SUNDAY 29th SEPTEMBER 2013 10:10 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 (29th September 1943)
On the Russian Front...
Soviet Steppe Front captures Kremenchug, on the banks of the Dniepr river

In the Black Sea... 
Soviet vessel Dunaj 2 is sunk by a mine

In Southern Albania....
German forces conduct a major anti-partisan offensive

On Corsica...
Free French and Resistance forces advance towards Bastia

In Italy...
US 5th Army attacks toward Naples and Avellino
A fierce storm sinks USN LCT-342 and damages several other LCTs as well as dozens of smaller landing craft blown ashore around Salerno 
German forces conduct an offensive against the Italian resistance in Naples
The Gestapo round up Jews in Rome for deportation to Auschwitz

Malta...
General Eisenhower and Marshal Badoglio sign the official terms of surrender of Italy aboard RN battleship HMS Nelson

In the English Channel...
Minelaying by Kriegsmarine vessels  

In the Pacific...
Japanese vessel Akashi Maru sunk by USN submarine Bluefish off the East Indies

In New Guinea...
Australian 20th Infantry Brigade attack towards Salamaua against fierce Japanese opposition 

In Saigon, Indochina...
Japanese vessel Teia Maru arrives to embark more US internees for exchange in Portuguese India 

In the Indian Ocean...
Norwegian vessel Banffshire is sunk by U-532 

Today's Air Raids...
Bochum and Gelsenkirchen, Germany by RAF Bomber Command
Myitkyina and Sadon, Burma by USAAF


2. TODAY IN MY LIFE
The Milk Run
Blogging
Ironing
Missus marital time
Lunch
Meditation/Me Time
Missus Time


Twitter Followers = 1,674 (down 1)
Nonfollowed eliminated = 0
Unfollowers eliminated = 1
New Followers = 0

3. TODAY'S SELF-OBSERVATION
For the second time in a row I required the 7am alarm - most unusual for me! I clearly needed the extra sleep, possibly because of too much thinking. I have been rather distracted from my goal of zero unnecessary thinking in the past couple of weeks. I intend to renew focus on this from today.

Emptying the mind is a requirement of spiritual development, as you cannot view the universe from a higher and liberated perspective if your mind is full of crap. For me it's more than that - it's a mental health necessity. My default thought patterns are so dark and sociopathic that I am a danger to myself and others if I have no self-awareness. 

If my thought is not strictly and consciously managed, it inevitably lapses into a dark and destructive mode. My intention of course is the opposite, so to achieve that intention, rigorous mind-management is absolutely crucial to the wellbeing of myself and others.

I do not wish to banish the "Dark Side" entirely - it is a highly effective defensive weapon that has made my lot better, particularly at the Weekend Job, but I must have the ability to turn it off. In the past, guilt was the restraint, but that of course cripples your life and makes you ill, so I have effectively eradicated it from my life. Instead, I turn off thought.

One of the most liberating discoveries I have made is that thoughts are not "who I am" but things that happen to me internally. For much of my life I simply don't need thought at all - intuition is a much better governor of behaviour. Recent events have reminded me that disengaging thought is not just a good spiritual discipline but a mental health necessity in my case, and I shall consequently renew my pursuit of it with renewed vigour.

4. TODAY'S QUESTION FOR YOU
Do you know how to manage yourself in order to achieve your objectives?

5. TODAY'S WEATHER IN BRADFORD
Sunny, dry and mild throughout
Clear skies overnight, clouding over in the small hours
A moderate and cool easterly wind will blow throughout
Max Temp = 14 degC
Min Temp = 11 degC
Sunrise at 07:04
Sunset at 18:49

6. TODAY'S ONELINER
As she cycled down the cobbled street, she realized she had never come this way before : D

7. NOW THAT'S FUNNY!
Mock The Week Series 12 - Commercials that never made it to air 

8. TRIVIA
In 1943, a Mexican farmer named Dionisio Pulido witnessed the birth of a volcano in his cornfield about 329 kilometers west of Mexico City. It started as a slight depression in his field and soon became a fissure that emitted smoke and hissing noises. During the next nine years, the volcano Paricutin had grown to an elevation of 2,272 meters and its voluminous lava flows had destroyed several towns.  In 1952 it stopped erupting and is believed to be already extinct. This makes the volcano unique as the only one whose beginning and extinction have been witnessed and documented.

9. ZEN WISDOM
A truly beautiful person is one who is good at seeing beauty.