Free Republic

Day #45 of the Top 50 songs on my iTunes playlist -- ranked in reverse order by play frequency from #50 to #1 and presented here on a series of FR threads. I've been posting them here on a new thread that compiles the growing list one day at a time over the last couple of months. We are coming down the home stretch here, folks -- and it looks like this will be done by the second week of November! And to show my gratitude to the FR management for giving us all a forum to post vanity threads...

Before this week, most of the McDonald's ice cream makers could only be fixed through the machine’s manufacturer. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which protects the code embedded in the ice cream machines, made it illegal for third parties, like McDonald’s employees and franchisee owners, to break the digital locks installed by manufacturers. The new rule, which went into effect on Monday, allows outside vendors to fix “retail-level commercial food preparation equipment.” That includes McDonald’s ice cream machines, as 404 media journalist Jason Koebler explained to NPR’s Weekend Edition.

The recent controversy regarding Donald Trump’s criticism of Liz Cheney as a warhawk who has never faced the dangers of the wars she embraces has synthesized an issue that may be opaque to non-veterans: the extreme resentment many veterans of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) feel toward Kamala Harris and the Democrat Party. Harris and the Democrats have created a perfect storm of veteran disdain in that they have succeeded in uniting three once-inapposite groups behind Harris: the neocons who started the GWOT, the media and Democrats who undermined the veterans’ GWOT missions, and the generals who failed again...

This election season, voters in West Virginia will consider a constitutional amendment to ban physician-assisted suicide. Joint Resolution 28, which passed 88 to 10 with similar margins in the state senate, will ask voters on November 5th whether to amend the state constitution to make physician-assisted suicide illegal. According to the text of the proposed Amendment 1, “No physician or health care provider in the State of West Virginia shall participate in the practice of medically-assisted suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing.” The amendment goes on to protect palliative care and other normal end-of-life care, while being explicit about assisted suicide....

U.S. — What was expected to be a close Presidential election is now projected to be a 50-state landslide for Trump after the former president showed up to a rally in a squirrel costume. Honoring the late squirrel "Peanut," Trump delivered his entire stump speech in the costume, clips of which spread across social media like wildfire. Within hours, polls showed a historic swing, with millions of voters switching their allegiance to Trump. "They're after you — me and Peanut are just standing in their way," said Trump. "That is why today, I am calling for a day of...

Gary Kristensen, a Happy Valley man who has been growing giant pumpkins since 2011, started converting his gargantuan gourds into boats into 2013 to compete in the West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta, which he has won for the past four consecutive years. ristensen hollowed out a pumpkin he dubbed Punky Loafster this year to take on his longtime goal of breaking the Guinness World Record for the longest paddling journey by pumpkin boat. His 45.67-mile journey down the Columbia River, which took him more than 26 hours, aimed to break the previous record of about 39 miles. ... Kristensen used...

Veteran Iowa pollster Ann Selzer — whose stellar track record is currently in question after a bizarre Hawkeye State poll that found Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump by three percentage points — was confused over what “D” and “R” meant in her own cross tabs.While Selzer’s poll has long been viewed as the gold standard in Iowa, her latest presidential poll is turning heads after the bizarre result. If Selzer’s result proves accurate, Iowa would have shifted 11 points to the left in one election cycle, when Trump carried the state by eight percentage points. The poll also found Harris...

“Mr. Bond, they have a saying in Chicago: ‘Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action’.” - Goldfinger, Ian Fleming (1959) On the eve of America’s election, Democrats and their media wing are putting in overtime suppressing stories that are unflattering to Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. As this newsletter just reported, Walz has longstanding ties to the People’s Republic of China which are highly concerning from a counterintelligence perspective. Just don’t expect the mainstream media to investigate any of this, especially so close to the election. However, when...

In Pennsylvania, Gov. Josh Shapiro was admonished by a judge for sending uniformed police officers to impede Republicans trying to cast early ballots. GOP State Committeewoman Val Biancaniello asserted that "the police were violating the law by telling these voters to go home." So they arrested her. Her lawyer Linda Kerns said "state law says no voter should be told to go home. If they get in line before the posted closing time, each voter must be permitted to request, fill out, and return their mail ballot." The judge ordered that early voting be extended to 5 pm Friday, November...

https://amgreatness.com/2024/11/04/from-midterms-to-momentum-the-battle-for-absentee-ballots-and-early-votes/

When Anita Lawrence watched Hillary Clinton lose the 2016 election, she thought to herself, “well, there goes my opportunity to see a woman in the presidency.” Maybe the U.S. was unable or unwilling to view a woman as capable of serving as president, she thought. “Women have always had to work harder, longer and smarter than their cohorts for less pay. And I think it’s just part of our culture in this country that men, and even women, cannot see a woman as a leader of this nation,” Lawrence said. Then 65, Lawrence wasn’t sure if a major political party...

Additional link for comparison: https://election.lab.ufl.edu/early-vote/2024-early-voting/2024-general-election-early-vote-pennsylvania/

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this guest post are solely those of the guest author. On Tuesday, November 5, Amarillo residents will cast their final votes on Proposition A – a local ordinance that would protect unborn children by further prohibiting abortion and abortion trafficking. While many Amarillo residents have already chosen to cast their votes for or against the measure during early voting, many remain undecided of how they will be voting on the historic measure. The pro-life measure was brought to Amarillo by Jana May, a resident of Amarillo who wanted to see her city pass an ordinance...

After a campaign that included a candidate switch, a pair of assassination attempts and dramatic twists seemingly every day, the conventional wisdom from months ago ultimately prevails in three polls showing Donald Trump ahead in most swing states. If Kamala Harris can do what Democrats have done in most elections for decades and win Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — the blue-wall states — she’ll likely have the 270 electoral votes she needs to win. If she can’t, Trump will almost certainly be the next president. But there’s plenty of drama possible before results are finalized — which wouldn’t happen until...

When election results pour in from across the country Tuesday evening, there will likely be various close and hotly contested races that could end in a recount. The presidential race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris will likely come down to seven states considered “toss-up” contests, and any of those states’ results could end up in a recount. Here are the laws for recounts in each of the key battleground states.

ProPublica has continued its “Life of the Mother” series in which it highlights the tragic deaths of pregnant women whom they claim died because of pro-life laws in certain states. Previously, ProPublica reported on the deaths of Candi Miller (Georgia), Amber Thurman (Georgia), and Josseli Barnica (Texas), dishonestly attempting to blame their deaths on pro-life laws instead of on negligence, malpractice, potential complications of abortion, or substandard medical care. Now, ProPublica is highlighting a fourth woman’s tragic and unnecessary death — that of Nevaeh Crain, a teen who tragically died along with her six-month preborn daughter just a year ago,...

Axios’ Alex Thompson framed Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday as the “no comment” candidate she “doesn’t want voters to know.” Harris has refused to detail her policy positions on many important issues. This lack of answers appears to be a strategy to avoid irritating the radical left while trying to remain ambiguous in order to attract moderates. The latest example of Harris refusing to answer questions came Sunday when a reporter asked her about a California ballot measure on crime. “How did you vote on Prop 36?” a reporter in Detroit asked Harris. “So, I have — my ballot...

VIDEOIs this "Gold Standard" Iowa pollster, J. Ann Selzer, really this clueless or is she willing to flush her reputation down the toilet in a pathetic attempt stop the impending Trumpocalypse? A very skeptical Mark Halperin was too polite to make that point to her but Brian Craig, co-host of the Steve Kane Radio Show, explains how the Iowa Poll FRAUD was perpetrated.

The New York Times Tech Guild went on strike Monday in a move that could complicate the newspaper’s ability to cover Tuesday’s US presidential election. The Guild represents more than 600 software developers, data analysts, and designers whose work upholds the organization’s digital products, including its live blogs and the Times’ election needle. The union has said roughly half of its members are directly involved in supporting the paper’s election coverage, and the increased traffic to the outlet’s website around an election only increases the pressure on the publication’s back-end systems.The union said they gave Times management “months of notice...

Legendary musician Quincy Jones has died. He was 91. Jones’ publicist, Arnold Robinson, confirmed to PEOPLE that he died on Sunday, Nov. 3 at his home in Los Angeles, surrounded by his family. The news was first reported by the Associated Press. “Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing,” the family said in a statement. “And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him.” "He is truly one of a...