Free Republic

TCM Remembers memorial montage for 2011. The song is "Before You Go" by OK Sweetheart.

However wrong the rankings might be, I have to admit Time’s ”Best of Everything” lists are pretty fun to browse. In fact, if I made a list of reasons to check Time.com, the magazine’s immortal lists would be the first and last item on it.But, really? The journalists at Time think ”Occupy Wall Street” is the No. 1 U.S. news story of the year — ahead of the GOP primaries, the economy, the Gabby Giffords shooting and the debt ceiling crisis? What, oh what, was the rationale? I know you’re dying to read this: To some, Occupy Wall Street is...

What a year! Here's to 2012 being a more quiet and less destructive year.

(APPLAUSE) CAIN: Thank you, my friends. Well, you all are great. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love y'all, too. CROWD: Gloria, Gloria, Gloria, Gloria! CAIN: Well, let me first say that as usual, the Cain supporters are not warm weather supporters. And I can't thank all of you enough for what you've done, how far we have come, and the things that we have done, the things that we have been able to achieve. You know, I chose to run for president because the politicians in Washington, D.C. wouldn't do their jobs. That's why I chose to run....

2011 was a great year for music, IMO. What have you purchased or listened to this year that you liked? My list is mostly Americana-type music and were all released in 2011-- but feel free to add anything. I haven't listened to a large volume of music, but these are the ones I keep coming back to. Some are obscure, some are well-known. 1. Tristen -- Charletons at the Garden Gate 2. Eilen Jewell -- Queen of the Minor Key 3. Zoe Muth & the Lost High Rollers -- Starlight Hotel 4. Ray Manzarek & Roy Rogers -- Translucent Blues...

The holiday shopping season got off to a strong start on Black Friday, with retail sales up 7 percent over last year, according to the most recent survey. Now stores just have to keep buyers coming back without the promise of door-buster savings. Buyers spent $11.4 billion at retail stores and malls, up nearly $1 billion from last year, according to a Saturday report from ShopperTrak. It was the largest amount ever spent on the day that marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season, and the biggest year-over-year increase since 2007. Chicago-based ShopperTrak gathers data from 25,000 outlets across...

The Justice Department this week sent a follow-up notice demanding former Border Patrol Agent Jesus E. Diaz Jr.’s family immediately pay nearly $7,000 and imposing a lien on his property, even though he remains in prison unable to pay and his family says a judge gave them a grace period. It’s the second notice the Justice Department has sent to the family of Diaz, who was sentenced to prison for two years for using excessive force in arresting an illegal immigrant who was suspected of smuggling drugs. The new notice threatens new penalties if the money isn’t paid within 30...

For Immediate Release Contact: Garren Shipley (540) 686-1138 Election 2011: What it Means -- GOP Supermajority in House, Majority in Senate, Solid Start for 2012 -- The votes are counted. The canvass is done, and the dust has settled. What does it all mean? First, let's look at the lay of the land. House of Delegates * Republicans picked up 7 seats in the House of Delegates. * Republicans now have a 68 seat caucus in the House, the most in history. * Republicans won 13 of 14 open seats in the House. * Republicans defeated 2 Democrat incumbents in...

The October 2011 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 945,088 is an increase of 10.6 percent over the NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 854,563 in October 2010. For comparison, the unadjusted October 2011 NICS figure of 1,331,836 reflects a 2.1 percent decrease from the unadjusted NICS figure of 1,359,894 in October 2010. This marks the seventeenth straight month that NSSF-adjusted NICS figures have increased when compared to the same period the previous year. The adjusted NICS data were derived by NSSF by subtracting out all NICS purpose code permit checks used by several states such as Kentucky,...

Gov. Bob McDonnell this morning cast Republican gains in the House of Delegates and Virginia Senate as partly a repudiation of President Barack Obama’s policies and said the pick-ups will give the GOP momentum going into 2012. Appearing on Morning Joe on MSNBC, McDonnell said Republicans picked up at least six seats in the House of Delegates — “the highest number total of Republican seats in the Virginia House that we’ve ever had.” He also claimed a two-seat pick up in the Senate for a 20-20 split, with Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling as the tie breaker, “giving Republicans effective...

Initiative - 26 - Definition of Person - Ballot Issue November 09, 2011 - 12:30AM ET Person at Fertilization Mississippi - 1681 of 1876 Precincts Reporting - 90% Name Votes Vote % No 425,945 58% Yes 305,542 42% Initiative - 27 - Voter Identification - Ballot Issue November 09, 2011 - 12:30AM ET Photo and Exemptions Mississippi - 1680 of 1876 Precincts Reporting - 90% Name Votes Vote % Yes 452,145 62% No 276,656 38% Initiative - 31 - Eminent Domain - Ballot Issue November 09, 2011 - 12:30AM ET Exceptions to Limits Mississippi - 1680 of 1876 Precincts Reporting...

<p>House Democratic Minority Leader Ward Armstrong has lost the seat he's held for nearly 20 years.</p> <p>In a race symbolically important to the Republicans, Del. Charles Poindexter won 53 percent of the vote over Armstrong, whom the GOP targeted both in redistricting and in heavy financial support for Poindexter.</p>

WHOM DO I VOTE FOR TODAY, WEST SIDE NYC, DISTRICT #8 ? We've got Jerrold Nadler (aka Jabba the Hutt) over here in Manhattan district 8, and I cannot find a Conservative Voter Guide anywhere on the web. I have no clue who's running. Any tips on Conservatives (or at least Republicans), and Propositions to vote for/against today?

Why is it when Mitt Romney debates another Republican, the attacks seem so personal? It's not about money or polls or even his religion. GOP candidates hate how Mitt Romney switche.s positions

The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot is TODAY in Virginia. The deadline to vote absentee in person is Saturday at 5 pm. Please be sure to vote in this election...the Senate Dems just dumped $200K into the funds for an Independent candidate running against a conservative Republican...they are well-funded, so we need people to TURN OUT on election day...and TURN OUT their friends so Republicans can capture the Senate from liberal Democrat Party control.

The arrest of Chris Cook put the Vikings at 36 arrests since 2000, one more than the Cincinnati Bengals, according to information compiled by SignOnSanDiego.com and thedeets.com. Six Vikings have been arrested in the past nine months. It's a good thing Vikings owner Zygi Wilf instituted that Code of Conduct after the Love Boat incident or it could be even worse, right?

In what seems an unthinkable move, MTV — the network that hosted a youth town hall last October called “A Conversation With President Obama“ and made ”Rock the Vote” famous — has reportedly declined a request by President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign to help the president connect with young Americans. What’s more, the network allegedly did so on the grounds that it does not get involved with political campaigns. According to the New York Post, Obama’s Get Out the Vote campaign, run by Buffy Wicks, feared that the high unemployment rate among millennials will turn young voters off to the...

LightSquared doubles size of its lobbying team in 2011By Rachel Leven and Kevin Bogardus 09/27/11 06:00 AM ET LightSquared, the wireless telecom firm facing Republican complaints that it has benefited from political ties to the White House, has significantly boosted its lobbying this year. The company has more than doubled the number of lobbying firms on its payroll, from four to nine K Street shops, in the first half of 2011. LightSquared has already spent $830,000 on lobbying in the first six months of year, and is on pace to more than double its K Street expenditures of $695,000 in...

Herman Cain speaks at CPAC in FL

Since 1920, the Clerk of the House has collected and published the official vote counts for federal elections from the official sources among the various states and territories. These documents, out of print for many years, have been collected and scanned in a format to make them once again available to researchers and students. Statistics from some recent elections are available as both HTML and scanned image (Adobe Acrobat .PDF) formats. Users should be aware that printing a document in its entirety is often a lengthy process depending on your equipment.