Month: May 2018

Categories
News

News quiz, week ending May 25

1. Who won the Preakness Stakes?
a. Good Magic
b. Apollo’s Curse
c. Justify

2. Who was reelected president of crisis-stricken Venezuela?
a. Sebastian Pinera
b. Henri Falcon
c. Nicolas Maduro

3. At least 10 people in which country died of the Nipah virus:
a. India
b. Bangladesh
c. China

4. China launched a satellite that will pave the way for a mission to where:
a. The far side of the moon
b. Mars
c. Deep space

5. The Obamas signed an agreement to produce a mix of programming for which of the following networks:
a. Amazon Prime
b. Netflix
c. Hulu

6. What do owners of teams in the National Football League plan to do if players do not stand for the national anthem?
a. Fine the players
b. Fine their teams
c. Nothing

7. Which of the following novels did Philip Roth not write?
a. Portnoy’s Complaint
b. American Pastoral
c. Herzog

8. What first did Stacey Abrams achieve?
a. She is the first black woman in American history to win a major political party’s nomination for governor
b. She is the first black woman in American history to win the Republican nomination for governor
c. She is the first former synagogue president to run for the U.S. Senate

9. Why is Donald Trump barred from blocking people from viewing and replying to his posts on Twitter, according to a ruling by a federal judge in Manhattan?
a. The president’s Twitter feed has 52 million followers
b. The president’s Twitter feed is a public forum
c. The president tweets most days

10. Which of the following crimes was Harvey Weinstein not charged with?
a. A criminal sex act
b. Rape
c. Fraud

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answers
1. c
2. c
3. a
4. a
5. b
6. b
7. c
8. a
9. b
10. c

Categories
News

News quiz, week ending May 18

1. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for attacks in which two cities?
a. Paris and London
b. Paris and Surabaya
c. London and Surabaya

2. A move by the US of its embassy to which city provoked criticism worldwide?
a. Jerusalem
b. Tel Aviv
c. Haifa

3. At least 60 Palestinians were killed and thousands injured by Israeli forces as they tried to cross a fence that separates Israel from which territory?
a. The West Bank
b. Gaza
c. The Golan Heights

4. Which country won the Eurovision Song Contest?
a. Sweden
b. Portugal
c. Israel

5. Donald Trump said he would relax penalties on which Chinese telecom company that his administration had previously barred from sourcing supplies from the US because of findings it had illegally sold equipment to Iran and North Korea?
a. Huawei
b. Alibaba
c. ZTE

6. What is the royal title of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
a. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
b. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex
c. The Duke and Duchess of Strathearn

7. A ruling by the US Supreme Court opens the way for what?
a. Regulation of handguns
b. Stricter standards for fuel economy in automobiles
c. Betting on sports nationwide

8. Which of the following reportedly caused North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un to warn that his nation may not give up its nuclear program.
a. Joint military drills by the U.S. and South Korea
b. The move of the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem
c. Pressure from China, North Korea’s largest trading partner

9. In which country was Margot Kidder born?
a. The U.S.
b. Canada
c. The U.K.

10. Scientists said they recently discovered which of the following:
a. A rise in sea levels
b. A star thought to be the most distant observed
c. An increase in emissions of chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere

11. Which of the following is not reported to be a factor in rising oil prices?
a. Trade tensions between the U.S. and China
b. U.S. sanctions against Iran
c. The collapse of Venezuela’s economy

12. Why has an outbreak of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo reached “a new phase,” according to officials:
a. The virus was detected in an urban area
b. Authorities detected 11 new cases of the virus
c. A newly developed vaccine against the virus has proved effective

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answers
1. b
2. a
3. b
4. c
5. c
6. b
7. c
8. a
9. b
10. c
11. a
12. a

Categories
News

News quiz, week ending May 11

1. Who won the Kentucky Derby?
a. WinStar
b. Justify
c. Audible

2. Who is the Russian opposition leader arrested during nationwide protests that preceded the inauguration of Vladimir Putin for a fourth term?
a. Denis Krivosheev
b. Aleksi Navalny
c. Dmitry Medvedev

3. Which of the following is not a first of NASA’S InSight mission to Mars?
a. It is the first mission to explore the interior of Mars.
b. It is the first mission to use an Atlas rocket supplied by SpaceX.
c. It is the first mission to launch from the West Coast.

4. Who will become the next president of the National Rifle Association?
a. Wayne LaPierre
b. Pete Brown
c. Oliver North

5. As part of breaking the Iran nuclear agreement, Donald Trump said the US would:
a. Reimpose sanctions on companies that do business with Iran
b. Continue to allow companies to do business with Iran
c. Postpone a decision on whether to reimpose sanctions on companies that do business with Iran

6. Who among the following is not one of the three Americans freed this week by North Korea?
a. Kim Hat-Song
b. Otto Warmbier
c. Tony Kim

7. Which country swore in as prime minister the world’s oldest elected leader?
a. Malaysia
b. Indonesia
c. Bangladesh

8. Which U.S. state became the first to mandate solar panels on new homes and apartment buildings built after starting in 2020?
a. New Mexico
b. Colorado
c. California

9. Where and when do Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un plan to meet?
a. In Singapore on June 12
b. In the Demilitarized Zone on June 12
c. In Seoul on June 12

10. A 104-year-old scientist from which country traveled to Switzerland for his assisted suicide?
a. Australia
b. The U.K.
c. China

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answers
1. b
2. b
3. b
4. c
5. a
6. b
7. a
8. c
9. a
10. a

Categories
News

Cry, the Beloved Country


I recently reread this excerpt from “Cry, the Beloved Country,” by Alan Paton.  I’m typing it here because I admire it so much.

“There is a lovely road that runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass-covered and rolling, and they are lovely beyond any singing of it. The road climbs seven miles into them, to Carisbrooke; and from there, if there is no mist, you look down on one of the fairest valleys of Africa. About you there is grass and bracken and birds of the veld. Below you is the valley of the Umzimkulu, on its journey from the Drakensberg to the sea; and beyond and behind the river, great hill after hill; and beyond and behind them, the mountains of Ingeli and East Griqualand.

The grass is rich and matted, you cannot see the soil. It holds the rain and the mist, and they seep into the ground, feeding the streams to every kloof. It is well tended, and not too many cattle feed upon it; not too many fires burn it, laying bare the soil. Stand unshod upon it, for the ground is holy, being even as it came from the Creator. Keep it, guard it, care for it, for it keeps men, guards men, cares for men. Destroy it and man is destroyed.”

Categories
News

Reading the news… eyeglasses, swing voters

I often find myself filled with awe while reading the news. Some stories on some days jump out at me. No, they blow my mind.

To capture that sense of wonder, from time to time, I’m going to flag items in the news that grab me. They’ll tend to come from the Times, because that’s the paper I read most often in print. And print is where I tend to see these stories. For me, there’s something about reading a newspaper that allows me to discover the news.

Excerpts of the stories (with links) appear below; of course, I encourage you to read the entire article.

To start…

More than a billion people need eyeglasses

This front-page story by Andrew Jacobs reports on the more than a billion people worldwide who lack eyeglasses. The headline: “A Health Crisis That Costs $1.50 to Correct.” It resonates with me because I have been nearsighted since the third grade. I cannot imagine living without vision correction. And yet, as the story tells us:

“More than a billion people around the world need eyeglasses but don’t have them, researchers say, an affliction long overlooked on lists of public health priorities. Some estimates put that figure closer to 2.5 billion people. They include thousands of nearsighted Nigerian truck drivers who strain to see pedestrians darting across the road and middle-aged coffee farmers in Bolivia whose inability to see objects up close makes it hard to spot ripe beans for harvest.

Then there are tens of millions of children… across the world, whose families cannot afford an eye exam or the prescription eyeglasses that would help them excel in school.”

Americans who voted for Obama and then Trump are in play.

Here’s the second story, by Sabrina Tavernise and Robert Gebeloff, who report on people who voted for Obama in the 2012 presidential election then voted for Donald Trump four years later.

“The swing of Obama voters to Mr. Trump proved a decisive factor in the 2016 presidential election. Of the more than 650 counties that chose Mr. Obama twice, about a third flipped to Mr. Trump. Many were in states critical to Mr. Trump’s win, like Iowa, Michigan Ohio and Wisconsin.

John Sides, a political-science professor at George Washington University, has estimated that 9 percent of voters who cast ballots for Mr. Obama ended up voting for Mr. Trump. Among white voters who had never been to college, it was 22 percent.

Now, as the country lurches into another election season – this time the prize is control of Congress – a crucial question for Democrats is whether they will be able to lure these voters back.”

Categories
News

News quiz, week ending May 4

1. What basis did hundreds of migrants from Central America who massed at the border in Tijuana hope to gain entry to the US?
a. They planned to request asylum after fleeing violence and poverty.
b. They planned to request entry to reunite with family in the US.
c. They planned to request entry based on the promise of work in the US.

2. Who headlined the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner?
a. Seth Myers
b. Michelle Wolf
c. Hasan Minhaj

3. Which of the following best describes Britain’s latest immigration crisis?
a. A scandal over the treatment of migrants from Syria
b. A scandal over the treatment of migrants from Eastern Europe
c. A scandal over the treatment of migrants from former British colonies

4. T-Mobile agreed to buy which company?
a. Verizon Wireless
b. Sprint
c. Boost Mobile

5. Twin bombings in which city killed nine journalists?
a. Kabul
b. Kandahar
c. Karachi

6. What action did the Trump administration take regarding whether to impose tariffs on goods from the European Union?
a. It reaffirmed its decision to impose tariffs.
b. It reversed its decision to impose tariffs.
c. It postponed a decision on whether to impose tariffs.

7. A fire in which city caused the collapse of a building 20 stories high?
a. Sao Paulo
b. Caracas
c. Rome

8. Who reportedly dictated a glowing review of Donald Trump’s health that his physician reportedly wrote in 2015?
a. Harold Bornstein
b. Donald Trump
c. Ronny Jackson

9. Which city is the most polluted in the world, according to the World Health Organization?
a. Cairo
b. Beijing
c. New Delhi

10. Which best describes a settlement between two black men arrested at a Starbucks in Philadelphia and the city?
a. The city will pay the men $1 each and fund $200,000 for a grant program for high school students who aspire to be entrepreneurs.
b. The city will pay the men $200,000 each and fund $200,000 for a grant program for high school students who aspire to be entrepreneurs.
c. The city will pay the men $500,000 each.

11. Which of the following victims of wrongful accusations did Camille Cosby not compare her husband to?
a. Emmett Till
b. The Central Park Five
c. Darryl Hunt

12. Mark Zuckerberg told developers that Facebook will soon offer which of the following:
a. An online marketplace
b. An online dating service
c. An online site for flight reservations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answers
1. a
2. b
3. c
4. b
5. a
6. c
7. a
8. a
9. c
10. a
11. b
12. b