With family in town for a couple of weeks, I thought I would have some fun and do a pop quiz. Here goes:
1. What did Wal-Mart do recently?
a. Give away bonuses to their associates.
b. Tell Americans they were going to sell items that were made primarily in China.
c. Move their home base from Bentonville, Ark., to downtown St. Pete.
d. Open up all their stores for 24/7 shopping convenience.
2. Why is the state so concerned with pythons and other slippery and unusual pets that it offered amnesty to residents who bring their beasts to a park in Clearwater?
a. Lake Seminole, Taylor Park and Jerry Lake off of Keene Road and Virginia Avenue in Clearwater are overflowing with gators and monster snakes that the state was worried about another gruesome encounter like what happened in the Everglades in 2005.
b. Gov. Charlie Crist is thinking about promoting the consumption of these creatures in the public school system.
c. The city of Clearwater’s Harborview Center, known for being a money-losing venture, hopes to encourage more Floridians to travel to the city for a reptile festival.
d. The non-native animals breed and will require more and more care than what some folks expect when they buy them.
3. Why did the city of Largo fire Steve Stanton?
a. He was considered too old for the job.
b. He refused to participate in a 10K marathon that the city and Pinellas County had co-sponsored to encourage folks to get off their duffs and get fit.
c. Either he admitted to undergoing a sex-change procedure or he kept a secret from his superiors on the City Commission. Either way, he’s not fit, the commissioners figure.
d. He wanted to take on Sheriff Jim Coats’ SWAT team, rather than Largo police Chief Lester Aradi’s.
4. (Okay, this one is for the sports fan, a group to which I don’t usually subscribe. Still, it made the top news.) Name a team in the Final Four.
a. Miami Dolphins
b. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
c. Ohio Buckeyes
d. Seminole Warhawks.
5. Name three presidential candidate hopefuls in both parties.
a. Democrats: John Kerry, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama; Republicans: John McCain, George W. Bush, Mitt Romney
b. Republicans: George W. Bush, Matt Romnie, John McCain; Democrats: Hillary Clinton, Tom Vilsack, Christopher Dodd
c. Republicans: Jeb Bush, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney; Democrats: Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, John Kerry.
d. Republicans: Mitt Romney, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani; Democrats: Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Barack Obama.
Answers
1. a. Rank-and-file employees at three out of four stores took home performance based extra money.
2. d. Pythons, turtles, and frogs, among other animals, were part of the Florida Wildlife Commission’s amnesty program.
3. c. It’s final. Or is it? If he goes to court, it would wind up in a long legal battle. Next up – who replaces him?
4. c. UCLA takes on Florida while Ohio State takes on Georgetown.
5. d. The funny thing is, some Republicans like Hillary as a Democratic presidential candidate simply because she is considered beatable (or hated) in the Republican party.
Jim Harrington is the editor of the Largo Leader, Clearwater Citizen.
