Instead of surfing the web for videos of costumed cats riding Roombas this Thanksgiving, take our special Thanksgiving Week to Week News Quiz to see what others are thankful for this holiday.
Here are some random but real hints: You either eat them or you don't; because the kingdom of God is theirs; we'll see if he's still smiling in six months; and until it starts working better. Answers are at the bottom of the quiz.
1. Why is it a good Thanksgiving for Caramel and Popcorn?
a. They are the new code names of the latest Google Android operating systems, which reached 2 billion downloads this week
b. Oversupply means their cost has dropped 40 percent since early summer
c. They are the turkeys pardoned by President Obama
d. Archeologists discovered remnants of both foods at the site of the first Thanksgiving in New England
2. What does anti-pornography group Morality in Media have to be thankful for?
a. It has finally gotten its American Moral Media constitutional amendment accepted by a U.S. House subcommittee
b. Hustler founder Larry Flynt has found religion again
c. The NSA reportedly plans to reveal terrorists' online porn-viewing habits to discredit them
d. President Obama and John Boehner will co-host a Morality in Media crusade as part of 2014's National Prayer Breakfast
3. For what is Iranian President Hassan Rouhani thankful?
a. The Iranian national football (soccer) team has qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 47 years
b. His country signed a U.S.-led deal to limit Iran's nuclear program and Western economic sanctions
c. President Obama will visit Tehran in December to officiate at the official Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the Canadian embassy
d. He has been named the successor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
4. What do US Airways and American Airlines have to celebrate?
a. A judge's approval of a settlement that allows the two airlines' merger to go ahead
b. Both companies reported record profits in the latest quarter
c. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos made an all-cash offer to purchase both airlines
d. They have been granted exemptions from the new regulation allowing inflight cell phone use
5. Why are liberal Catholics grateful for Pope Francis?
a. He will canonize John F. Kennedy as a saint
b. He will lift the ban on the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
c. He threw his support behind same-sex marriage
d. He has made the poor and disenfranchised the center of his papacy
6. What likely put a smile on the faces of Italian prosecutors?
a. Italy's courts declared the entire week a holiday to save money
b. The Italian senate expelled former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, removing his immunity from prosecution
c. The Italian supreme court upheld the posthumous conviction of Italy's last king, Umberto II
d. The Italian senate legalized soft drugs and prostitution last week
7. Why is the GOP thankful for the problems with the ObamaCare rollout?
a. The GOP has regained the lead in a generic congressional candidate voter survey
b. It gives them more time to get their receipts in order before they apply for ObamaCare
c. It has increased President Obama's popularity with the Tea Party
d. The GOP now has the congressional votes to overturn the law
8. Why are homebodies thankful?
a. Weather forecasters are predicting the warmest Thanksgiving on record
b. Johns Hopkins researchers have reported that couch potatoes live 2.5 years longer than active people
c. Now that you can use your cell phones on airplanes, they'll all be dropping from the skies, so best to avoid them altogether
d. They get to avoid the massive travel delays from bad East Coast weather this Thanksgiving
9. Why is Japan grateful to the United States -- and not to China?
a. The U.S. is spending $4.9 billion to upgrade its military facilities in Japan, boosting local construction companies
b. The U.S. flew bombers over islands claimed by China and Japan, in defiance of a recent Chinese claim that it's in their "air defense zone"
c. The U.S. threw its support behind Tokyo to host the 2022 Olympics, a snub to Shanghai, which is also seeking the honor
d. President Obama changed his itinerary for his December trip to Asia to include Japan but not China
10. What made residents of LA suburb Irwindale thankful?
a. A judge ordered the shutdown of an Asian hot sauce factory whose fumes were disturbing neighbors
b. Their petition to be annexed by Los Angeles was approved by the California legislature
c. Irwindale is the site of a new $8 billion spaceport to be jointly operated by NASA, SpaceX, and Virgin Galactic
d. Their public schools were ranked first in the nation by U.S. News & World Report
BONUS. Why might small businesses be a bit happier this Thanksgiving?
a. The Obama administration will delay for one year the deadline for small businesses to get insurance through the federal online marketplace
b. The Internal Revenue Service just announced that businesses with fewer than 100 employees will get a two-month extension in filing their 2013 taxes
c. They qualify for free turkeys at CostCo
d. California cancelled a 10.3% tax on new hires for businesses with fewer than 50 employees
The news and the quizzes don't stop there! Join us Monday, December 16 in San Francisco for our next live Week to Week political roundtable with a news quiz and a social hour at The Commonwealth Club. Panelists include Huffington Post's Robin Wilkey, Hoover's Tammy Frisby, and CBS SF's political analyst Melissa Griffin Caen.
ANSWERS: 1) c. 2) c. 3) b. 4) a. 5) d. 6) b. 7) a. 8) d. 9) b. 10) a. BONUS) a.
Explanations of the hints You either eat them or you don't: Obama pardoned the two food-named turkeys; because the kingdom of God is theirs: so promised Jesus; we'll see if he's still smiling in six months: the agreement with Iran is only a six-month deal; and until it starts working better: if the boost in GOP support is due to the troubled rollout of ObamaCare, that lead could evaporate as the website problems get addressed -- and the next budget fight looms in early 2014.