Free Republic

The bosses of New York's five Mafia families in the mid-1980s came a hair-trigger away from sanctioning a hit on then-federal prosecutor Rudy Giuliani, according to bombshell FBI records made public today. Before cooler heads prevailed - the mob bosses decided by a razor-thin 3-to-2 margin not to try to whack the future mayor and presidential candidate - at least two of the dons argued fervently that the mob-busting U.S. attorney should sleep with the fishes. Bonanno boss Philip “Rusty" Rastelli, Genovese chief Vincent “The Chin" Gigante and Lucchese honcho Anthony “Tony Ducks" Corallo all cast votes to spare the...

ROUND 7 - THE FINAL - OF THE '80S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! Votes due: Sunday, March 15 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. The Final Pair! Vote for your favorite! No reply, no vote. A tie will be broken with a run-off which will end (hopefully) the following Monday.

ROUND 6 OF THE '80S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! Votes due: Sunday, March 8 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. The Final 4 in just 2 pairs of songs! Vote for your favorite of each pair shown. No reply, no vote. (You may abstain from any pairs.) Any ties will be broken with a run-off which will end (hopefully) the following Monday.

ROUND 5 OF THE '80S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! Votes due: Sunday, March 1 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. The Great 8 in just 4 pairs of songs! Vote for your favorite of each pair shown. No reply, no vote. (You may abstain from any pairs.) Any ties will be broken with a run-off which will end (hopefully) the following Monday. Format: Yearly rank/seed - year - song title - act

ROUND 4 OF THE '80S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! Votes due: Sunday, Feb 22 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. Sweet 16 in 8 pairs of songs! Vote for your favorite of each pair shown. No reply, no vote. (You may abstain from any pairs.) Any ties will be broken with a run-off which will end the following Monday. Format: Yearly rank/seed - year - song title - act

We have a TIE from Round 3 to BREAK! (What is it with 1983? No one seems to be able to separate the songs!) #4 1983 "Down Under” Men at Work versus #1 1983 "Every Breath You Take" Police

ROUND 3 OF THE '80S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! Votes due: Sunday, Feb 15 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. Sweet 16 pairs of songs! Vote for your favorite in each pair shown. No reply, no vote. (You may abstain from any pairs.) Any ties will be broken with a run-off which will end the following Monday. Format: Yearly rank/seed - year - song title - act

We have a TIE from Round 2 to BREAK! #3 1983 "Flashdance... What a Feeling" Irene Cara versus#5 1983 "Beat It" Michael Jackson

ROUND 2 of the greatest hits of the '80s begins! Due date: Sunday, Feb 8 @6:00 pm (Eastern) Had to cut short the Round 1, as the response wasn't enough. Will try weekly rounds from now on. This Round takes the top 6 songs of each year of the '80s, and pairs them in brackets along with the best #7s as voted in Round 1.

OK, FREEPERS, LET'S START THIS CONTEST FOR THE GREATEST SONG OF THE '80S. The baseline for the contest is the top 7 hits of each year of the '80s, as compiled by BILLBOARD. This is not based on personal preferences, biases, prejudices, or counter-culture reactivity. The rules in general will be to vote for everything shown. No equivocating, ties, or omissions. Votes will only be counted if the "ballot" is complete. ROUND 1 We begin by using the #7 songs of each year and paring them from 10 songs to 4 (to set up brackets for the rest of the...

What does everyone think of a music play-off bracket-type poll for best songs of the '80s?

Saddam, the bomb and me Mahdi Obeidi NYT Tuesday, September 28, 2004 Iraq's nuclear program While the final report from Charles Duelfer, the top American inspector of Iraq's covert weapons programs, won't be released for a few weeks, the portions that have already been made public touch on many of the experiences I had while working as the head of Saddam Hussein's nuclear centrifuge program. Now that I am living in the United States, I hope to answer some of the most important questions that remain. What was really going on in Iraq before the American invasion last year? Iraq's...

FAS | Nuke | Guide | Iraq | CW |||| Index | Search | Join FAS Chemical Weapons Programs Iraq started research into the production of chemical weapons agents in the 1970s and started batch production of agents in the early 1980s. At that stage, production was heavily reliant on the import of precursor chemicals from foreign suppliers. In 1982, early in the Iran-Iraq War, the Iraqis used riot control agents to repel Iranian attacks. They progressed to the use of CW agents in mid-1983 with mustard, and in March 1984 with tabun (the first use ever of a nerve...

Think back to 1984 and 1994.You got to admit they were some of the best days of our lives.In 1984,we had President Reagan,the dawn of wonderful 80's,for many who are now in their 40's,50's&60's.It was their happiest times.And the good times just kept on coming with the Bush/Clinton years.The 90's were a never ending party,great economy,great music&memorable Presidential Scandals.Who wouldn't give up Pizza&Burgers to go back to either decade and Stay There!And here we are 20/30 years later and who would of ever thought they would see the day when we had a {Fill In The Blank}As President of the...

Pics at link of 80s artists now...

40th U.S. President Ronald Reagan aims a rifle from a window onboard Air Force One; circa 1983

Long-simmering tensions between the current members of Cheap Trick and the band’s absentee drummer, Bun E. Carlos, appear to be boiling over into the courtroom. Carlos, a founding member of Cheap Trick, remained a fixture of the lineup until March 2010, when the band released a statement announcing that he “is not currently the touring drummer for Cheap Trick. Bun E. remains a band member. Everyone is healthy and Cheap Trick will continue to tour as planned.” While that made it sound like Carlos’ absence was temporary, he’s remained in exile, even during the band’s sporadic forays into the studio....

Pop star SIMON LE BON has urged Westerners to gain a level of "perspective" over the economic slump, insisting problems in Europe and the U.S. are minimal compared to the issues facing Africa. The Duran Duran frontman has spoken out to share his views on the global recession and admits he is baffled by complaints from affluent families who need to tighten their belt. He tells The Times, "We have to put this economic slump into perspective. Even though the recession might be tough on us in the West, we have to get through it and should remember how people...

April 14, 1999, Wednesday COMMITTEE HEARING SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS: SUBCOMMITTEE ON NEAR EASTERN AND SOUTH U.S. SENATOR SAM BROWNBACK (R-KS) HOLDS HEARING ON THE CRISIS IN AFGANISTAN  WASHINGTON, D.C. SPEAKERS: U.S. SENATOR SAM BROWNBACK (R-KS), CHAIRMAN U.S. SENATOR JOHN ASHCROFT (R-MO) U.S. SENATOR GORDON H. SMITH (R-OR) U.S. SENATOR ROD GRAMS (R-MN) U.S. SENATOR CRAIG THOMAS (R-WY) U.S. SENATOR PAUL DAVID WELLSTONE (D-MN), RANKING MEMBER U.S. SENATOR ROBERT G. TORRICELLI (D-NJ) U.S. SENATOR PAUL S. SARBANES (D-MD) U.S. SENATOR CHRISTOPHER J. DODD (D-CT) U.S. REPRESENTATIVE DANA ROHRABACHER (R-CA) THE HONORABLE KARL F. INDERFURTH ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR SOUTH ...

The DeLorean returns back from the future as a monster truck If Marty McFly and Doc Brown were ever to reunite for a sequel to Back to the Future III, the old time traveling DeLorean would need an upgrade of some sort to justify the ticket. How about adding 44-inch tires to a DeLorean and converting it into a monster truck? That'll do! While the DeLorean Motor Company is busy producing electric DeLoreans for a 2013 release, one DeLorean easily bested all others at the 2012 DeLorean Car Show & Convention in Orlando, Florida. What you have here is a...