Free Republic

Americans are pretty happy compared with the rest of the world. That’s according to the latest World Happiness Report, published Monday, which ranked the United States 15th on the list of the world’s happiest countries in 2023, up from 16th place in 2022. The report compiled data from more than 150 countries on average life satisfaction, and findings offer some good news for a world struggling with a years-long pandemic. “Average happiness and our country rankings, for emotions as well as life evaluations, have been remarkably stable during the three COVID-19 years,” said John Helliwell, an editor of the report,...

A man wakes up in the hospital bandaged from head to foot. The doctor comes in and says, "Ah, I see you've regained consciousness. Now, you probably won't remember, but you were in a huge pile-up on the freeway. You're going to be okay, you'll walk again and everything, however, your penis was severed in the accident and we couldn't find it."... The man groans, but the doctor goes on, "You have $9000 in insurance compensation coming and we now have the technology to build a new penis. They work great but they don't come cheap. It's roughly $1000 an...

President Joe Biden canceled his planned speech to the State Department on Monday after the Washington, DC, area received two inches of snow. Biden was scheduled to address State Department staff with his Secretary of State Tony Blinken.

California's prison system, once a model for the world, now is a hellish morass facing possible takeover by a federal judge. Yesterday Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called lawmakers into a special session to ponder his plan to essentially borrow and build the state's way out of the mess. It is too little, and it may be too late. Before we get to the problems, it is important to note what is right about the governor's plan. For openers, he wants to build two or more prisons. With 172,000 criminals housed in a system designed for 100,000, we need more prisons, period....

Thousands Marooned by Blizzard at Airports 15 minutes ago By THEO EMERY, Associated Press Writer Residents dig out as a blizzard dumps some two feet of snow in the area, Sunday, Jan. 23, 2005, in Boston. Whiteout conditions grounded airplanes and sent fleets of plow and salt trucks trundling through snow-clogged roadways before the storm began to ebb at midday.(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer) BOSTON - A howling blizzard slammed the Northeast on Sunday with more than 2 feet of snow and hurricane-strength wind gusts, halting air travel for thousands of people, keeping others off slippery highways and burying parked cars under...