Free Republic

ROUND 5 OF THE '50S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! The GREAT 8! Votes due: Sunday, May 31 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. 8 songs, 4 pairs, 4 winners! Vote for your favorite in each pair listed. No reply, no vote. (You may abstain from some pairs but please don't overdo it! No onesies, please, or anything less than half!) Any ties will be broken with a run-off which will end the following Monday. Format: Billboard rank/seed - year - song title - act

ROUND 4 OF THE '50S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! Votes due: Sunday, May 24 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. 16 songs, 8 pairs, 8 winners! Vote for your favorite in each pair listed. No reply, no vote. (You may abstain from some pairs but please don't overdo it! No onesies, please, or anything less than half!) Any ties will be broken with a run-off which will end the following Monday. Format: Billboard rank/seed - year - song title - act

ROUND 3 OF THE '50S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! Votes due: Sunday, May 17 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. 32 songs, 16 pairs, 16 winners! Vote for your favorite in each pair listed. No reply, no vote. (You may abstain from any pairs but please don't overdo it! No onesies, please.) Any ties will be broken with a run-off which will end the following Monday. Format: Billboard rank/seed - year - song title - act

ROUND 2 of the greatest hits of the '50s begins! Due date: Sunday, May 10 @6:00 pm (Eastern) This Round takes the top 6 songs of each year of the '50s per BILLBOARD, along with the best 4 #7s as voted in Round 1, and pairs them in play-off brackets. Round 1: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3838848/posts

OK, FREEPERS, LET'S START THIS CONTEST FOR THE GREATEST SONG OF THE '50S! The baseline for the contest is the top 7 hits of each year of the '50s, as compiled by BILLBOARD. This is NOT based on personal preferences, biases, prejudices, or counter-culture fringe-element reactionaries. Round 1 involves listing all 10 #7 candidate songs in order of preference. (The remaining rounds are handled as play-off brackets, starting with 32 pairs of songs to compare.) ROUND 1 We begin by using the #7 songs of each year, which we'll pare from 10 songs to 4 (to set up play-off brackets...

Anyone want to participate in a music play-off bracket-type poll for best songs of the '50s? At the start of this year, as well as 2 and 5 years ago, I ran "tournaments" to pick the best songs of the '60s, '70s and '80s, based on Billboard rankings, so only the best of the best were included! Normally it'd probably be next year before I'd even attempt. But given this stay-home COVID nonsense, I thought maybe everyone would like another something to do. You can view how the earlier versions played out here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3818895/posts http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3635562/posts http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3249477/posts I can do this...

ROUND 7 - THE FINAL - OF THE '60S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! Votes due: Sunday, March 1 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. The FINAL! Just 2 songs! Pick your favorite! No reply, no vote. Please be clear what your intentions are! Cuteness is fun, but often misunderstood. Any ties will be broken with a run-off which will end (hopefully) the following Monday.

ROUND 6 OF THE '60S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! Votes due: Sunday, Feb 23 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. The FINAL 4! Even easier! Just 2 pairs of songs! Vote for your favorite of each pair shown. No reply, no vote. No more refusals - there're only 2 pairs, after all. Any ties will be broken with a run-off which will end (hopefully) the following Monday.

Censorship. It’s everywhere. Mainstream media daily silences opposition. Social media giants suppress content and suspend accounts at alarming rates. But the form of free speech suppression that goes largely unnoticed is very public. We’re surrounded by it. Our roadways are adorned with billboards selling services, products and worldviews. When it comes to abortion, outdoor advertising companies are increasingly promoting pro-abortion lies while banning pro-life truths. Ten years ago, the organization my wife and I founded—The Radiance Foundation—was the first to launch public ad campaigns that confronted the leading killer in the black community. Abortion outnumbers the top fifteen causes of...

ROUND 5 OF THE '60S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! Votes due: Sunday, Feb 16 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. The Great 8! It's getting easier! Just 4 pairs of songs! Vote for your favorite of each pair shown. No reply, no vote. (You may abstain from any pairs, but please be clear about that.) Any ties will be broken with a run-off which will end (hopefully) the following Monday.

ROUND 4 OF THE '60S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! Votes due: Sunday, Feb 9 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. SWEET 16! 16 songs, 8 pairs, 8 winners! Vote for your favorite in each pair shown. No reply, no vote. (You may abstain from any pairs but please be clear - and please don't overdo it! No onesies.) Any ties will be broken with a run-off which will end the following Monday. Format: Billboard rank/seed - year - title - act

ROUND 3 OF THE '60S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! Votes due: Sunday, Feb 2 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. (SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!) 32 songs, 16 pairs, 16 winners! Vote for your favorite in each pair shown. No reply, no vote. (You may abstain from any pairs but please don't overdo it! No onesies, please.) Any ties will be broken with a run-off which will end the following Monday. Format: Billboard rank/seed - year - song title - act

An attention-getting new billboard on I-25 between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico, recently tested a new strategy of pro-abortion outreach. The billboard, clearly meant to shock, reads, “Rape is about power and control. So are abortion bans.” Another billboard, placed on the side of a truck which circled New Mexico’s Capitol building as well as in downtown Santa Fe last week bore the messages, “Voted against abortion access? We didn’t forget,” and “Keep abortion safe and legal.” ProgressNow New Mexico, a group fighting to keep abortion legal in the state, is the group behind the billboards. Marianna Anaya, the...

The Committee to Defend the President—one of America’s largest pro-Trump super PACs—is running a new billboard in New York City, criticizing Democratic candidate Joe Biden over the Ukraine scandal. The billboard, located at 1500 Broadway and 43rd Street, is two-sided and both sides will feature the video of Biden admitting to withholding aid to Ukraine until its government fired the prosecutor investigating his son, Hunter. Here is the video:

ROUND 2 of the greatest hits of the '60s begins! Due date: Sunday, Jan 26 @6:00 pm (Eastern) This Round takes the top 6 songs of each year of the '60s per BILLBOARD, and pairs them in play-off brackets, along with the best 4 #7s as voted in Round 1 (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3807574/posts)

OK, FREEPERS, LET'S START THIS CONTEST FOR THE GREATEST SONG OF THE '60S. The baseline for the contest is the top 7 hits of each year of the '60s, as compiled by BILLBOARD. This is NOT based on personal preferences, biases, prejudices, or counter-culture fringe-element reactivity. Round 1 is listing candidate songs in order of preference. (The remaining rounds are handled as play-off brackets, starting with 32 pairs of songs to compare.) ROUND 1 We begin by using the #7 songs of each year and paring them from 10 songs to 4 (to set up play-off brackets for the rest...

Who wants to participate in a music play-off bracket-type poll for best songs of the '70s? 2 and 5 years ago I ran "tournaments" to pick the best songs of the '70s and '80s, based on Billboard rankings, so only the best of the best were included! You can view how this played out here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3249477/posts http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3635562/posts I want to do that for the '60s, and some posters expressed interest in the '60s back then.

Jesus Is King continues a remarkable streak on the Billboard 200 for West. The set marks his record-tying ninth straight album to debut at No. 1; the entirety of his charting efforts from 2005 through 2019 have opened in the top slot. His only album to miss No. 1 was his debut effort, 2004’s The College Dropout, which debuted and peaked at No. 2. Nine No. 1s in a Row: West and Eminem are also now tied for the most consecutive No. 1s on the Billboard 200. They are both ahead of the Beatles, which saw all eight of their...

West matches Eminem for the most consecutive No. 1 debuts on the chart. Kanye West returns to a familiar spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart, as his latest release, Jesus Is King, debuts at No. 1. It’s his record-tying ninth consecutive debut at No. 1, matching Eminem’s still-active streak for the longest in the chart’s history.Jesus Is King was released on Oct. 25 via G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam Recordings and earned 264,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 31, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 109,000 were in album sales, while the rest...

A British advertising company caved into a pro-abortion politician’s pressuring this week and removed pro-life billboards that showed a developing baby in the womb. The Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform UK recently paid to run billboards in British Labour MP Stella Creasy’s district to draw attention to her radical pro-abortion agenda. Creasy, who represents Walthamstow, is behind the push to force Northern Ireland to legalize abortion. The billboards showed the image of a nine-week-old unborn baby and the website StopStella.com. The baby has tiny hands and feet, eyes, nose and ears. Abortion activists slammed it as misleading, claiming the baby must...