Free Republic

The price of happiness depends a lot on where you live, according to a new report by the investment group Advisor Perspectives. The analysis is based on the now-famous work by Princeton researchers Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton, who found that higher incomes only make people happier to a point. Up to about $75,000 per year, the more a household earns, the happier people are. After that benchmark, however, additional income "buys life satisfaction but not happiness." The team separated these two issues by distinguishing fun from happiness. More money still leads people to have more life experiences and greater...

In its recently released report titled Beyond Red vs. Blue: The Political Typology, the Pew Research Center has provided conservatives an excellent opportunity to utilize their findings to specifically target our message and utilize resources wisely to capture disaffected Democratic Party voters. The report is one of the most comprehensive analysis of the trends and attitudes which drive the voting decisions of various subsets of the American public. In what will be the first of a running series, Dignitas News Service will provide an overview of the report as well as detailed explanation of the classifications of voter which Pew...

For the Journal of the American Revolution, Todd Andrlik compiled a list of the ages of the key participants in the Revolutionary War as of July 4, 1776. Many of them were surprisingly young: Marquis de Lafayette, 18 James Monroe, 18 Gilbert Stuart, 20 Aaron Burr, 20 Alexander Hamilton, 21 Betsy Ross, 24 James Madison, 25 This is kind of blowing my mind...because of the compression of history, I'd always assumed all these people were around the same age. But in thinking about it, all startups need young people...Hamilton, Lafayette, and Burr were perhaps the Gates, Jobs, and Zuckerberg of...

Happy Fourth of July, America! Never forget what Thomas Jefferson called “the Spirit of 1776” – a sentiment rooted in the abiding belief that all men are created equal and desire freedom. Reagan invoked that same spirit in his famous speech “A Time for Choosing” when he urged us not to “abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capitol can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves.” Today and every day, let’s remember the “Spirit of 1776” and celebrate Independence, not government! May that love of liberty burn...

We shoot two types of .270 Winchester (6.8mm) rounds at an AR500 Armor chest plate. The first is a "LEAD-FREE" California-compliant bronze tip round. I HEARD these rounds are armor-piercing. (unintended consequence of bad legislature that doesn't think things through?) The second round uses a "normal" ballistic-tipped 110 grain bullet that has and higher velocity than the lead-free round. Both rounds EXCEED the rating of a Level III plate. (sometimes called "Type III) A level III plate is rated for a .308 round going around 2800 FPS. How will this plate hold up to faster rounds that go beyond the...

Media Firestorm as Rick Perry Compares Homosexuality to Alcoholism By Julio Severo Texas Governor Rick Perry has caused a firestorm by comparing homosexuality to a disorder that people can avoid like alcoholism at an event in San Francisco. Rick Perry According to the San Francisco Chronicle, even though most of the event focused on economic issues, Perry was provocatively asked about the Texas Republican Party’s approval of platform language allowing Texans to seek voluntary counseling to leave the homosexual lifestyle. Perry responded to the question by saying that he did not know whether such so-called “reparative therapy” worked.  The...

Lesbian who murdered her former lover’s daughter, 2, and attempted to kill her son, 10, left a note explaining she was inspired to do it by a sermon in a homosexual church By Julio Severo Two weeks ago, a DailyMail report said that a Florida mental health counselor accused of murdering her lesbian lover’s two-year-old daughter wrote a note claiming a sermon by a lesbian pastor inspired the killing. Lesbian tragedy: Police say Kymberley Lucas, 40, (right) killed girlfriend Jacquelyn Jamason's (left) daughter Elliana (center) and tried to kill her ten-year-old son (lower right) Kimberly Lucas, 40, is accused...

US Embassy in Tel Aviv Makes History by Putting Homosexual Flag Under the American Flag By Julio Severo “For the first time in history,” said a Facebook post from U.S. Ambassador Dan Shapiro, “the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv has raised the Pride flag together with our American flag.” A photo attached to the social media announcement shows the homosexual flag flying directly beneath the American flag, a bold statement in a primarily Jewish and Muslim part of the world. In spite of its Christian cultural roots, the United States has shunned from defending Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Even...

Coming Soon? A More Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu and Less Christian America By Julio Severo There’s no doubt that the United States had a Christian beginning, first with the Pilgrim Fathers. Later, from the independence and on, America was a Protestant nation with Catholic and Jewish minorities. She was able consistently to keep this religious profile until the mid-20 century. America was seen as the most Protestant nation in the world, and U.S. missionaries often taught about the divine blessings on a predominantly Protestant nation. America was cherished by us, by the example and sermons of missionaries, as a nation...

Brazilian Nightmare: World Cup, Spanking and Abortion By Julio Severo For foreigners coming to Brazil for the World Cup, this mega-football event often spells “sex tourism.” But for Brazilians, it’s the old Roman appeasement politics of “bread and circuses.” Give football to Brazilians and they will forget their social and moral woes — at least for a while. The special reason the Brazilian government under socialist President Dilma Rousseff has staged the World Cup is for Brazilian to overlook the consequences of her ill-fated politics and planned woes. In the recent few days, with Brazil under the spell of...

 SEE: The GOP Establishment Wants to Run on Fixing -- Not Repealing – Obamacare ”In David Jolly's campaign, he didn't say "repeal" Obamacare. He said "fix" it. But the Republicans are taking this thing to, " No, no, no, no! He said to fix it." The Republican establishment obviously has a campaign game plan involving Obamacare, and it does not include repealing it, folks. The Republican establishment apparently doesn't want to campaign on repealing it. They want to campaign on fixing it.” What Rush Limbaugh may have missed and has been obvious to me from the very beginning is, when...

Definitions of words and idioms that mean something else in Illinois; posted as a public service to the consumers of news: ASIAN CARP: A destructive monster that devours everything in its path, and is therefore a terrible threat to its rival, the state government. AUTUMN: The hour or two in which summer gives way to winter. BAIL BOND: The criminal promises to pay if he doesn’t show up for trial, and the city promises to look the other way while he commits more crimes until then. BIKE ROUTE: Adding 20% to the cost of building a road, increasing the danger...

Obama Syndicate Assaulting Americans from every angle In order to effectively--and with as much certainty as is possible--decimate and destroy a country, its Middle Class must be thoroughly eradicated. The infamous Soviet-style Communist Saul Alinsky--mentor to Hillary Clinton who wrote her Senior thesis on him “There is Only the Fight…” at Wellesley College--wrote extensively about it in his book Rules for Radicals. Barack Hussein Obama is also an admirer of Alinsky and his work and actually taught ’the Alinsky Method’ to students during his days as a radical community organizer. In Rules for Radicals, Alinsky wrote that it would be...

O.K. I'm reaching out for help from people that I can trust. I need somebody with knowledge in Bankruptcy/Chapter 13 going to Chapter 7 and Real Estate Laws. My Girlfriend has the Family house and they are trying to take it. Her ONLY vehicle is also involved. I can't drive anymore so I have no vehicle. So if they take the truck She can't get to work, Doctors, etc. The only notice received at this time has been an E-Mail (from Her "Lawyer" who from what I know is basically USELESS) within the last hour. No Process Server, No Certified/Registered...

I’ve heard PRO and CON on Wounded Warrior Project. Does anyone know for sure?

Stagnative --- an individual who is opposed to any change, improvement or advancement simply because it was originally presented by an opposing political party, source or ideology an individual who's only opinion on a subject is to reject the opinion being presented an individual who does not have a direction but is sure that the one being suggested is wrong an individual who offers only criticisms, not solutions an intellectual Luddite "Why is Joe so dead set against health care reform? I thought he was going bankrupt from all his hospital bills." "Oh, well, its unfortunate, but he's a Stagnative."...

Fun Gun Reviews Presents: "3 Top Semi-Auto DA Pistols". Comparing the Sig P226, Sphinx SDP and the HK P30 pistols and thoughts about what places them at the top of the heap over lesser expensive handguns.

Left Silent as Muslim Cabbies Reject Gay Games Ads By Julio Severo According to FoxNews, 25 Muslim drivers dispatched to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport are refusing to drive cabs adorned with advertising for the Gay Games, which will be held on Aug. 9-16 in the region. The drivers said that their decision was based on their religious convictions. Ann Gynn, a spokeswoman for the Gay Games, said the protest is an “isolated” case, meaning that drivers of other religions (especially Christianity, considering that this religion is still dominant in the U.S.) did not complain about making involuntary propaganda for...

Just a few more definitions of words and idioms that mean something else in Illinois, posted as a public service to the consumers of news. Absentee Landlord: A landlord with sense. Bean: A huge fun-house mirror in downtown Chicago, providing tourists with the warped view of the business district that only lifelong Illinoisans come by naturally. Billy Club: An entertainment venue for billy goats. Billy Goat: A stadium’s pet peeve. (Alternate definition: Someone who uses a collar and leash for a purpose unusual for the neighborhood). Budget: Underestimated spending that you admit to. (Alternate definition: A justification for tax increases)....

Alpha Technology has a new development update and its Viper scrypt board seems to be making headway. The British ASIC maker said it has completed the schematics for the ATX power distribution board and of the AC power metering board. Those of the actual ASIC board are not complete yet, but Alpha said it is “almost” done. In addition, the company has finalised the design of the enclosure and WebGUI user interface. ... In any case, the advent of powerful and immensely efficient scrypt ASICs is not good news for GPU miners, as the ASICs will render GPU-based miners uncompetitive...