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We have a TIE from Round 2 to BREAK! #3 1983 "Flashdance... What a Feeling" Irene Cara versus#5 1983 "Beat It" Michael Jackson

ROUND 2 of the greatest hits of the '80s begins! Due date: Sunday, Feb 8 @6:00 pm (Eastern) Had to cut short the Round 1, as the response wasn't enough. Will try weekly rounds from now on. This Round takes the top 6 songs of each year of the '80s, and pairs them in brackets along with the best #7s as voted in Round 1.

OK, FREEPERS, LET'S START THIS CONTEST FOR THE GREATEST SONG OF THE '80S. The baseline for the contest is the top 7 hits of each year of the '80s, as compiled by BILLBOARD. This is not based on personal preferences, biases, prejudices, or counter-culture reactivity. The rules in general will be to vote for everything shown. No equivocating, ties, or omissions. Votes will only be counted if the "ballot" is complete. ROUND 1 We begin by using the #7 songs of each year and paring them from 10 songs to 4 (to set up brackets for the rest of the...

What does everyone think of a music play-off bracket-type poll for best songs of the '80s?

Saddam, the bomb and me Mahdi Obeidi NYT Tuesday, September 28, 2004 Iraq's nuclear program While the final report from Charles Duelfer, the top American inspector of Iraq's covert weapons programs, won't be released for a few weeks, the portions that have already been made public touch on many of the experiences I had while working as the head of Saddam Hussein's nuclear centrifuge program. Now that I am living in the United States, I hope to answer some of the most important questions that remain. What was really going on in Iraq before the American invasion last year? Iraq's...

FAS | Nuke | Guide | Iraq | CW |||| Index | Search | Join FAS Chemical Weapons Programs Iraq started research into the production of chemical weapons agents in the 1970s and started batch production of agents in the early 1980s. At that stage, production was heavily reliant on the import of precursor chemicals from foreign suppliers. In 1982, early in the Iran-Iraq War, the Iraqis used riot control agents to repel Iranian attacks. They progressed to the use of CW agents in mid-1983 with mustard, and in March 1984 with tabun (the first use ever of a nerve...

Think back to 1984 and 1994.You got to admit they were some of the best days of our lives.In 1984,we had President Reagan,the dawn of wonderful 80's,for many who are now in their 40's,50's&60's.It was their happiest times.And the good times just kept on coming with the Bush/Clinton years.The 90's were a never ending party,great economy,great music&memorable Presidential Scandals.Who wouldn't give up Pizza&Burgers to go back to either decade and Stay There!And here we are 20/30 years later and who would of ever thought they would see the day when we had a {Fill In The Blank}As President of the...

Pics at link of 80s artists now...

40th U.S. President Ronald Reagan aims a rifle from a window onboard Air Force One; circa 1983

Long-simmering tensions between the current members of Cheap Trick and the band’s absentee drummer, Bun E. Carlos, appear to be boiling over into the courtroom. Carlos, a founding member of Cheap Trick, remained a fixture of the lineup until March 2010, when the band released a statement announcing that he “is not currently the touring drummer for Cheap Trick. Bun E. remains a band member. Everyone is healthy and Cheap Trick will continue to tour as planned.” While that made it sound like Carlos’ absence was temporary, he’s remained in exile, even during the band’s sporadic forays into the studio....

Pop star SIMON LE BON has urged Westerners to gain a level of "perspective" over the economic slump, insisting problems in Europe and the U.S. are minimal compared to the issues facing Africa. The Duran Duran frontman has spoken out to share his views on the global recession and admits he is baffled by complaints from affluent families who need to tighten their belt. He tells The Times, "We have to put this economic slump into perspective. Even though the recession might be tough on us in the West, we have to get through it and should remember how people...

April 14, 1999, Wednesday COMMITTEE HEARING SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS: SUBCOMMITTEE ON NEAR EASTERN AND SOUTH U.S. SENATOR SAM BROWNBACK (R-KS) HOLDS HEARING ON THE CRISIS IN AFGANISTAN  WASHINGTON, D.C. SPEAKERS: U.S. SENATOR SAM BROWNBACK (R-KS), CHAIRMAN U.S. SENATOR JOHN ASHCROFT (R-MO) U.S. SENATOR GORDON H. SMITH (R-OR) U.S. SENATOR ROD GRAMS (R-MN) U.S. SENATOR CRAIG THOMAS (R-WY) U.S. SENATOR PAUL DAVID WELLSTONE (D-MN), RANKING MEMBER U.S. SENATOR ROBERT G. TORRICELLI (D-NJ) U.S. SENATOR PAUL S. SARBANES (D-MD) U.S. SENATOR CHRISTOPHER J. DODD (D-CT) U.S. REPRESENTATIVE DANA ROHRABACHER (R-CA) THE HONORABLE KARL F. INDERFURTH ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR SOUTH ...

The DeLorean returns back from the future as a monster truck If Marty McFly and Doc Brown were ever to reunite for a sequel to Back to the Future III, the old time traveling DeLorean would need an upgrade of some sort to justify the ticket. How about adding 44-inch tires to a DeLorean and converting it into a monster truck? That'll do! While the DeLorean Motor Company is busy producing electric DeLoreans for a 2013 release, one DeLorean easily bested all others at the 2012 DeLorean Car Show & Convention in Orlando, Florida. What you have here is a...

Man Ordered to Dance “Moonwalk” at Gunpoint, Police Say Just remember always to think twice before ordering someone to dance the “moonwalk” at the barrel of a gun. An Idaho man has been hit with a felony assault charge for allegedly forcing another man to perform Michael Jackson’s signature “moonwalk” while having a rifle pointed at him, the Bonner County Daily Bee reported. Police accused John Ernest Cross, 30, of using an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle while issuing the bizarre order to mimic a dance the late King of Pop debuted back in 1983. Cross said during an initial court appearance...

Gallery: Familiar-yet-alien Soviet arcade games While playing Centipede (don't judge) at my local mall in the '80s, it never occurred to me that somewhere behind the soon-to-fall Iron Curtain there would be some punk playing the Soviet version of arcade games as well. Hell yeah they were! Now, thanks to two nostalgic Muscovites who remembered their days of playing "Sea Battle," there is an entire museum full of these Soviet-era games. The story of the Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines is so cool we couldn't make this up if we tried. Let's talk about the games first. Soviet classics Sea...

'My Dinner With Andre' Movie Review: One Of A Kind For Good Reason

Sudan is a kind of diabolical Groundhog Day. In the film by that name, Phil Connors (Bill Murray) re-lives the same day over and over again until he learns the lessons needed to change his life and save the lives of others. In Sudan today, people of the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile State are re-living the horrific nightmare from which they thought they had finally awakened after the signing of Sudan’s 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement. But in this case, it is the United States government that has failed to learn the lessons needed to change conditions and save the...

Even when he's got a drink he STILL doesn't look happy!

When Ronald Reagan was elected President of the United States in 1980, I was 32 years old. I was frustrated with my initial experiences in the world of business, not in small measure because of the previous four years of The Carter Malaise and the sense that my first hand experience of the political perfidy that pervaded the end of The VietNam War had somehow become part and parcel of American foreign policy and military strategy. To be a cog in the machine of the late 70’s economy was to be constantly in motion, always under pressure and sorely lacking...

Martin Rushent, producer of The Human League's "DARE", the Go-Go's "TALK SHOW" and producer of 1980s acts such as Ultravox, Buzzcocks and Spandau Ballet, died yesterday at age 63.