SUNDAY 7th DECEMBER 2014 08:14 GMT

Read my book - ENLIGHTENMENT FOR ORDINARY FOLK

Also available - EMOTIONAL MANAGEMENT FOR ORDINARY FOLK

WISDOM, HUMOUR, AND LOTS OF OTHER INTERESTING STUFF CAN BE FOUND ON MY PINTEREST PAGE and FACEBOOK PAGE

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1. THIS DAY IN WORLD WAR 2 (7th December 1944)
On the Russian Front...
4th Guards Army of Soviet 2nd Ukrainian Front reaches Lake Balaton
46th Army of Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front captures Adony
Soviet patrol craft BO-229 is sunk by U-997 in the Arctic
Kriegsmarine patrol vessel V-1606 is sunk by Soviet aircraft in the Baltic
German vessel Nordenham is sunk by Soviet submarine SC-309 in the Baltic

On the Western Front...
US 3rd Army engaged around Pachten, Dillengen, Fraulautern, Ensdorf, and Sarreguemines
US 7th Army attacks around Enchenberg, Mouterhouse, and Gambsheim
French 1st Army commences operations to reduce the Colmar Pocket  
British vessel Samsip is written off by a mine in the Scheldt estuary and scuttled 

Irish Sea...
British vessel Glenmaroon is sunk by cause unknown

Romania...
A Pro-Soviet government led by General Badescu takes office

Greece...
RN cruiser Caledon and escorting warships bombard ELAS positions near Piraeus and Salamis

Yugoslavia...
Partisans cross the Danube around Vukovar in Croatia

Italy...
British 8th Army captures Piedura

In the Pacific...
US 6th Army advances toward Ormoc and is clearing Buri airfield on Leyte Island
USN Task Group 78.3 lands US 77th Infantry Division at Deposito along Ormoc Bay on Leyte Island
The offshore Task Force comes under heavy attack by kamikaze aircraft. Several ships are damaged and US vessel Antoine Saugraine and USN LSM-318 are sunk.
US aircraft intercept an IJN convoy as it attempts to land Japanese regiment near Ormoc, and 7 transports are sunk
Japanese vessel No. 31 Banshu Maru is sunk by USN submarine Trepang off Leyte Island

Japan...
A major earthquake disrupts aircraft production at the Mitsubishi facility in Nagoya 

Burma...
British 14th Army captures Tawtha

Today's Air Raids...
Spittal, Klagenfurt, Innsbruck, and Salzburg, Austria by US 15th Air Force
Cologne, Germany by RAF Bomber Command
Saipan on US airfields by Japanese aircraft
Halmahera Island on Japanese aircraft by US FEAF
Negros Island and Luzon by US FEAF 
Hong Kong on harbour shipping by US 14th Air Force
Mukden, China by US 20th Air Force 9 of 90 B-29's are shot down
Supply dumps, troop positions, and transportation lines and armed reconaissance around Sankiao, Hengyang, Siang-Chiang, Paoching, Anking, Tuhshan, Nantan, Kengtung, Luchai, Kweilin, Liuchow, China by US 14th Air Force - Japanese vessel No. 3 Hojoura Maru sunk on the Yangtze River
Japanese positions, supply dumps, transportation lines, and other targets around Tonbo, Male, Myauk-le, Mansam, Mongmit, Namyao, Nawnghkio, and Na-kawnkongnyaung, Burma by US 10th Air Force 
Magwe Airfield, Burma by RAF aircraft
Calcutta, India on an Allied airfield by Japanese aircraft

2. TODAY IN MY LIFE
Blogging
The Milk Run
Me Time
Lunch
Meditation
Online marketing prep
Missus Time

Twitter Followers = 1,844 (no change)
Non-followed Tweeps unfollowing = 0
Unfollowers Eliminated = 0
New Followers followed back = 0
Spammers not followed back = 0      

3. TODAY'S SELF-OBSERVATION
The Weekend Job's interactions this week were fascinating in that other people's perceptions of me were so varied, an experience mirrored more intensely at home. Since I am the same character with a consistent set of responses, the response I get is clearly all about THEM and their perception.

Other than it being intrinsically fascinating, I find no great life lesson to draw from this! When encountering people for the first time, you never know what reaction you're going to get. You can only react "after the event". Only if you know already how a person "ticks" can their perception be manipulated.

I have in general experienced a "not sure how I feel about it" moment. My highly self-destructive "default" emotions have led directly by the necessity of mind-management to a heightened consciousness. I sometimes crave a life of blissful ignorance, but that would probably only lead to a life of endless low-level suffering - the life of "quiet desperation" as Henry David Thoreau put it. 

I draw two conclusions: firstly that no human life is a "free lunch" -it will always mirror the positive and negative energy of the universe. Secondly, it really is ok to be "me" - this character is as worthy and valid as any other.

4. TODAY'S QUESTION FOR YOU
Are you living your life in the most fulfilling possible way? 

5. TODAY'S WEATHER IN BRADFORD
Showers throughout, with clear intervals
A strong westerly wind will blow throughout
Max Temp = 6 degC
Min Temp = 2 degC
Sunrise at 08:08
Sunset at 15:47

Weathertrack: Britain is in a showery airflow between a depression to the north and high pressure to the south
Air Pressure: 1012 millibars and rising slightly

6. TODAY'S ONELINER
They were married by candle-light, but the marriage lasted only a wick. :D

7. NOW THAT'S FUNNY!  
Stewart Lee on Time and the Phone Book  

8. TRIVIA
Red hearts are a ubiquitous Valentine symbol. Red is traditionally associated with the color of blood. At one time, people thought that the heart, which pumps blood, was the part of the body that felt love. In fact, when the Egyptians mummified their dead for burial, they removed every organ but the heart because they believed the heart was the only part of the body necessary for the trip through eternity.

9. ZEN WISDOM
One cannot expect to become happy without hardship or effort. Because we challenge ourselves, we become strong. To become strong is to become happy.