Is Homer Simpson Secretly a Genius? Quiz

Answer: It is a period of fasting and self-restraint (complete loyalty to another might cause contradictions).

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is a period where Muslims abstain from not only food and drink, but also misdeeds and sinful thoughts. It is a time to purify the soul, self-sacrifice and refocusing attention on God. During Ramadan, one undergoes both physical and spiritual fasting.

It might be hard to be a bodyguard while you're observing a period of restraint.

The other important holiday's mentioned are:
Mawlid, which celebrates the birth of the prophet Muhammad usually with festivals.

The Hajj is not a holiday, but it is a sacred religious duty that must be carried out by all able-bodied Muslims at least once in their life.

The Day of Ashura is when Shi'as mourn and Sunnis celebrate Husayn ibn Ali's defeat at the battle of Karbala. This was a pivotal event in Islamic history and part of the reason for the divide between Shia and Sunni Muslims today.

Episode: "Mayored to the Mob"

Answer: Alternative Rock

Alternative rock is rooted in the independent music scene of the 1980s. The term is used broadly and covers a diverse range of sounds, moods and styles with sub-genres that include grunge and indie rock. Two of the most well known alternative rock bands would be Nirvana and R.E.M.

Some credit the rise of this type of music to the growing disillusionment with the American dream. This, coupled with the dominating presence of mass culture and commercialism led to feelings of alienation and aimlessness among many of the nation's youth. Many were made painfully aware of their difference while in school. When someone faces hostility towards their views, it is a common response to strike back with pronounced rejection and anti-culture. The often-stated irony of this trend however, is that alternative rock's independent persona has now been replaced by its mass appeal and commercial viability.

Episode: "Homerpalooza"

Answer: Dealing with failure

The ability to appropriately deal with failure by accepting and learning from it is an important skill to develop. It shouldn't be confused with denial or optimism. Pretending it didn't happen isn't going to help and pretending everything will just turn out well isn't much better. The important thing is to accept it as a part of your experience and then move on without letting it drag you down in the future. Everybody faces failure but it's those who handle it well that are most likely to see eventual success.

Here are a few quotes that put things nicely.

"Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success." -Dale Carnegie

"I've come to believe that all my past failures and frustrations were actually laying the foundation for the understandings that have created the new level of living I now enjoy." -Tony Robbins (I haven't read any of his work but I thought this was a good way to look at things.)

This is just a quote about optimism and pessimism that I always enjoyed.
"The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true." - James Branch Cabell

Episode: "A Milhouse Divided"

Answer: This age demographic is the most commercially important group for US advertisers and media producers

Marketing and advertising agencies like the Nielsen Company have identified 18 to 49 year olds as the most commercially important demographic. For TV shows, even the total number of viewers is not as important as the number of viewers from that age group. It is believed that these are the most active consumers and therefore become the target audience for much advertising.

Homer's comment points out that his demographic's importance lies not in any higher level of intelligence or taste but rather in their greater potential as consumers.

Episode: "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy"

Answer: An Illinois Congressman and independent presidential candidate in 1980

John B. Anderson ran as an independent in the 1980 presidential election...he lost. His campaign wasn't a total bunk. It did see at least some moderate success, if you consider 5% of the popular vote a success.

His candidacy was idealistic in the sense that independent candidates in the U.S. face significant challenges when attempting to operate outside of the traditional two-party system. The Republican and Democratic parties are so dominant that it becomes extremely difficult for independents to see any meaningful success. There are many who believe that new parties would be able to address the shortcomings of the two-party system. Ross Perot, Ralph Nader and Joe Lieberman have all been independent candidates...they lost too.

"Supertramp" is a British rock band formed in 1969. I don't know much about them and I probably never ever will.

Episode: "I Married Marge"

Answer: Australia

Australia does not actually permit judicial corporate punishment. The last reported case of sanctioned corporal punishment was in 1957. Whips were the typical tool used to carry out these sentences. Sorry, there is no record of punishment by kick in the backside though I'm sure at least some of the "whippers" wore large shoes.

Corporal punishment has survived into the 21st century in varying degree and severity. One of the most notable modern instances is that of Michael P. Fay in 1994. He was charged with theft and vandalism in Singapore and sentenced to six cane strokes on the rear. However, after U.S. requests for leniency, the sentence was reduced. Fay received four cane strokes in the end. (Yes! Successful pun!)

Unlike judicial punishment, school and domestic corporal punishment in the U.S. are jurisdictions of individual states. They are illegal in some and permitted in others.

Episode: "Bart vs. Australia"

Answer: "I'm still hungry"

Gastronomic (or gastronomy) - of or relating to cooking or eating food
Rapacity - a ravenous need or an inordinate greed for something
Satieties - something that satisfies a need or desire
Homer - a home run in baseball or something that...homes

Episode: "Bart's Friends Fall in Love" (Homer buys a weight-loss tape but accidentally gets a vocabulary improvement tape instead)

Answer: The right to bear arms

The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution states, "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

Lisa's point was that the amendment was required at the time but has become unnecessary today. Of course, most people who cite the amendment in opposition to gun laws probably understand that. But people, no matter their views, will always fight to maintain their lifestyles and the things that are important to them even if it means ignoring certain details. This is something that we can all be guilty of.

In the quote, Homer says, "If I didn't have these guns the King of England...".

Episode: "The Cartridge Family"

Answer: It is action, either good or bad, but always of one's own volition that begins the cycle of cause and effect

Karma is the concept of willful human actions that begins the cycle of cause and effect (Samsara). Karma is commonly used to refer to effects as well but a more accurate term would be Vipaka. This law of moral causation is a fundamental doctrine in Buddhism.

Broadly speaking, one's deed will lead to a result that can be either good or bad depending on the deed. Everything happens for a reason and a person's conscious behavior will influence those events. It does have to be action of one's own volition, accidents or unconscious behavior is not included. Karma is, in most views, governed by the cosmos. Thus Apu cannot sell Karma and Homer get's a win.

Episode: "Apu Loses the Quik-E-Mart"

Answer: As an "isolated system", the machine cannot make more energy than it uses or even enough to keep itself operating

A perpetual motion machine would violate the first two laws of thermodynamics. Those laws being:
1. In any isolated system, you cannot create new energy
2. You always lose a little energy
An isolated system is one that does not interact with and is not connected to any external sources of power such as a battery. Basically, you need energy to create energy and an isolated system cannot create energy because it has nothing else to power it.

Perpetual motion machines are considered impossible by the scientific community. However, it would be most accurate to say that it is impossible in terms of our current understanding of physics. This is just taking into account the possibility of previously undiscovered laws.

The other answers I just made up, I'm pretty sure they don't make sense. I have no expertise in physics whatsoever so I tried my best to explain it simply and accurately. Thanks to Wikipedia for providing the information as well as the vast majority of my adult education.

Episode: "The PTA Disbands"

Answer: Air Traffic Controllers' (aka PATCO) Strike

The Air Traffic Controllers' strike by the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization in 1981 is among the most crucial events in U.S. labor history. The union declared a strike on August 3 in demand of better working conditions. Another chief goal of the strike was for the union to be released from obligations set forth by United State's Civil Service.

Approximately 13,000 controllers participated, 1,300 of whom returned to work following demands by Reagan. When the rest of the union refused to return to work, Reagan saw it as a "peril to national safety" and invoked a law that forbade government unions from going on strike, any that did would forfeit their jobs. He fired over 11,300 controllers and banned them from federal service for life. PATCO was decertified shortly after.

Former chair of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan said this about the strike's legacy, "...The President invoked the law that striking government employees forfeit their jobs, an action that unsettled those who cynically believed no President would ever uphold that law...his action gave weight to the legal right of private employers, previously not fully exercised, to use their own discretion to both hire and discharge workers."

Episode: "The PTA Disbands"

Answer: A lot, almost half

"I wanna rock and roll all night and party everyday" makes up 12 of the 27 lines in the song. If you consider other repeated lines, then there are actually only seven unique lines in the entire song. This isn't disparaging the song, it's great. After all, it was written specifically as an anthem, a rallying cry for Kiss fans.

No particularly educational info here, just appreciating iconic music. Another good Kiss song is "Back in the New York Groove" I challenge any of you to not have a strong desire to get funky while listening to that.

Episode: "Homerpalooza"

Answer: The story is a real historical event and a traditional Japanese play

Ronin were the masterless samurai of feudal Japan.

The story is about forty-seven 18th century samurai who become ronin when their lord is forced to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) for assaulting a court official. The ronin swore to avenge their lord and, after hiding for two years, eventually did so by killing the official. The ronin themselves then committed seppuku for their crime of murder.

This story is legend in Japan and has become known worldwide. The forty-seven ronin represent the best of loyalty, honor and sacrifice, all central to the Bushido code. The fictionalized accounts of the story are called Chusingura and come in various forms including kabuki, books, TV and film. The story is still popular today.

The summary I gave is basically the standard legend. As with all historical accounts, there are exaggerations, unclear details, disputed accounts and missing information.

Episode: "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo"

Answer: Geez, how many times have I told you what 'rhetorical' means?

Rhetorical question - A question asked solely to produce an effect or to make an assertion and not to elicit a reply - definition provided by dictionary.com

J. Gardiner's "Manual of Composition and Rhetoric" says, "The effectiveness of rhetorical questions in argument comes from their dramatic quality. They suggest dialogue, especially when the speaker both asks and answers them himself, as if he were playing two parts on the stage. They are not always impassioned; they may be mildly ironical or merely argumentative: but they are always to some extent dramatic, and, if used to excess, they tend to give one's style a theatrical air."

Episode: "Mother Simpson"

Answer: "A Brief History of Time"

"A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking is a best-selling book that covers a range of topics from the creation of the universe to the bodies of immense destruction known as black holes. It was written for those unfamiliar with astrophysics to introduce the general audience to a fascinating subject. However, it is not "dumbed down" as Hawking also covers some of the more complicated aspects of the field. It also has a lot of pretty pictures.

Hawking ends the book with this, "If we do discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable in broad principle by everyone, not just a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason - for then we would know the mind of God."

Now who wouldn't want to read a book about that?

Episode: "Treehouse of Horror VI"