Politics 1

Politics

Democrat Sen. John Kennedy, left and Republican Vice President Richard Nixon, right, as they debated campaign issues at a Chicago television studio on Sept. 26, 1960. Moderator Howard K. Smith is at desk in center. It is considered one the greatest presidential debates in U.S. televised  history, where each candidate spoke clearly of their vision for the nation, without any personal attacks at one another.     (AP Photo).

1 / 5

True or False: The Democratic Party was founded in 1828

2 / 5

Name the U.S. State that does not allow all elections to be conducted entirely by mail.

3 / 5

The Republican party was founded in 1860 with the election of president Abraham Lincoln.

4 / 5

Name the first woman in the world to be democratically elected as president in multiparty, free and fair elections.

5 / 5

Name the World Leader who was NOT assassinated.

Your score is

The average score is 68%

0%

Trivia 7??

Come on and play Traveling Boy’s Trivia Game. Only you will see the results.

Trivia 8: How clean are we?

Start

Trivia ??

Come on and play Traveling Boy’s Trivia Game. Only you will see the results.

Trivia 7: Coffee

Start

Trivia 4: Water

Come on and play Traveling Boy’s Trivia Game. Only you will see the results.

Trivia 4: WATER

Start

Congratulations - you have completed Trivia 4: WATER.

You scored %%SCORE%% out of %%TOTAL%%.

Your performance has been rated as %%RATING%%


Your answers are highlighted below.

Water Trivia

Come on and play Traveling Boy’s Trivia Game. Only you will see the results.

This Trivia Game is devoted to something we can’t live without: FRESH WATER

Start

Congratulations - you have completed This Trivia Game is devoted to something we can’t live without: FRESH WATER.

You scored %%SCORE%% out of %%TOTAL%%.

Your performance has been rated as %%RATING%%


Your answers are highlighted below.

Allen vs. Farrow: An HBO Original Documentary

Dylan Farrow has been telling the same story since she was seven years old: One afternoon in 1992, she says her adoptive father, Woody Allen, brought her to the attic of her mother, Mia Farrow’s, Connecticut home and — out of sight of the rest of the family — molested her. In the intervening three decades, her account has not faltered. It has remained consistent since she first shared it with therapists, then police, as a child; when she aired it in a New York Times op-ed in 2014, and in the Los Angeles Times in 2017, in a televised interview with CBS in 2018, and now, in a four-part documentary from HBO: Allen v. Farrow, an exhaustively detailed investigation into the abuse allegations and subsequent custody battle that kneecapped Farrow’s career and have only recently begun to create consequences for Allen.

Allen has always adamantly denied Dylan’s allegations. He did not return interview requests for the documentary and described it after the fact as a “hatchet job riddled with falsehoods” and a “shoddy hit piece.” His public statements have followed the same formula since the early ’90s: He maintains that Farrow, his former partner of 12 years, orchestrated a smear campaign after discovering his affair with her 21-year-old adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn, and coached Dylan through a false allegation of sexual assault. “I never molested my daughter,” he said in the wake of Dylan’s 2018 interview with CBS, “as all investigations concluded a quarter of a century ago.”

Henry’s Six Wives Club, Yasujiro Ozu’s Camera Style

Catherine of Aragon

Henry’s Six Wives Club

1. Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536): Demoted for Bearing No Son

Catherine of AragonHenry took the throne in 1509, at age 17. Six weeks later, he married Catherine of Aragon, daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, and the widow of his elder brother, Arthur Tudor (1486 –1502). As the eldest son and heir apparent of Henry VII of England, Arthur Tudor died young. It was a custom in the Tudor Court for the younger brother to marry the wife of an older brother. From the moment young Henry took his nuptials, he obsessed over continuing the Tudor line. Of multiple pregnancies and several births, the only child to survive was Henry and Catherine’s daughter, Mary.

Catherine remained at Henry’s side for 23 years and is even thought to be the only woman the king ever truly loved. “Henry viewed her as a model wife in every respect bar one… her failure to give him a son,” says Tudor historian Tracy Borman. Frustrated at the lack of a male heir, Henry’s eyes wandered.

2. Anne Boleyn (c. 1501-1536): The Union That Sparked Reformation, Beheaded

Anne BoleynAnne Boleyn and her sister, Mary, spent part of their childhood in the France court. Mary returned to England sometime around 1520 and had a brief affair with Henry. Henry then became smitten with Anne, but she refused the king’s advances. She had no interest in being a mistress. When Henry sought an annulment from his first wife to marry Anne, Rome refused. So the king broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and formed the Church of England.

Henry and Anne wed in January of 1533, and Anne gave birth to their first child, Elizabeth, in September the same year. Henry remained hopeful Anne would give him a son, but after a series of stillborn births, Henry lost interest in his wife. When he took a mistress, Anne became enraged. “On one occasion, her sister-in-law, Lady Rochford, was banished from court when she and Anne had plotted to remove an unnamed mistress from court,” says Tudor historian Elizabeth Norton. Desperate to end the relationship, Henry accused her of adultery and treason and had the marriage annulled. On May 19, 1536, Anne was beheaded for her alleged crimes.

3. Jane Seymour (1508-1537): Died After Giving Birth to Male Heir

Jane SeymourDays after Anne’s execution, Henry married his third wife, Jane Seymour. Jane had served as a lady-in-waiting to both Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. Anne Boleyn’s and Jane Seymour’s mothers were first cousins, who shared the same grandmother, and were raised together for a time. “Anne did not stand meekly aside when Henry’s interest in Jane became apparent. We know from sources that the pair came to blows on more than one occasion at court,” says Norton. On October 12, 1537, Jane gave birth to Edward VI and died from complications of the birth several weeks later. At the wishes of the king, Jane is buried at St. John’s Chapel alongside him.

Anne of Cleves4. Anne of Cleves (1515-1557): Strategic, Six-Month Marriage

Henry stayed a bachelor for two years, until his chief minister suggested that he seek a European alliance and marry one of the sisters (Anne and Amelia) of Germany’s Duke of Cleves. Henry requested the women’s portraits and found Anne to be the more flattering of the two. When Anne arrived in England on January 1, 1540, Henry was shocked that she looked nothing like the painting. He tried to halt the wedding, but because the arrangement had progressed so far, they married on January 6, 1540. Anne, the so-called “ugly wife,” accepted a divorce and generous settlement six months later and lived in peace as the “King’s Sister” until her death in July 1557.

Catherine Howard5. Catherine Howard (1523-1542): Treasured, Then Executed

Henry married 19-year-old Catherine Howard—a lady-in waiting to Anne of Cleves—in July 1540. By this time, he had become overweight and unable to walk. Said to be delighted with his rambunctious new bride, Henry showered Catherine with gifts and called her his “rose without a thorn.” But less than a year into their marriage, rumors of infidelity surfaced. With enough evidence that she had been at least promiscuous, Catherine was executed for adultery and treason at the Tower Green on February 13, 1542.

6. Catherine Parr (1512-1548): Peacemaker Who Outlived Henry

Catherine ParrHenry married his sixth wife, Catherine Parr, in July 1543. A spirited and educated widow, when Catherine showed an interest in Protestantism, Henry had her arrested. She managed to avoid the fate of her predecessors, bringing stability and peace to the court, while serving as a kind and caring stepmother to Henry’s children.

Of all Henry’s wives, Borman says Catherine Parr had the most influence upon the widest variety of areas including court culture, religion, the role of women and the education of Henry’s children. “She also persuaded Henry to restore his daughters Mary and Elizabeth to the order of succession and acted as Regent when Henry went to war with France,” Borman explains.

Catherine died in 1548, a year after Henry’s passing.


Yasujiro Ozu’s Camera Style


Yasujiro Ozu (1903-1963) invented the “tatami shot,” in which the camera is placed at a low height, supposedly at the eye level of a person kneeling on a tatami mat. Actually, Ozu’s camera is often even lower than that, only one or two feet off the ground, which necessitated the use of special tripods and raised sets. He chose the stationary low-angle Tatami-style shot, feeling that it best represented Japanese culture. Ozu’s narratives were dismissed as old fashioned by the Japanese press, but the style of his films are still considered ahead of their times, almost bordering on the avant-garde. Ozu’s camera seldom moved and there was no trickery in the frame or special effects in his method. Yet, his films were by no means simple. Film scholars at Britain’s Sight & Sound magazine generally list him among the ten greatest directors in their decade polls.

The Taj Mahal, Girl Scouts and John Lennon

the Taj Mahal. Agra, India

Facts About the Taj Mahal

the Taj Mahal. Agra, India

  • The construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632 and was completed in 1653. It took a total of twenty two years to complete the construction of this monument.
  • The architecture of the Taj Mahal is a combination of Indian, Persian and Islamic styles of architecture.
  • The name of the architect of the Taj Mahal is Ahmed Lahauri.
  • The Taj Mahal was Shah Jahan’s imagination of Mumtaz’s home in paradise.
  • Around 20,000 people worked day and night for twenty two years to complete construction of the Taj Mahal.
  • The Taj Mahal was constructed using the best quality marble from Rajasthan, Tibet, Afghanistan and China.
  • At different times of the day the Taj Mahal appears to be in a different color. Some believe that these changing colors depict the changing moods of a woman.
  • The Taj Mahal is one of the seven modern wonders of the world and is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  • There was a popular myth that Shah Jahan was planning to construct a black Taj Mahal across the Yamuna, this is not true.
  • Another popular myth around the Taj Mahal is that after the construction of the Taj Mahal, Shah Jahan cut off the hands of all the workers so that such a structure could not be built again. Fortunately, this is not true.
  • The Taj Mahal has a mosque in its premises, which is why the Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays and only those going for customary prayers are permitted inside the Taj Mahal.
  • By the late 19th century, the Taj Mahal had been defaced by the British soldiers who chiseled out precious stones from the walls of the monument. At the end of the 19th century, British Viceroy, Lord Curzon, ordered a restoration of the monument and also gifted a large lamp which hangs in the interior chambers of the Taj Mahal.
  • In 2000, an Indian writer P.N. Oak claimed that the Taj Mahal was actually a ShivTemple and filed a petition with the Supreme Court of India to excavate the site of the Taj to look for proof. His petition was rejected by the Supreme Court.
  • In 2001, the UNESCO documented more than two million visitors to the Taj Mahal.
  • India’s’ Nobel Laureate, Rabindranath Tagore, referred to the Taj Mahal as a “tear drop on the cheek of time”.
  • Calligraphy on the tomb of Mumtaz identifies and praises her.
  • The four minarets of the Taj Mahal have been constructed slightly outside of the plinth so that in case the minarets fell, they would fall away and not on the main structure.
  • After his death, Shah Jahan was laid to rest in the Taj Mahal besides the tomb of his wife Mumtaz.

Girl Scout Cookie History

An icon of American culture

girl scouts preparing fruit and vegetable preserves, 1917
Girl Scouts team up to preserve fruits and vegetables in response to food shortages, circa 1917.

For more than 100 years, Girl Scouts have helped ensure the success of the iconic annual cookie sale — and they’ve had fun, developed valuable life skills, and made their communities a better place every step of the way. Founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912, it was organized after Low met Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting, in 1911. Upon returning to Savannah, Georgia, she telephoned a distant cousin, saying, “I’ve got something for the girls of Savannah, and all of America, and all the world, and we’re going to start it tonight!”

Girl Scout Cookies had their earliest beginnings in the kitchens and ovens of girl members, with moms volunteering as technical advisers. Girl Scouting in the U.S. officially began in 1912, when Low organized the first Girl Guide troop meeting of 18 girls in Savannah, Georgia. The advent of selling cookies started when the Mistletoe Troop in Muskogee, Oklahoma, baked cookies and sold them in its high school cafeteria as a service project. In 1917, it concentrated on a way to finance U.S.  troop during WW1. Today, It has since grown to 3.7 million members. .

1994: Chronicle of Philanthropy poll showed Girl Scouts ranked by the public as the eighth “most popular charity/non-profit in America” among more than 100 charities. It describes itself as “the world’s preeminent organization dedicated solely to girls.”

2016:  Girl Scouts took the stage at the Academy Awards to sell cookies to Hollywood A-listers, beginning to the nationwide celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Girl Scouts selling cookies. That continued with the introduction of Girl Scout S’mores, which quickly became the most popular new cookie to launch in our history.

2020: Justin Timberlake started a fierce debate on social media when he declared Samoas to be his favorite Girl Scout cookies over Thin Mints.

Famous People who were Girl Scouts:

  • Michelle Obama
  • Lucille Ball
  • Taylor Swift
  • Martha Stewart
  • Mariah Carey
  • Meryl Streep
  • Katie Couric
  • Meghan Markle
  • Venus Williams
  • Queen Elizabeth II
  • YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki
  • Hilary Clinton & daughter Chelsea

John Lennon and How I Won the War

How I Won the War is a 1967 British black comedy directed by Richard Lester, based on a novel of the same name by Patrick Ryan. The film stars Michael Crawford as bungling British Army Office Lieutenant Earnest Goodbody, with John Lennon (in his only non-musical role, as Musketeer Gripweed).

The movie follows the attempt of the British Army’s “3rd Troop, the 4th Musketeers” to build a cricket pitch behind enemy lines in WW II Tunisia, lampooning the absurdity of the war.

Lester, having worked with Lennon previously in A Hard Day’s Night and Help!, was astutely aware of his  cynical Liverpudlian persona and tailored Lennon’s character along those lines.

  • Clapper (*Roy Kinnear):  “You married?
  • Musketeer Gripweed (Lennon): “No, I play the harmonica.”
John Lennon on the set of How I Won the War
LEFT: Richard Lester (top right) supervises Lennon’s haircut. RIGHT: Lennon in full character.

In order to play the period character, Lennon had to cut his Beatle mop top hair-style. A four-inch lock cut by a Germaharatern barber in 1966, sold for $35,000 at an auction, according to Heritage Auction in Dallas, Texas.

*Roy Mitchell Kinnear (1934 –1988) was a British character actor best known for his roles in films directed by Richard Lester; including Algernon in Help! (1965), Clapper in How I Won the War (1967), and Planchet in The Three Musketeers (1973), reprising the latter role in the 1974 and 1989 sequels, and cruise director Curtain in Juggernaut (1974).

John Lennon and Roy Kinnear on the set of How I Won the War
John Lennon and Roy Kinnear clowning around on the set of How I Won the War.

On September 19, 1988, Kinnear fell from a horse during the making of The Return of the Musketeers in Toledo, Spain, and sustained a broken pelvis and internal bleeding. He was taken to hospital in Madrid, but died the next day from a heart attack, brought on by his injuries. Lester, who had become close friends with Kinnear, quit the film business as a direct result of Kinnear’s death.

Military and Civilian Casualties in World War 1

Entente Powers
Population (million)
Mobilised soldiers
Dead soldiers
Civilian casualties
Total number of dead
Great Britain and Ireland
46.1
6,100,000
750,000
600,000
1,350,000
Belgium
7.6
292,000
38,000
50,000
88,000
France
39.0
8,100,000
1,327,000
600,000
1,927,000
Greece
4.9
449,000
25,000
25,000
Italy
36.0
4,300,000
460,000
700,000?
1,160,000
Japan
53.0
30,000
1,000
1,000
Montenegro
0.2
50,000
13,000
13,000
Portugal
6.1
100,000
7,000
7,000
Romania
7.6
750,000
250,000
300,000
550,000
Russia
164
15,800,000
1,811,000 to
2,254,369
500,000
(borders from 1914)
2,311,000 to
2,754,369
Serbia
3.1
750,000
275,000
300,000
525,000
United States of America
98.8
2,100,000
117,000
117,000
Australia
4.5
349,000
61,966
61,966
New Zealand
1.1
100,000
18,052
18,052
Central Powers
Population (million)
Dead soldiers
Direct civilian casualties
Total number of dead
Austro-Hungarian Empire
52.6
1,460,000
400,000
1,860,000
Bulgaria
4.7
88,000
300,000
388,000
Germany
67.8
2,037,000
700,000
2,737,000
Turkey
17.3
325,000
2.000,000
2,325,000


Tweeter and the Monkey Man

Traveling Wilburys

Tweeter and the Monkey Man were hard up for cash
They stayed up all night selling cocaine and hash
To an undercover cop who had a sister named Jan
For reasons unexplained she loved the Monkey Man

Tweeter was a Boy Scout ‘fore she went to Vietnam
And found out the hard way, nobody gives a damn
They knew that they found freedom just across the Jersey line
So they hopped into a stolen car, took Highway 99

And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they’re standing
Never saw them when they fell

The undercover cop never liked the Monkey Man
Even back in childhood he wanted to see him in the can
Jan got married at fourteen to a racketeer named Bill
She made secret calls to the Monkey Man from a mansion on the hill

It was out on Thunder Road,…

It was out on Thunder Road, Tweeter at the wheel
They crashed into paradise, they could hear them tires squeal
The undercover cop pulled up and said “Everyone of you is a liar
If you don’t surrender now it’s gonna go down to the wire”

And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they’re standing
Never saw them when they fell

An ambulance rolled up, a state-trooper close behind
Tweeter took his gun away and messed up his mind
The undercover cop was left tied up to a tree
Near the souvenir stand, by the old abandoned factory

Next day the undercover cop was hot in pursuit
He was taking the whole thing personal, he didn’t care about the loot
Jan had told him many times, “It was you to me who taught
In Jersey anything’s legal as long as you don’t get caught”

And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they’re standing
Never saw them when they fell

Some place by Rahwey Prison they ran out of gas
The undercover cop had cornered them, said
“Boy, you didn’t think this could last?”
Jan jumped out of bed, said, “There’s someplace I gotta go”
She took the gun out of the drawer, said, “It’s best that you don’t know.”

The undercover cop was found face down in a field
The Monkey Man was on the river bridge, using Tweeter as a shield
Jan said to the Monkey Man, “I’m not fooled by Tweeter’s curl
I knew him long before he became a Jersey Girl”

And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they’re standing
Never saw them when they fell

Now the town of Jersey City is quieting down again
I’m sitting in a gambling club called the Lion’s Den
The TV set was blown up, every bit of it is gone
Ever since the nightly news showed that the Monkey Man was on

I guess I’ll go to Florida and get myself some sun
There ain’t no more opportunity here, everything’s been done
Sometimes I think of Tweeter, sometimes I think of Jan
Sometimes I don’t think about nothing but the Monkey Man

And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they’re standing
Never saw them when they fell

And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they’re standing
Never saw them when they fell