2011 Prognostication Quiz: Question 9, Peace

Question 9. Peace (October)

For the past 21 years, the Nobel Committee has formatted its press announcement for the Peace Prize to include a brief description of why the prize was awarded.

What key word will be used to announce the Nobel Peace Prize?
a. “Democracy” (5)
b. “Rights” (6)
c. Any specific geographical region (6)
d. “International” (5)
e. “Peaceful” (6)
f. None of the above (4)

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee, and Tawakkul Karman win this year's Nobel Peace Prize "for their nonviolent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work."

This makes the answer to Question 9 in the 2011 Prognostication Quiz is B. Rights.

Kudos to the eleven who lean a bit to the right:

Adrian
Megan
Valerie
Jan
Jeff
Claire&Craig
Cameron M.
Rich
Eric
Sarah
Keila

That's two years in a row the Peace Prize has gone for rights. (Last year Liu Xiaobo won it for his struggles for human rights in China.) That makes it such a favorite that I'll probably have to pick a different set of choices for next year's quiz.

Question 13: Death

Sherwood Shwartz passed away last July. I seem to have missed it, so I didn't include it in the last update.

In the "nicely summarized" department, this is from the New York Times obituary: "Sherwood Schwartz, who created 'Gilligan’s Island' and 'The Brady Bunch,' two of the most affectionately ridiculed and enduring television sitcoms of the 1960s and ’70s, died on Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 94."

A lovely lady, three very lovely girls, a man named Brady, and three boys of his own each get a point:

Marcus
Pete C.
Stacey
Dave
Zoe
Leanne
Ted
Peter B.

Leader Board

With his second correct death prediction of the year (Osama bin Laden was the other), Marcus has catapulted into the lead. His previous co-leader Jo was shut out this month, allowing Adrian's Nobel perspicacity to sneak him into a tie for second. The ten people tied for fourth place are also very much still in the picture.

We have two questions left (Storms and Stocks) along with the possibility of another Event or another Death (or two). We are sitting on 5 hurricanes right now; Marcus guessed 8 or 9, Adrian guessed 10 to 12, and Jo guessed 13 or more. More likely, Russell or Ryan will win that question with their guess of 6 or 7 hurricanes. (A longer trip down the leader board to Chris M., Rachel H., and Eric is necessary to find the first to profit from no further hurricanes.) The market is so volatile right now that the Stocks question is still pretty wide open. It should be an exciting finish!

The full standings:

6 Marcus
5 Adrian
5 Jo
4 Megan
4 Paul
4 Pete C.
4 Russell
4 Ryan
4 Valerie
4 Jan
4 Cherie
4 Jeff
4 Ekrem
3 Liz
3 Cameron L.
3 Stacey
3 Lorraine
3 Michael
3 Claire&Craig
3 Cameron M.
3 Grant
3 Dave
3 Matthew
3 Rich
3 Ron
3 Zoe
2 Leanne
2 Chris M.
2 Craig
2 Ellen
2 Kevin
2 Katie
2 Zhiqi
2 Rachel F.
2 Eric
2 Rachel H.
2 Tina
2 Sarah
2 Collette
2 Ted
1 Ben
1 Keila
1 Gloria
1 Larry
1 Missy
1 Todd
1 Peter B.
1 Janet
1 Beth
1 Chris C.
0 Nadir

At the lower end of the scale, Keila and Peter B. had a very exciting month, each scoring their first point! This leaves my poor cousin Nadir downtrodden and all alone in dead last. It doesn't really look very good for him to score at all, sadly, which might end him with a big goose egg for the entire year. He will be hoping upon hope for 5 to 7 further hurricanes (impossible) or for the Dow to rise another 500 to 1000 points (certainly possible, given a resolution to the lingering sovereign debt crisis in Europe, say). Barring those, he needs Yitzhak Shamir, Bobby Doerr, or Billy Graham to buy the farm. He would also be happy if Iran snuck in a nuclear weapons test before the New Year. Like I said, it's not looking so good.