THURSDAY 21st AUGUST 2014 09:57 BST

Read my book - ENLIGHTENMENT FOR ORDINARY FOLK

Also available - EMOTIONAL MANAGEMENT FOR ORDINARY FOLK

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1. THIS DAY IN WORLD WAR 2 (21st August 1944)
In the Arctic...
British vessel Kite is sunk by U-344

On the Russian Front...
German 3rd Panzer Army, attacking toward Riga, opens a corridor to the trapped 16th Army
Soviet 2nd Ukrainian Front captures Jassy, overruns several defensive positions, and forces Rumanian 4th Army and German 8th Army to retreat
German 6th Army begins to collapse under the the offensive of Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front

In Germany...
Fritz Thiele, Friedrich Gustav Jaeger, and Ulrich Wilhelm Graf Schwerin von Schwanenfeld are convicted of participation in the July 20th coup and executed by hanging by wire from meathooks

On the Western Front...
Field Marshal Walther Model reports to Berlin that German 7th Army has been destroyed in the Falaise Pocket and consequently Paris cannot be held
The truce in Paris between German forces and the French Resistance breaks down and the revolt resumes.
Canadian 1st Army continues reducing the Falaise pocket while other elements advance toward Rouen on the Seine River 
General George Kitching is blamed by his superior, General Guy Simonds for late closure of the Falaise Pocket and is consequently relieved of command of Canadian 4th Armored Division, demoted, and relegated to training duties 
British 2nd Army advances east toward the Seine River 
US 1st Army captures Nonancourt and advances toward Sees, Breteuil, and Verneuil
US 3rd Army advances around Louviers, Arpajon-Rambouillet, Etampes, Sens, and Pithiviers 
Kriegsmarine patrol vessels V-401 and V-402 are scuttled at Bayonne to avoid capture
US 7th Army captures Aix-en-Provence and advances toward Avignon, Apt, Volonne, and Grenoble
French Army B captures Hyeres, isolates Toulon, and advances toward Marseille 
U-230 runs aground and is scuttled at Toulon

In the English Channel...
RN corvette Orchis is severely damaged by mine off Normandy and written off 
RCN corvette Alberni is sunk by U-480 

In the Bay of Biscay...
Kriegsmarine minesweeper M-292 and destroyer Z-23 are sunk by patrolling aircraft 

In Italy...
Polish II Corps of British 8th Armyattacks around San Constanzo, and German forces withdraw behind the Metauro River overnight 

In the Atlantic...
U-743 vanishes, presumed sunk

In Washington DC..
The Dumbarton Oaks conference to set up the United Nations organization is opened.

In the Pacific...
Japanese vessels Kinryu Maru, Norfolk Maru and Taketoyo Maru are sunk by USN submarine Haddo off the Philippines
Japanese vessel Uga Maru is sunk by USN submarine Guitarro off the Philippines
Japanese vessel Durban Maru is sunk by USN submarine Muskallunge in the South China Sea

In China...
On the Salween Front:
Japanese troops make unsuccessful counterattacks around Sung Shan 

Today's Air Raids...
Hadju Boszormeny, Hungary by US 15th Air Force 
Nis, Yugoslavia by US 15th Air Force
Alessandria and targets throughout northern Italy by US 12th Air Force 
Nauru, Pagan Island and Yap Island by US 7th Air Force
Sarmi, Sawar, and Manokwari, New Guinea by US FEAF
Wasile Bay, Halmahera Island, and Karakelong Island by US FEAF
Anjen, Hengyang, Yangtien, Tungting Lake, and elsewhere by US 14th Air Force, sinking vessel Tokuhei Naru on the Yangtze River 

2. TODAY IN MY LIFE
Blogging
Housework
Me Time
Quality Missus Time

Twitter Followers = 1,788 (no change)
Nonfollowed Eliminated = 0
Unfollowers Eliminated = 0
New Followers = 0 

3. TODAY'S SELF-OBSERVATION
If Missus and Daughter had a great mutually-respectful relationship, I would be quite happy to let them simply get on with it. Unfortunately Daughter like Missus has mental health issues and unlike Missus these are not under any sort of control or therapy, which leads to her ill-treatment of others, and when she does this to Missus, it becomes my business. 

My offer of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy funding looks like it won't be taken up so I am powerless to help - my priority has to be the mental health of the rest of us to which Daughter, as an emotional vampire, poses a threat. 

As exasperating as it is, there is nothing I can do but be watchful. If Daughter goes too far and treats Missus badly enough to threaten her hard-won stability, I can and will intervene to prevent them seeing each other, either temporarily or indefinitely as required. 

One consolation from the situation is that it keeps me vigilant. If there is absolutely no threat at all, you become complacent and therefore vulnerable. As it is, my inner darkness patrols the perimeter menacingly. Unlike many spiritual people I believe the Dark Emotions serve a useful purpose when controlled, as defenders. Since I have adopted this policy, tormentors and emotional vampires have kept their distance - once tasting my inner darkness, the unpleasant have thus far backed off. 

I believe that the universe is not a creation, but simply the creator manifesting, and whose core nature is neither love nor hate but simply through experience to know itself.

4. TODAY'S QUESTION FOR YOU
Do you understand yourself?

5. TODAY'S WEATHER IN BRADFORD
Mainly cool, dry and cloudy in the morning.
Showers arrive in the afternoon and become heavy by mid-evening. 
Showers will move away overnight
A moderate south-westerly will ease overnight
Max Temp = 12 degC
Min Temp = 11 degC
Sunrise at 05:55
Sunset at 20:24

Weathertrack: A weak depression over Scotland will drag showers and cold Arctic air across Britain and move slowly east across the North Sea into Scandanavia
Air Pressure:1014 millibars and falling

6. TODAY'S ONELINER
My mate went a bit off the rails when he was younger, which is probably why he's no longer a train driver. :D

7. NOW THAT'S FUNNY! 
The Jonathan Ross Show - Stephen Merchant's Chat Up Lines

8. TRIVIA
The Chinese were the first to invent the waterwheel to harness water in A.D. 31, a whopping 1,200 years before the Europeans. China was also the first country in the world to use an iron plough. Europe didn’t begin using the iron plough until the seventeenth century. 

9. ZEN WISDOM 
A person who cannot genuinely empathize with others can never excel as a leader. So much of what ails society today is the result of too many people in leadership positions who do not or cannot identify with the plight of their fellow men and women.