Free Republic

I suppose I'm a bad woman -- by today's standards that is. For some reason, I take absolutely no pride in the accomplishments of women per se. I am utterly uninspired by first women astronauts or Secretaries of State. It is of no consequence to me what percentage of the United States Senate or House of Representatives shares my chromosomes. I don't wait with gnawing impatience for America to pass the milestone of needing a fellow to fill the post of First Gentleman. This is not to say that I resent or disparage female accomplishment. I admire excellence wherever...

Many have spent long hours wondering if a marriage is going to last, considering things like love, children, taxes, and the opinion of friends and professionals. But the best and easiest answer may be this formula: frequency of lovemaking minus frequency of quarrels A positive difference predicts marital happiness, a negative one unhappiness. The formula was derived from a series of studies in the 1970s. One study of married students at University of Missouri-Kansas City found that 28 out of 30 self-described happy couples had sex more than they argued, while all 12 self-described unhappy couples argued more. These results...

Gallup Inc. asked roughly 1,000 people in each of 148 countries the following questions: Did you feel well-respected yesterday? Were you treated with respect all day yesterday? Did you laugh or smile a lot yesterday? Did you learn or do something interesting yesterday? Did you experience the following feelings during a lot of the day yesterday? How about enjoyment? Here are the 10 the countries where the highest percentage of people answered "yes" to all five questions, and the nine countries with the lowest percentages: HAPPIEST Panama, 85 percent Paraguay, 85 percent El Salvador, 84 percent Venezuela, 84 percent Trinidad...

12 Things You Should Be Able to Say About Yourself You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough. - Mae West You know you’re on the right track when you can repeat each of the following headlines to yourself, honestly. (And if you can’t, this list gives you something positive to work on.) 1. I am following my heart and intuition. Don’t be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams. Live the life you want to live. Be the person you want to remember years from now. Make decisions and act on them....

It's Amazing How Much More Optimistic People Are In Asia Frank Holmes, U.S. Global InvestorsSeptember 10, 2012 After Mario Draghi announced the European Central Bank’s new bond buying program, I was the first guest on CNBC Asia’s Squawk Box to weigh in on this decision. I reiterated my stance that the endgame for Europe would be to print money, which will eventually lead to currency wars. These actions are positive for gold and also for increased economic activity. See another conversation on ECB and gold with Squawk Box here. China too has kept investors on the edge of their seats,...

The setting is the quiet corner of an Italian restaurant in the City; the players are George, an IT specialist, and Zoe, who wears a pretty dress and a big smile; they drink an especially good bottle of wine and when they get to coffee he reaches over and kisses her on the mouth. She surprises him by kissing him back. To onlookers it might be the classic opening scene of a traditional romance. Yet both parties are married to other people, whom they have no intention of leaving. Although they will go on to enjoy all the spoils of...

President Obama asks Do we go forward towards a “new” (actually stogy old) vision of an America in which prosperity is shared (in actual socialist practice, destroyed)? There is a law of classical Newtonian physics which states that “Matter can neither be created nor destroyed.” But “prosperity” is not a thing, is not matter. Prosperity is the successful pursuit of happiness. Prosperity is a process rather than a thing. The pursuit of happiness can be prevented, just as the rights to life and liberty can be violated. But as Newt Gingrich put it, the Declaration of Independence did not...

to brighten your day and move your mindset in a positive direction. Smile every chance you get. Not because life has been easy, perfect, or exactly as you had anticipated, but because you choose to be happy and grateful for all the good things you do have and all the problems you know you donÂ’t have.Never let a bad day make you feel like you have a bad life.Tell the negativity committee that meets inside your head to sit down and shut up. (Read Learned Optimism.)A bad attitude is like a flat tire, you canÂ’t get very far until you...

Americans now tilt "pro-life" by nine-point margin, 50% to 41%

For the second year in a row, 24/7 Wall St. examined the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s report on life satisfaction in the developed world. Economic prosperity, health and a strong social support network continue to correspond highly with happiness. Once again, the United States fails to make the top 10 happiest nations in the world, while countries like Australia, Israel and all of the Scandinavian nations do. The OECD measured more than 30 sets of data in 11 different categories, including education, health and employment. The study also asked residents of each country to rank, on a scale...

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my...

You can be right, or you can be married; take your pick. I can’t remember who told me that, but I do remember that they were only half-joking. The other half, the serious half, is exceedingly important. This is why. Many therapists aren’t crazy about doing marital therapy. It’s complicated and messy, and it often feels out of control. In the worst case scenario, the therapist has front row seats to a regularly-scheduled prize fight. But I love to do marital therapy. Why? Maybe I enjoy the work because I keep one simple principle in mind: if marriage is going...

Culture Challenge of the Week:  Finding A Good Man Call it the lament of the young, single woman: there are no good men left. Or if there are, where are they? And how can a young woman pursue a healthy, marriage-minded relationship in a singles culture of casual sex and perpetual adolescence? In her new book, The Jane Austen Guide to Happily Ever After (Regnery Publishing, 2012), Elizabeth Kantor provides some answers. She writes, “Of course it’s no secret that modern mating rituals have gone badly wrong.” And indeed they have: the number of cohabitating couples has doubled in the...

The world needs a new economic model based around “gross global happiness” rather than simply making money, according to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Ban, speaking at a meeting organized by the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan called “Happiness and Well-being: Defining a New Economic Paradigm”, said social and environmental factors should be considered, a statement posted on a United Nations website said. “Gross National Product has long been the yardstick by which economies and politicians have been measured. Yet it fails to take into account the social and environmental costs of so-called progress,” Ban told at the meeting at U.N....

Part Two: Happiness: The first three Beatitudes PETER KREEFTChrist proposes a vision of happiness which is the exact opposite of what everyone in the post-Christian West assumes to be the sources of the greatest happiness in life. Blessed are the Poor in Spirit We say how blessed we are as individuals or as a nation when we have wealth. He says no, you are blessed when you are poor. Poor not only in your bank account, but even more than that, not less, poor down to the depths of your heart, poor in spirit, detached from riches, whether you are physically...

This is my first youtube about a very effective,simple and perfect way to overcome the negative stresses of living in an almost totally socialist nation. It is being used widely by our troopers now and can be heard for free! Please listen.

If you've ever wanted to be as good a person as your dog thinks you are but feared you'd never reach your dog's standards, Think Again. Recently, when speaking before the Rotary Club of Aspen, one of more than 33,000 Rotary clubs worldwide, I discovered a treasure trove of virtue — they're called Rotarians. As if powdered slopes beckon, dozens of Aspen's most respected and engaged residents rise early on Thursdays to enjoy breakfast, social networking and a guest speaker. Most important, they uphold an important American ethic — they ask not what their country can do for them but...

Hello and happy Holy Days to all! I hope it is okay to post this today, as I am sitting here in my room in Rowland Heights, a good looking never been married man of 49, by myself on Christmas day. Although I am perfectly happy by myself, it would be so nice to share this and many other days with a bright and cute woman of the same conservative ideals that I have! Maybe this thread can be a beginning point for other FR sinlges to someday meet and get to know each other?

Parker Brothers made millions of dollars marketing the table game Monopoly. It takes two to three hours to play a round of the game. Its history can be traced back to 1904 where it was developed as a teaching tool to explain the single tax theory. Poker is a game where betting begins with some form of forced bet by one of the players. Each player is betting that the hand he has will be the highest ranked. Each of the other players must either match the maximum previous bet or fold. Both games include one striking similarity . ....