried fruit is named after a port city in Greece?

Q. 10: Currently the highest priced painting in the world with a sales price equivalent to something in the region of $300 million, ‘The Card Players’ was painted by whom?

Q. 11: The old name for this island country stems from the Latin word for beautiful, what is it called today?

Q. 12: Complete the title of each of the following Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales. (And yes, you get a point for each correct answer.)

a) The Red ….. b) The Emperor’s … ……. C) The Steadfast … …….

d) The Princess And … … and, e) The Wild …..

Q. 13: Some wills are strange, which very famous man left his wife his second best bed?

Q. 14: It’s the name of a dessert, the largest city in North Carolina, USA, and the wife of King George III – what is it?

Q. 15: Which of the following was NOT the name of a Chinese dynasty?

a) Qing b) Xin c) Ming d) Jin e) Ching or, e) Tang

Q. 16: What huge sporting tournament begins June 14^th this year?

Q. 17: Who was the first US President to have electricity in the White House?

Q. 18: What are very small clouds that look like they have been broken off of bigger clouds called?

Q. 19: He was the mythical founder of the city of Rome and the slayer of his twin brother. His name was also used for a war-like race of aliens in the series Star Trek. What was his name? (And a bonus point on offer if you can also correctly name his twin brother.)

Q. 20: It was the end of Napoleon’s career and the start of ABBA’s, what was it?

ANSWERS

Q. 1: You’ve heard of tasers, you’ve probably seen videos of them on TV or YouTube, but what do the letters ‘T-A-S-E-R’ stand for?

A. 1: ‘Taser’ – Stands for ‘Thomas A Swift Electric Rifle’.

Q. 2: Out of the 40,000 men who served on U-boats during World War II, approximately how many returned safely?

a) 100% b) 75% c) 50% d) 25% e) 15%

A. 2: The correct answer is d) 25%. Out of the 40,000 men who served on U-boats during WWII, only approximately 10,000 returned safely.

Q. 3: When did the Cold War end?

A. 3: This year (2014) is the 25^th anniversary of the end of the Cold War, so take a point if you said ‘1989’.

Q. 4: On which side of a venetian blind is the cord that adjusts the opening between the slats?

A. 4: It’s on the left.

Q. 5: To which country do the Galapagos Islands belong?

A. 5: Ecuador.

Q. 6: What member of Britain’s Royal Family was assassinated whilst sailing from Mullaghmore in Ireland in 1979?

A. 6: Earl Mountbatten.

Q. 7: Harry Potter is a very famous and successful series of seven fantasy novels, who wrote them?

A. 7: The Harry Potter series was written by the British author J. K. Rowling.

Q. 8: Does a merry-go-round turn clockwise or counter-clockwise?

A. 8: Counter-clockwise.

Q. 9: Which popular dried fruit is named after a port city in Greece?

A. 9: Corinthians (after the port city Corinth).

Q. 10: Currently the highest priced painting in the world with a sales price equivalent to something in the region of $300 million, ‘The Card Players’ was painted by whom?

A. 10: Paul Cézanne.

Q. 11: The old name for this island country stems from the Latin word for beautiful, what is it called today?

A. 11: The old name was ‘Formosa’, but the island nation is now known as Taiwan or officially the Republic of China.

Q. 12: Complete the title of each of the following Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales. (And yes, you get a point for each correct answer.)

a) The Red ….. b) The Emperor’s … ……. C) The Steadfast … …….

d) The Princess And … … and, e) The Wild …..

A. 12: The five answers are a) The Red SHOES b) The Emperor’s NEW CLOTHES

c) The Steadfast TIN SOLDIER d) The Princess And THE PEA e) The Wild SWANS

Q. 13: Some wills are strange, which very famous man left his wife his second best bed?

A. 13: There was a clue in the question, the answer is Will Shakespeare.

Q. 14: It’s the name of a dessert, the largest city in North Carolina, USA, and the wife of King George III – what is it?

A. 14: Charlotte.

Q. 15: Which of the following was NOT the name of a Chinese dynasty?

a) Qing b) Xin c) Ming d) Jin e) Ching or, e) Tang

A. 15: They are all the names of Chinese dynasties except for e) Ching which I just made up! Take a point if you answered e).

Q. 16: What huge sporting tournament begins June 14^th this year?

A. 16: The football (soccer) World Cup.

Q. 17: Who was the first US President to have electricity in the White House?

A. 17: Benjamin Harrison was the first president to have electricity in the White House. However, he was so scared of getting electrocuted that he would never touch the light switches himself.

Q. 18: What are very small clouds that look like they have been broken off of bigger clouds called?

A. 18: Very small clouds that look like they have been broken off of bigger clouds are called ‘scuds’.

A. 19: His name was ‘Romulus’. His twin brother’s name was ‘Remus’.

Q. 20: It was the end of Napoleon’s career and the start of ABBA’s, what was it?

A. 20: Waterloo.

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Playing With Statistics

June 8, 2014June 7, 2014 fasab bankers, banking, Banks, court, Crime, Current Events, Legal, Rants Abraham Lincoln, Bank of America, Banks, banksters, Citi, clever, convicted, crime, criminals, Current Events, damn lies, different story, disingenuous, elected, embezelled, facts, famous quote, figures, financial system, fraud, gambled, government, governments, jail, JP Morgan, justice, lies, lies damned lies and statistics, Lincoln, Lincoln's words, loans, money, Playing With Statistics, politician, politics, profound, Rants, recklessly, senior bank executives, SIGTARP, small time crooks, small time frauds, Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, statistic, statistical results, statistically, statistics, stealing, stole, super crooks, taxpayers, technically, true, US president, Wells Fargo, you can fool some of the people all of the time

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

It’s Sunday so time for another Sunday Sermon.

There’s a famous quote from US President Abraham Lincoln that goes something like, “you can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time”.

On the face of it Lincoln’s words seem rather clever and profound – and true. And so they are.

Up to a point.

But what Lincoln didn’t say (and he was a politician after all) is that you don’t have to fool ALL of the people ALL of the time.

What you have to do is fool them long enough to do what you need to do – for example, in the case of a politician, to get yourself elected.

Which brings me to statistics.

Because the best people in the world at playing with statistics are politicians and governments.

Some people believe everything they are told. Others call the figures governments produce ‘disingenuous’ which is being very kind. And some don’t believe a word or a number that they produce. (Take a wild guess at which camp I am in.)

Government statistical results are in effect lies. You can’t call them that – although I just did – because they can find figures to back up what they say, it’s just that they choose the figures that tell the story they want to promote and ignore all the rest that tell a different story.

For example, to get on to one of my favorite rant subjects, there is a thing which I am sure most of you have never heard of called the ‘Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program’ or ‘SIGTARP’ for short.

When the government is challenged about what is has been doing to bring to justice the banksters, who stole and recklessly gambled away our money, they can quote you a statistic or two saying that over the last few years, SIGTARP has put over 100 senior bank executives in jail, each of whom was convicted of stealing from taxpayers.

Although that fact is ‘technically’ or ‘statistically’ true, what they don’t tell you is that the people they have gone after and convicted are all small time crooks, guilty of small time frauds that are seldom above $1m or $1.5 million in value.

All the super crooks who embezzled hundreds of $ billions and almost brought down the entire financial system aren’t even being seriously pursued. More than six years into the SIGTARP investigations there are literally still hundreds of billions of outstanding ‘loans’, from banks including Citi, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America.

They can quote figures all day long to try to mislead the people and make themselves look good, but a few small time crooks thrown in jail for stealing a million or two dollars here and there isn’t ever going to make much of a dent in the $ billions that were stolen. The politicians know that as well as anyone.

Perhaps Mark Twain’s “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics,” might have been a better quote!

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Welcome To The First Fasab Quiz For June

June 2, 2014May 26, 2014 fasab Questions, Tests 24, A, actors, America's biggest box office stars, animals, bill gates, birds, borders, brain-buster, business, Canadian Province, characters, city, clockwise, contiguous US states, death pledge, domesticated, education, Endless Love, english, Entertainment, eyes, famous location, filed a report, fly backwards, French expression, from behind, full moon, general knowledge, Geography, goat, Greek version, history, inflation, invaded, Japanese, Johannesburg, John D Rockerfeller, John Wayne, last movie, latest series, Latin alphabet, letters, location, long running, los angeles, Luther Van-Dross, medieval castles, month, motion pictures, movies, music, nature, new york, northernmost point, octopus, Old Testament, politics, questions, quiz, quizzes, recorded history, richest man in history, South Africa, Soweto, spiral staircases, standing, state, test, tests, The Beverly Hillbillies, the Great Lakes, title, TV comedy series, TV show, UFO sighting, United States, upside down, US president, US state, Washington DC, word, WWII, yawning and stretching

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

Welcome to Quiz Day.

Another month has appeared on the calendar. Unbelievably we’re almost half way through 2014 already!

But what better way to start the first week of another month than with another twenty brain-buster questions.

Business, politics, geography, history, nature, movies and music are all in here this week.

Let’s see how you do.

Enjoy and good luck.

Q. 1: What do octopus’ and goat’s eyes have in common?

Q. 2: What common English word comes from the French expression meaning “death pledge”?

Q. 3: Adjusting for inflation, which of these two men is the richest man in history, John D Rockerfeller or Bill Gates?

Q. 4: What is the term for yawning and stretching at the same time?

Q. 5: What US President is famous for having filed a report for a UFO sighting in 1973, calling it “the darndest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Q. 6: In the last 4000 years, how many new animals have been domesticated?

Q. 7: What is the Greek version of the Old Testament called?

Q. 8: Soweto is a very famous location on the outskirts of Johannesburg in South Africa, but how did it get its name?

Q. 9: Between 1926 and 1976, John Wayne appeared in over 170 motion pictures, and became one of America’s biggest box office stars, but what was the title of his last movie?

Q. 10: What is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon? (Two bonus points if you can name the year too.)

Q. 11: what was the only part of the United States that was invaded by the Japanese during WWII?

Q. 12: Why do spiral staircases in medieval castles run clockwise?

Q. 13: What are the only birds able to fly backwards.

Q. 14: If you were standing in the northernmost point in the contiguous (48) US states, what state would you be standing in?

Q. 15: Name the six main characters in the long running TV comedy series ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’? (A point for each and bonus points if you can name the actors who played them.)

Q. 16: What is the only Canadian Province that borders the Great Lakes?

Q. 17: Only four letters in the latin alphabet look the same if you turn them upside down or see them from behind, a point for each one you can name correctly?

Q. 18: Previously set in Los Angeles, Washington DC and New York, what City is the location for the latest series of the hit TV show ‘24’?

Q. 19: What is the only US State that begins with an “A” but does not end with an “A”?

Q. 20: Who shared ‘Endless Love’ with Luther Van-Dross in 1994?

ANSWERS

Q. 1: What do octopus’ and goat’s eyes have in common?

A. 1: Both have rectangular pupils.

Q. 2: What common English word comes from the French expression meaning “death pledge”?

A. 2: The common English word ‘mortgage’ comes from the French expression meaning “death pledge”.

Q. 3: Adjusting for inflation, which of these two men is the richest man in history, John D Rockerfeller or Bill Gates?

A. 3: When adjusted for inflation, John D Rockerfeller is the richest man in the history of the world, with a net worth 10 times more than Bill Gates.

Q. 4: What is the term for yawning and stretching at the same time?

A. 4: When you yawn and stretch at the time, you are “pandiculating.”

Q. 5: What US President is famous for having filed a report for a UFO sighting in 1973, calling it “the darndest thing I’ve ever seen.”

A. 5: Jimmy Carter filed a report for a UFO sighting in 1973.

Q. 6: In the last 4000 years, how many new animals have been domesticated?

A. 6: Bit of a trick question, in the last 4000 years, no new animals have been domesticated. Take a point if you answered ‘none’ or ‘zero’.

Q. 7: What is the Greek version of the Old Testament called?

A. 7: The Greek version of the Old Testament is called the ‘Septuagint’.

Q. 8: Soweto is a very famous location on the outskirts of Johannesburg in South Africa, but how did it get its name?

A. 8: Soweto in South Africa was derived from SOuth WEst TOwnship.

Q. 9: Between 1926 and 1976, John Wayne appeared in over 170 motion pictures, and became one of America’s biggest box office stars, but what was the title of his last movie?

A. 9: John Wayne’s final movie was ‘The Shootist’, made in 1976 and in which he played the part of aging former gunslinger John Bernard Books.

Q. 10: What is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon? (Two bonus points if you can name the year too.)

A. 10: February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.

Q. 11: what was the only part of the United States that was invaded by the Japanese during WWII?

A. 11: Alaska was the only part of the United States that was invaded by the Japanese during WWII. The territory was the island of Adak in the Aleutian Chain. Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was attacked, but not invaded.

Q. 12: Why do spiral staircases in medieval castles run clockwise?

A. 12: Spiral staircases in medieval castles run clockwise because all knights used to be right-handed and would therefore carry their swords in their right hand.

Q. 13: What are the only birds able to fly backwards.

A. 13: Hummingbirds are the only birds able to fly backwards.

Q. 14: If you were standing in the northernmost point in the contiguous (48) US states, what state would you be standing in?

A. 14: If you were standing in the northernmost point in the contiguous (48) US states, you’d be standing in Minnesota.

Q. 15: Name the six main characters in the long running TV comedy series ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’? (A point for each and bonus points if you can name the actors who played them.)

A. 15: The characters in the Beverly Hillbillies were Jed Clampett, Granny, Ellie May, Jethro, unscrupulous banker Mr Drysdale and his long-suffering assistant Miss Hathaway, played respectively by Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, Max Baer, Jr., Raymond Bailey and Nancy Kulp.

Q. 16: What is the only Canadian Province that borders the Great Lakes?

A. 16: Ontario is the only Canadian Province that borders the Great Lakes.

Q. 17: Only four letters in the latin alphabet look the same if you turn them upside down or see them from behind, a point for each one you can name correctly?

A. 17: The only letters in the latin alphabet that look the same if you turn them upside down or see them from behind are ‘H’ ‘I’ ‘O’ and ‘X’.

Q. 18: Previously set in Los Angeles, Washington DC and New York, what City is the location for the latest series of the hit TV show ‘24’?

A. 18: The latest series of ‘24’ is set in London, England.

Q. 19: What is the only US State that begins with an “A” but does not end with an “A”?

A. 19: Arkansas is the only US State that begins with “A” but does not end with “A”, all the other States that begin with “A”, Arizona, Alabama and Alaska, also end with “A”.

Q. 20: Who shared ‘Endless Love’ with Luther Van-Dross in 1994?

A. 20: Mariah Carey.

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Today It’s The Fasab Monday Quiz.

May 19, 2014May 18, 2014 fasab Questions, Tests 1835, 1910, 1996 Presidential candidates, American writer, born, buttons, Cambridge University, chocolate milk, Clinton, country, Crocodiles, Denim, Detroit, died, Dole, education, Entertainment, flagpole, general knowledge, Geography, Haley's comet, hippopotamus, history, humans, invented, Italy, Jeans, kills, Marquis de Sade, material, McDonald’s fast food outlets, Misc, Miscellaneous, Moors, mosquitos, most filmed story of all time, movies, music, nabisco, New York City, ocean tides, one syllable, origin, pen name, Perot, poem, politics, public libraries, questions, quiz, quizzes, Random, real name, romance, Rome, Ruby, scholar, second unit movie shots, south, spain, spanish, Spanish hero, spring tides, state of the USA, studies, take her love to town, test, tests, The Aztec Empire, The Inca Empire, tigers, trousers, United States of America, US president, walk south, woman's blouse

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

Welcome to the start of another week and to another quiz.

Quite a tough selection this time, I think, but if you enjoy a challenge give them a go.

No point if they were all too easy 🙂

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

Enjoy and good luck.

Q. 1: Which is farther south, New York City or Rome, Italy?

Q. 2: What is the ball on top of a flagpole called?

Q. 3: Which are there more of in the United States of America, public libraries or McDonald’s fast food outlets?

Q. 4: Apart from wanting to be US President what did all three major 1996 Presidential candidates, Clinton, Dole and Perot, have in common.

Q. 5: Where was chocolate milk was invented?

Q. 6: If you’re in Detroit and you walk south, what is the first country you’ll enter?

Q. 7: Where did the ever popular trousers called ‘Jeans’ get their name?

Q. 8: And what was the origin of ‘Denim’ the material that jeans are made from?

Q. 9: What is the most filmed story of all time? (Bonus points if you can name second and third aswell.)

Q. 10: When ocean tides are at their highest, they are called ‘spring tides’. What are they called when they are at their lowest?

Q. 11: Which of these kills the most humans on average every year?

a) crocodiles b) hippopotamus c) mosquitos d) tigers

Q. 12: What do you call a scholar who studies the works of the Marquis de Sade?

Q. 13: What are ‘second unit’ movie shots?

Q. 14: Which well known American writer was born on a day in 1835 when Haley’s Comet came into view and died on a day in 1910 when Haley’s Comet came into view again? (Will accept either his real name or pen name, a bonus point if you know both.)

Q. 15: Which of these is the oldest?

a) The Aztec Empire b) The Inca Empire c) Cambridge University

Q. 16: What is the only state of the USA whose name is just one syllable? (Hint: the answer is not California.)

Q. 17: You’ve seen it many times and on lots of things, but what does the name ‘NABISCO’ mean?

Q. 18: Which side of a woman’s blouse are the buttons on?

Q. 19: He was a Spanish hero who, before he was 20, led a Spanish force against the Moors and drove them out of Spain. He is celebrated in poem and romance. Who was he?

Q. 20: In 1972 who didn’t want Ruby to take her love to town?

ANSWERS

Q. 1: Which is farther south, New York City or Rome, Italy?

A. 1: New York City is further south than Rome, Italy.

Q. 2: What is the ball on top of a flagpole called?

A. 2: The ball on top of a flagpole is called the truck.

Q. 3: Which are there more of in the United States of America, public libraries or McDonald’s fast food outlets?

A. 3: There are more public libraries than McDonald’s in the U.S.

Q. 4: Apart from wanting to be US President what did all three major 1996 Presidential candidates, Clinton, Dole and Perot, have in common.

A. 4: All three major 1996 Presidential candidates, Clinton, Dole and Perot, are left-handed.

Q. 5: Where was chocolate milk was invented?

A. 5: Chocolate milk was invented in Ireland.

Q. 6: If you’re in Detroit and you walk south, what is the first country you’ll enter?

A. 6: Understandable if you said Mexico, but If you’re in Detroit and you walk south, the first country you’ll enter will be Canada.

Q. 7: Where did the ever popular trousers called ‘Jeans’ get their name?

A. 7: ‘Jeans’ were named after their place of origin, Genoa, Italy.

Q. 8: And what was the origin of ‘Denim’ the material that jeans are made from?

A. 8: ‘Denim’ also takes its name from its place of origin, Nimes, in France. It was originally called ‘serge de Nimes’ or ‘fabric from Nimes’. The ‘serge’ soon disappeared and left us with ‘de Nimes’ or ‘denim’.

Q. 9: What is the most filmed story of all time? (Bonus points if you can name second and third aswell.)

A. 9: Dracula is the most filmed story of all time, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is second and Oliver Twist is third.

Q. 10: When ocean tides are at their highest, they are called ‘spring tides’. What are they called when they are at their lowest?

A. 10: When ocean tides are at their lowest, they are call ‘neep tides’.

Q. 11: Which of these kills the most humans on average every year?

a) crocodiles b) hippopotamus c) mosquitos d) tigers

A. 11: The correct answer is c) Mosquitos. They kill as many as 1,000,000 people per year from Malaria. Although it appears quite docile, the Hippopotamus is considered the most dangerous animal in Africa, killing 3,000 people per year. Crocodiles kill between 1500 and 2500 people per year. And Tigers are estimated to kill around 100 humans per year.

Q. 12: What do you call a scholar who studies the works of the Marquis de Sade?

A. 12: A scholar who studies the works of the Marquis de Sade is called a ‘Sadian’, not a ‘Sadist’.

Q. 13: What are ‘second unit’ movie shots?

A. 13: ‘Second unit’ movie shots do not require the presence of actors.

A. 14: Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain was born on a day in 1835 when Haley’s Comet came into view and died on a day in 1910 when Haley’s Comet came into view again.

Q. 15: Which of these is the oldest?

a) The Aztec Empire b) The Inca Empire c) Cambridge University

A. 15: The correct answer is c) Cambridge University in England is older than both the Aztec and Inca empires.

Q. 16: What is the only state of the USA whose name is just one syllable? (Hint: the answer is not California.)

A. 16: Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable.

Q. 17: You’ve seen it many times and on lots of things, but what does the name ‘NABISCO’ mean?

A. 17: ‘NABISCO’ simply means NAtional BIScuit COmpany.

Q. 18: Which side of a woman’s blouse are the buttons on?

A. 18: The left.

Q. 19: He was a Spanish hero who, before he was 20, led a Spanish force against the Moors and drove them out of Spain. He is celebrated in poem and romance. Who was he?

A. 19: El Cid.

Q. 20: In 1972 who didn’t want Ruby to take her love to town?

A. 20: Kenny Rogers. Here it is….

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Another Quiz For Monday.

April 7, 2014April 7, 2014 fasab Questions, Tests actor, Afro-American, Apple computer company, Beijing Olympic Games, biker, book, books, boxer, British Television, builder, canada, centuries, Clayton Bulwer Treaty, Clint Eastwood, colonial, Conqueror, construction, country, cowboy, David, Doc Holliday, Earp brothers, east, education, elected, Entertainment, Expletive Deleted, facts, Gene Hackman, general knowledge, Geography, German castle, German empire under Hitler, ghost, GI, Goliath, group, gunfight, history, Indian, island, Java, knock out, literature, Marvin Gay, Mohammed Ali, movie, movies, murdered, music, notorious gang, OK Corral, oldest flag, opening ceremony, partner, People, phrase, policeman, politicians, politics, President of the United States, prisoners of war, publication, questions, quiz, quizzes, religion, rhyming prophesies, sang, science, settlement, Shakespearean character, singer, spanish, Steve Jobs, television, test, tests, transcript, tv, US Congress, US president, volcano, war drama, We Are Ready, west

“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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