Who was said to be targeted in The Sun's front page story?


What magazine refuted the claims made by The Sun in its article about the forum?

On 7 January 2009, The Sun ran an exclusive front page story claiming that participants in a discussion on Ummah.com, a British Muslim internet forum, had made a "hate hit list" of British Jews to be targeted by extremists over the Gaza War. It was claimed that "Those listed [on the forum] should treat it very seriously. Expect a hate campaign and intimidation by 20 or 30 thugs." The UK magazine Private Eye claimed that Glen Jenvey, a man quoted by The Sun as a terrorism expert, who had been posting to the forum under the pseudonym "Abuislam", was the only forum member promoting a hate campaign while other members promoted peaceful advocacy, such as writing 'polite letters'. The story has since been removed from The Sun's website following complaints to the UK's Press Complaints Commission.


According to Private Eye who was the only forum member expressing wishes for a hate campaign?


Complaints to which body led to The Sun removing the story from its website?


What was the claimed target of a terrorist attack according to a late 2010 Sun front page story?

On 9 December 2010, The Sun published a front-page story claiming that terrorist group Al-Qaeda had threatened a terrorist attack on Granada Television in Manchester to disrupt the episode of the soap opera Coronation Street to be transmitted live that evening. The paper cited unnamed sources, claiming "cops are throwing a ring of steel around tonight's live episode of Coronation Street over fears it has been targeted by Al-Qaeda." Later that morning, however, Greater Manchester Police categorically denied having "been made aware of any threat from Al-Qaeda or any other proscribed organisation." The Sun published a small correction on 28 December, admitting "that while cast and crew were subject to full body searches, there was no specific threat from Al-Qaeda as we reported." The apology had been negotiated by the Press Complaints Commission. For the day following the 2011 Norway attacks The Sun produced an early edition blaming the massacre on al-Qaeda. Later the perpetrator was revealed to be Anders Behring Breivik, a Norwegian nationalist.


What was the television program that would have been affected by the attack?


What did the Manchester police say about these claimed attacks?


Who negotiated an apology from The Sun for its misreporting of this story?


Who was responsible for the 2011 Norway attacks?


When was The Sun printed on the Wapping presses for the last time?

In January 2008 the Wapping presses printed The Sun for the last time and London printing was transferred to Waltham Cross in the Borough of Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, where News International had built what is claimed to be the largest printing centre in Europe with 12 presses. The site also produces The Times and Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, Wall Street Journal Europe (also now a Murdoch newspaper), London's Evening Standard and local papers. Northern printing had earlier been switched to a new plant at Knowsley on Merseyside and the Scottish Sun to another new plant at Motherwell near Glasgow. The three print centres represent a £600 million investment by NI and allowed all the titles to be produced with every page in full colour from 2008. The Waltham Cross plant is capable of producing one million copies an hour of a 120-page tabloid newspaper.


Where was London printing of The Sun moved to?


How many presses were there at the new printing facility?


Where had northern printing been moved to?


How much had been invested in the new printing locations?


Who followed Tony Blair as Prime Minister?

Politically, the paper's stance was less clear under Prime Minister Gordon Brown who succeeded Blair in June 2007. Its editorials were critical of many of Brown's policies and often more supportive of those of Conservative leader David Cameron. Rupert Murdoch, head of The Sun's parent company News Corporation, speaking at a 2007 meeting with the House of Lords Select Committee on Communications, which was investigating media ownership and the news, said that he acts as a "traditional proprietor". This means he exercises editorial control on major issues such as which political party to back in a general election or which policy to adopt on Europe.


Who was the Conservative leader that The Sun often supported?


What is the name of the company that operates The Sun?


What was the House of Lords Select Committee on Communications investigating in 2007?


On which issues did Murdoch claim he exerted editorial control?


Who showed up on the editorial floor of the Independent?

During the campaign for the United Kingdom general election, 2010, The Independent ran ads declaring that "Rupert Murdoch won't decide this election – you will." In response James Murdoch and Rebekah Wade "appeared unannounced and uninvited on the editorial floor" of the Independent, and had an energetic conversation with its editor Simon Kelner. Several days later the Independent reported The Sun's failure to report its own YouGov poll result which said that "if people thought Mr Clegg's party had a significant chance of winning the election" the Liberal Democrats would win 49% of the vote, and with it a landslide majority.


What did The Sun neglect to report concerning the upcoming election?


Who did the Independent state wouldn't decide the election?


What year was the United Kingdom general election?


Who did The Sun advocate for the 2010 election?

On election day (6 May 2010), The Sun urged its readers to vote for David Cameron's "modern and positive" Conservatives in order to save Britain from "disaster" which the paper thought the country would face if the Labour government was re-elected. The election ended in the first hung parliament after an election for 36 years, with the Tories gaining the most seats and votes but being 20 seats short of an overall majority. They finally came to power on 11 May when Gordon Brown stepped down as prime minister, paving the way for David Cameron to become prime minister by forming a coalition with the Liberal Democrats.


What did The Sun fear would result from election of the Labour Party?


What was the outcome of the general election?


Which party came to power after the election?


Who did David Cameron align with in order to become Prime Minister?


Why were former Sun staff members put in police custody in early 2012?

On 28 January 2012, police arrested four current and former staff members of The Sun, as part of a probe in which journalists paid police officers for information; a police officer was also arrested in the probe. The Sun staffers arrested were crime editor Mike Sullivan, head of news Chris Pharo, former deputy editor Fergus Shanahan, and former managing editor Graham Dudman, who since became a columnist and media writer. All five arrested were held on suspicion of corruption. Police also searched the offices of News International, the publishers of The Sun, as part of a continuing investigation into the News of the World scandal.


What was the charge against those arrested?


What greater scandal was this investigation a part of?


What role had Graham Dudman taken after serving as The Sun managing editor?


Who were the main leaders of the ruling party?

The main party leaders, David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband, were all depicted holding a copy of the special issue in publicity material. Miliband's decision to pose with a copy of The Sun received a strong response. Organisations representing the relatives of Hillsborough victims described Miliband's action as an "absolute disgrace" and he faced criticism too from Liverpool Labour MPs and the city's Labour Mayor, Joe Anderson. A statement was issued on 13 June explaining that Miliband "was promoting England's bid to win the World Cup", although "he understands the anger that is felt towards the Sun over Hillsborough by many people in Merseyside and he is sorry to those who feel offended."


Who criticized Milliband for posing with a copy of The Sun showing the Hillsborough disaster?


How did Milliband explain posing with this newspaper?


What emotion did many people feel over The Sun's coverage of Hillsborough?


Who was the subject of an early June 2013 front page story?

On 2 June 2013, The Sun on Sunday ran a front page story on singer-songwriter Tulisa Contostavlos. The front page read: "Tulisa's cocaine deal shame"; this story was written by The Sun On Sunday's undercover reporter Mahzer Mahmood, who had previously worked for the News of the World. It was claimed that Tulisa introduced three film producers (actually Mahmood and two other Sun journalists) to a drug dealer and set up a £800 deal. The subterfuge involved conning the singer into believing that she was being considered for a role in an £8 million Bollywood film.


Who wrote the story on Tulisa Contostavlos?


What was the main allegation in The Sun's story on Contostavlos?


What did The Sun reporters make Contostavlos believe?


What was the title of the front page story on Contostavlos?


At her subsequent trial, the case against Tulisa collapsed at Southwark Crown Court in July 2014, with the judge commenting that there were "strong grounds" to believe that Mahmood had lied at a pre-trial hearing and tried to manipulate evidence against the co-defendant Tulisa. Tulisa was cleared of supplying Class A drugs. After these events, The Sun released a statement saying that the newspaper "takes the Judge's remarks very seriously. Mahmood has been suspended pending an immediate internal investigation."


What type of drugs was Tulisa accused of supplying?


What action did The Sun take against Mahmood?


What were Sun staff accused of in a 2014 trial?

In October 2014, the trial of six senior staff and journalists at The Sun newspaper began. All six were charged with conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office. They included The Sun's head of news Chris Pharo, who faced six charges, while ex-managing editor Graham Dudman and ex-Sun deputy news editor Ben O'Driscoll were accused of four charges each. Thames Valley district reporter Jamie Pyatt and picture editor John Edwards were charged with three counts each, while ex-reporter John Troup was accused of two counts. The trial related to illegal payments allegedly made to public officials, with prosecutors saying the men conspired to pay officials from 2002–11, including police, prison officers and soldiers. They were accused of buying confidential information about the Royal Family, public figures and prison inmates. They all denied the charges. On 16 January 2015, Troup and Edwards were cleared by the jury of all charges against them. The jury also partially cleared O'Driscoll and Dudman but continued deliberating over other counts faced by them, as well as the charges against Pharo and Pyatt. On 21 January 2015, the jury told the court that it was unable to reach unanimous verdicts on any of the outstanding charges and was told by the judge, Richard Marks, that he would accept majority verdicts. Shortly afterwards, one of the jurors sent a note to the judge and was discharged. The judge told the remaining 11 jurors that their colleague had been "feeling unwell and feeling under a great deal of pressure and stress from the situation you are in", and that under the circumstances he was prepared to accept majority verdicts of "11 to zero or 10 to 1". On 22 January 2015, the jury was discharged after failing to reach verdicts on the outstanding charges. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced that it would seek a retrial.


Who were The Sun staffers accused of buying information about?


Who was the judge in this particular case?


What was the outcome of the jury's deliberation in the trial?


Who was appointed presiding judge over the retrial in 2015?

On 6 February 2015, it was announced that Judge Richard Marks is to be replaced by Judge Charles Wide at the retrial. Two days earlier, Marks had emailed counsel for the defendants telling them: "It has been decided (not by me but by my elders and betters) that I am not going to be doing the retrial". Reporting the decision in UK newspaper The Guardian, Lisa O’Carroll wrote: "Wide is the only judge so far to have presided in a case which has seen a conviction of a journalist in relation to allegations of unlawful payments to public officials for stories. The journalist, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is appealing the verdict". Defence counsel for the four journalists threatened to take the decision to judicial review, with the barrister representing Pharo, Nigel Rumfitt QC, saying: "The way this has come about gives rise to the impression that something has been going on behind the scenes which should not have been going on behind the scenes and which should have been dealt with transparently". He added that the defendants were "extremely concerned" and "entitled" to know why Marks was being replaced by Wide.


In which newspaper did Lisa O'Carroll report the choice of judge?


What did Rumfit state that the defendants should have been informed about?


What did the lawyers for the defendants threaten to do?


On 22 May 2015, Sun reporter Anthony France was found guilty of aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office between 2008 and 2011. France’s trial followed the London Metropolitan Police's Operation Elveden, an ongoing investigation into alleged payments to police and officials in exchange for information. He had paid a total of more than £22,000 to PC Timothy Edwards, an anti-terrorism police officer based at Heathrow Airport. The police officer had already pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office and given a two-year gaol sentence in 2014, but the jury in France’s trial was not informed of this. Following the passing of the guilty verdict, the officer leading Operation Elveden, Detective Chief Superintendent Gordon Briggs said France and Edwards had been in a "long-term, corrupt relationship".


Who was responsible for Operation Elveden?


Which Sun reporter was found guilty in 2015?


How much did Anthony France pay to a police officer?


Who was the policeman leading Operation Elveden?


How did Briggs characterize the relationship between France and Edwards?


Who was the first journalist convicted as a result of Operation Elveden since it had been revised?

The BBC reported that France was the first journalist to face trial and be convicted under Operation Elveden since the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had revised its guidance in April 2015 so that prosecutions would only be brought against journalists who had made payments to police officers over a period of time. As a result of the change in the CPS’ policy, charges against several journalists who had made payments to other types of public officials – including civil servants, health workers and prison staff - had been dropped. In July 2015, Private Eye magazine reported that at a costs hearing at the Old Bailey The Sun's parent company had refused to pay for the prosecution costs relating to France’s trial, leading the presiding judge to express his "considerable disappointment" at this state of affairs. Judge Timothy Pontius said in court that France’s illegal actions had been part of a "clearly recognised procedure at The Sun", adding that, "There can be no doubt that News International bears some measure of moral responsibility if not legal culpability for the acts of the defendant". The Private Eye report noted that despite this The Sun's parent organisation was "considering disciplinary actions" against France whilst at the same time it was also preparing to bring a case to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal against the London Metropolitan Police Service for its actions relating to him and two other journalists.


What was the change made to Operation Elveden by the Crown Prosecution Service?


Which judge commented on France's unlawful activities?


Who else did Judge Pontius believe should be blamed for France's actions?


Who was News International considering bringing a case against?


What did The Irish Sun stop doing in 2013?

In August 2013, The Irish Sun ended the practice of featuring topless models on Page 3. The main newspaper was reported to have followed in 2015 with the edition of 16 January supposedly the last to carry such photographs after a report in The Times made such an assertion. After substantial coverage in the media about an alleged change in editorial policy, Page 3 returned to its usual format on 22 January 2015. A few hours before the issue was published, the Head of PR at the newspaper said the reputed end of Page 3 had been "speculation" only.


What was stated to be the last edition of the regular Sun to publish topless models?


Which newspaper claimed that The Sun stopped featuring topless models in 2013?


What did The Sun's Head of PR say about the reported editorial change at The Sun?


Which Sun columnist made controversial remarks about migrants to Britain in April 2015?

On 17 April 2015, The Sun's columnist Katie Hopkins called migrants to Britain "cockroaches" and "feral humans" and said they were "spreading like the norovirus". Her remarks were condemned by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights. In a statement released on 24 April 2015, High Commissioner Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein stated that Hopkins' used "language very similar to that employed by Rwanda's Kangura newspaper and Radio Mille Collines during the run up to the 1994 genocide", and noted that both media organizations were subsequently convicted by an international tribunal of public incitement to commit genocide.


What terms did Katie Hopkins use to describe migrants to Britain?


Which organization sharply rebuked Hopkins' comments?


Who was the High Commissioner of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights?


What did Hussein compare Hopkins' remarks to?


On Twitter what famous person condemned Hopkins' remarks?

Hopkins' column also drew criticism on Twitter, including from Russell Brand, to whom Hopkins responded by accusing Brand's "champagne socialist humanity" of neglecting taxpayers. Simon Usborne, writing in The Independent, compared her use of the word "cockroach" to previous uses by the Nazis and just before the Rwandan Genocide by its perpetrators. He suspected that if any other contributor had written the piece it would not have been published and questioned her continued employment by the newspaper. Zoe Williams commented in The Guardian: "It is no joke when people start talking like this. We are not 'giving her what she wants' when we make manifest our disgust. It is not a free speech issue. I’m not saying gag her: I’m saying fight her".


Who wrote critically in The Independent about Hopkins?


With whom did Usborne draw parallels to Hopkins as a result of Hopkins' comments?


Which writer in The Guardian was critical of Hopkins?


What did Williams say should be done about Hopkins?


What is an often used term for British withdrawal from the European Union?

On 9 March 2016, The Sun's front page proclaimed that Queen Elizabeth II was backing "Brexit", a common term for a British withdrawal from the European Union. It claimed that in 2011 at Windsor Castle, while having lunch with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, the monarch criticised the union. Clegg denied that the Queen made such a statement, and a Buckingham Palace spokesperson confirmed that a complaint had been made to the Independent Press Standards Organisation over a breach of guidelines relating to accuracy.


Who did The Sun say was in favor of British withdrawal from the European Union?


Where was Queen Elizabeth II said to have made critical remarks about the European Union?


Who refuted the statement that the Queen was critical of the European Union?


With whom was a complaint lodged alleging breach of guidelines in accuracy after the incident involving Queen Elizabeth II?


The term Carnival is traditionally used in areas with a large Catholic presence. However, the Philippines, a predominantly Roman Catholic country, does not celebrate Carnival anymore since the dissolution of the Manila Carnival after 1939, the last carnival in the country. In historically Lutheran countries, the celebration is known as Fastelavn, and in areas with a high concentration of Anglicans and Methodists, pre-Lenten celebrations, along with penitential observances, occur on Shrove Tuesday. In Eastern Orthodox nations, Maslenitsa is celebrated during the last week before Great Lent. In German-speaking Europe and the Netherlands, the Carnival season traditionally opens on 11/11 (often at 11:11 a.m.). This dates back to celebrations before the Advent season or with harvest celebrations of St. Martin's Day.


The Philippines stopped celebrating Carnival after what year?


Maslenitsa is celebrated in what type of nation?


What is the Carnival celebration known as in Lutheran countries?


When does Carnival typically begin in the Netherlands?


The term Carnival is very common in areas with a large presence of which religious sect?


What country no longer celebrates Carnival?


The Manila Carnival was dissolved after what year?


What is the Carnival known as in countries which are mostly Lutheran?


What is the name of the festival celebrated in Eastern Orthodox nations during the last week before Great Lent?


Traditionally a carnival feast was the last opportunity to eat well before the time of food shortage at the end of the winter during which one was limited to the minimum necessary. On what nowadays is called vastenavond (the days before fasting) all the remaining winter stores of lard, butter and meat which were left would be eaten, for it would soon start to rot and decay. The selected livestock had in fact already been slaughtered in November and the meat would be no longer preservable. All the food that had survived the winter had to be eaten to assure that everyone was fed enough to survive until the coming spring would provide new food sources.


What month was the livestock typically slaughtered?


A carnival feast is the last time to do what before winter?


Why were the winter stores of lard and meat eaten before fasting?


Why was the carnival feast typically the last opportunity to eat well?


What was one limited to during the winter?


Why would all the remaining stores of lard, butter and meat left at vastenavond be eaten?


When would new food sources be available for those who survived the winter?


Whose effigy was placed on a ship on wheels?

Several Germanic tribes celebrated the returning of the daylight. A predominant deity was during this jubilee driven around in a noisy procession on a ship on wheels. The winter would be driven out, to make sure that fertility could return in spring. A central figure was possibly the fertility goddess Nerthus. Also there are some indications that the effigy of Nerthus or Freyr was placed on a ship with wheels and accompanied by a procession of people in animal disguise and men in women's clothes. Aboard the ship would the marriage of a man and woman be consummated as a fertility ritual.


What type of tribe celebrated daylight returning?


What season did fertility typically return?


What typically accompanied the effigy of Nerthus?


What typically happened aboard the ship on wheels?


What did a bunch of Germanic tribes celebrate?


How was the ship carrying a predominant deity moved around during the jubilee?


How would the marriage of a man and woman on the ship serve as a fertility ritual?


What's the name of the Christian festive season that occurs before the season of Lent?

Carnival (see other spellings and names) is a Christian festive season that occurs before the Christian season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typically involves a public celebration and/or parade combining some elements of a circus, masks and public street party. People wear masks and costumes during many such celebrations, allowing them to lose their everyday individuality and experience a heightened sense of social unity. Excessive consumption of alcohol, meat, and other foods proscribed during Lent is extremely common. Other common features of carnival include mock battles such as food fights; social satire and mockery of authorities; the grotesque body displaying exaggerated features especially large noses, bellies, mouths, and phalli or elements of animal bodies; abusive language and degrading acts; depictions of disease and gleeful death; and a general reversal of everyday rules and norms.


When do the main events of the Christian festival occur?


What do participants of the Carnival experience a heightened sense of?


What is consumed in excessive amounts during Lent?


Tacitus wrote in his Germania: Germania 9.6: Ceterum nec cohibere parietibus deos neque in ullam humani oris speciem adsimulare ex magnitudine caelestium arbitrator – "The Germans, however, do not consider it consistent with the grandeur of celestial beings to confine the gods within walls, or to liken them to the form of any human countenance." Germania 40: mox vehiculum et vestis et, si credere velis, numen ipsum secreto lacu abluitur – "Afterwards the car, the vestments, and, if you like to believe it, the divinity herself, are purified in a secret lake."


What do the Germans feel it inconsistent to confine gods within?


Germans do not liken the gods to whose countenance?


When is the car used in the ritual purified?


What desires were expected to be suppressed during the fasting period?

Traditionally the feast also applied to sexual desires, which were supposed to be suppressed during the following fasting. Before Lent began, all rich food and drink were consumed in what became a giant celebration that involved the whole community, and is thought to be the origin of Carnival. The Lenten period of the Liturgical calendar, the six weeks directly before Easter, was originally marked by fasting and other pious or penitential practices. During Lent, no parties or celebrations were held, and people refrained from eating rich foods, such as meat, dairy, fat and sugar.


All rich food and drink were consumed before what named event?


The giant celebration that involved the whole community is thought to be the origin of what festivity?


How long is the Lenten period of the Liturgical calendar?


What type of rich foods did people refrain from eating during Lent?


What was one of the festivals sanctioned by the church?

While christian festivals such as corpus christi were church-sanctioned celebrations, Carnival was also a manifestation of European folk culture. In the Christian tradition the fasting is to commemorate the 40 days that Jesus fasted in the desert according to the New Testament and also to reflect on Christian values. As with many other Christian festivals such as Christmas which was originally a pagan midwinter festival, the Christian church has found it easier to turn the pagan Carnaval in a catholic tradition than to eliminate it. Unlike today, carnival in the Middle Ages took not just a few days, but it covered almost the entire period between Christmas and the beginning of Lent. In those two months, several Catholic holidays were seized by the Catholic population as an outlet for their daily frustrations.


Carnival was also a result of what area's folk culture?


How many days is Jesus traditionally said to have fasted in the desert?


What pagan midwinter festival did the church find easier to subvert than eliminate?


Why were multiple holidays seized by the Catholic population?


In what year did the synod in Leptines rant against the excesses of the festival?

In the year 743 the synod in Leptines (Leptines is located near Binche in Belgium) spoke out furiously against the excesses in the month of February. Also from the same period dates the phrase: "Whoever in February by a variety of less honorable acts tries to drive out winter is not a Christian, but a pagan." Confession books from around 800 contain more information about how people would dress as an animal or old woman during the festivities in January and February, even though this was a sin with no small penance. Also in Spain, San Isidoro de Sevilla is written complaint in the seventh century that people coming out into the streets disguised in many cases the opposite gender.


What type of books from around 800 contain more information of people's traditions during this period?


What was it a sin with no small penance to dress up as?


What would some people in Spain go out disguised as?


Many Carnival traditions form an integral part of whose calendar?

While forming an integral part of the Christian calendar, particularly in Catholic regions, many Carnival traditions resemble those antedating Christianity. Italian Carnival is sometimes thought to be derived from the ancient Roman festivals of Saturnalia and Bacchanalia. The Saturnalia, in turn, may be based on the Greek Dionysia and Oriental festivals. For the start of the Roman Saturnalia, on December 17 authorities chose an enemy of the Roman people to represent the Lord of Misrule in each community. These men and women were forced to indulge in food and physical pleasures throughout the week, horribly murdered on December 25th: "destroying the forces of darkness".


What two ancient Roman festivals is Carnival thought to stem from?


The Saturnalia is potentially based on what Greek festival?


On which month and day did Saturnalia start?


What happened to the men and women chosen to represent the Lord of Misrule?


What is insufficient to establish a direct origin from ancient festivals to Carnival?

While medieval pageants and festivals such as Corpus Christi were church-sanctioned, Carnival was also a manifestation of medieval folk culture. Many local Carnival customs are claimed to derive from local pre-Christian rituals, such as elaborate rites involving masked figures in the Swabian–Alemannic Fastnacht. However, evidence is insufficient to establish a direct origin from Saturnalia or other ancient festivals. No complete accounts of Saturnalia survive and the shared features of feasting, role reversals, temporary social equality, masks and permitted rule-breaking do not necessarily constitute a coherent festival or link these festivals. These similarities may represent a reservoir of cultural resources that can embody multiple meanings and functions. For example, Easter begins with the resurrection of Jesus, followed by a liminal period and ends with rebirth. Carnival reverses this as King Carnival comes to life, a liminal period follows before his death. Both feasts are calculated by the lunar calendar. Both Jesus and King Carnival may be seen as expiatory figures who make a gift to the people with their deaths. In the case of Jesus, the gift is eternal life in heaven and in the case of King Carnival, the acknowledgement that death is a necessary part of the cycle of life. Besides Christian anti-Judaism, the commonalities between church and Carnival rituals and imagery suggest a common root. Christ's passion is itself grotesque: Since early Christianity Christ is figured as the victim of summary judgement, is tortured and executed by Romans before a Jewish mob ("His blood is on us and on our children!" Matthew 27:24–25). Holy Week processions in Spain include crowds who vociferously insult the figure of Jesus. Irreverence, parody, degradation and laughter at a tragicomic effigy God can be seen as intensifications of the sacred order. In 1466, the Catholic Church under Pope Paul II revieved customs of the Saturnalia carnival: Jews were forced to race naked through the streets of the city of Rome. “Before they were to run, the Jews were richly fed, so as to make the race more difficult for them and at the same time more amusing for spectators. They ran… amid Rome’s taunting shrieks and peals of laughter, while the Holy Father stood upon a richly ornamented balcony and laughed heartily”, an eyewitness reports.


What festival did no complete accounts describing survive?


How do both Jesus and King Carnival make a gift to the people?


Who was forced to race naked through the streets of Rom by Pope Paul II?


Where were some of the best-known traditions first recorded?

Some of the best-known traditions, including carnal parades and masquerade balls, were first recorded in medieval Italy. The carnival of Venice was, for a long time, the most famous carnival (although Napoleon abolished it in 1797 and only in 1979 was the tradition restored). From Italy, Carnival traditions spread to Spain, Portugal and France and from France to New France in North America. From Spain and Portugal it spread with colonization to the Caribbean and Latin America. In the early 19th century in the German Rhineland and Southern Netherlands, the weakened medieval tradition also revive. Continuously in the 18th and 19th centuries CE, as part of the annual Saturnalia abuse of the carnival in Rome, rabbis of the ghetto were forced to march through the city streets wearing foolish guise, jeered upon and pelted by a variety of missiles from the crowd. A petition of the Jewish community of Rome sent in 1836 to Pope Gregory XVI to stop the annual anti-semitic Saturnalia abuse got a negation: “It is not opportune to make any innovation.”


What city's carnival was the most famous for a long time?


What was the first place in North America with a Carnival tradition?


What were rabbis from the ghettos forced to march through the city streets wearing?


Who dismissed the petition of the Jewish community to stop the abuse of them?


What nationality were the settlers from who introduced Carnival?

Carnival was introduced by Portuguese settlers. The celebration is celebrated on each of the archipelago's nine inhabited islands. In Mindelo, São Vicente groups challenge each other for a yearly prize. It has imported various Brazilian carnival traditions. The celebration in SãoNicolau is more traditional, where established groups parade through the Ribeira Brava, gathering in the town square, although it has adopted drums, floats and costumes from Brazil. In São Nicolau three groups, Copa Cabana, Estrela Azul and Brilho Da Zona constructs a painted float using fire, newspaper for the mold, iron and steel to for structure. Carnival São Nicolau is celebrated over three days: dawn Saturday, Sunday afternoon, and Tuesday.


How many of the inhabited islands is Carnival celebrated on?


Three groups in São Nicolau make use of fire in the construction of what conveyance?


What do groups in Mindelo challenge each other for?


Over how many days is São Nicolau's Carnival celebrated?


What is the only state in India in which Carnival is celebrated?

In India, Carnival is celebrated only in the state of Goa and a Roman Catholic tradition, where it is known as Intruz which means swindler while Entrudo, the appropriate word in Portuguese for Carnival. The largest celebration takes place in the city of Panjim which was part of Velha Conquista, Goa, but now is celebrate throughout the state. The tradition was introduced by the Portuguese who ruled Goa for over four centuries. On Tuesday preceding Ash Wednesday, the European Tradition of Fat Tuesday is celebrated with the partaking of eating of crepes also called as "AleBelle." The crepes are filled with freshly grated coconut and heat condensed coconut sap that sequentially converts it into a brown sweet molasses and additional heat concentration solidifies it to jaggery. The celebrations of Carnival peak for three days and nights and precede Ash Wednesday. When the legendary King Momo takes over the state. All-night parades occur throughout the state with bands, dances and floats and grand balls are held in the evenings.


What does the Indian word "Intruz" mean?


The largest Carnival celebration takes place in which city?


What is eaten on Fat Tuesday to partake in the celebration?


What legendary king eventually takes over the state?


Whose Carnival is known local as Cwarmê?

The Carnival of Malmedy is locally called Cwarmê. Even if Malmedy is located in the east Belgium, near the German-speaking area, the Cwarmê is a pure walloon and Latin carnival. The celebration takes place during 4 days before the Shrove Tuesday. The Cwarmê Sunday is the most important and insteresting to see. All the old traditional costumes parade in the street. The Cwarmê is a "street carnival" and is not only a parade. People who are disguised pass through the crowd and perform a part of the traditional costume they wear. The famous traditional costumes at the Cwarmê of Malmedy are the Haguète, the Longuès-Brèsses and the Long-Né.


Despite being located in East Belgium, Malmedy's Carnival harks purely to what area?


How many days does Malmedy's festival take place before Shrove Tuesday?


Where can all the traditional costumes be seen parading on the Sunday of the festival?


What do disguised people pass through during the festival?


What do some Belgian cities hold during Lent?

Some Belgian cities hold Carnivals during Lent. One of the best-known is Stavelot, where the Carnival de la Laetare takes place on Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent. The participants include the Blancs-Moussis, who dress in white, carry long red noses and parade through town attacking bystanders with confetti and dried pig bladders. The town of Halle also celebrates on Laetare Sunday. Belgium's oldest parade is the Carnival Parade of Maaseik, also held on Laetare Sunday, which originated in 1865.


What Carnival takes place on Laetare Sunday?


What group of participants attack bystanders with confetti and dried pig bladders?


What day does the town of Halle engage in its celebration?


What's the name of Belgium's oldest parade?


Many towns in what region of Croatia observe the Carnival period?

Many towns in Croatia's Kvarner region (and in other parts of the country) observe the Carnival period, incorporating local traditions and celebrating local culture. Just before the end of Carnival, every Kvarner town burns a man-like doll called a "Jure Piškanac", who is blamed for all the strife of the previous year. The Zvončari, or bell-ringers, wear bells and large head regalia representing their areas of origin (for example, those from Halubje wear regalia in the shape of animal heads). The traditional Carnival food is fritule, a pastry. This festival can also be called Poklade.


What does every Kvarner town burn just before the end of the Carnival?


Who is blamed for all the strife of the previous year?


What does the head regalia of the bell-ringers represent?


Carnival has been celebrated for centuries. The tradition was likely established under Venetian rule around the 16th century. It may have been influenced by Greek traditions, such as festivities for deities such as Dionysus. The celebration originally involved dressing in costumes and holding masked balls or visiting friends. In the twentieth century it became an organized event held during the 10 days preceding Lent (according to the Greek Orthodox calendar). The festival is celebrated almost exclusively in the city of Limassol.


Under whose rule was Carnival established in the 16th century?


Dionysus was a deity in whose tradition?


In what century did the Carnival become an organized event?


What city almost exclusively celebrates the Carnival?


How many parades take place during Carnival?

Three main parades take place during Carnival. The first is held on the first day, during which the "Carnival King" (either a person in costume or an effigy) rides through the city on his carriage. The second is held on the first Sunday of the festival and the participants are mainly children. The third and largest takes place on the last day of Carnival and involves hundreds of people walking in costume along the town's longest avenue. The latter two parades are open to anyone who wishes to participate.


Who rides through the city on a carriage?


Which of the festivals is comprised of participants who are mainly children?


What do people walk along the town's longest avenue in?


Who are the last two parades open for participation by?


Where did students in Norway originally see the celebrations?

In Norway, students having seen celebrations in Paris introduced Carnival processions, masked balls and Carnival balls to Christiana in the 1840s and 1850s. From 1863, the artist federation kunstnerforeningen held annual Carnival balls in the old Freemasons lodge, which inspired Johan Svendsens compositions "Norsk Kunstnerkarneval" and "Karneval in Paris". The following year, Svendsens Festpolonaise was written for the opening procession. Edvard Grieg attended and wrote "aus dem Karneval" (folkelivsbilleder Op. 19). Since 1988, the student organization Tårnseilerne has produced annual masquerade balls in Oslo, with masks, costumes and processions after attending an opera performance. The Carnival season also includes Fastelavens søndag (with cream buns) and fastelavensris with decorated branches.


Where did the artist federation hold their annual balls?


Who composed the song "Karneval in Paris"?


What organization has produced annual masquerade balls in Oslo since 1988?


Which Carnival is held in Germany's west?

The "Rheinische" Carnival is held in the west of Germany, mainly in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia or Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rhineland Palatinate or Rheinland-Pfalz, but also in Hessen [including Oberhessen], Bavaria and other states. Some cities are more famous for celebrations such as parades and costume balls. Köln or Cologne Carnival, as well as Mainz and Düsseldorf are the largest and most famous. Other cities have their own, often less well-known celebrations, parades and parties such as Worms am Rhein, Speyer, Kaiserslautern, Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Mannheim, Ludwigshafen, Stuttgart, Augsburg and München [Munich] Nürnberg. On Carnival Thursday (called "Old Women Day" or "The Women's Day") in commemoration of an 1824 revolt by washer-women, women storm city halls, cut men's ties, and are allowed to kiss any passing man.


Cologne Carnival is one of the largest Carnivals and also is the most what?


What is colloquially known as Old Women Day?


What are the women who stormy city halls allowed to do to any passing man?


What is the Greece Carnival also called?

In Greece Carnival is also known as the Apokriés (Greek: Αποκριές, "saying goodbye to meat"), or the season of the "Opening of the Triodion", so named after the liturgical book used by the church from then until Holy Week. One of the season's high points is Tsiknopempti, when celebrants enjoy roast beef dinners; the ritual is repeated the following Sunday. The following week, the last before Lent, is called Tyrinē (Greek: Τυρινή, "cheese [week]") because meat is forbidden, although dairy products are not. Lent begins on "Clean Monday", the day after "Cheese Sunday". Throughout the Carnival season, people disguise themselves as maskarádes ("masqueraders") and engage in pranks and revelry.


What does the Opening of the Triodion derive from?


What is one of the festival season's high points?


What types of dinners do people enjoy during the season's high point?


What do people engage in after they've disguised themselves?


Other regions host festivities of smaller extent, focused on the reenactment of traditional carnevalic customs, such as Tyrnavos (Thessaly), Kozani (West Macedonia), Rethymno (Crete) and in Xanthi (East Macedonia and Thrace). Tyrnavos holds an annual Phallus festival, a traditional "phallkloric" event in which giant, gaudily painted effigies of phalluses made of papier maché are paraded, and which women are asked to touch or kiss. Their reward for so doing is a shot of the famous local tsipouro alcohol spirit. Every year, from 1 to 8 January, mostly in regions of Western Macedonia, Carnival fiestas and festivals erupt. The best known is the Kastorian Carnival or "Ragoutsaria" (Gr. "Ραγκουτσάρια") [tags: Kastoria, Kastorian Carnival, Ragoutsaria, Ραγκουτσαρια, Καστοριά]. It takes place from 6 to 8 January with mass participation serenaded by brass bands, pipises, Macedonian and grand casa drums. It is an ancient celebration of nature's rebirth (fiestas for Dionysus (Dionysia) and Kronos (Saturnalia)), which ends the third day in a dance in the medieval square Ntoltso where the bands play at the same time.


What are the giant, gaudily painted effigies of phalluses made of?


What are women rewarded with for kissing the giant phalluses?


In what square do the bands all play at once?


In what provinces is the Carnival mainly celebrated in the Netherlands?

Carnival in the Netherlands is called Carnaval, Vastenavond or Vastelaovend(j), and is most celebrated in traditionally Catholic regions, mainly the southern provinces North Brabant and Limburg. Dutch Carnaval is officially celebrated on the Sunday through Tuesday preceding Ash Wednesday. Although traditions vary from town to town, some common characteristics of Dutch Carnaval include a parade, a "prince" plus cortège ("Jester/adjutant and Council of 11"), a Peasant Wedding (boerenbruiloft), and eating herring (haring happen) on Ash Wednesday.


Dutch Carnaval is celebrated until which Wednesday?


What vary from town to town in regards to the Carnival?


How long has the Strumica Carnival been going on?

The Strumica Carnival (Macedonian: Струмички Карневал, translated Strumichki Karneval) has been held since at least 1670, when the Turkish author Evlija Chelebija wrote while staying there, "I came into a town located in the foothills of a high hillock and what I saw that night was masked people running house–to–house, with laughter, scream and song." The Carnival took an organized form in 1991; in 1994, Strumica became a member of FECC and in 1998 hosted the XVIII International Congress of Carnival Cities. The Strumica Carnival opens on a Saturday night at a masked ball where the Prince and Princess are chosen; the main Carnival night is on Tuesday, when masked participants (including groups from abroad) compete in various subjects. As of 2000, the Festival of Caricatures and Aphorisms has been held as part of Strumica's Carnival celebrations.


Who ran from house to house, laughing, screaming, and singing?


What day is the main Carnival Night observed on?


What year was the Festival of Caricatures and Aphorisms added to Strumica's Carnival celebrations?


What countryside has multiple groups and individuals in disguise?

The Slovenian countryside displays a variety of disguised groups and individual characters among which the most popular and characteristic is the Kurent (plural: Kurenti), a monstrous and demon-like, but fluffy figure. The most significant festival is held in Ptuj (see: Kurentovanje). Its special feature are the Kurents themselves, magical creatures from another world, who visit major events throughout the country, trying to banish the winter and announce spring's arrival, fertility, and new life with noise and dancing. The origin of the Kurent is a mystery, and not much is known of the times, beliefs, or purposes connected with its first appearance. The origin of the name itself is obscure.


Kurent is monstrous and demon-like, but also what?


Where is the most significant Slovenian festival held?


Who are magical creatures from another world?


The chirigotas, choirs and comparsas are the most famous of what?

The most famous groups are the chirigotas, choirs and comparsas. The chirigotas are well known witty, satiric popular groups who sing about politics, new times and household topics, wearing the same costume, which they prepare for the whole year. The Choirs (coros) are wider groups that go on open carts through the streets singing with an orchestra of guitars and lutes. Their signature piece is the "Carnival Tango", alternating comical and serious repertory. The comparsas are the serious counterpart of the chirigota in Cádiz, and the poetic lyrics and the criticism are their main ingredients. They have a more elaborated polyphony that is easily recognizable by the typical countertenor voice.


How long does it take for a chirigota to prepare their costume?


Which group rides around in open carts through the streets?


Where do people dress in masks and costume?

In Catalonia people dress in masks and costume (often in themed groups) and organize a week-long series of parties, pranks, outlandish activities such as bed races, street dramas satirizing public figures and raucous processions to welcome the arrival of Sa Majestat el Rei Carnestoltes (His Majesty King Carnival), known by various titles, including el Rei dels poca-soltes (King of the Crackpots), Princep etern de Cornudella (Eternal Prince of Cuckoldry), Duc de ximples i corrumputs (Duke of Fools and the Corrupt), Marquès de la bona mamella (Marquis of the lovely breast), Comte de tots els barruts (Count of the Insolent), Baró de les Calaverades (Baron of Nocturnal Debaucheries), and Senyor de l'alt Plàtan florit, dels barraquers i gamberrades i artista d'honor dalt del llit (Lord of the Tall Banana in Bloom, of the Voyeurs and Punks and the Artist of Honor upon the Bed).


What are raced as part of the festivities?


What is Cantalonian for Eternal Prince of Cuckoldry?


Who oversees the period of reckless behavior?

The King presides over a period of misrule in which conventional social rules may be broken and reckless behavior is encouraged. Festivities are held in the open air, beginning with a cercavila, a ritual procession throughout the town to call everyone to attend. Rues of masked revelers dance alongside. On Thursday Dijous Gras (Fat Thursday) is celebrated, also called 'omelette day' (el dia de la truita), coques (de llardons, butifarra d'ou, butifarra) and omelettes are eaten. The festivities end on Ash Wednesday with elaborate funeral rituals marking the death of King Carnival, who is typically burned on a pyre in what is called the burial of the sardine (enterrament de la sardina), or, in Vilanova, as l'enterro.


What is the ritual procession through the town to call everyone to attendance called?


When may conventional social rules be broken?


What city's carnival has documented history from 1790?

The Carnival of Vilanova i la Geltrú has documented history from 1790 and is one of the richest in the variety of its acts and rituals. It adopts an ancient style in which satire, the grotesque body (particularly cross-dressing and displays of exaggerated bellies, noses and phalli) and above all, active participation are valued over glamorous, media-friendly spectacles that Vilanovins mock as "thighs and feathers". It is best known for Les Comparses (held on Sunday), a tumultuous dance in which 12,000 or more dancers organized into rival groups throw 75 tons of hard candies at one other. The women protect their faces with Mantons de Manila (Manila shawls) but eye-patches and slings for broken arms are common the following week. Vilanovins organize an elaborate ritual for the arrival of King Carnival called l'Arrivo that changes every year. It includes a raucous procession of floats and dancers lampooning current events or public figures and a bitingly satiric sermon (el sermo) delivered by the King himself. On Dijous Gras, Vilanovin children are excused from school to participate in the Merengada, a day-long scene of eating and fighting with sticky, sweet meringue.


What do the Vilanovins mock the media friendly Carnivals as being about?


In what dance do the participants lob more than 75 tons of hard candy at each other?


What do dancers lampoon in the ritual heralding the coming of King Carnival?


What's the name of the day-long agenda of eating and fighting with meringue?


What sort of battle do the adults have at midnight?

Adults have a meringue battle at midnight at the historic Plaça de les Cols. In the mysterious sortida del Moixo Foguer (the outing of Little-Bird-Bonfire) accompanied by the Xerraire (jabberer) who insults the crowd. In the King's precession he and his concubines scandalize the town with their sexual behavior. A correfoc (fire run) or Devil's dance (Ball de diables, features dancing youth amid the sparks and explosions of the ritual crew of devils. Other items includes bed races in the streets, the debauched Nit dels Mascarots, Karaoke sausage roasts, xatonades, the children's party, Vidalet, the last night of revelry, Vidalot, the talking-dance of the Mismatched Couples (Ball de Malcasats) and the children's King Caramel whose massive belly, long nose and sausage-like hair hint at his insatiable appetites.


What do people dress in for the King's funeral?

For the King's funeral, people dress in elaborate mourning costume, many of them cross-dressing men who carry bouquets of phallic vegetables. In the funeral house, the body of the King is surrounded by an honor guard and weeping concubines, crying over the loss of sexual pleasure brought about by his death. The King's body is carried to the Plaça de la Vila where a satiric eulogy is delivered while the townspeople eat salty grilled sardines with bread and wine, suggesting the symbolic cannibalism of the communion ritual. Finally, amid rockets and explosions, the King's body is burned in a massive pyre.


Who carries floral arrangements of penis-like veggies?


What type of eulogy is provided for the King?


What ritual suggests symbolic cannibalism?


What is one of the longest free events in the streets?

Carnaval de Solsona takes place in Solsona, Lleida. It is one of the longest; free events in the streets, and nightly concerts run for more than a week. The Carnival is known for a legend that explains how a donkey was hung at the tower bell − because the animal wanted to eat grass that grew on the top of the tower. To celebrate this legend, locals hang a stuffed donkey at the tower that "pisses" above the excited crowd using a water pump. This event is the most important and takes place on Saturday night. For this reason, the inhabitants are called "matarrucs" ("donkey killers").


How long can the nightly concerts run for?


What was a donkey hung from according to local legend?


How does the donkey piss on the crowd below?


What do the events of Tarragona start with?

Tarragona has one of the region's most complete ritual sequences. The events start with the building of a huge barrel and ends with its burning with the effigies of the King and Queen. On Saturday, the main parade takes place with masked groups, zoomorphic figures, music and percussion bands, and groups with fireworks (the devils, the dragon, the ox, the female dragon). Carnival groups stand out for their clothes full of elegance, showing brilliant examples of fabric crafts, at the Saturday and Sunday parades. About 5,000 people are members of the parade groups.


On what day does the main parade take place?


What are the clothing of the Carnival groups full of?


Who has one of the most complete ritual agendas?


About how many people are members of the various parade groups?


What contagiously throbs during the week of events?

Carnival means weeks of events that bring colourfully decorated floats, contagiously throbbing music, luxuriously costumed groups of celebrants of all ages, King and Queen elections, electrifying jump-ups and torchlight parades, the Jouvert morning: the Children's Parades and finally the Grand Parade. Aruba's biggest celebration is a month-long affair consisting of festive "jump-ups" (street parades), spectacular parades and creative contests. Music and flamboyant costumes play a central role, from the Queen elections to the Grand Parade. Street parades continue in various districts throughout the month, with brass band, steel drum and roadmarch tunes. On the evening before Lent, Carnival ends with the symbolic burning of King Momo.


How long does Aruba's biggest celebration last?


What type of costumes play a central role in the Queen elections?


What continues in various districts throughout the month of the Carnival?


What is the Carnival known as in Barbados?

Carnival is known as Crop Over and is Barbados's biggest festival. Its early beginnings were on the sugar cane plantations during the colonial period. Crop over began in 1688, and featured singing, dancing and accompaniment by shak-shak, banjo, triangle, fiddle, guitar, bottles filled with water and bones. Other traditions included climbing a greased pole, feasting and drinking competitions. Originally signaling the end of the yearly cane harvest, it evolved into a national festival. In the late 20th century, Crop Over began to closely mirror the Trinidad Carnival. Beginning in June, Crop Over runs until the first Monday in August when it culminates in the finale, The Grand Kadooment.


Where did the festival in Barbados originate from?


What activity is done using a greased pole?


What type of competition is a major feature of the festival?

A major feature is the calypso competition. Calypso music, originating in Trinidad, uses syncopated rhythm and topical lyrics. It offers a medium in which to satirise local politics, amidst the general bacchanal. Calypso tents, also originating in Trinidad, feature cadres of musicians who perform biting social commentaries, political exposés or rousing exhortations to "wuk dah waistline" and "roll dat bumper". The groups compete for the Calypso Monarch Award, while the air is redolent with the smells of Bajan cooking during the Bridgetown Market Street Fair. The Cohobblopot Festival blends dance, drama and music with the crowning of the King and Queen of costume bands. Every evening the "Pic-o-de-Crop" Show is performed after the King of Calypso is finally crowned. The climax of the festival is Kadooment Day celebrated with a national holiday when costume bands fill the streets with pulsating Barbadian rhythms and fireworks.


What is the climax of the festival called?


What's the name of the vehicle where the musicians play?

Comparsas are held throughout the week, consisting of large groups "of dancers dancing and traveling on the streets, followed by a Carrosa (carriage) where the musicians play. The Comparsa is a development of African processions where groups of devotees follow a given saint or deity during a particular religious celebration". One of the most popular comparsas of Fiesta de Carnaval is the male group comparsa, usually composed of notable men from the community who dress up in outlandish costumes or cross-dress and dance to compete for money and prizes. Other popular activities include body painting and flour fighting. "On the last day of Carnival painters flood the street to paint each other. This simply means that a mixture of water paint and water or raw eggs is used to paint people on the streets, the goal being to paint as many people as you can".


What do devotees follow during a particular religious celebration?


Who are usually included the group comparsa?


What is used in some of the festive fights?


What is the goal of the Carnival painters?


What year did the Carnival start in Haiti?

Carnival in Haiti started in 1804 in the capital Port-au-Prince after the declaration of independence. The Port-au-Prince Carnival is one of the largest in North America. It is known as Kanaval in the Creole language. It starts in January, known as "Pre-Kanaval", while the main carnival activities begin in February. In July 2012, Haiti had another carnival called Kanaval de Fleur. Beautiful costumes, floats, Rara parades, masks, foods, and popular rasin music (like Boukman Eksperyans, Foula Vodoule, Tokay, Boukan Ginen, Eritaj, etc.) and kompa bands (such as T-Vice, Djakout No. 1, Sweet Micky, Kreyòl La, D.P. Express, Mizik Mizik, Ram, T-Micky, Carimi, Djakout Mizik, and Scorpio Fever) play for dancers in the streets of the plaza of Champ-de-Mars. An annual song competition takes place.


What event precipitated the Carnival starting in Haiti?


What is the Carnival known as in the Creole language?


What type of bands play for dancers in the streets?


What type of annual competition takes place during Kanavel?


When does Dirty Mas take place on the Monday before Ash Wednesday?

J'ouvert, or "Dirty Mas", takes place before dawn on the Monday (known as Carnival Monday) before Ash Wednesday. It means ""opening of the day". Revelers dress in costumes embodying puns on current affairs, especially political and social events. "Clean Mud" (clay mud), oil paint and body paint are familiar during J'ouvert. A common character is "Jab-jabs" (devils, blue, black or red) complete with pitchfork, pointed horns and tails. A King and Queen of J'ouvert are chosen, based on their witty political/social messages.


What do the costumes worn by the revelers pun about?


How are the King and Queen of J'ouvert chosen?


Carnival Tuesday hosts the main events. Full costume is worn, complete with make-up and body paint/adornment. Usually "Mas Boots" that complement the costumes are worn. Each band has their costume presentation based on a particular theme, and contains various sections (some consisting of thousands of revelers) that reflect these themes. The street parade and band costume competition take place. The mas bands eventually converge on the Queen's Park Savannah to pass on "The Stage" for judging. The singer of the most played song is crowned Road March King or Queen earning prize money and usually a vehicle.


What is usually worn on the feet to compliment the costumes?


What does each band base their costume presentation on?


What do the mas bands eventually converge on?


Who gets to be crowned Road March King or Queen?


About how many cities and towns in Mexico is Carnival celebrated in?

In Mexico, Carnival is celebrated in about 225 cities and towns. The largest is in Mazatlán and the city of Veracruz with others in Baja California and Yucatán. The larger city Carnivals employ costumes, elected queens and parades with floats, but Carnival celebrations in smaller and rural areas vary widely depending on the level of European influence during Mexico's colonial period. The largest of these is in Huejotzingo, Puebla where most townspeople take part in mock combat with rifles shooting blanks, roughly based on the Battle of Puebla. Other important states with local traditions include Morelos, Oaxaca, Tlaxcala and Chiapas.


What contributes to the variations of the celebrations in the rural areas?


Where do people take part in mock combat with blank shooting rifles?


What is the mock combat roughly based on?


Morelos, Oaxaca, Tlaxcala and Chiapas are important states which also have their own what?


What does Mardi Gras translate to in French?

Carnival celebrations, usually referred to as Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday in French), were first celebrated in the Gulf Coast area, but now occur in many states. Customs originated in the onetime French colonial capitals of Mobile (now in Alabama), New Orleans (Louisiana) and Biloxi (Mississippi), all of which have celebrated for many years with street parades and masked balls. Other major American cities with celebrations include Washington, DC; St. Louis, Missouri; San Francisco; San Diego; Galveston, Texas; and Miami, Pensacola, Tampa, and Orlando in Florida.


What originated in the onetime French colonial capitals?


What has been part of the celebrations for many years?


Washington, D.C. and Galveston, Texas are some major American cities which have what?


Which borough of New York City is Carnival celebrated in?

Carnival is celebrated in New York City in Brooklyn. As in the UK, the timing of Carnival split from the Christian calendar and is celebrated on Labor Day Monday, in September. It is called the Labor Day Carnival, West Indian Day Parade or West Indian Day Carnival, and was founded by immigrants from Trinidad. That country has one of the largest Caribbean Carnivals. In the mid twentieth century, West Indians moved the event from the beginning of Lent to the Labor Day weekend. Carnival is one of the largest parades and street festivals in New York, with over one million attending. The parade, which consists of steel bands, floats, elaborate Carnival costumes and sound trucks, proceeds along Brooklyn's Eastern Parkway in the Crown Heights neighborhood.


What American holiday is Carnival celebrated on?


What country has one of the largest Caribbean Carnivals?


Over how many people typically attend New York's version of the Carnival?


What neighborhood as the privilege of bearing the brunt of the festivities?


Which Carnival in Argentina is the most representative of the nature of the Carnival?

In Argentina, the most representative Carnival performed is the so-called Murga, although other famous Carnivals, more like Brazil's, are held in Argentine Mesopotamia and the North-East. Gualeguaychú in the east of Entre Ríos province is the most important Carnival city and has one of the largest parades. It adopts a musical background similar to Brazilian or Uruguayan Carnival. Corrientes is another city with a Carnival tradition. Chamame is a popular musical style. In all major cities and many towns throughout the country, Carnival is celebrated.


What city in the east of Entre Rios province is considered the most important one for the Carnival?


What kind of tradition does the city of Corrientes have?


Which Carnival takes place in Oruro in Bolivia?

La Diablada Carnival takes place in Oruro in central Bolivia. It is celebrated in honor of the miners' patron saint, Vírgen de Socavon (the Virgin of the Tunnels). Over 50 parade groups dance, sing and play music over a five kilometre-long course. Participants dress up as demons, devils, angels, Incas and Spanish conquistadors. Dances include caporales and tinkus. The parade runs from morning until late at night, 18 hours a day, 3 days before Ash Wednesday. It was declared the 2001 "Masterpieces of Oral Heritage and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" for UNESCO. Throughout the country celebrations are held involving traditional rhythms and water parties. In Santa Cruz de la Sierra, on the east side of the country, tropical weather allows a Brazilian-type Carnival, with Comparsas dancing traditional songs in matching uniforms.


Over how many parade groups participate in the festivities?


How many hours a day does the parade run?


What does the tropical weather on the east side of Bolivia allow?


Samba Schools are large, social entities with thousands of members and a theme for their song and parade each year. In Rio Carnival, samba schoolsparade in the Sambadrome ("sambódromo" in Portuguese). Some of the most famous include GRES Estação Primeira de Mangueira, GRES Portela, GRES Imperatriz Leopoldinense, GRES Beija-Flor de Nilópolis, GRES Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel, and recently, Unidos da Tijuca and GRES União da Ilha do Governador. Local tourists pay $500–950, depending on the costume, to buy a Samba costume and dance in the parade. Blocos are small informal groups with a definite theme in their samba, usually satirizing the political situation. About 30 schools in Rio gather hundreds of thousands of participants. More than 440 blocos operate in Rio. Bandas are samba musical bands, also called "street carnival bands", usually formed within a single neighborhood or musical back-ground. The Carnival industry chain amassed in 2012 almost US$1 billion in revenues.


How much does a Samba costume typically run an average tourist to buy?


What's the name for small, somewhat random groups of people with a definite theme in their samba?


About how many Samba schools are in Rio?


How much money in US dollars did the Carnival industry make in 2012?


Where did the Carnival gestate out of the purview of rules?

The Carnival continued its evolution in small/unimportant towns out of view of the rulers. The result was the uninterrupted celebration of Carnival festivals in Barranquilla (see Barranquilla's Carnival) now recognized as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. The Barranquilla Carnival includes several parades on Friday and Saturday nights beginning on 11 January and ending with a six-day non-stop festival, beginning the Wednesday prior to Ash Wednesday and ending Tuesday midnight. Other celebrations occur in villages along the lower Magdalena River in northern Colombia, and in Pasto, Nariño (see Blacks and Whites' Carnival) in the south of the country. In the early 20th century, attempts to introduce Carnival in Bogotá were rejected by the government. The Bogotá Carnival was renewed in the 21st century.


How many days does the non-stop festival go?


The uninterrupted celebration of Carnival festivals in Barranquilla is now recognized as what?


Who rejected attempts to introduce the Carnival in Bogotá?


Where are the most famed Carnival festivities?

The most famed Carnival festivities are in Guaranda (Bolivar province) and Ambato (Tungurahua province). In Ambato, the festivities are called Fiesta de las Flores y las Frutas (Festival of the Flowers and Fruits). Other cities have revived Carnival traditions with colorful parades, such as in Azogues (Cañar Province). In Azogues and the Southern Andes in general, Taita Carnival is always an indigenous Cañari. Recently a celebration has gained prominence in the northern part of the Sierra in the Chota Valley in Imbabura which is a zone of a strong afro-Ecuadorian population and so the Carnival is celebrated with bomba del chota music.


What are the festivities known as in Ambato?


Where has a celebration recently gained acclaim?


What is there a large population of in the Chota Valley?


What music is the Carnival celebrated with in the Chota Valley?


What is a tradition unique to the Creole people?

A uniquely Creole tradition is the touloulous. These women wear decorative gowns, gloves, masks and headdresses that cover them completely, making them unrecognisable, even to the colour of their skin. On Friday and Saturday nights of Carnival, touloulou balls are held in so-called universities; in reality, large dance halls that open only at Carnival time. Touloulous get in free, and are even given condoms in the interest of the sexual health of the community. Men attend the balls, but they pay admittance and are not disguised. The touloulous pick their dance partners, who may not refuse. The setup is designed to make it easy for a woman to create a temporary liaison with a man in total anonymity. Undisguised women are not welcomed. By tradition, if such a woman gets up to dance, the orchestra stops playing. Alcohol is served at bars – the disguised women whisper to the men "touloulou thirsty", at which a round of drinks is expected, to be drunk through a straw protect their anonymity.


What do men have to do to be allowed into the balls?


What are the touloulous' dance partners not allowed to do?


What does the Peruvian Carnival incorporate elements of?

Peruvian Carnival incorporates elements of violence and reflects the urban violence in Peruvian society following the internal conflict in Peru. Traditionally, Peruvian Andean festivities were held on this period every year because it is the rainy season. It was already violent during the 19th century, but the government limited the practice. During the early 20th century it consisted partying and parading, while in the second half of the 20th century it acquired violent characteristics that continued. It was banned, first from the streets in 1958 and altogether in 1959 by the Prado government. It consisted basically of water battles in a traditional way,[clarification needed] while in later years it included playing with dirty water, mud, oil and colorants -and also including fighting and sometimes looting private property and sexual assaults on women. It has become an excuse for criminal gangs to rob people while pretending to celebrate. As of 2010, it had become so violent that the government imposed penalties of up to eight years in prison for violence during the games (the games themselves are not forbidden, but using violence during the games or coercing others to participate is).


Why are the festivals in Peru held when they are?


When did the festivities acquire their violent tendencies?


What is an element of Peruvian's Carnival not found in any other country's celebrations?


How many years in prison can someone expect for being violent during the fun and games?


How many days does the Carnival in Uruguay last for?

The Carnival in Uruguay covers more than 40 days, generally beginning towards the end of January and running through mid March. Celebrations in Montevideo are the largest. The festival is performed in the European parade style with elements from Bantu and Angolan Benguela cultures imported with slaves in colonial times. The main attractions of Uruguayan Carnival include two colorful parades called Desfile de Carnaval (Carnival Parade) and Desfile de Llamadas (Calls Parade, a candombe-summoning parade).


What parade style does Uruguay's festival ape?


What were the stylistic elements of the parade imported with in colonial times?


What are the main attractions of the Uruguayan Carnival?


What is summoned by the Desfile de Llamadas parade?


What are built in many places through the cities?

During the celebration, theaters called tablados are built in many places throughout the cities, especially in Montevideo. Traditionally formed by men and now starting to be open to women, the different Carnival groups (Murgas, Lubolos or Parodistas) perform a kind of popular opera at the tablados, singing and dancing songs that generally relate to the social and political situation. The 'Calls' groups, basically formed by drummers playing the tamboril, perform candombe rhythmic figures. Revelers wear their festival clothing. Each group has its own theme. Women wearing elegant, bright dresses are called vedettes and provide a sensual touch to parades.


What do the different Carnival groups perform together?


What do the topics of the shows put on at the tablados typically relate to?


What type of rhythmic figures are performed by the drummers playing the tamboril?


What sort of touch do the vedettes provide to the parades?


What is the difference between a pesticide and a plant protection product?

Pesticides are substances meant for attracting, seducing, and then destroying any pest. They are a class of biocide. The most common use of pesticides is as plant protection products (also known as crop protection products), which in general protect plants from damaging influences such as weeds, fungi, or insects. This use of pesticides is so common that the term pesticide is often treated as synonymous with plant protection product, although it is in fact a broader term, as pesticides are also used for non-agricultural purposes. The term pesticide includes all of the following: herbicide, insecticide, insect growth regulator, nematicide, termiticide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, predacide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, antimicrobial, fungicide, disinfectant (antimicrobial), and sanitizer.


What are pesticides most commonly used for?


What can pesticides protect plants from?


What item commonly used in hospitals, schools and offices is a pesticide?


In general, a pesticide is a chemical or biological agent (such as a virus, bacterium, antimicrobial, or disinfectant) that deters, incapacitates, kills, or otherwise discourages pests. Target pests can include insects, plant pathogens, weeds, mollusks, birds, mammals, fish, nematodes (roundworms), and microbes that destroy property, cause nuisance, or spread disease, or are disease vectors. Although pesticides have benefits, some also have drawbacks, such as potential toxicity to humans and other species. According to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, 9 of the 12 most dangerous and persistent organic chemicals are organochlorine pesticides.


Are pesticides chemical or biological agents?


Pesticides can be classified by target organism (e.g., herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, rodenticides, and pediculicides - see table), chemical structure (e.g., organic, inorganic, synthetic, or biological (biopesticide), although the distinction can sometimes blur), and physical state (e.g. gaseous (fumigant)). Biopesticides include microbial pesticides and biochemical pesticides. Plant-derived pesticides, or "botanicals", have been developing quickly. These include the pyrethroids, rotenoids, nicotinoids, and a fourth group that includes strychnine and scilliroside.:15


Give three examples of target organisms of pesticides.


What are the two types of biopesticides?


Which type of pesticides have seen rapid growth in development?


Organochlorine hydrocarbons effect what balance of the nerve fiber?

Many pesticides can be grouped into chemical families. Prominent insecticide families include organochlorines, organophosphates, and carbamates. Organochlorine hydrocarbons (e.g., DDT) could be separated into dichlorodiphenylethanes, cyclodiene compounds, and other related compounds. They operate by disrupting the sodium/potassium balance of the nerve fiber, forcing the nerve to transmit continuously. Their toxicities vary greatly, but they have been phased out because of their persistence and potential to bioaccumulate.:239–240 Organophosphate and carbamates largely replaced organochlorines. Both operate through inhibiting the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, allowing acetylcholine to transfer nerve impulses indefinitely and causing a variety of symptoms such as weakness or paralysis. Organophosphates are quite toxic to vertebrates, and have in some cases been replaced by less toxic carbamates.:136–137 Thiocarbamate and dithiocarbamates are subclasses of carbamates. Prominent families of herbicides include phenoxy and benzoic acid herbicides (e.g. 2,4-D), triazines (e.g., atrazine), ureas (e.g., diuron), and Chloroacetanilides (e.g., alachlor). Phenoxy compounds tend to selectively kill broad-leaf weeds rather than grasses. The phenoxy and benzoic acid herbicides function similar to plant growth hormones, and grow cells without normal cell division, crushing the plant's nutrient transport system.:300 Triazines interfere with photosynthesis.:335 Many commonly used pesticides are not included in these families, including glyphosate.


Why was the use of organochlorine hydrocarbons ended?


What type of herbicide selectively kills broad leef weeds?


What essential plan funtion is interrupted by triazines?


Organophospates and carbamates cause which symptoms?


What is one way you could group pesticides?

Pesticides can be classified based upon their biological mechanism function or application method. Most pesticides work by poisoning pests. A systemic pesticide moves inside a plant following absorption by the plant. With insecticides and most fungicides, this movement is usually upward (through the xylem) and outward. Increased efficiency may be a result. Systemic insecticides, which poison pollen and nectar in the flowers[citation needed], may kill bees and other needed pollinators[citation needed].


What is the main way that peticides perform their function?


In which direction do systemic pesticide generally travel through a plant?


Which parts of a plant do systemic pesticides generally attack?


Pesticides can be used to stop the spread of what dieseases?

Pesticides are used to control organisms that are considered to be harmful. For example, they are used to kill mosquitoes that can transmit potentially deadly diseases like West Nile virus, yellow fever, and malaria. They can also kill bees, wasps or ants that can cause allergic reactions. Insecticides can protect animals from illnesses that can be caused by parasites such as fleas. Pesticides can prevent sickness in humans that could be caused by moldy food or diseased produce. Herbicides can be used to clear roadside weeds, trees and brush. They can also kill invasive weeds that may cause environmental damage. Herbicides are commonly applied in ponds and lakes to control algae and plants such as water grasses that can interfere with activities like swimming and fishing and cause the water to look or smell unpleasant. Uncontrolled pests such as termites and mold can damage structures such as houses. Pesticides are used in grocery stores and food storage facilities to manage rodents and insects that infest food such as grain. Each use of a pesticide carries some associated risk. Proper pesticide use decreases these associated risks to a level deemed acceptable by pesticide regulatory agencies such as the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) of Canada.


What sort of pesticides would you find in ponds and lakes?


Which agency regulates safety of pesticides in the US?


Which agency regulates safety of pesticides in Canada?


DDT, sprayed on the walls of houses, is an organochlorine that has been used to fight malaria since the 1950s. Recent policy statements by the World Health Organization have given stronger support to this approach. However, DDT and other organochlorine pesticides have been banned in most countries worldwide because of their persistence in the environment and human toxicity. DDT use is not always effective, as resistance to DDT was identified in Africa as early as 1955, and by 1972 nineteen species of mosquito worldwide were resistant to DDT.


Why have DDTs been banned in some areas?


How may species have been found to be resistant to DDT?


On estimate how many megatonnes of pesticides were used between 2006 and 2007?

In 2006 and 2007, the world used approximately 2.4 megatonnes (5.3×109 lb) of pesticides, with herbicides constituting the biggest part of the world pesticide use at 40%, followed by insecticides (17%) and fungicides (10%). In 2006 and 2007 the U.S. used approximately 0.5 megatonnes (1.1×109 lb) of pesticides, accounting for 22% of the world total, including 857 million pounds (389 kt) of conventional pesticides, which are used in the agricultural sector (80% of conventional pesticide use) as well as the industrial, commercial, governmental and home & garden sectors.Pesticides are also found in majority of U.S. households with 78 million out of the 105.5 million households indicating that they use some form of pesticide. As of 2007, there were more than 1,055 active ingredients registered as pesticides, which yield over 20,000 pesticide products that are marketed in the United States.


What amount of conventional pesticide use does the agricultural sector account for?


Pesticides contain at least how many ingredients?


How maney pesticides are offered for sale in the US?


What do monetary savings in crops from the use of pesticide amount to?

Every dollar ($1) that is spent on pesticides for crops yields four dollars ($4) in crops saved. This means based that, on the amount of money spent per year on pesticides, $10 billion, there is an additional $40 billion savings in crop that would be lost due to damage by insects and weeds. In general, farmers benefit from having an increase in crop yield and from being able to grow a variety of crops throughout the year. Consumers of agricultural products also benefit from being able to afford the vast quantities of produce available year-round. The general public also benefits from the use of pesticides for the control of insect-borne diseases and illnesses, such as malaria. The use of pesticides creates a large job market within the agrichemical sector.


What amount is spent annualoy on pesticides?


How are consumers able to benefit from saved crops?


How is the health of the general publis affected by pesticides?


Can pesticides have a serious effect on people?

Pesticides may cause acute and delayed health effects in people who are exposed. Pesticide exposure can cause a variety of adverse health effects, ranging from simple irritation of the skin and eyes to more severe effects such as affecting the nervous system, mimicking hormones causing reproductive problems, and also causing cancer. A 2007 systematic review found that "most studies on non-Hodgkin lymphoma and leukemia showed positive associations with pesticide exposure" and thus concluded that cosmetic use of pesticides should be decreased. There is substantial evidence of associations between organophosphate insecticide exposures and neurobehavioral alterations. Limited evidence also exists for other negative outcomes from pesticide exposure including neurological, birth defects, fetal death,


What is one of the most serious effects of exposure to pesticides?


What is thought to possibly cause neurobehavioral alterations?


How many workers in agriculture die a year from severly poisining pesticides in developing countries?

The World Health Organization and the UN Environment Programme estimate that each year, 3 million workers in agriculture in the developing world experience severe poisoning from pesticides, about 18,000 of whom die. Owing to inadequate regulation and safety precautions, 99% of pesticide related deaths occur in developing countries that account for only 25% of pesticide usage. According to one study, as many as 25 million workers in developing countries may suffer mild pesticide poisoning yearly. There are several careers aside from agriculture that may also put individuals at risk of health effects from pesticide exposure including pet groomers, groundskeepers, and fumigators.


What careers put people in danger of being exposed to pesticide poisining?


In developing countries, how many workers are exposed to mild pesticide poisining?


Why are 99% of pesticide related deaths in underdeveloped countries?


What pecentage of sprayed pesticides affect the wrong species?

Pesticide use raises a number of environmental concerns. Over 98% of sprayed insecticides and 95% of herbicides reach a destination other than their target species, including non-target species, air, water and soil. Pesticide drift occurs when pesticides suspended in the air as particles are carried by wind to other areas, potentially contaminating them. Pesticides are one of the causes of water pollution, and some pesticides are persistent organic pollutants and contribute to soil contamination.


What is affected when pesticides don't reach their target?


What is it called when pesticides are caught in the wind and carried to unintended areas?


Pesticides contribute to what sort of pollution?


Why are hydrocarbon pesticides not excreted?

Since chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides dissolve in fats and are not excreted, organisms tend to retain them almost indefinitely. Biological magnification is the process whereby these chlorinated hydrocarbons (pesticides) are more concentrated at each level of the food chain. Among marine animals, pesticide concentrations are higher in carnivorous fishes, and even more so in the fish-eating birds and mammals at the top of the ecological pyramid. Global distillation is the process whereby pesticides are transported from warmer to colder regions of the Earth, in particular the Poles and mountain tops. Pesticides that evaporate into the atmosphere at relatively high temperature can be carried considerable distances (thousands of kilometers) by the wind to an area of lower temperature, where they condense and are carried back to the ground in rain or snow.


How are levels of pesticides higher going up the food chain?


The movement of pesticides from wawrme to cooler climates is called what?


How could pesticides travel over hundreds of miles?


What feature is wanted to assist with reducing negative impacts of pesticides?

In order to reduce negative impacts, it is desirable that pesticides be degradable or at least quickly deactivated in the environment. Such loss of activity or toxicity of pesticides is due to both innate chemical properties of the compounds and environmental processes or conditions. For example, the presence of halogens within a chemical structure often slows down degradation in an aerobic environment. Adsorption to soil may retard pesticide movement, but also may reduce bioavailability to microbial degraders.


How else can negative impacts of pesticides be reduced?


What is one way by which pesticides lose their efficacy?


What is one thing that can be used in place of pesticides?

Alternatives to pesticides are available and include methods of cultivation, use of biological pest controls (such as pheromones and microbial pesticides), genetic engineering, and methods of interfering with insect breeding. Application of composted yard waste has also been used as a way of controlling pests. These methods are becoming increasingly popular and often are safer than traditional chemical pesticides. In addition, EPA is registering reduced-risk conventional pesticides in increasing numbers.


What natural product can be used to control pests?


Why are alternative methods of pest control gaining popularity?


What agency has offered acceptance of safer pesticides?


What is one non chemical way of dealing with pests?


The term "push-pull" was established in 1987 as an approach for integrated pest management (IPM). This strategy uses a mixture of behavior-modifying stimuli to manipulate the distribution and abundance of insects. "Push" means the insects are repelled or deterred away from whatever resource that is being protected. "Pull" means that certain stimuli (semiochemical stimuli, pheromones, food additives, visual stimuli, genetically altered plants, etc.) are used to attract pests to trap crops where they will be killed. There are numerous different components involved in order to implement a Push-Pull Strategy in IPM.


How can the location and amount of insects be changed?


What is one thing that can be used to pull pests?


What is the name of the process by which pests are attracted and repelled using IPM.


How much was Sweden able to lower thier pesticide usage?

Some evidence shows that alternatives to pesticides can be equally effective as the use of chemicals. For example, Sweden has halved its use of pesticides with hardly any reduction in crops.[unreliable source?] In Indonesia, farmers have reduced pesticide use on rice fields by 65% and experienced a 15% crop increase.[unreliable source?] A study of Maize fields in northern Florida found that the application of composted yard waste with high carbon to nitrogen ratio to agricultural fields was highly effective at reducing the population of plant-parasitic nematodes and increasing crop yield, with yield increases ranging from 10% to 212%; the observed effects were long-term, often not appearing until the third season of the study.


What other country has reduced its pesticide usage?


What natural substance has been found to effectively increase crop yields


What amount of gain in crops can be contributed to application of composted yard waste?


Pesticides are often referred to according to the type of pest they control. Pesticides can also be considered as either biodegradable pesticides, which will be broken down by microbes and other living beings into harmless compounds, or persistent pesticides, which may take months or years before they are broken down: it was the persistence of DDT, for example, which led to its accumulation in the food chain and its killing of birds of prey at the top of the food chain. Another way to think about pesticides is to consider those that are chemical pesticides or are derived from a common source or production method.


How long may it take for persistent pesticides to be broken down?


What quality caused DDT to build up in various organisms?


What are sulfonyureas commonly used for?

The following sulfonylureas have been commercialized for weed control: amidosulfuron, azimsulfuron, bensulfuron-methyl, chlorimuron-ethyl, ethoxysulfuron, flazasulfuron, flupyrsulfuron-methyl-sodium, halosulfuron-methyl, imazosulfuron, nicosulfuron, oxasulfuron, primisulfuron-methyl, pyrazosulfuron-ethyl, rimsulfuron, sulfometuron-methyl Sulfosulfuron, terbacil, bispyribac-sodium, cyclosulfamuron, and pyrithiobac-sodium. Nicosulfuron, triflusulfuron methyl, and chlorsulfuron are broad-spectrum herbicides that kill plants by inhibiting the enzyme acetolactate synthase. In the 1960s, more than 1 kg/ha (0.89 lb/acre) crop protection chemical was typically applied, while sulfonylureates allow as little as 1% as much material to achieve the same effect.


Nicosulfuron, triflusulfuron methyl and chlorsulfuron can be classified as what type of pesticides?


The restriction of what enzyme allows broad-spectrum herbicides to kill plants?


The amount of material used as a crop protection measure decreased from 1kg/ha in what year to its current 1%?


Is the trade of pesticides and pesticide treated goods limited to the United States?

Though pesticide regulations differ from country to country, pesticides, and products on which they were used are traded across international borders. To deal with inconsistencies in regulations among countries, delegates to a conference of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization adopted an International Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides in 1985 to create voluntary standards of pesticide regulation for different countries. The Code was updated in 1998 and 2002. The FAO claims that the code has raised awareness about pesticide hazards and decreased the number of countries without restrictions on pesticide use.


What commitee deals with differences in rules governing the use of pesticides among different countries?


When was the international code which governs the distribution and use of pesticides established?


How recently were voluntary standards of pesticide regulation updated?


What country has attempted to better the controls of pesticide exchanges?

Three other efforts to improve regulation of international pesticide trade are the United Nations London Guidelines for the Exchange of Information on Chemicals in International Trade and the United Nations Codex Alimentarius Commission.[citation needed] The former seeks to implement procedures for ensuring that prior informed consent exists between countries buying and selling pesticides, while the latter seeks to create uniform standards for maximum levels of pesticide residues among participating countries. Both initiatives operate on a voluntary basis.


What is one agency who is trying to help make the trade of pesticides safer?


What is one important thing that should be present when countries are trading with pesticides?


Are these agencies a requirement in the countries where they exist?


What is one measure taken to keep society safe from improper pesticide use?

Pesticides safety education and pesticide applicator regulation are designed to protect the public from pesticide misuse, but do not eliminate all misuse. Reducing the use of pesticides and choosing less toxic pesticides may reduce risks placed on society and the environment from pesticide use. Integrated pest management, the use of multiple approaches to control pests, is becoming widespread and has been used with success in countries such as Indonesia, China, Bangladesh, the U.S., Australia, and Mexico. IPM attempts to recognize the more widespread impacts of an action on an ecosystem, so that natural balances are not upset. New pesticides are being developed, including biological and botanical derivatives and alternatives that are thought to reduce health and environmental risks. In addition, applicators are being encouraged to consider alternative controls and adopt methods that reduce the use of chemical pesticides.


What is a choice that users of pesticides can make that will lower risks?


What is one country that has sucessfully used IPM?


Biological and botanical derivatives have what positive effects?


Who has the ability to make the choice of using less harmful pesticides?


What is a measure of pesticides determined in EPA studies?

In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for regulating pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA). Studies must be conducted to establish the conditions in which the material is safe to use and the effectiveness against the intended pest(s). The EPA regulates pesticides to ensure that these products do not pose adverse effects to humans or the environment. Pesticides produced before November 1984 continue to be reassessed in order to meet the current scientific and regulatory standards. All registered pesticides are reviewed every 15 years to ensure they meet the proper standards. During the registration process, a label is created. The label contains directions for proper use of the material in addition to safety restrictions. Based on acute toxicity, pesticides are assigned to a Toxicity Class.


Pesticides are inspected often to make sure they meet up to date safety regulations from what period of time.


How often are pesticides produced more recently evaluated for safety?


How could someone learn more about how to safely use and handle an unknow pesticide?


What are pesticides that are thought to be extremely dangerous called?

Some pesticides are considered too hazardous for sale to the general public and are designated restricted use pesticides. Only certified applicators, who have passed an exam, may purchase or supervise the application of restricted use pesticides. Records of sales and use are required to be maintained and may be audited by government agencies charged with the enforcement of pesticide regulations. These records must be made available to employees and state or territorial environmental regulatory agencies.


What would qualify someone to use restricted use pesticides?


The EPA or other groups who govern pesticide use may inspect what?


Agencies who regulate the environment exists in what regional capacities?


What is the earliest records of humans using pesticides?

Since before 2000 BC, humans have utilized pesticides to protect their crops. The first known pesticide was elemental sulfur dusting used in ancient Sumer about 4,500 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia. The Rig Veda, which is about 4,000 years old, mentions the use of poisonous plants for pest control. By the 15th century, toxic chemicals such as arsenic, mercury, and lead were being applied to crops to kill pests. In the 17th century, nicotine sulfate was extracted from tobacco leaves for use as an insecticide. The 19th century saw the introduction of two more natural pesticides, pyrethrum, which is derived from chrysanthemums, and rotenone, which is derived from the roots of tropical vegetables. Until the 1950s, arsenic-based pesticides were dominant. Paul Müller discovered that DDT was a very effective insecticide. Organochlorines such as DDT were dominant, but they were replaced in the U.S. by organophosphates and carbamates by 1975. Since then, pyrethrin compounds have become the dominant insecticide. Herbicides became common in the 1960s, led by "triazine and other nitrogen-based compounds, carboxylic acids such as 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, and glyphosate".


What was used as a insecticide in the 17th century?