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2012 Prognostication Quiz: Question 8, Peace

8. Peace (October)
For the past 22 years, the Nobel Committee has formatted its press announcement for the Peace Prize to include a brief description of why the prize was awarded. Certain key words appear surprisingly frequently in this paragraph. Total appearances over the 22 years of each word below is indicated in parentheses. (More than one correct answer is possible.)
What word will be used to announce the Nobel Peace Prize?
a. “Democracy” (5)
b. “Rights” (7)
c. Any specific geographical region (6)
d. “International” (5)
e. “Peaceful” (6)
f. None of the above (4)

And the award goes to . . . The European Union. The 2012 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the EU "for over six decades contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe".

The European Union is a teeming mass of people slowly integrating since 1951. That many people over that much time can get a lot of things done, so it's no surprise that The Quiz sets a new record for number of correct answers for a single question. The answer to Question 8 of the 2012 Prognostication Quiz is A. "Democracy", B. "Rights", and C. Any specific geographical region.

The Democracies:
Mary
Marcus
Stacey
Sarah T.
Jeff
Beth
Tina

The Rights:
Keila
Megan
Kevin
Peter M.
Gloria
Todd
Peter B.
Sarah M.
Tom
Miriam
Russell
Zoe
Janet
Ben
Collette
Katie
Eric
Liz
Valerie

The Europes:
Cameron
Grant
Nadir
Jason
Chris M.
Chris C.
Rachel
Adrian
Jan

Leaderboard

Last month, I was hoping that the Nobel announcement would give some clarity at the top of the leaderboard, since Keila, Megan, Cameron, and Mary picked three different answers for Question 8. In a strange twist, the three answers that the leaders picked were the three answers that the Nobel Committee announced. That means the four leaders remain tied and at the top.

6 Keila
6 Megan
6 Cameron
6 Mary
5 Grant
5 Marcus
5 Kevin
5 Peter M.
5 Stacey
5 Gloria
5 Todd
4 Sarah M.
4 Peter B.
4 Ryan
4 Ellen
4 Nadir
4 Russell
4 Sarah T.
4 Zoe
4 Tom
4 Janet
4 Jason
4 Miriam
4 Cherie
4 Michael
4 Ben
4 Leanne
4 Matthew
4 Pete C.
4 Ekrem
3 Chris C.
3 Rachel
3 Collette
3 Katie
3 Chris M.
3 Jeff
3 Adrian
3 Beth
3 Eric
3 Jan
3 Craig
3 Hannah
3 Liz
2 Dave
2 Ted
2 Zhiqi
2 Missy
2 Valerie
2 Tina
1 Larry
1 Paul

Next up: The Presidential Election! Both Obama and Romney claim that the polling data indicate that they are most likely to win. It's a very close race, though right now Obama has a slight edge in key swing state polling. Even the prognosticators most favorable to Obama don't give him more than a 3- or 4-to-1 advantage. Picking at the start of the year, Quiz entrants picked Obama over Romney in a 7-to-1 ratio.

At the top of our leaderboard, Keila, Megan, and Cameron picked Obama, while Mary will pull into an uncontested lead if Romney pulls it out. In the second tier, all of the 5-pointers picked Obama except for Peter M. who would get a point and stay in second place if Romney wins.

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