Free Republic

Like many of my Tea Party/ conservative/ liberterian friends, I am, slowly learning what surviving Obama is going to look like. I'm trying to recall when I last felt so badly as on the date of Nov. 6th, 2012 (may it live in infamy!). It was a deep sense of loss. Hmmm, probably such as when I found that the local Humane Society had 'done away' with my little dog Juanita Florinda, a glossy blondish cocker spaniel. I had waited a day too late to return for her. Boy did I grieve. I was grateful no one saw a tears....

The most emotionless society is Singapore's despite its reputation for being among the world's richest, a new survey has revealed. Gallup looked at 150 countries where about 1,000 residents were asked whether they experienced five positive and five negative emotions a lot during the course of a day. The results were based on interviews taken over a three-year period. Questions included whether people felt well-rested or enjoyment, smiled and laughed or felt worry, sadness, stress or anger. The 36% in Singapore who reported feeling anything is the lowest in the world, the Washington-based research and analytics organization found. This figure...

In the new millennium Western militaries spend a great deal of their resources on training and arming uniformed professionals for the instrumental rigours of operational service. Most modern armed forces equip their personnel with the latest body armour, the best protected vehicles and the most sophisticated counter-explosive electronics, as well as expending millions of dollars acquiring the most advanced medical services for those physically wounded or maimed. Much less time is devoted to providing military personnel with existential or inner armaments—with the mental armour and philosophical protection that is necessary to confront an asymmetric enemy who abides by a different...