SATURDAY 13th JULY 2013 07:18 BST

AVAILABLE FOR KINDLE DOWNLOAD, DOCUMENT DOWNLOAD AND AUDIOBOOK - EMOTIONAL MANAGEMENT FOR ORDINARY FOLK

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1. THIS DAY IN WORLD WAR 2 (13th July 1943)
On the Russian Front...
Operation Citadel - The Battle of Kursk:
Despite heavy losses, Soviet 5th Guards Tank Army halts German 4th Panzer Army around Prokhorovka
Elements of German 9th Army begin withdrawing from northern shoulder of Kursk salient to reinforce the Orel salient

Soviet 11th Guards Army push back German 2nd Panzer Army in the Orel salient.

In Germany...
Manstein and Kluge meet with Hitler to discuss Operation Citadel at the Wolfsschanze. Despite objections from Manstein, Hitler orders Operation Citadel halted and divisions made ready for transfer to the west.

In Sicily...
American AA fire mistakenly shoots down 11 transport aircraft flying British paratroopers to Catania area
British 1st Parachute Brigade lands at Primosole bridge
British No. 3 Commando lands and captures Malati bridge
British 8th Army attacking around Vizzini and Lentini
US 7th Army captures Licodia and Monterosso and pushes toward Agrigento
Allied aircraft begin operating from captured airfields
RN monitor Erebus bombards Catania

In the Mediterranean...
US vessel Timothy Pickering heavily damaged by Luftwaffe aircraft and scuttled
Italian submarine Nereide sunk by RN destroyers
Italian vessel Stefano Galleano sunk by Free Dutch submarine Dolfijn
Italian vessel Filippo sunk by RN submarine Trespasser
Italian submarine Acciaio sunk by RN submarine Unruly
In the Atlantic...
U-607 sunk by RAF aircraft in the Bay of Biscay
U-487 sunk by USN aircraft from auxiliary carrier Core

In the Caribbean...
French West Indies defects from Vichy to join the Free French

In the Pacific...
Battle of Kolombangara: USN Task Group 36.1 with three light cruisers and ten destroyers intercepts Japanese warships transporting reinforcements to Kolombangara Island. USN cruisers Honolulu and St Louis and RNZN cruiser Leander are damaged by Japanese torpedoes. USN destroyer Gwin is badly damaged by a torpedo and scuttled. USN destroyers Woodworth and Buchanan are damaged in a collision. IJN cruiser Jintsu sunk by Allied cruisers and destroyers and destroyer Yukikaze is damaged. IJN destroyers land 1200 reinforcements at Sandfly Harbor on Kolombangara Island.
...The Japanese win a strategic victory as the American interception failed at heavy cost to destroy the Japanese force or prevent the reinforcement. However, Japanese attention was diverted from New Georgia Island and the Japanese were deterred from the further use of ships in Kula Gulf to access their bases.

US 43rd Infantry Division attacks toward Munda on New Georgia Island, with heavy air support from US AirSols.

In New Guinea...
US MacKechnie Force, with heavy air support, clears Mubo and the Japanese withdraw from the area.

In Singapore...
Subhas Chandra Bose reorganizes the Indian Independence League to form the nucleus of a Free India government.

Today's Air Raids...
Aachen, Germany by RAF Bomber Command
Northern France RAF Fighter patrols
Hull, England by the Luftwaffe
Crotone Airfield, Italy by USAAF
Ballale in the Shortland Islands, Kahili on Bougainville Island and Buka airfield on Buka Island by US 5th Air Force

2. TODAY IN MY LIFE
Blogging
Missus Time
Shift 2 of the Weekend Job
Missus Time

Twitter Followers = 1,672 (up 1)
Nonfollowed eliminated = 0
Unfollowers eliminated = 0

3. TODAY'S SELF-OBSERVATION
I have been reminded that by default I am a negative thinker, so very tight thought management is a vital daily discipline for me. However, successful employment of such discipline over the last few years has and continues to produce excellent results! I have taken full control of my choices, expelled negative influences from my personal life and enjoy a blissful home life.

Embracing uncertainty as a lifestyle choice has paid off hansomely in personal happiness, but requires daily renewal. I have learned that you must accept that a negative default tends to be lifelong, so the disciplines to prevent reversion to that default must also be lifelong. Daily disciplines are lifesavers!

For me, the most important discipline is mindfulness, keeping your consciousness with the observer/player rather than the character I play. Meditation is also critically important, as that maintains my ability to practise mindfulness. Finally, I make regular affirmation of my chosen purpose, to make a positive difference to myself, others and the environment.

In short, in every sense, I intend to keep clean and useful!

4. TODAY'S QUESTION FOR YOU
Are you clear in your own mind why you are doing what you're doing?

5. TODAY'S WEATHER IN BRADFORD
Dry, sunny and warm.
Clouding over during the evening but remaining warm and dry.
Cloudy overnight.
A moderate north-westerly wind will slowly ease to negligible over the evening.
Max Temp = 25 degC
Min Temp = 15 degC
Sunrise at 04:52
Sunset at 21:33

6. TODAY'S ONELINER
When my Thai girlfriend said a small penis didn't bother her, I said it certainly bothered me - she shouldn't have ANY penis! : D

7. NOW THAT'S FUNNY!
The utterly unique Ginger and Black on Russell Howard's Good News

8. TRIVIA
 The sun contains 99.85% of the mass in the solar system

9. ZEN WISDOM
The sweetness of a life well lived can only be savoured when our life has a great purpose