FRIDAY 9th JANUARY 2015 07:26 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 (9th January 1945)
On the Russian Front...
German IV SS Panzer Korps counterattacks toward Budapest
German defenders in Budapest are split into separate pockets
U-679 is sunk by Soviet sub chaser MO-124 in the Baltic Sea

On the Western Front:
The Battle of the Bulge:
US 1st Army continues attacking the northern flank of the Bulge and US 3rd Army the southern flank

Operation Nordwind:
US 7th Army counterattacks around Bitche

In the Atlantic...
US vessel Jonas Lie is sunk by U-1055 in the Celtic Sea
Free French corvette L'Enjoue is sunk by U-870 off GIbraltar  

In the Pacific...
Operation Mike 1:
USN Task Force 77 lands US 6th Army along Lingayen Gulf on Luzon Island
USN Task Force 78 lands 6th Infantry Division and 43rd Infantry Division of I Corps around San Fabian on Luzon
XIV Corps of US 6th Army encounters minimal opposition and moves inland between Calasiao and Port Sual
I Corps of US 6th Army encounters heavier opposition and makes limited progress 

Burma...
The Japanese garrison withdraws from Shwebo 

Today's Air Raids...
Halmahera Island by RAAF aircraft
Borneo, Timor Island, and the Molucca Islands by US FEAF
Lingayen Gulf on USN shipping by kamikaze aircraft - many ships damaged but none sunk
Off Formosa on Japanese shipping by USN aircraft from Task Force 38 - six cargo ships and a sub-chaser are sunk and around ten others damaged
Iwo Jima by US 7th Air Force
Tokyo by US 20th Air Force
Japanese positions, supply dumps, and other targets around Ho-na, Si-U, Man Kat, Tonghsim, Kong-lin, Bawdwin, Mong Tat, and Hsenwi, Burma by US 10th Air Force 
Akyab, Burma by Japanese aircraft

TODAY IN MY LIFE
Blogging
Online promotional work
Meditation
Me Time
Quality Missus Time

Twitter Followers = 1,848 (no change)  
Non-followed Tweeps unfollowing = 0
Unfollowers Eliminated = 0
New Followers followed back = 0
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3. TODAY'S SELF-OBSERVATION
On the character front it is Wedding Anniversary Weekend - although ostensibly devoted to Missus, there will be lots of me time as well. I intend to use the time in a balanced enjoyable way!

On the Universal Self front I have been looking for ways to keep my attention in the right place - this is something of a challenge as it has to work through a  somewhat over-reactive mind. I have to employ several techniques simultaneously to keep it focused. These include:        
Guidance by intuition rather than thought
Gratitude
Meditation
Focus on breaths to calm the mind
Focus on the energy everything really is rather than how it's perceived

There isn't as far as I know a "magic bullet" that keeps consciousness at the highest level. Only the persistent and consistent pursuit of mental discipline will keep consciousness in the right place

4. TODAY'S QUESTION FOR YOU
Do you want to know what's really going on, or is that not convenient?

5. TODAY'S WEATHER IN BRADFORD
Dry in the morning - showers, some heavy thereafter
A strong south-westerly will blow throughout
Max Temp = 13 degC at 7pm
Min Temp = 7 degC at 7am
Sunrise at 08:22
Sunset at 16:07

Weathertrack: Britain is in a strong westerly airflow between high pressure to the south and strong depressions to the north
Air Pressure: 1011 millibars and falling

6. TODAY'S ONELINER
I hate Russian dolls - they're so full of themselves :D

7. NOW THAT'S FUNNY!
QI - David Mitchell's angry logic - wonderful!

8. TRIVIA
Vampire legends may have been based on Vlad of Walachia, also known as Vlad the Impaler (c. 1431-1476). He had a habit of nailing hats to people’s heads, skinning them alive, and impaling them on upright stakes. He also liked to dip bread into the blood of his enemies and eat it. His name, Vlad, means son of the dragon or Dracula, who has been identified as the historical Dracula. Though Vlad the Impaler was murdered in 1476, his tomb is reported empty.

9. ZEN WISDOM
To be fearless no matter what happens—that is the root of true happiness. To move forward resolutely regardless of what lies in store—that is the spirit, the resolve, that leads to human victory.