Many organs publish end of year quizzes and puzzles for the amusement of their readers.
This year, we shall join them in this fun diversion. Our quiz takes the form of a combined memory and IQ test. We will allow this exam to be “open book”, that is, you can open another browser tab and Duck Duck Go the answers, if you don’t already know them.
So, pencils at the ready, here we go:
American Politics
Q.1. President Trump called neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, “fine people”. True or false?
Q.2. President Trump suggested drinking bleach would cure Kung Flu. True or false?
Q.3. How many guns were fired during the “January 6th insurrection” and by whom? Supplemental question; what is the Collins Dictionary definition of “insurrection”?
Q.4. The majority of murders of black people in the USA are committed by which ethnic group? Supplemental question; has this increased or decreased since the death of George Floyd?
Kung Flu
Q.5. What is the average age of death from Covid1984?
Q.6. In Australia, what is the average age of death in a “normal” year, ie prior to Kung Flu?
Q.7. To date, how many children with no underlying health conditions have died of Kung Flu in Australia?
Q.8. In otherwise healthy and unvaccinated adults under the age of 50 years old, the infection fatality rate of Kung Flu is: A. Greater than 5%, B. About 5%, C. Less than 5% but greater than 1%, D. Less than 1%?
Sport
Q.9. In how many events is the female Olympic record equal or greater/better than the male version? A. More than 10 events, B. Between 1 and 10, C. None.
Q.10. Where in the world chess rankings is the best female chess player? A. Top 10, B. Top 50, C. Top 100.
Q.11. The New Zealand rugby team have announced they will play England at Twickenham next November. Why do they play at that venue so infrequently compared to the other main Northern Hemisphere venues?
Q.12. Despite systemic racism, which multi-millionaire ex-British, now Swiss, racing driver was Knighted at Buckingham palace this month?
Finance
Q.13. What’s the economic definition of “transitory”? Supplemental question; when was the last time a tank of petrol for a family car in Australia could be filled for under $100?
Q.14. According to her colour-coded domestic budget tracker, what is the Mumsnet blogger, Jess Irvine’s monthly salary from the Sydney Morning Herald? Supplemental question; how do you think the father of her child feels about that and has he lawyered up to challenge the maintenance payments yet?
Q.15. What are the average fees and average annual returns on an Australian Superannuation fund? Supplemental question; what would you have made if you’d just bought an ETF tracking the Nasdaq this year?
Q.16. Since “Occupy Wall Street” in 2011, has economic inequality, A. Significantly reduced, B. Remained about the same, C. Significantly worsened?
Why is this lying liar lying to me?
Q.17. Who said, in March 2020, “When you’re in the middle of an outbreak, wearing a mask might make people feel a little bit better and it might even block a droplet, but it’s not providing the perfect protection that people think that it is. And, often, there are unintended consequences — people keep fiddling with the mask and they keep touching their face”?
Q.18. Who said, in July 2020, “I don’t think we’ve ever had a situation where you mandate it for the general population…. I can see individual institutions mandating a vaccine… I don’t see it on a national level merely because of all the situations you have upon encroaching upon a person’s freedom to make their own choice of their own health”?
Q.19. Who said, in May 2021, “I do not have any accounting of what the Chinese may have done, and I’m fully in favor of any further investigation of what went on in China. However, I will repeat again: the NIH and NIAID categorically has not funded ‘gain-of-function’ research to be conducted in the Wuhan Institute of Virology”?
Q.20. Who said, whilst talking about the Kung Flu vaccine, “We know it’s safe, because if you look at the process that it’s gone through for the determination of whether it’s safe, as well as if it’s efficacious, was a clinical trial involving 44,000 people”?
Bill’s Opinion
I’m sure regular readers will get nearly all of these without recourse to a search engine.
Maybe send a link to people you know who take their news exclusively from the BBC/ABC/CNN and see how many they get?
Perhaps read the quiz out to the family once the first couple of bottles have been consumed on Christmas Day, to make the slow late afternoon more exciting.
Anyway, stay safe, stay independent of mind and enjoy the holidays.
Best wishes,
William of Ockham