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With the year drawing rapidly to a close and so many quotes to chose among - serious and humorous, conservative and liberal, rabid media outbursts, Obama's choicest lies, the liberal chameleon Mitt Romney - what are your personal quote(s) of the year for 2011?The quote may be comforting or disturbing, enlightening or confusing, endearing or maddening . . . but, c'mon, you know you have one.

Charlie Sheen was clearly the man of the year. You'll recall that 2011 began with the oafish actor celebrating his own narcotic and sexual crapulence like a victorious gladiator working the crowds. He was egged on by a media with as much decency as the cons on the top tiers of the prison who chant "fresh fish" as the new inmates walk into general pop, their eyes stinging from delousing powder. Sheen succeeded at turning his own debasement into a national pseudo-event by calling the very definition of losing "winning." And that's what 2011 was all about: pretending to be...

MALKIN: 2011 was a year of widespread self-serving scandals, scamsMICHELLE MALKIN December 29, 2011 6:37 PM With 2011 drawing to a close, it is time to account. As an early-and-often chronicler of Chicago-on-the-Potomac, I am amazed at the stubborn and clingy persistence of President Barack Obama’s snowblowers in the media. See no scandal, hear no scandal, speak no scandal. Dartmouth College professor Brendan Nyhan asserted in May — while Operation Fast and Furious subpoenas were flying on Capitol Hill — that “one of the least remarked upon aspects of the Obama presidency has been the lack of scandals.” Conveniently, he...

This was a banner year for guns -- 2011 is set to smash the record for gun sales. The record for a single year was set just last year, when the FBI reported that 14,409,616 background checks were requested. In 2011 that figure will top 16 million. FBI spokesman Steve Fischer said just 1.3% of background checks result in denial of a weapon. With a week left in December, the FBI said the monthly record has already been broken, and that was only set last month when 1,534,414 background checks were requested from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System...

Wolf management, a proposed open carry ban, an Idaho grizzly bear shooting, the on-going Seattle gun ban lawsuit, a Washington State Patrol gun reporting flap; they all paled in comparison to the biggest story covered by this column and other Gun Rights Examiners during 2011: Operation Fast and Furious. What began as an investigation into the slaying of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry in the Arizona desert in December 2010 has turned into a national scandal with plenty of local interest that many have compared to Richard Nixon’s Watergate. The murder was linked to a gun trafficking sting mounted by...

That time of the year again. Frankly, I thought this was, at best, a mediocre year at the movies. A lot of movies that I had expectations for last year were letdowns. That said, there were certainly movies I enjoyed, and I hope you caught a few of them along the way. Please note that the links take you to my reviews of the movies, where available. Honorable Mentions: 50/50, Another Earth, The Artist, Bridesmaids, Captain America, Cars 2, The Descendents, Drive, Green Lantern, The Help, Horrible Bosses, Midnight in Paris, Mission: Impossible, Ghost Protocol, Moneyball, The Muppets, Pirates of...

SALT LAKE CITY -- Two members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints running for President. A hit Broadway musical called "The Book of Mormon." Mormons have held the spotlight this year. But across our state milestones have been marked for many faiths that make up the religious background of Utah. From politics to arts, many throughout the country dub this "The year of the Mormons." Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney was on the cover of Newsweek in June, his head atop the body of a dancing missionary actor from "The Book of Mormon" Broadway musical, which won...

My Magnificent Seven. Some bust myths. Others highlight a reality the media is ignoring. Enjoy!1. The overly optimistic unemployment forecast of the Obama White House. This may be the most infamous economic prediction in U.S. political history (helpfully updated by The Right Sphere). For the original January 2009 chart from White House economic advisers Jared Bernstein and Christina Romer, see here. 2. The real unemployment rate. The official (U-3) unemployment rate is 8.6 percent. But the labor force has been shrinking as discouraged workers have been disappeared by government statisticians rather than counted as unemployed. But what if they weren’t? What...

From Charlie Sheen's #winning tweets to the debt ceiling crisis and global protests, it seems the whole world went nuts in 2011. Join us as we reminisce about the most notorious moments of the year in our 7th annual year in review... this time sung by a popsicle stick puppet choir! 2011, Buh-Bye! Lyrics Two Thousand Eleven was hairy, A year unlike any we've seen. There were Schweddy Balls from Ben & Jerry, And a warlock assassin named Sheen! Winning! Lohan! Strauss-Kahn! Mitt Romney, Rick Perry and Cain- THREE 9s! Big Trials! Love Childs! Two Thousand Eleven, buh-bye! AGHAGHAGHAG!

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...