MONDAY 7th DECEMBER 2015 08:13 GMT

Read my book - ENLIGHTENMENT FOR ORDINARY FOLK
 
Also available - EMOTIONAL MANAGEMENT FOR ORDINARY FOLK
 
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1. ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
7th December 1975
Indonesia invades East Timor
The Pacific island of Timor had been in previous centuries been colonized and partitioned by Portugal, who held the east of the island, and the Netherlands, who held the west. After World War 2, the western half, part of the colony of the Dutch East Indies, was incorporated into the new nation of Indonesia. The Potuguese held on to East Timor as an overseas colony.

In 1974 after a coup, a new left-wing Portuguese government decided to withdraw from all its colonies and grant them independence. In East Timor, a new independent government composed of a broad coalition broke down in August 1975 into civil war between the UDT (The Democratic Union of Timor) and the left wing FRETILIN (The Revolutionary Front Of East Timor)

After an initial UDT success at seizing power, it was undone when the East Timorese army sided with FRETILIN. After a brief but bloody civil war, FRETILIN triumphed, the UDT being driven into Indonesian West Timor. 

Indonesia had since independence claimed East Timor as it was part of the Indonesian archipelago and saw the unrest as its opportunity to take the territory. The Western powers, particularly the USA and Australia , were concerned that a new "Cuba in the Pacific" would emerge, giving bases and a haven for Communist forces in the region. They therefore colluded with Indonesia by selling them the military equipment necessary for an invasion.

On 7th December Indonesia invaded. The invasion was brutal, with mass killings and the genocide of the local ethnic Chinese minority. However, despite the Indonesian military strength, the East Timorese army, well-trained and equipped by the Portuguese, put up a fierce resistance. It took three years for the Indonesian army to finally eliminate armed resistance in the interior. 

The annexation was unpopular with the ethnically different Portuguese-speaking East Timorese. Resistance to Indonesian rule, though heavily suppressed, stubbornly continued. The occupation caused bad publicity and the annexation was not internationally recognized. After the fall of President Suharto in 1998, the new President Habibie was prepared to offer autonomy to the region.  In 1999, to justify their position, the Indonesian government sanctioned a UN sponsored referendum. This backfired when there was an overwhelming majority for independence rather than autonomy and subsequent widespread unrest. 

With the Indonesian military deciding not to intervene any longer, an international peace-keeping force led by Australia stabilized the territory and defeated a local pro-Indonesian militia. East Timor formally regained full independence in 2002.

2. TODAY IN MY LIFE
Blogging
Housework
Meditation
Supper
Client consultation and follow-up
Missus Time

Twitter Followers = 2,043 (down 1)
Non-followed eliminated = 1
@HpFe3Gsg_Fauzi
Unfollowers eliminated = 0
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New Followers followed back = 0
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Spammers not followed back = 0
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3. TODAY'S SELF-OBSERVATION

This character has in its various incarnations known the deepest misery and bliss and just about everything inbetween. Having tasted everything greatly increases your wisdom and insight into how everything is. Right now it's bliss and I am grateful not just for that but equally importantly the ability to recognize it.

Bliss, it turns out, is not having everything the world can offer and the absence of all threats. It's having all your primal needs met and making the difference that you want to make in your own way and getting recognized for it by a minimum of one other. 

It is possible to sabotage your own happiness by focus on what you haven't got and all the things that are not your preference. Focus then, is a crucial element in happiness. You can't enjoy Shangri-La if if you're too busy looking at what's happening outside of it.    

All things must pass of course, but I can keep all my wonderful memories of Shangri-La for as long as this character has the capacity for consciousness. Most importantly, the paradise of love and comfort I find myself in enables me to be superconscious to be the universe made conscious to experience peace of mind, life in all its fullness and the capacity to pass on the meme.

4. TODAY'S QUESTION FOR YOU
What brings peace of mind?

5. TODAY'S WEATHER IN BRADFORD
Rain at first may be heavy at times
Rain moves away by mid-morning and skies will slowly clear
Cloud rebuilds in the evening and there will be more rain overnight
A moderate southerly will pick up in the afternoon
Max Temp = 11 degC at noon
Min Temp = 6 degC at 8am
Sunrise at 08:09
Sunset at 15:47
Moon: 

Weathertrack: Britain is in the warm sector of a strong depression in the central North Atlantic

Air Pressure: 1021 millibars and falling slightly

6. TODAY'S ONELINER

Feeling tired as you struggle to get through the day? There's a nap for that! :D

7. NOW THAT'S FUNNY!

Steve Hughes on Australian cities

8. TRIVIA

Having sex at least once per week can lower a man’s risk of heart disease by 30%, stroke by 50%, and diabetes by 40%. It has also been shown that men with an active sex life are more likely to live past 80 years.

9. ZEN WISDOM

When facing adversity, we may think we’ve reached our limit, but actually the more trying the circumstances, the closer we are to making a breakthrough. The darker the night, the nearer the dawn. Victory in life is decided by that last concentrated burst of energy filled with the resolve to win.