Thursday 7 April 2016

FRIDAY 8th APRIL 2016 07:40 BST

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
TO FIND OUT WHAT I DO, CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE

1. ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

8th April 1904: The Entente Cordiale

The Entente Cordiale  was a series of agreements signed on 8 April 1904 between the United Kingdom and France which saw a significant improvement in Anglo-French relations. Beyond the immediate concerns of colonial expansion addressed by the agreement, the signing of the Entente Cordiale marked the end of almost a thousand years of intermittent conflict between the two states and their predecessors, and replaced the modus vivendi that had existed since the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 with a more formal agreement. The Entente Cordiale was the culmination of the policy of Théophile Delcassé, France’s foreign minister from 1898, who believed that a Franco-British understanding would give France some security against any German system of alliances in western Europe. Credit for the success of the negotiation belongs chiefly to Paul Cambon, France’s ambassador in London, and to the British foreign secretary Lord Lansdowne.

The most important feature of the agreement was that it granted freedom of action to the UK in Egypt and to France in Morocco (with the proviso that France’s eventual dispositions for Morocco include reasonable allowance for Spain’s interests there). At the same time, the UK ceded the Los Islands (off French Guinea) to France, defined the frontier of Nigeria in France’s favour, and agreed to French control of the upper Gambia valley, while France renounced its exclusive right to certain fisheries off Newfoundland. Furthermore, French and British zones of influence in Siam (Thailand) were outlined, with the eastern territories, adjacent to French Indochina, becoming a French zone, and the western, adjacent to Burmese Tenasserim, a British zone. Arrangements were also made to ease the rivalry between British and French colonists in the New Hebrides.

By the Entente Cordiale both powers reduced the virtual isolation into which they had withdrawn—France involuntarily, the UK complacently—while they had eyed each other over African affairs. The UK had had no ally but Japan (1902), of little use if war should break out in European waters; France had had none but Russia, soon to be discredited in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05. The agreement was upsetting to Germany, whose policy had long been to rely on Franco-British antagonism. A German attempt to check the French in Morocco in 1905 (the Tangier Incident, or First Moroccan Crisis), intended to upset the Entente, served only to strengthen it. Military discussions between the French and the British general staffs were soon initiated. Franco-British solidarity was confirmed at the Algeciras Conference (1906) and reconfirmed in the Second Moroccan Crisis (1911)

2. TODAY IN MY LIFE
Blogging
Client prep and session
Shift 1 of the Weekend Job
TV Comedy Night

Twitter Followers = 2,123 (up 1)
Never-followed unfollowers eliminated = 0

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Followed unfollowers eliminated = 2
@BarringtonMole @romie971
New Followers followed back = 0
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Spammers not followed back = 3
@gopija007vts, @Tis4Tonyqvn, @lyndaliifulhct

3. TODAY'S SELF-OBSERVATION
Quite a successful day yesterday - quality time with Missus and I finally found an app that could kill that adware on my Kindle Fire HD6, so thank you Trend Micro! What I and a lot of other users didn't like however is that it's a free trial masquerading as a free app, and to keep it requires an expensive subscription. I am inclined to ditch it and just be more careful in future.

Missus' condition has deteriorated, picking up a new delusion, but not sufficiently to call in help. I have known for a long time that Missus could catastrophically relapse at any time - and I'm very grateful that to date that hasn't happened and we have enjoyed some very high quality life together. I know that all things pass which is why it's so important to maximize the moment.

4. TODAY'S QUESTION FOR YOU
Are you living life to the maximum extent possible?

5. TODAY'S WEATHER IN BRADFORD
In brief:
Mainly dry, sunny and mild

Details
















Moon





Weathertrack














Air Pressure
1011 millibars and falling

6. TODAY'S ONELINER
My one-legged best friend worked in a brewery. She was in charge of the hops. :D

7. NOW THAT'S FUNNY!
The Graham Norton Show: The Red Chair

8. TRIVIA
A zip-line 2,365 feet long and taking 60 seconds to travel connects Spain and Portugal.

9. ZEN WISDOM
Dialogue starts from the courageous willingness to know and be known by others. It is the painstaking and persistent effort to remove all obstacles that obscure your common humanity.

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