Free Republic

The town's ~25-odd registered voters all gather to cast their ballots at midnight, and the polls are closed one minute later. Then the votes are counted.

US finances are in almost as troubled a state as the worst-hit members of the euro zone, economists say, underscoring the pressing need for Washington to reach agreement on how to reduce the deficit. A gauge of "sovereign risk" from economists at Deutsche Bank placed the United States just behind Greece, Ireland and Portugal among 14 advanced economies. The report, from economists led by Peter Hooper, warned that a failure to make substantial political progress on deficit reduction "would substantially raise the risk of a bond market crisis".

Dixville Notch is an unincorporated small village in the Dixville township of Coos County, New Hampshire, USA. The town is known for being one of the first places to declare its results [at midnight] for the New Hampshire Presidential primary and U.S. Presidential elections. -snip- 2000Democratic Primary: (6 voters) William W. Bradley - 4 Albert A. Gore Jr. - 2 Republican Primary: (23 voters) George W. Bush - 12 John S. McCain III - 10 Malcolm S. "Steve" Forbes Jr. - 1 General Election: (27 votes) George W. Bush - 21 Albert A. Gore Jr. - 5 Ralph Nader -...

'Oldest star chart' found The oldest image of a star pattern, that of the famous constellation of Orion, has been recognised on an ivory tablet some 32,500 years old. The tiny sliver of mammoth tusk contains a carving of a man-like figure with arms and legs outstretched in the same pose as the stars of Orion. The claim is made by Dr Michael Rappenglueck, formerly of the University of Munich, who is already renowned for his pioneering work locating star charts painted on the walls of prehistoric caves. The tablet also contains mysterious notches, carved on its sides and...