Ebola. Eek. That -- and other things to fear -- in our latest Week to Week news quiz.
Here are some random but real hints: Because the anti-ISIS campaign already has a leader; politicians just need to chill; it worked so well in Turkey and Greece; and it's like Breaking Baden-Baden. Answers are below the quiz.
1. Who is Ron Klain?
a. He was the first U.S. patient to die of Ebola
b. The independent U.S. Senate candidate now leading in the polls in Kansas
c. President Obama selected him as his new Ebola czar
d. The new head of NASA
2. On Thursday, President Obama authorized the call-up of military reservists for what reason?
a. To attack ISIS in Syria and northern Iraq
b. To take part in a troop surge in Afghanistan
c. To support anti-Ebola efforts in West Africa
d. To aid recovery from massive floods in South Carolina that have left 20,000 people homeless
3. Why was Florida Governor Rick Scott seven minutes late to his televised debate with challenger Charlie Crist?
a. He was observing a private moment of silence in honor of "all those who have been overtaxed and under-free"
b. His Apple Maps program gave him the wrong directions to the debate studio
c. He overslept
d. He refused to go on stage because Crist had a fan under his podium
4. A county official in Missouri said she "meant no ill will toward the president" when she did what?
a. Wondered why the U.S. military has not staged a coup d'état against President Obama
b. Yelled "You lie!" during an Oval Office meeting with Obama
c. In a campaign ad, repeatedly referred to him as "the foreigner in the White House"
d. Sent out a mailer to her constituents calling for "a litter of cute kittens" that could replace President Obama
5. Why did international soccer organization Uefa punish the national Serbian and Albanian soccer associations?
a. Both teams refused to play a game that fell on a religious holiday
b. Their Euro 2016 qualifier game had to be called off because the teams got into fights with each other and with the audience over the display of a nationalistic Albanian flag
c. The two were the last teams in the world to refuse to pay Uefa a 2014 surcharge due to cost overruns at the recent World Cup
d. The two teams refused to play a game in neighboring Kosovo
6. The New York Times reported that the Pentagon did what numerous times in Iraq between 2004 and 2011?
a. Hired actors to portray Saddam Hussein for target practice
b. Paid ISIS to protect U.S. bases
c. Withheld information about U.S. troops injured in incidents involving chemical weapons, some of which were designed in the United States and manufactured in Europe
d. Tried to bribe the Iraqi prime minister to allow anti-Iranian rebel groups to undermine Iran from Iraqi territory
7. To what did Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife donate $25 million this week?
a. A trust fund for Silicon Valley youth heading to Ivy League schools
b. The fight against Ebola
c. The fight against ISIS
d. The reelection campaign for California Governor Jerry Brown
8. According to a new report, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was an early user of what?
a. He was the first owner of a Porsche automobile
b. Crack cocaine
c. Crystal meth
d. The first known WiFi system was set up in his Berlin bunker to allow him to contact his staff at all hours of the day or night
9. Just days after agreeing to join the effort against ISIS, what did Turkey do?
a. Bomb ISIS positions across its border with Syria, near the besieged town of Kobani
b. Offer a "full amnesty ceasefire" to ISIS' leaders
c. Pull out of the effort against ISIS
d. Bomb its own Kurdish rebels inside Turkey
10. Mitt and Ann Romney have drawn on their extensive political network to fund what new project?
a. The GOP Victory 2016 SuperPAC
b. The Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases
c. A venture fund to build affordable housing in New Orleans
d. An Ivy League scholarship fund
BONUS. Ukraine's problems have only just begun. Who is running for a seat in that country's parliament?
a. A drag queen dressed in a German dirndl calling herself Angela Miracle
b. An election commission investigation found that at least three candidates were dogs and one was a cartoon character
c. A man dressed as Darth Vader who plays the Imperial March on a Ukrainian traditional musical instrument
d. Ralph Nader
Want the live news quiz experience? Join us Monday, November 3 at noon in downtown San Francisco for our next live Week to Week political roundtable with a news quiz and a social hour at The Commonwealth Club of California. Panelists include the San Francisco Chronicle's Debra J. Saunders.
ANSWERS:
1) c.
2) c.
3) d.
4) a.
5) b.
6) c.
7) b.
8) c.
9) d.
10) b.
BONUS) c.
Explanations of the hints: Because the anti-ISIS campaign already has a leader: Klain will lead the other super-tough emergency extra-crisis danger effort of the U.S. government; politicians just need to chill: apparently, Charlie Crist is known for always having his fan with him; it worked so well in Turkey and Greece: military coups were once common in both of those countries; and it's like Breaking Baden-Baden: Hitler apparently had a little something in common with the Breaking Bad story of meth dealers.