When Bill Clinton mentioned Medicaid at the Democratic convention, it was the first time many people have discussed that topic during this campaign. What else is happening that isn't getting much campaign airplay? Take our quiz and find out.
Here are some random but actual hints: Obama wants the momentum; they're breaking open the piggy bank to bank on broken banks; they'll have elections in Cuba first; and Canada is becoming very American. Now put those to good use and take the quiz! Answers are at the bottom of the quiz.
1) The latest employment news is out. What happened?
a. The 29 months of employment growth finally ended with a loss of 50,000 jobs in August
b. The country added 1.2 million jobs over the summer months
c. A rare statistical mark of 0 percent job growth or losses was recorded last month
d. Companies added workers in August at the fastest rate in the past five months
2) Why did stocks rise strongly on Thursday?
a. Bill Clinton's Wednesday night speech to the Democratic convention promised "a bonanza for investors who invest in American industry"
b. The European Central Bank finally unveiled its plan to buy bonds from eurozone countries
c. Greece's government announced it was leaving the eurozone and adopting the Chinese renminbi as its national currency
d. The unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped to 7.1 percent
3) Hackers have released 1 million unique identifying numbers for Apple devices. Where did the hackers claim to have gotten the data?
a. From internal Apple servers
b. From a Pentagon website
c. From an FBI laptop
d. From a Russian scam artist
4) How did the Democratic Party respond to Republican barbs about omitting any mention of God in its platform?
a. It issued a separate "pro-God" statement
b. It told the GOP to mind its own business
c. It voted to stop issuing useless platforms
d. It added a mention of God into the platform
5) When asked by a CNN reporter if he might seek to repeat Barack Obama's springboard jump from convention speaker to presidential candidate, what did DNC keynote speaker Julian Castro say?
a. His last name would make it impossible to elect him in the United States -- and he'd certainly lose Florida
b. "Just watch me in four years"
c. He would consider changing his name
d. He was first interested in serving in Obama's second-term cabinet
6) It's a banner year in 2012 for something. What's never had it this good?
a. West Nile virus
b. Middle Eastern insurance companies
c. Professional Civil War re-enactments
d. Lance Armstrong
7) China warned the United States to mind its own business regarding what?
a. Maritime disputes in the South China Sea
b. China's relations with neighbor India
c. A planned Asia-only free trade agreement
d. Tracking the unique identifying numbers for counterfeit Apple products sold in China
8) The victory speech by Quebec's newly elected separatist premier, Pauline Marois, was interrupted by what?
a. A gunman who killed one person and wounded another
b. Hecklers from anti-separatists of the Conservative Party
c. Her husband, Dr. Ernie Marois, who told the crowd that he didn't want Quebec to be a separate nation
d. Filmmaker infant terrible James O'Keefe strode onto the stage dressed as a frog
9) U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) raised eyebrows when she made what claim on The Colbert Report?
a. President Obama won't be re-elected
b. Dutch-controlled slavery still existed in Brooklyn in 1898
c. She can detect the aura of her long-dead ancestors in her Brooklyn apartment
d. The Tea Party is the new party of ideas in America
10) Why are Californians heading to Amazon.com?
a. The site began taking pre-orders for The Secret Life of Dianne Feinstein on Monday
b. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced plans to move the company's headquarters to San Jose
c. To make purchases before a state sales tax goes into effect on Amazon sales
d. The Prince Harry Vegas video is on Amazon streaming video for $4.99
BONUS QUESTION) According to a report from the Institute of Medicine, how much of U.S. health-care spending was wasted in 2009?
a. 50 percent
b. 15 percent
c. 2 percent
d. 30 percent
Is that still not enough news for you? Join us in Silicon Valley for our next live Week to Week news commentary program at The Commonwealth Club on October 4. See the Week to Week website for event dates, audio, and more.
ANSWERS: 1) d. 2) b. 3) c. 4) d. 5) a. 6) a. 7) a. 8) a. 9) b. 10) c. BONUS) d.
EXPLANATIONS OF THE HINTS: Improving jobless numbers help incumbent Barack Obama in the presidential race; the ECB is going to buy bonds of the crisis-stricken countries; Castro thought someone named "Hussein" had a better chance of being elected U.S. president than someone with the name "Castro;" and, sadly, Canada suffered a random public shooting.