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FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq, Aug. 22, 2008 – Two Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers are the logistics staff officers for their respective brigade combat teams. While they serve their country in different locations, they have worked together as a team during the last 10 years. Army Majs. Dennis and Lesley Ortiz are reunited at Victory Base Complex in Baghdad on April 30, 2008. The Ortizes were married May 29, 1999, and have a 14-month old son, Dennis Jr., who stays with Lesley's mother while the military couple is deployed. Photo courtesy of Army Maj. Dennis Ortiz, Multinational Division Baghdad  (Click...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2008 – Letters a Minnesota couple has received thanking them for musical instruments they’ve sent to deployed troops show that just a simple note can change the atmosphere in the desert. Steve and Barb Baker, founders of Operation Happy Note, pose with a guitar that members of the 3rd Infantry Division signed and sent them after learning about Steve's wish to go to Iraq and hand out guitars. Operation Happy Note supplies deployed servicemembers with musical instruments. Photo courtesy of Operation Happy Note  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “The purpose of these … instruments is...

Envy surrounds no country on Earth like the state of Israel, and with good reason: by objective measures, Israel is the happiest nation on Earth at the 60th anniversary of its founding. It is one of the wealthiest, freest and best-educated; and it enjoys a higher life expectancy than Germany or the Netherlands. But most remarkable is that Israelis appear to love life and hate death more than any other nation. If history is made not by rational design but by the demands of the human heart, as I argued last week , the light heart of the Israelis in...

Why are conservatives happier than liberals?FROM CNN’s Jack Cafferty: Conservatives are happier than liberals. A study published in the journal “Psychological Science” says it’s because conservatives are better at rationalizing inequalities. Regardless of someone’s income, marital status or church attendance, people with right-wing ideologies report greater satisfaction with their lives than those with left-wing beliefs. Researchers found that conservatives also score highest when it comes to the ability to justify inequalities. For example, a conservative might support the idea of a meritocracy – that if you work hard and perform well, you’ll move up the economic ladder… and if you...

Older People Are Happy: Life Begins At 40 And 50 And 60 ScienceDaily (Feb. 18, 2008) — Growing old is a happier experience than many of us imagine - that’s according to the findings of a study conducted at Queen’s University, Belfast, on behalf of the Changing Ageing Partnership (CAP). The study, which was conducted by Dr John Garry from Queen’s University, looked at young people’s attitudes to happiness in old age and how these attitudes affect their current health-related behaviour. Dr Garry said: “We have all heard the saying ‘life begins at forty’. But it seems that many people,...

I like to laugh and what I think is funny is not funny to everyone but check this video out and let me know if you had a good laugh. Revski

For those of you who are Prager fans......Here is the rendition of his Happiness Hour Theme Song (Apples and Bananas by the Lawrence Welk Orchestra) with words written by Alan Miller. It is a lot of fun!

Other countries need to follow Bhutan's lead in promoting Gross National Happiness as a gauge of national wellbeing, a World Bank official told the Himalayan nation's state newspaper. Bhutan's former king Jigme Singye Wangchuck is famed for suggesting soon after he came to the throne in 1972 that Gross National Happiness was more important than Gross National Product in measuring national wealth and it has become the isolated kingdom's guiding development philosophy. "Bhutan has been translating this philosophy (of Gross National Happiness) into action on the ground, it has been practising what other countries need to do," Bhutan's Kuensel newspaper...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Democratic 2008 White House frontrunner Hillary Clinton says she is happy she stuck out it out with her husband, the 42nd president, through "challenges" in their marriage. Clinton said in an interview with the November issue of Essence magazine, that Bill Clinton is "so romantic" and recently brought her home a wooden giraffe from a trip to Africa. "I know the truth of my life and of my marriage, my relationship and partnership, my deep abiding friendship with my husband," Clinton said, according to excerpts of the interview on the magazine's website. "Now obviously, we've had challenges...

Combat Cooks Keep Marines Energized, Happy Food Service specialists make sure everyone at Observation Post Falcons and other outposts have hot chow in their bellies. By Lance Cpl. Ray Lewis 1st Marine Division OBSERVATION POST FALCONS, Iraq, Sept. 29, 2006 -- If the Marines can’t come to the mess hall, then the mess hall will have to come to the Marines.Food service specialists assigned to 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment set up a field-food facility so Marines can have a daily hot meal here.“If Marines don’t get a good meal, they don’t have the energy to complete their tasks,”...

FORT HUACHUCA — Darien Enyart was but a babe when his father held him just before he said farewell about a year ago. Wednesday morning, Sgt. James Enyart once again held Darien, who has turned from a wiggling infant to a walking, albeit with tentative steps, child. It was early in the morning when the 40th Signal Battalion noncommissioned officer marched into the Barnes Field House gymnasium with 93 other soldiers of Companies C and B of the 11th Signal Brigade battalion. Waiting in the crowd was his son, held by wife Danica. The boy was held aloft by his...

16th of June DEFEATING DEPRESSION PART 1 “Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad” Proverbs 12:25 Depression- from Webster’s New Unabridged Dictionary Low spirits, gloominess, dejection, sadness, a decrease in force, or activity, or amount, a decrease in functional activity. An emotional condition either normal or pathological characterized by discouragement, a feeling of inadequacy, the act of humbling abasement as a depression of pride. Abasement, reduction, sinking, fall, humiliation, dejection, melancholy. Major Depression Facts Major depression is the No.1 psychological disorder in the western world.(1) It is growing in all age groups,...

Today's news revealed that while the Minutemen patrol the border, the US Border Patrol are patrolling the Minutemen, and revealing their positions to the Mexican government. As noted in the Daily Bulletin article by Sara Carter "A US Customs and Border Protection spokesman confirmed the notification process, describing it as a standard procedure meant to reassure the Mexican government that migrants' rights are being observed." To repeat: instead of spending taxpayer time and money patrolling the border, our federal government is spending the time and money TO REASSURE THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT that MIGRANTS' RIGHTS ARE BEING OBSERVED. Somehow I doubt...

Did you know that God actually commands us to be joyful? Joy is not an option for a Christian, but must be a part of your daily life if you are to walk with God and grow spiritually. We are not only to rejoice when things are going well, but we are to rejoice at all times, even when things are going badly for us. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18  )4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. (Philippians...

The Pew Research Center recently updated a question about happiness that the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago has been asking since 1972. In every asking of the question, ROLL CALL reports, Republicans have been happier than Democrats.

Do You Want Your Kids to be Happy? February 28th, 2006 Last week the Pew Research Center released a poll indicating that Republicans are happier people than Democrats. I have often observed this phenomenon, so it was of particular interest to me. If you are thinking it’s because we currently occupy the White House, you would be wrong. The Center states Republicans have been the happiest people, even when a Democrat is in the White House. Could it be that we conservatives have a more positive world view? How about a more positive national view? A more positive view of...

WASHINGTON -- To bemused conservatives, it looks like yet another example of analytic overkill by the intelligentsia -- a jobs program for the (mostly liberal) academic boys (and girls) in the social sciences, whose quantitative tools have been brought to bear to prove the obvious. A survey by the Pew Research Center shows that conservatives are happier than liberals -- in all income groups. While 34 percent of all Americans call themselves ``very happy,'' only 28 percent of liberal Democrats (and 31 percent of moderate or conservative Democrats) do, compared to 47 percent of conservative Republicans. This finding is niftily...

Welcome to the Weekend Singles Thread Hi all.. I am going to start with just a few comments & a few graphics (begging for a caption). If you are home (bummer) and not out on a date tonight.. Please join us. Get acquainted. Be willing to stretch yourself & learn, love & smile. We aren‘t “hitting “ on each other. We are being friends. Friends help, love & make allowances. Ages/looks/weight etc are not important for our discussion. They are not you. YOU are the essence of your dreams, spirit & soul. Share a little with us tonight? Starting...

1/4/2006 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- An army marches on it stomach. Napoleon Bonaparte said, and believed, that in 1812. Truth is he might have been thinking more about the importance of a good supply line. But a visit to a military camp -- then or now -- would reveal that good eats and tasty treats are just as important to the troops. Get it wrong, and the troops are not happy. The Airmen of the 379th Expeditionary Services Squadron’s food service flight know that. It’s why they strives to provide the best variety of food -- meats, seafood, vegetables,...

'tax cuts for the rich'... blah,blah Iraq quagmire,blah,blah, worst economy since Hoover. blah,blah, hurting the middle class, blah, medicaire cuts,,blah, education cuts ,blah,blah cut cuts, blah,blah no exit strategy, blah,blah, endangered caribou blah, Halliburton, gas prices,evil corporations, blah,blah, middle class,blah,blah,poor, heating costs, energy assistance programs cuts poor, blah,blah, cuts,cuts, blah, spying on middle class Americans, blah, leaks, blah,blah, middle class, liveable wage, blah,blah, Bush's fault. the end.

WASHINGTON -- Personal and professional success may lead to happiness but may also engender success. Happy individuals are predisposed to seek out and undertake new goals in life and this reinforces positive emotions, say researchers who examined the connections between desirable characteristics, life successes and well-being of over 275,000 people. From a review of 225 studies in the current issue of Psychological Bulletin, published by the American Psychological Association (APA), lead author Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D., of the University of California, Riverside found that chronically happy people are in general more successful across many life domains than less happy people and...

The recipe for success: get happy and you will get ahead in life · Feeling good 'is cause, not effect, of achievement' · Same principle applies to nations, academics claim Kate Ravilious Monday December 19, 2005 The Guardian (UK) Happiness, rather than working hard, is the key to success, according to research published today. Cheerful people are more likely to try new things and challenge themselves, which reinforces positive emotion and leads to success in work, good relationships and strong health, say psychologists. The findings suggest that happiness is not a "feel good" luxury, but is essential to people's well...

The True Spirit of Xmas How 4/5 of the country became an oppressed minority Julian Sanchez It's a Christmas tradition as venerable as mistletoe and caroling: As the days grow shorter, conservative activists claiming to speak for American Christendom raise their voices, not for a rousing round of "Good King Wenceslaus," but to complain that the roughly 75 to 80 percent of Americans who profess allegiance to some denomination or another of Christianity constitute a cruelly oppressed minority. The kvetching is especially loud this year, with a spate of stories chronicling the outrage over a particularly insidious form of anti-Christian...

DALLAS - Carrie Rodgers is so engrossed by cable-television news shows that her husband calls her a news addict, but lately she has found another source to balance the onslaught of stories about war, crime and natural disasters. Two or three times a day, the 28-year-old insurance agent in Columbia, S.C., turns to a Web site called HappyNews.com. She often clicks first to a section called "Heroes," which recently featured stories about U.S. troops rescuing two cheetah cubs in Ethiopia and the induction of 12 people into the Hall of Fame for Caring Americans. "There's so much going on in...

The American socialist experiment By Charles F. Wickwire web posted September 2, 2002 On November 11, 1620, the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock. The ship lay at anchor until March, the pilgrims living onboard while permanent housing was being built. When the Mayflower finally left, 27 adults and 23 children were left of the 102 people who set out across the ocean. Their governor was William Bradford and under his leadership, these first Americans began to make a new life in the New World. What very few Americans today know is this very first colony on the shores of America...

November 1, 2005, Tuesday HAPPY ALL SAINTS DAY! In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of “word for the day”. Rules: Everyone must leave a post using the “word of the day”; in a sentence. The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day. Subbie Slip has her whip, handcuffs and legcuffs today. The rest of the stuff is locked up in my drawer. I’m just letting all the new students know that we behave as if we were ladies and gentlemen...

HADITHA DAM, Iraq (Sept. 19, 2005) -- With all of the military vehicle convoys traveling over Iraq’s roads, carrying troops and equipment, the drivers and mechanics aren’t the only ones keeping the motor transportation operation going – someone has to keep their fuel tanks full. Lance Cpl. Milton A. Gamez knows his job as a bulk fuel specialist with 7th Engineer Support Battalion attached to 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, is essential to completing the ongoing mission in Iraq. And it’s not as simple as one might think. He maintains up to 40,000 gallons of fuel at the fuel farm,...

U.S. Democrats demand conditions on Social Security Sat Aug 13,11:46 AM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - On the eve of Social Security's 70th anniversary, Democrats said on Saturday they are ready to move toward revamping the financially troubled retirement program but warned against stripping away benefits to retirees and relying on private accounts for funding. "We have a moral obligation to stand up and protect Social Security for the next 70 years and beyond -- that means stopping privatization and dropping partisan demands for private accounts," said Rep. John Salazar, a Colorado Democrat, in his response to President George W. Bush's...

Trigger-happy US troops 'will keep us in Iraq for years' By Sean Rayment (Filed: 15/05/2005) British defence chiefs have warned United States military commanders in Iraq to change their rules for opening fire or face becoming bogged down in a terrorist war for a decade or more. The Telegraph has learnt that the warning was issued last month in response to a series of incidents that led to the deaths of Iraqi civilians, mainly at checkpoints, after soldiers opened fire in the mistaken belief that they were being attacked by suicide bombers. US soldiers secure the site of an explosion...

God Wants You to be Happy: Series We are kicking off a new series based on the preaching of Warren Coe, Senior pastor as South Suburban Evangelical Free Church. The title of the Series is “God wants you to be Happy” and it is based on Psalms 1:1-6. Of course if you know Warren, it will be filled with references to other scripture so get your Bible ready to move at lightning speed (the beauty of the internet is that you can go slowly if you want also). For the complete series, go here... http://qandablog.typepad.com/questions_and_answers/2005/04/god_wants_you_t.html

An emailed New Year photo of naked people contains a nasty shock - a worm that will turn off security protection and harvest email addresses Antivirus companies have unearthed a computer worm that hides behind an image of naked people. According to antivirus company Sophos, the naughty New Year photo message contains a mass-mailing worm, dubbed Wurmark-D, that is programmed to disable security software on host computers and send itself to email addresses stored there. "Once activated, this worm will harvest your computer hunting for other email addresses to send itself to and try and turn off antivirus software," said...

Allow me to be the first Jew to say to you "Merry Christmas." Not "season's greetings." Not "happy holidays." Merry Christmas. Nothing added, nothing taken away. Once, not so long ago, the chief challenge for Christians at this time of year was putting Christ back into Christmas -- reminding the faithful that Christmas isn't just about egg nog and presents, but that it was a celebration of the Christian God and his birth. Today, of course, the battle isn't to keep Christ in Christmas -- it's to keep Christmas at all. Foremost in the war to deracinate anything Christian in...

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The Arab world is all one big happy family again. OK, dysfunctional, but happy. No, well, unhappy and as twisted as usual. While visiting Kuwait today, Palestinian presidential front-runner, Mahmoud Abbas, apologized for his people’s support of Saddam’s invasion of the Gulf emirate in 1990. Isn’t that special? (remember Dana Carvey as the “Church Lady” on SNL?). This happened just after Kuwait’s sultans (or whatever they’re called) forgave the Palestinian people for supporting Saddam’s invasion. Kuwait’s leadership went so far as to say they didn’t even expect a public apology for Palestinian support of the 1990 war. Now, isn’t that...

This Thanksgiving my son and daughter in law gave us a surprise present--a sonogram of our grandchild to be. Suddenly, the urge to knit was triggered. I love to do it but haven't for some years, after I'd made dozens of coats and sweaters for every man, woman and child of my acquaintance. A frenzied search through the house for saved patterns, yarns, and knitting tools ensued, as well as a search for yet more. (Perhaps you have to be a knitter to understand, but no matter the size of the stash, there's always need for more.) After ordering the...

Even after Pennsylvania's other senator, Catholic and self-described pro-life senator Rick Santorum, endorsed pro-abortion Arlen Specter in the primary instead of a pro-life challenger -- which Santorum said he did because only Specter could win the actual election, thus ensuring a GOP majority in the Senate and more pro-life judges ... Even after the President used his political capital to get Specter elected -- which Specter repaid by not campaigning at all for Bush and not exactly crying for justice when Kerry/Specter for Working Families signs showed up in SE Pennsylvania ... Even after pro-life workers spent countless hours campaigning...

Religious group objects to "Happy Birthday" songs

Happy (campaign) trails! As if John Kerry didn’t already have enough campaign trail troubles... now he and the missus were caught having a shouting match, which ended in separate hotel rooms for the night. Here’s an excerpt from DRUDGE :"Democrat presidential hopeful John Kerry and his wife got into a heated argument after a campaign rally in Arizona Sunday night -- a heated argument so hot they spent the night in different rooms! A well-placed law enforcement source tells DRUDGE how Kerry and Teresa Heinz moved to separate suites at Flagstaff's Little America Hotel." Yeah, yeah... but did she...

If you wanna be happy For the rest of your life, Never make a pretty woman your wife, So from my personal point of view, Get an ugly girl to marry you. A pretty woman makes her husband look small And very often causes his downfall. As soon as he marries her Then she starts to do The things that will break his heart. But if you make an ugly woman your wife, You'll be happy for the rest of your life, An ugly woman cooks her meals on time, She'll always give you peace of mind. Don't let your...

Bush rolls out big gun to keep heartland happy By Alec Russell in Sioux Falls (Filed: 29/03/2004) Outside America, Vice-President Dick Cheney is widely seen as a shadowy front man for corporate interests and an arch, even sinister, hawk. This view was reinforced last week when he led a full-frontal assault on Richard Clarke, President George W Bush's former counter-terrorism adviser, who had challenged the administration's record against al-Qa'eda. Dick Cheney is being used by Bush to batter opponents With controversies brewing over Mr Cheney's old company, Halliburton, which the Pentagon has accused of overcharging for supplies in Iraq, Democrats...

LONDON (Reuters) - A game of darts or a packet of peanuts are what most British pubs sell customers to go with their beer, but one landlord is offering them something rather more lasting -- a final resting place. Regulars at the Church Inn need not leave their favorite drinking spot even when their time on Earth is up, because landlord Julian Taylor has turned a field next door into a cemetery. "The idea came about when my dad was ill," said Taylor, who bought the country pub near the northern city of Manchester 11 years ago. "We are in...

It's has just turned January 1 2004 over here! So Happy New Year to all of you!

This Thanksgiving, let's all pause for a moment to count the many blessings that the Good Lord has bestowed upon us and our great nation. Here's one...

The Turkey shot out of the oven and rocketed into the air, it knocked every plate off the table and partly demolished a chair. It ricocheted into a corner and burst with a deafening BOOM, then splattered all over the kitchen, completely obscuring the room. It stuck to the walls and the windows, it totally coated the floor, there was turkey attached to the ceiling, were there'd never been turkey before. It blanketed every appliance, it smeared every saucer and bowl, there wasn't a way I could stop it, that turkey was out of control. I scraped and I scrubbed...

Anybody who has ever owned a swimming pool knows that before you buy one, no one visits. But as soon as you get one, a stream of smiling friends shows up at your door, towels and suntan lotion in hand. The state's Latinos had a similar experience recently when a smiling Gov. Davis showed up at their doors, pen in hand, promising to sign a bill that would allow illegal immigrants to have driver's licenses. Davis had twice vetoed similar bills, stinging many Latino activists who supported it. Yet less than a year later, as Davis is apparently on his...

PETA (people for the ethical treatment of animals) has done some outrageous things in the name of getting more donations, so they can keep their jobs and organization viable. Things like writing and publicizing a letter to Yassir Arafat asking him to make sure that he sees to it that the next suicide bomber not set off his bomb near animals, and just aim to kill people. PETA is also famous for offering various cities across the globe 10 to 15 thousand dollars to change their name from Hamburg to a more vegetable sounding name. PETA people have even attacked...

<p>Re "Living with Proposition 13," June 1-3: The issues are fairly simple. Proposition 13 was enacted because many people bought a home and then found themselves in a spiral of ever-increasing property taxes, levied by governmental bodies whose motivation was "growth is good." Existing property owners were forced to finance most of the "growth," and many were unable to afford to keep their own homes. After Proposition 13, politicians were forced to "pay as you go" for new ventures in nonemergency spending, a basically sound budgetary practice.</p>

Buddhists really are happy, calm and serene people -- at least according to their brain scans. Using new scanning techniques, neuroscientists have discovered that certain areas of the brain light up constantly in Buddhists, which indicates positive emotions and good mood. This happens at times even when they are not meditating. "We can now hypothesize with some confidence that those apparently happy, calm Buddhist souls one regularly comes across in places such as Dharamsala, India, really are happy," said Prof. Owen Flanagan of Duke University, in a report in New Scientist magazine. Dharamsala is the home base of exiled Tibetan...

A big party wound its way through the city's streets as an estimated 8,000 people from the Pioneer Valley and around New England took part in the 22nd gay pride march.