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Quiz: How much do you know about the USA?

Land of the free, home of the trivia.

AMERICA. IT’S BEEN in the news this week a fair bit.

How much do you know about it?

How many stars would have been on this American flag - raised in Japan during World War II?
50
48

46
44
The Super Bowl makes up 19 of the 20 most-watched TV broadcasts in American history. The finale of which show is also in there?
Friends
Happy Days

M*A*S*H
Cheers
The iconic Route 66 links California with which state?
Illinois
Indiana

New York
Florida
This is the iconic flag of which major American city?
New York
Boston

Chicago
Los Angeles
How many turkeys will Americans eat over the Thanksgiving - Christmas period?
90 million
100 million

110 million
120 million
What is the tallest building in the USA?
Trump Tower, Chicago
One World Trade Centre, New York

Willis Tower, Chicago
432 Park Avenue, New York
Which founding father is one the $10 bill?
George Washington
Alexander Hamilton

Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
The Louisiana Purchase saw the US buy land from which country?
Britain
Mexico

France
Spain
How many time zones are there in the United States?
Four
Five

Six
Seven
Abraham Lincoln was shot on what day?
Christmas
Easter

Independence Day
Good Friday
Answer all the questions to see your result!
You scored out of !
Top Dog!
Pawsitively Brilliant!
Share your result:
You scored out of !
Clever Cat!
Almost purrfect!
Share your result:
You scored out of !
Fintastic!
Flippin' good.
Share your result:
You scored out of !
What are ewe doing?
Couldn't ram the knowledge home?
Share your result:
You scored out of !
Turtley awful!
Shell of a bad effort!
Share your result:

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18 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Amy gaffney
    Favourite Amy gaffney
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    Jun 5th 2014, 1:31 PM

    I love you tracker mortgage. Mwah.

    218
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    Mute Rehabmeerkat
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    Jun 5th 2014, 1:36 PM

    Tracker will be great until German economy goes in to overdrive in 3 or 4 years. Your mortgage won’t be so good when rate is 5%

    48
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    Mute Norman Hunter
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    Jun 5th 2014, 1:43 PM

    Tracker will still be great no matter what when compared to the other option of variable rate.

    191
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    Mute Amy gaffney
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    Jun 5th 2014, 1:49 PM

    Ah but the less paid in interest now, the less that gets compounded onto the principal meaning less interest charged when the rates do rise again. Variables need to come back down a bit too though, its ridiculous how variable rate holders get punished for tracker reductions.

    114
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    Mute DaveMac
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    Jun 5th 2014, 1:53 PM

    I love you no negative equity mwah!

    56
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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello
    Favourite Neal Ireland Hello
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    Jun 5th 2014, 1:57 PM

    Aww…look at the little variable mortgage holders trying to look positively at things. So cute!

    44
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    Mute Ted Carroll
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    Jun 5th 2014, 2:25 PM

    Amy there’s no two ways about it, banks earn their money on mortgages so while they’re cutting the rates on the trackers they need to increase them elsewhere to cover this, unfortunately this falls on everyone who doesn’t have a tracker. There is no saving those on variable rate mortgages either currently or those planning on taking them out in the near future, they’re entirely at the whims of our self serving banking sector.

    34
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    Mute Giovanni Giusti
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    Jun 5th 2014, 3:35 PM

    I remember when back in 2007 (yes, yes) the bank’s mortgage manager asked me if we wanted a tracker or a variable rate. Sounded like a no-brainer. And it was! :)

    Of course I still paid twice the price for my house, but hey.

    42
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    Mute mcgoo
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    Jun 5th 2014, 1:37 PM

    I’d eat a mile of my bank managers shite if he’d give me a minus rate on my mortgage

    186
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    Mute Michael
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    Jun 5th 2014, 2:03 PM

    Great in a tracker, I can pay my water bills now!

    60
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    Mute Truth Patrol
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    Jun 5th 2014, 2:06 PM

    McGoo you just put an awful awful image in my head :(

    31
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    Mute Noel Holland
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    Jun 5th 2014, 7:42 PM

    Mcgoo , that comment made me cracking up laughing..

    4
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    Mute A2 Poster
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    Jun 5th 2014, 1:43 PM

    And now we wait for AIB to pass this on to the mortgage holders, hurray!

    ….. or not.

    The ECB rate cuts are to fight against deflation.
    These efforts are nullified if the public at large are buffered from said cuts.
    AIB et al are working against the ECB’s efforts here, well done lads.

    138
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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello
    Favourite Neal Ireland Hello
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    Jun 5th 2014, 1:58 PM

    The

    2
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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello
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    Jun 5th 2014, 1:58 PM

    They will pass it on to all tracker holders.

    55
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    Mute Ben Gunn
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    Jun 5th 2014, 2:05 PM

    This tinkering at the margins will have absolutely no affect on any of the eurozone economies. The only way out of a deflationary spiral is consumer spending and that requires cash. Broad money supply has to be increased. The British and Americans did it by making their respective central banks buy their own bonds, quantitive easing. The ECB could do the same tomorrow if the Bundesbank were to agree. Think of the affect on the Irish economy if the ECB took on €100 billion of our sovereign debt. We could end austerity with an expansionery budget that would get us up and running. The same goes for the other stagnating or falling Eurozone economies. Germany would worry though. Having work hard to improve competitiveness to drive export led growth, they could see it go south if inflation got out of control.

    54
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    Mute Caragh Costello
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    Jun 5th 2014, 2:13 PM

    If you are lucky enough to have a tracker rate on your mortgage, your bank has to pass on any rate cuts or increases that the ECB set. They have no choice. Variable rate mortgage holders are not as lucky (including me)

    42
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    Mute David Mc Sweeney
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    Jun 5th 2014, 2:25 PM

    That explains why permanent tsb sent me a nice letter to say my mortgage repayments were increasing !
    It would be more honest if they just said, we’re charging ya more because someone has to cover all those lucky people who have tracker mortgages!
    The situation existing that you could have a row of houses with one half paying for the other half’s mortgage interest has to be sorted by government!

    40
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    Mute David Thomas
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    Jun 5th 2014, 3:43 PM

    Bloody spongers!

    6
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    Mute Mindfulirish
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    Jun 5th 2014, 2:07 PM

    They need to Dis-incentivise residential property speculation by individuals and companies. It’s a basic human need to have 1 home. 2nd and 3rd homes should be taxed out of existence.

    32
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    Mute Ted Carroll
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    Jun 5th 2014, 2:22 PM

    I had considered the same but then what of the rental sector which is still required? My opinion is that increases in property prices should be taxed at incredibly (like absolutely penal) high rates on anything other than a principal private residence. It will take the speculators out of the market in one clean swoop. This might mitigate the bubble we’re seeing up now by taking investors out of the market but some correction would eventually be needed to balance out and boost properties in the rental sector.

    11
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    Mute Padriag O'Traged
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    Jun 5th 2014, 5:07 PM

    I assume you aren’t claiming it a human right to own a home? And who are you to say I can’t own a second or third home? If you can afford them, it’s your business and yours alone

    7
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    Mute Ted Carroll
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    Jun 5th 2014, 9:14 PM

    Indeed it is Paidraig but it’s everyone’s business how much tax you pay on the profits earned on it which was all I said!

    1
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    Mute Padriag O'Traged
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    Jun 5th 2014, 9:27 PM

    @ted sorry comment was aimed at mindfulirish not you :)

    1
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    Mute Pat Nolan
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    Jun 5th 2014, 1:56 PM

    Quantitative easing is the only answer

    26
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    Mute 1 Human Being
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    Jun 5th 2014, 2:04 PM

    Yes it always works out. Sing: I am forever blowing bubbles. Woo hoo how big do yis reckon this one will get.

    7
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    Mute Alan Reardon
    Favourite Alan Reardon
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    Jun 5th 2014, 5:31 PM

    When is the Government going to rush through legislation to legally require the banks to pass on all the ECB interest rate cuts to standard variable rate mortgage customers. Let’s see rushed legislation to protect these customers just as was done to protect the banks.

    21
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    Mute SeanieRyan
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    Jun 5th 2014, 3:09 PM

    The ECB forecasts Eurozone gdp growth of 1% this year.

    America is looking at just under 4% this year.

    The Euro is wonderful, apart from killing growth continent wide.

    The rest of the world is leaving the EU standing.

    13
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    Mute Derek Durkin
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    Jun 5th 2014, 2:09 PM

    They sure don’t like savers, anyway who has money to save now anyways and if u do u can always invest your money in the housing market or the stock market, keep the ponzi scheme going a little longer. ECB also trying to force the Germans into accepting QE which as the German people and American people know is serious bad news.

    12
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    Mute SeanieRyan
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    Jun 5th 2014, 2:20 PM

    It was deflation that brought Hitler to power, not inflation.

    17
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    Mute Alan O'Shea
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    Jun 5th 2014, 2:49 PM

    All well and good…but will he irish banks pass it on to mortgage customers…not likley!

    10
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    Mute Niall H
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    Jun 5th 2014, 2:14 PM

    Get your hands on something that stores value because in the coming years fiat currencies ain’t gona be worth the paper they’re printed on.
    The EU is panicking, the actions taken today by the ECB are evidence of this if you hadn’t figured it out already by simply watching stocks AND bonds rising rapidly together all year.

    10
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    Mute Mike O'Sullivan
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    Jun 5th 2014, 2:22 PM

    What’s a fiat currency Niall?

    8
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    Mute Dee4
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    Jun 5th 2014, 2:27 PM

    that’s kind of the goldbug position but in reality not every currency can devalue against every other one. warts and all the $ looks a lot better than the Euro. In a deflation the main thing is not to have debts (oh could someone pass that info onto Baldie and the gang in FG)

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    Mute Niall H
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    Jun 5th 2014, 2:31 PM

    Your right dee, the dollar ‘looks’ good. The Lehman brothers finances also ‘looked’ good in 2006.

    6
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    Mute Dee4
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    Jun 5th 2014, 2:37 PM

    @ Niall , you have to remember the $ is the most over borrowed currency in the world , that means when the next crash happens everybody becomes short of dollars in an effort to square their positions and much to the bemusement of the Fed the dollar will go up despite what the Fed does to reduce its value. It will be quite a while before ‘muricans are going around with wheelbarrows full of money to buy lunch.

    1
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    Mute Graham McKibbin
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    Jun 5th 2014, 5:37 PM

    AIB – if you up my variable mortgage rate again to counter this latest drop in ECB rate then I’m switching my current account to permanent TSB !!

    9
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    Mute John Quill
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    Jun 5th 2014, 7:12 PM

    During the boom days I gave serious consideration to fixing my mortgage, that was spring 2008. My bank manager told me to hang on until the end of the year so I didn’t bother switching from my tracker. Thank god for laziness.

    9
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    Mute Dee4
    Favourite Dee4
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    Jun 5th 2014, 2:12 PM

    need more programmes with cool sounding names made up of 3 or 4 initials, that always works…chuckle chuckle

    6
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    Mute Liam Quinn
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    Jun 5th 2014, 2:16 PM

    will bank charges and overdraft rates sink

    5
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    Mute SeanieRyan
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    Jun 5th 2014, 2:31 PM

    This is welcome but it is still a roll of the dice.

    The Banks might not increase lending to SME’s etc they might park it in Gold or German or US bonds or anything else they consider safe.

    In most of Europe there is no demand and no growth, as bad as we are, we still actually have growth, that is the reality of the Euro zone.

    5
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    Mute Thierry Rat
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    Jun 6th 2014, 12:08 AM

    Anyone on a tracker is just having their negative equity off set by low interest rates,all trackers were give out in boom years to people who overpaid anyway

    3
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