2017 BAQC June Quiz

Nisha Pillai
BAQC June 11, 2017
“And what is so rare as a day in June?”

OVERVIEW:
Written – 10
Names – 8. Infinite bounce, Clockwise, pounce
Potpourri – 8. Infinite bounce, Anti-Clockwise, pounce.
Fun With Minimalism – 10
“ONE PERSON, ONE VOTE. THE QM IS
THE PERSON. THEY HAVE THE VOTE.”
ONLY ONE RULE:

+5 each, no negatives.
Occasional bonus points available.
WRITTEN ROUND (10)

WRITTEN : QUESTIONS (1)
1. Before June 1, 2017, only three member states of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change were eligible to sign the Paris
Agreement but had not done so. Name any two of the three.
+5 bonus points for naming all three.
2. This is the mission clock for what groundbreaking mission? It is
appropriately named after an Italian astronomer who, perhaps less
famously, shares credit for discovering Jupiter’s Red Spot and
documenting surface markings on Mars.
WRITTEN: Qs (1)

3. Identify the girl in this family photograph. She has been portrayed by
Ingrid Bergman and Meg Ryan, among others, in (highly) fictionalized and
romanticized versions of her life.
WRITTEN: Qs (2)

4. X’s son was shot down near Amritsar and captured by the Pakistanis. Y was
then the President of Pakistan. He had served under X and when he
realized his former boss’s son was their prisoner, in a gesture of friendship
he offered to send him back to India, and, meanwhile, to treat him well.
This prompted X to send his famous reply to Y: “They (the Indian prisoners)
are all my sons. Treat him just like them.” X’s son says he was initially kept
in solitary confinement for a month, but otherwise treated well. Y’s son
even visited and gave him a tin of Capstan cigarettes and a P.G.
Wodehouse book! Who are X and Y in this often quoted story from the
Indo-Pak war of 1965?
5. There are four state capitals in the United States that are not served by the
interstate highway system. Name any two of the four.
WRITTEN: Qs (3)

6. Who is this (below, left), whose famous creation was first displayed on
June 25, 1978 at San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza?
7. Who is this (above, right), whose achievement this week has been termed
by those in the know “as iconic as the moon landing”?
WRITTEN: Qs (4)

8. This is a close-up of a specific pattern of dots left on documents by electronic
printers. The pattern can be manually inserted in a matrix found on the EFF’s
website, which will produce the decoded information — printer model, serial
number, and date and time of print.
Name the news website that put this pattern in the news this week. +5 bonus
points for naming the site’s billionaire funder, or its star investigative
journalist.
WRITTEN: Qs (5)

9. This photograph by David Rubinger became
extremely famous shortly after it was taken.
It was widely distributed by a national
government at a nominal price, and was
also extensively pirated. In 2001, a Supreme
Court Justice from that country stated that
the photo had "become the property of the
entire nation“.
What historical moment is being captured
in this photo?
10. This 1972 song by Looking Glass vaulted
______ into the top 100 girl names in the
US in 1973. In a recent blockbuster movie,
it was referred to as "one of Earth's
greatest musical compositions, perhaps the
greatest.“ FITB.
WRITTEN: Qs (6)

WRITTEN: ANSWERS (1)
1. Before June 1, 2017, only three member states of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change were eligible to sign the Paris
Agreement but had not done so. Name any two of the three. +5 bonus
points for naming all three.
A:
(a) Syria, because of the civil war
(b) Nicaragua, because the Accord did not set penalties for countries
failing to meet their obligations. They are well on their way to a self-
imposed target of 90% power from renewables by 2020.
(c) The Vatican, because it was an observer state. They have stated an
intention to apply for full membership so they can sign.
2. This is the mission clock for what groundbreaking mission? It is
appropriately named after an Italian astronomer who, perhaps less
famously, shares credit for discovering Jupiter’s Red Spot and
documenting surface markings on Mars.
A: Cassini.
WRITTEN: As (1)

WRITTEN: As (2)
A: Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicolaevna of Russia. There were persistent rumors
that she escaped the Revolution. Impostors turned up at regular intervals, and
“Anastasia” was featured in innumerable movies, TV series, and even a musical.
3. Identify the girl in this family photograph. She has been portrayed by
Ingrid Bergman and Meg Ryan, among others, in (highly) fictionalized and
romanticized versions of her life.

4. X’s son was shot down near Amritsar and captured by the Pakistanis. Y was
then the President of Pakistan. He had served under X and when he realized
his former boss’s son was their prisoner, in a gesture of friendship he offered
to send him back to India, and, meanwhile, to treat him well.
This prompted X to send his famous reply to Y: “They (the Indian prisoners) are
all my sons. Treat him just like them.” X’s son says he was initially kept in
solitary confinement for a month, but otherwise treated well. Y’s son even
visited and gave him a tin of Capstan cigarettes and a P.G. Wodehouse book!
Who are X and Y in this often quoted story from the Indo-Pak war of 1965?
A: X = Field Marshall Cariappa, Y = Ayub Khan
5. There are four state capitals in the United States that are not served by the
interstate highway system. Name any two of the four.
A: Juneau, Alaska; Dover, Delaware; Jefferson City, Missouri; Pierre, South
Dakota.
WRITTEN: As (3)

6. Gilbert Baker, designer of the Rainbow Flag.
7. Alex Honnold, who free-solo’ed El Capitan on June 3, 2017.
On the climb, he passed some climbers who had spent the night on a ledge. He did his best not to wake
them."I woke up one guy and he sort of said, 'Oh, hey.' Then when I went by, I think he discreetly woke up
his buddies because when I looked down they were all three standing there like 'What the f***?' "
WRITTEN: As (4)

WRITTEN : ANSWERS (5)
8. This is a close-up of a specific pattern of dots left on documents by electronic
printers. The pattern can be manually inserted in a matrix found on the EFF’s
website, which will produce the decoded information — printer model, serial
number, and date and time of print.
Name the news website that put this pattern in the news this week. +5 bonus
points for naming the site’s billionaire funder, or its star investigative
journalist.
A: The Intercept. Published a scoop this week about “a months-long Russian
intelligence cyber effort against elements of the U.S. election and voting
infrastructure.” The article quoted a classified NSA document. Unfortunately,
they also published an image of the leaked document. About an hour after
the article was posted online, federal agents arrested a federal contractor
named Reality Winner, 25.
Bonus: Pierre Omidyar, Glenn Greenwald.
WRITTEN: As (5)

WRITTEN : ANSWERS (6)
9. This photograph by David Rubinger became
extremely famous shortly after it was taken. It
was widely distributed by a national
government at a nominal price, and was also
extensively pirated. In 2001, a Supreme Court
Justice from that country stated that the photo
had "become the property of the entire nation“.
What historical moment is being captured in
this photo? A: Israeli capture of the Western
Wall during the 6 day war.
10. This 1972 song by Looking Glass vaulted ______
into the top 100 girl names in the US in 1973. In
a 2017 blockbuster movie, it was referred to as
WRITTEN: As (6)
"one of Earth's greatest musical compositions, perhaps the greatest.“ FITB.
A: Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl). Movie is Guardians of the Galaxy 2.

Clockwise.
+10 on bounce, no negatives. Pounce: +10 / -10.
Occasional part and bonus points available.
WHAT’S IN A NAME (8)

NAME: QUESTION 1
In 1974, this economist went to dinner with fellow Conservatives Dick
Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Jude Wanniski. At dinner, he drew a
curve on the back of a white cloth napkin to illustrate his theory that
cutting taxes would generate enough economic growth to generate new
tax revenue.
NAME: Q1
The napkin is now
displayed in the
American Museum of
National History.
Name him.

NAME: ANSWER 1
Arthur Laffer and the Laffer Curve.
This theory is one of the key drivers of the math behind the Trump Tax
Plan.
NAME: A1

NAME: QUESTION 2
In 1967, a group of peasants surrounded a plot of land in __________,
marked the boundaries with red flags, and began harvesting the crop.
The first clash occurred when a sharecropper, entered the land with
plough in hand, and was beaten up by armed agents of a local landlord.
Shortly afterwards, during a police action, a policeman named Sonam
Wangdi was killed by the peasants. The resulting series of events
caused _________ to become a byword as the violence and agitation
spread over a wide region. The impact of these events can be felt to
this day.
FITB.
NAME: Q2

NAME: ANSWER 2
Naxalbari. The term Naxal derives from the name of this village in West
Bengal.
NAME: A2

NAME: QUESTION 3
_________ is the fictional female lead of a 2013 movie (with an
imminent sequel). She was orphaned after a Kaiju attack in Japan and
was rescued by a Jaeger pilot named Stacker Pentecost, who raised her
as his own. She was a brilliant student who became a Jaeger pilot.
Her story and character arc gave rise to the ___________ test to
analyze films. To pass this test, a movie must have:
(a) At least one female character
(b) Who gets her own narrative arc
(c) Which is not about supporting a male character’s story
FITB.
NAME: Q3

NAME: ANSWER 3
Mako Mori (from Pacific Rim)
NAME: A3

NAME: QUESTION 4
In 1848, a Congressman was on his way home to Illinois when his boat
became stranded on a sandbar. The captain ordered the hands to
collect all the loose planks, empty barrels and boxes and force them
under the sides of the boat. These empty casks were used to buoy it
up. After forcing enough of them under the vessel she lifted gradually
and at last swung clear of the opposing sand bar. This incident inspired
him to invent an apparatus for raising boats off sandbars.
NAME: Q4
On May 22, 1849, he was
granted Patent No. 6469 for a
device to lift boats over shoals.
The invention was never
manufactured.
Who was the inventor?

NAME: ANSWER 4
Abraham Lincoln. He’s still the only US President to hold a patent.
NAME: A4

NAME: QUESTION 5
Name this place.
It is located between the towns of
Lone Pine and Independence in
Inyo county, California. It was
formally established by ranchers
and miners in 1910, but they were
forced to relocate by 1929 after
the City of Los Angeles purchased
the water rights to the entire area.
NAME: Q5
Today it is best known for a role it played in history in the following
decades.
A historical marker at this site has been hacked and stained repeatedly,
and a WWII veteran once claimed that he drove 200 miles to urinate on
the marker.

NAME: ANSWER 5
Manzanar.
The War Relocation Center was one of ten camps (and today, the most
famous) where Japanese American citizens and resident Japanese aliens
were incarcerated during World War II.
After Congress named Manzanar a National Historic Site and gave the
National Park Service the job of restoring the site in 1992, protests
against its creation emerged. Letters flooded the National Park Service,
demanding that Manzanar be portrayed as a guest housing center for
the Japanese Americans. The California State historical marker contains
the words "concentration camp“, which has led to its repeated
defacement.
NAME: A5

NAME: QUESTION 6
This shrine is a place of worship for
both Hindus and Muslims. It is so
popular in its home country that its
name is used interchangeably with
the name of the town in which it is
located. The inner sanctum is about
100 square yards with a silver-
canopied grave in the middle – that
NAME: Q6
of a Sufi saint. On one side of the sanctum is a row of folding wooden
stands, holding copies of Quran for devotees to read. On the other side,
beside a bundle of incense, are rows of oil-lamps lighted by devotees.
The saint, who was a wandering holy man, was famed for his red attire,
and noble spirit. Name him, or the Hindu deity whose name has become
his nickname.

NAME: ANSWER 6
Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, in Sehwan, Pakistan.
Hindus in Sindh consider him an incarnation of their patron deity,
Jhulelal. You may have heard of him in the popular spiritual song Dama
Dam Mast Qalandar.
On 16 February 2017, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for a
suicide attack on the shrine which resulted in the deaths of 88 people.
The following morning, the shrine's caretaker continued the daily
tradition of ringing the shrine's bell at 3:30 A.M. and defiantly vowed
that he would not be intimidated by terrorists. The shrine's dhamaal, or
meditative dancing ceremony, was resumed the very next evening
following the attack.
NAME: A6

NAME: QUESTION 7
The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations
was established in December 1949 and reorganized
in 1951. Its current head (pic), the 12th, is a 30 year
employee and marathon runner nicknamed “The
Model”.
The Institute’s current motto is a passage from
Proverbs that translates to "Where there is no
guidance, a nation falls, but in an abundance of
counselors there is safety."
NAME: Q7
The Institute’s largest department is Collections, followed by Political
Action & Liaison, Research, and Technology. There are two additional
departments whose function is known, but few details are available.
How do we know the Institute better?

NAME: ANSWER 7
Mossad, short for HaMossad leModiʿin uleTafkidim Meyuḥadim
(Hebrew: ‫מיוחדים‬ ‫ולתפקידים‬ ‫למודיעין‬ ‫המוסד‬ ,meaning "Institute for
Intelligence and Special Operations").
The two remaining departments are Metsada, the sabotage unit, and
Kidon, the assassination unit.
NAME: A7

NAME: QUESTION 8
This heavenly body was first hypothesized by Johann Bode in 1772. It was
discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi at Palermo in 1801, but subsequently
“lost” as its orbit was unknown. It was “recovered” after Carl Friedrich
Gauss, then 24 years old, developed an efficient method of orbit
determination.
NAME: Q8
This picture shows s geographical feature
called the Pongal Catena on its surface.
What heavenly body is this, that also
sports craters named after Asari
(Assyrian), Jaja (Abkhaz), Kiriamma (Sri
Lankan), Lono (Hawaiian), Razeka
(Arabian), Urvara (Iranian) and many
other agricultural deities.

NAME: ANSWER 8
Ceres. The (largest) asteroid, named after
the Roman goddess of agriculture.
All craters on Ceres are named after
agricultural deities from around the world,
and all other geographical features are
named after agricultural festivals.
NAME: A8

Anti-Clockwise.
+10 on bounce, no negatives. Pounce: +10 / -10.
Occasional part and bonus points available.
POTPOURRI (8)

POTPOURRI: QUESTION 1
On February 21, the President of Forseti Íslands issued a statement that
contained the following declaration: “I do not have the power to make
laws which forbid people to ______________. I am glad that I do not hold
such power. Presidents should not have unlimited power. I would not want
to hold this position if I could pass laws forbidding that which I don´t like. I
would not want to live in such a country.”
He was forced to issue it after he made a “bold, shocking” statement
about a Canadian invention. The inventor, Sam Panopoulos, said in a CBC
interview “Well, I don't know the guy. He should know better. I'm sure he
is a lot younger than I am and … [I invented this] …when I was a young
guy, you know what I mean?”
What was this invention, criticism of which got Canadians riled up?
POTPOURRI: Q1

POTPOURRI: ANSWER 1
POTPOURRI: A1
Hawaiian pizza. Sam Panopoulos passed away Thursday, June 8.
The full statement from the President of Iceland read
“I like pineapples, just not on pizza. I do not have the power to make laws
which forbid people to put pineapples on their pizza. I am glad that I do
not hold such power. Presidents should not have unlimited power. I would
not want to hold this position if I could pass laws forbidding that which I
don´t like. I would not want to live in such a country. For pizzas, I
recommend seafood.”

This is the only remaining mosque
in the White City, which was
under the Ottoman Empire from
the first half of 16th century until
the second half of 19th century.
Then, there were nearly 160
mosques, 7 public baths, and 21
caravan-saray in the city. Most
were since destroyed, first by the
rulers who succeeded the
Ottomans, then by or because of
POTPOURRI: Q2
the authorities who took over at various points in the 20th century.
This mosque was set of fire a few years ago, then partially restored. It is
now named Bajrakli Mosque, after the tradition of hanging a flag (bajrak
in Turkish) to call the faithful to prayer. Name the city.

POTPOURRI: ANSWER 2
POTPOURRI: A2
Belgrade, capital of Serbia.
It was decimated by the Austrian Empire in WWI, heavily bombed by the
Germans and by the Allied forces in WWII, and bombed by NATO in the
Kosovo War of 1999.

On June 8, Nature magazine published a finding that rewrites the story of
mankind’s origins. Until this week, the oldest known fossils identified as
Homo Sapien were unearthed at a site known as Omo-Kibish in Ethiopia,
and estimated to be 195,000 years old. Due to this and previous findings, it
was believed that our species evolved over a small region in Eastern Africa.
This week’s article is revolutionary in many respects:
(1) It lays out the discovery of the oldest and richest African Middle Stone
Age hominin site, at a location named Jebel Irhoud
(2) It dates Homo Sapien skulls found at the site to be ~300,000 yrs old
(3) It discredits the “Garden of Eden” theory of human evolution
Where is Jebel Irhoud? Why does it discredit the “Garden of Eden” theory?
POTPOURRI: Q3

POTPOURRI: ANSWER 3
POTPOURRI: A3
Morocco. About 60 miles west of Marrakesh. Indicates that early humans
were spread all over Africa.

Qatari airspace is completely
surrounded by the airspaces of
its neighbors. However, after
recent sanctions, Qatar Airways
is still flying – through a narrow
corridor in Bahraini airspace into
Iranian space, and then out.
POTPOURRI: Q4
This is possible because, as signatories to the 1944 Chicago Convention
that forms the basis of civil aviation law, Bahrain and UAE have agreed
that international passenger flights can overfly their territory on the way
to somewhere else. However, Bahrain announced that Qatar Airways may
not overfly its territory, leading angry Qataris to invoke comparisons to
Operation Vittles, Operation Plainfare, and Operation Pelican.
How do we know these efforts better?

POTPOURRI: ANSWER 4
POTPOURRI: A4
The Berlin Airlift.
The codenames are the US, UK and
Australian contributions to the
effort to keep West Berlin fed and
supplied.
Qatar is heavily dependent on
imports, with only 1% of food
requirements being produced
domestically.

Invented in 1883 by James Porteous, it
was one of the most important
agricultural and civil engineering
machines ever made. In 1991, it was
designated as an International Historic
Engineering Landmark by the American
Society of Mechanical Engineers.
POTPOURRI: Q5
It was originally built to address the need for a more efficient means of
constructing canals and ditches in the sandy soil of California’s San
Joaquin Valley. The design, optimized for being pulled by horses, forms the
basis of most modern earthmoving scrapers.
The city it was designed in, named for its abundant ash trees, lent its
name to this device. What city, in the news recently for an unrelated
reason, apparently of particular interest to South Asians?

POTPOURRI: ANSWER 5
POTPOURRI: A5
Fresno, California.
Currently in the news as the hometown of Ananya Vinay, this year’s
winner of the National Spelling Bee. 

This picture from February 20, 1939, shows a crowd of 20,000 attending a
rally. At center is a large portrait of George Washington, revered as an icon
by this group, who called him "the first Fascist", claiming Washington
"knew democracy could not work."
POTPOURRI: Q6
Where did this rally take
place?
Bonus: What was this
group?

POTPOURRI: Q6

POTPOURRI: ANSWER 6
POTPOURRI: A6
Madison Square Garden.
The group was the German American Bund, or German American
Federation, an American Nazi organization established in 1936. The Bund
was to consist only of American citizens of German descent. Its main goal
was to promote a favorable view of Nazi Germany.

This law resulted from concerns
about protecting mostly prehistoric
Native American ruins and artifacts
on federal lands in the West. The bill
proposing the law, called the Lacey
Act after the Congressman who
sponsored it in the House, was signed
into law on June 8, 1906, by President
Theodore Roosevelt.
The first “beneficiary” of this law was
this geographical feature (pic) in
Wyoming. By what name do we
know this law today?
POTPOURRI: Q7

POTPOURRI: ANSWER 7
POTPOURRI: A7
The Antiquities Act.
This law gives the President of the United States the authority to, by
presidential proclamation, create national monuments from federal lands
to protect significant natural, cultural, or scientific features.

Praslin, the second largest island in the Seychelles, is home to the Vallée
de Mai Nature Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
General Charles George Gordon of Khartoum (1833-1885) was
convinced that Vallée de Mai was the Biblical "Garden of Eden". His
theory was that the palm tree was the tree of knowledge representing
both good and evil, and that the breadfruit tree introduced into the
island, was the tree of life. He also “discovered” the forbidden fruit,
because of the scandalous shape and supposed aphrodisiac qualities of
the seeds of a specific, endemic variety of palm tree.
Name this tree, which was believed by many to grow on a mythical tree
at the bottom of the sea, until the true source of the nut was discovered
in 1768.
POTPOURRI: Q8

POTPOURRI: ANSWER 8
POTPOURRI: A8
Coco de Mer. It produces the largest seeds of any plant in the world, they
can weigh up to 60 lbs.

Written.
+10 each, no negatives.
FUN WITH MINIMALISM (10)

MINIMALISM: QUESTION 1
MINIMALISM: Q1

MINIMALISM: Q2

MINIMALISM: Q3

MINIMALISM: Q4

MINIMALISM: Q5

MINIMALISM: Q6

MINIMALISM: Q7

MINIMALISM: Q8

MINIMALISM: Q9

MINIMALISM: Q10

MINIMALISM: ANSWER 1
MINIMALISM: A1

MINIMALISM: A2

MINIMALISM: A3

MINIMALISM: A4

MINIMALISM: A5

MINIMALISM: A6

MINIMALISM: A7

MINIMALISM: A8

MINIMALISM: A9

MINIMALISM: A10

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