Weeklypedia 8

OK. This week had some interesting Wiki-learning, and you get to reap the benefits. Some of the questions below are related to stuff I'd learned in the past, but was reminded of for one reason or another this week.

Last week's answers should be posted by the time you read this.

Weeklypedia Quiz #8

1. If two of them (Democrats) win their challengers' bids, and the third (a Republican) defends his seat, members of this western political family will comprise 3% of the US Senate.

2. It is the maximum amount one individual may gift to another under US tax law, without paying taxes or declaring it.

3. The founders of Berkeley Systems, famous for the "After Dark" screen saver software and its iconic flying toasters, went on to found this liberal political action website during the Clinton impeachment scandal.

4. Someone in an enviable position may be figuratively said to be in this, named for Dumetella carolinensis,which makes its nests over most of the United States.

5. It is the name for Phil Spector's technique of music production, which features heavily-overdubbed vocal and instrumental lines recorded in an echo chamber, which he employed with such artists as The Ronettes, the Crystals, and the Beatles.

6. Careful with that eggnog! As little as ten grams (2 teaspoons) of this household spice is mildly (if unpleasantly) hallucinogenic, and sixty grams can be fatal.

7. Disappointingly, this rock band, fronted by a former member of Nirvana, played at a fundraiser in 2000 for a group that denies the link between HIV & AIDS, and claims that HIV medications cause AIDS.

8. Japan's Takeru Kobayashi is known the world over for being a champion at this competitive pastime.