TUESDAY 16th DECEMBER 2014 08:35 GMT

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 (16th December 1944)
On the Russian Front...
On the Russian Front...
Soviet 2nd Ukrainian Front is attacking north of Budapest
Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front is attacking south of Budapest

On the Western Front...
Battle of the Bulge: 
German Army Group B launches Operation Wacht am Rhein, the Ardennes Offensive, towards Antwerp and Brussels.
German commandos infiltrate behind behind Allied lines to disrupt communications, disguised as US soldiers
German 6th Panzer Army attacks on the northern flank around Losheim and Elsenborn ridge 
German 5th Panzer Army isolates US forces in the Schnee Eifel and advances toward St Vith.
German 7th Army attacks on the southern flank around Diekirch and Echternach

US 3rd Army attacks around Saarlautern 
US 7th Army captures Bobenthal, Nothweiler, and Wissembourg
British vessel War Diwan is damaged by a mine in the Scheldt estuary and scuttled 

Paris...
De Gaulle and Juin return from Moscow

London...
Henry Maitland Wilson is promoted to Field Marshal and named to head British Joint Staff Mission to the US

North Sea...
The Royal Navy concentrates ASW escort groups in British waters due to increasing operations there by Schnorkel-equipped U-boats 

Italy...
In a reorganization, General Mark Clark takes command of Allied 15th Army Group and General Lucian Truscott takes command of US 5th Army

British 8th Army captures Faenza and Pergola and reaches the Senio River
USN destroyers Charles F. Hughes and Niblack bombard German positions near the French border 

Hawaii...
Admiral Fraser arrives to discuss employment of British Pacific Fleet with Admiral Nimitz

In the Pacific...
US 6th Army is clearing Japanese forces from around Cogon, San Jose, and Valencia on Leyte Island, and organizing the defence of the beachhead on Mindoro Island

Japanese vessel Jusan Maru is sunk by USN submarine Finback off the Bonin Islands

China...
US advisers complain that Chinese armies are failing to move to the defense of Kunming
Chinese communists break off discussions with the Nationalist government 

Burma...
Patrols of Indian 19th Infantry Division and British 36th Infantry Division make contact at Banmauk, linking 14th Army with Northern Combat Area Command
British 14th Army captures Chingyaung and Mutaik
In the Arakan, West African 81st Infantry Division successfully counterattacks Japanese Matsu Detachment around Tinma
Admiral Louis Mountbatten continues his tour of the Front Line
RN Task Force 64 with destroyers Napier and Nepal and supporting warships bombard Japanese positions along the Arakan coast in support of 15th Corps operations 

Today's Air Raids...
Antwerp, Belgium by seven V-2 rockets
Stuttgart and Betingheim, Germany by US 8th Air Force
Linz, Innsbruck, and Villach, Austria by US 15th Air Force  
Siegen, Germany by RAF Bomber Command
Pilsen and Brux, Czechoslovakia by US 15th Air Force
Molucca Islands and northern Borneo by US FEAF
Luzon and offshore shipping by USN aircraft from Task Force 38 - Japanese vessel Oryoku Maru, carrying more than 1600 Allied POWs, is sunk by USN carrier-based aircraft in Subic Bay 
Mindanao Island airfields and Palawan Island airfields, and targets throughout the central Philippines by US FEAF
Japanese positions, transportation targets, and supply depots around Tonkwa, Se-eng, Nanponpon, Kangon, Winghsa, Inywa, Molo, and Mabein, Burma by US 10th Air Force

2. TODAY IN MY LIFE
Blogging
Launch new marketing campaign
Buy a single duvet
Ironing
Meditation
Missus Time

Twitter Followers = 1,844 (down 1)
Non-followed Tweeps unfollowing =2
@ButcherBlocker, @cigeqapawaj
Unfollowers Eliminated = 0
New Followers followed back = 2
@barrymackart
Spammers not followed back = 0
 
3. TODAY'S SELF-OBSERVATION
I have finally got fed up with Missus stealing the duvet! Since single beds would be greeted with a flat NO, I am going to acquire my own duvet! That along with an aggressive marketing campaign, getting fresh enquiries and enjoying enhanced electronic creature comforts, gives me much to both enjoy and get on with.

However, I don't want to get lost in the role of this character, even when it's on a roll. I will get the most from this experience by raising my consciousness above it. That takes continual focus! I am making exciting progress on this front, and I don't want to ease off now! I want to keep it firmly anchored on the difference I'm making right now, and allow intuition rather than thought to guide that difference.

4. TODAY'S SELF-OBSERVATION
Is what you're doing from the heart?

5. TODAY'S WEATHER IN BRADFORD
Dry and sunny in the morning
Cloud will build in the afternoon and rain arrives late evening
A moderate north-westerly will swing south-westerly by late afternoon
Max Temp = 5 degC
Min Temp = 4 degC
Sunrise at 08:19
Sunset at 15:46

Weathertrack: A ridge of high pressure over Britain will be swept away by a warm front arriving from the west
Air Pressure: 1011 millibars and falling

6. TODAY'S ONELINER
Why did Marilyn Monroe go to the bathroom? For a poop-poop-be-doop :D 

7. NOW THAT'S FUNNY! 
Christian Pieper - at the maternity store

8. TRIVIA
The post-WWII hyperinflation of Hungary holds the record for the most rapid monthly inflation increase ever: 41,900,000,000,000,000% for July 1946, which means prices doubled every 13.5 hours. 


9. ZEN WISDOM
Each person possesses a precious inner treasure of infinite worth. To remain unaware of this and stumble about in spiritual poverty is a tragic waste. In contrast, a person fully awakened to the jewel-like dignity of their own life is capable of truly respecting that treasure in others.