Latin America Growth Quiz of the Day

Surrounded by a world of recession, crisis and bad news, Latin America is now forecast to suffer a regionwide GDP drop of -1.7% by the region's most reputable independent economist group CEPAL (the people of choice for the United Nations, no less).

However amidst all this doom and gloom there is one country with a Central Bank and Finance Ministry that confidently predicts a GDP growth of at least 4% in 2009 and according to figures collated so far is well on track to meet and beat that number.

Which country is it?

Answers by mail or in the comments section below. I'll be adding the right answer in an update to this post later today.

Answertime! The correct answer is Bolivia. Oh isn't it going to be fun come the end of the year when the wider world realizes that the axis of evo has outgrown all the imperialist lapdogs....I can imagine the total lack of coverage now. First correct answer was Utpal, normally a dumbass but today a smartass....well played, sir.

Quiztime! The answer

Wow, eleven replies to last night's question! Not bad in such a short space of time. And even better is that nine of you got the answer right. The correct answer is that:

They have all visited Cuba

Yep, that's six heads of state racked up by Raul inside the first two months of anno domini two thousand and nine. For sure Chávez isn't much of a surprise, but Bachelet? That's the first Chilean visit since Allende if memory serves (historians feel free to correct). And Martín Torrijos made his second visit in less than a year. The USA losing regional influence? Surely not!

Anyway, the winner is the fabulous Bina, who managed to get her answer timestamped at 9:10pm last night, less than an hour after I hit the 'publish' button. Good job and rapid fire, Bina. The prize she asked for is a nude photo of Rafael Correa, which explains the image above. Waist-up only, Bina (though I can confirm Correa = 10X Berlusconi).

The final word goes to the most eloquent answer received, from reader MH. A very nicely written mail and deserves a wider audience. Particular agreement Chez Otto for the last sentence:

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Well I'd say they've all managed to catch the attention and likely 'outrage' of a certain group of Miami 'exiles'. The cause of this outrage is most likely because Bachelet, Chávez, Colom, Correa, Fernández and Torrijos have been able to have a native mojito with real Cuban mint and rum unencumbered by an embargo and travel restrictions, which means unlike a 'real' democracy all those leaders of faux 'dictatorships' have been able to visit Cuba in 2009.

I don't know if this however is held in common between all those leaders - but I hope it is true given how much Cuba has helped Latin America (Guatemala, Venezuela, and Ecuador I am sure about) - that all of these leaders have also pledged to help Cuba rebuild after the devastating hurricanes last year. The people of Cuba are amazing resilient, but they should never be forced to go it alone.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Quiztime!

Here's another chance to show me just how smart you are. First correct answer wins...errr... something nice. You choose what you want. You have until tomorrow morning to get your answer in, either underneath in the comments section or by mail to otto.rock1 (AT) gmail (DOT) com. G'luck!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As regards the year 2009 to date, what do the following Heads of State have in common?

Michelle Bachelet (Chile)
Hugo Chávez (Venezuela)
Alvaro Colom (Guatemala)
Rafael Correa (Ecuador)
Cristina Fernández (Argentina)
Martín Torrijos (Panama)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Geometry Quotes Quiz

Who said this? Five random questions.




Continue reading at:
gogeometry.com/QuotesQuiz_1.htm

It's mailbag and it's quiztime!

Aaah, nice to see this picture back

Loyal and loved IKN readers, today we're holding a special quiz. So fingers on the buzzers and get ready with your answers. But first (and totally unrelated), here's a little story about my mailbag this morning.

Today I got a mail from this guy who wanted to know my real identity. As mentioned before (in this post, in fact), I don't have any problem with that as long as the mailer doesn't come across as unhinged, so I told him. He then comes back to me asking questions about my nationality, the domicile of the company where I work and, most interestingly, whether I have legal counsel.

"Cool guy", thought I, "just the kinda dude who could make my day." So I wrote back a nice mail telling him that I'd be happy to supply further information as long as he tells me who he is and why he's interested. The dude decided not to tell me anything about himself but continued asking me about my personal details. "Hey", thought I, "that's a touch bogus. He's not playing fair." So I politely declined to tell him anything else until he comes up with his own goods. Y'know, quid pro quo and all that.

AND NOW FOR A TOTALLY DIFFERENT SUBJECT: HERE'S TODAY'S QUIZ.

Question (purely theoretical, and nothing at all to do with today's mailbag):

What company or person would be the most likely to have hired a secretive and evasive ambulance-chasing shark-like shyster to stop me relating some of the cruel realities of the stock market?

• Novagold (NG) (home of Greg Johnson)

• Crystallex (KRY) (a longtime fave)

• Petaquilla Minerals (PTQ.to) (le plat du jour)

• Colossus Minerals (CSI.to) (home of The Albatross)

• Dorato Resources (DRI.v) (or perhaps "The Cardero Group")

• Richard Fifer (of PTQ)

• Eric Zaunscherb (of Aurelian coverage (in)fame when at Haywood, now at Can'o'Corn and only allowed to talk about miners operating in Canada until he learns a bit more Spanish)

• Bloomberg Brazil or Venezuela

• Simon Rosemary
  

• Greg Johnson (the NG guy who sold half a million shares in daily lots in the month before the bad news hit)

• Walter Molano (not used to people pointing out the problems with his misleading articles)
  

• Hendrick Van Alphen (head honcho of Cardero)

• Patrick Albatross Anderson (Aurelian shareholders knew what Colossus shareholders now know)

I'm sure there are others....there's a lot to remember! Obviously politicos aren't listed or otherwise this post would take far too long to write.

So, answers on a postcard please to...

otto.rock1 (AT) gmail (DOT) com

....and give yourself a chance of winning the big star prize, a night out with Jim Willie.

Toodle Pip!

Triangle Centers.

Word find puzzle.



Continue reading at:
gogeometry.com/wordfind_triangle.htm

Quiz: Geometry SAT Techniques

Matching exercise



Continue reading at:
gogeometry.com/quizgeosatmatch101.html