Monday, February 21, 2011

President's Day Quiz

No fair Googling. Answers at the end.

1. Which president negotiated a treaty with Peru that kept U.S. businessmen up to their elbows in a cheap (cheep?) fertilizer known as bird shit?
A) Lincoln  B) Fillmore  C) McKinley  D) Kennedy

2. Which president's autobiography fails to mention his wife even once?
A) Van Buren  B) Grant  C) Wilson  D) Taft

3. Who liked to blame his farts on his Secret Service detail?
A) Hayes  B) Ford  C) L. Johnson  D) Eisenhower

4. "I can't remember what I did" is what this president said about his time in the Alabama National Guard…and no one else can remember anything about his service there, either:
A) Clinton  B) Hoover  C) Nixon  D) George W. Bush

5. Which president shared the same nickname with his five brothers?
A) Eisenhower---"Ike"  B) Tyler---"Tye"  C) Monroe---"Mugs"  D) Taft---"Big [Name]"

6. Which president-to-be lost his first election, claiming that his rival only won because he was the tallest man in the room?
A) Pierce  B) John Quincy Adams  C) John Adams  D) Cleveland

7. Who uttered the misstatement, "Now we're trying to get unemployment to go up. I think we are going to succeed."
A) Obama  B) Truman  C) Harding  D) Reagan

8. Who felt that horses "ate too much, worked too little, and died too young," and became influential in the breeding of mules for farm work?
A) Jefferson  B) Washington  C) Jackson  D) Taylor

9.  Who advocated for the removal of "In God We Trust" from U.S. currency?
A) Carter  B) Teddy Roosevelt  C) Polk  D) Garfield

10. Who got swindled by a brokerage firm, declared bankruptcy, and rejected an offer of $100,000 from P.T. Barnum for his war memorabilia?
A) Benjamin Harrison  B) W.H. Harrison  C) Grant  D) Madison

Answers: B, A, B, D, A, C, D, B, B, C

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance stands in solidarity with the workers of Wisconsin as they bring you this week's blog roundup.

Off the Kuff examines the Perry/Combs slap fight over Amazon's decision to leave Texas rather than pay taxes.

Letters From Texas reports on a note that a pregnant woman sent to Texas state Senator Leticia Van de Putte, as the Senate prepared to pass the sonogram bill, and as the woman prepared to leave for the hospital to deliver her baby. Surprise #1: the woman is against the bill. Surprise #2: so is her father. Surprise #3: her father is another Texas state Senator.

This week the Legislative Study Group released an updated version of the "Texas on the Brink", Eye On Williamson had this to say: for Texas to get off the brink, we must fight for the impossible.

A gaggle of Houston bloggateers met with Metro's CEO and board members and discussed the many changes the transit authority has completed in the past year. PDiddie from Brains and Eggs was there and filed a report.

Libby Shaw explains what the Texas GOP means by shrinking government over at TexasKaos. Give a read to Texas GOP "To Shrink Government to fit inside a Woman's Uterus".

Neil at Texas Liberal looked at some early campaign advertising by incumbent Houston Mayor Annise Parker and considered if Mayor Parker's record matched her claims.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wonders why republicans dislike women so much.

This week at McBlogger, your punishment is your reward!