FRIDAY 19th DECEMBER 2014 07:05 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 (19th December 1944)
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...
The Battle Of The Bulge:
Eisenhower orders a halt to all offensive operations towards the Rhine in order to concentrate on defeating the German Ardennes offensive
British 2nd Army begins deploying 30th Corps to defend the Meuse River
German 6th Panzer Army attacks US 1st Army around Malmedy, Stavelot, and Stoumont
Isolated and unsupplied in the Schnee Eifel, 422nd Regiment and 423rd Regiment of US 106th Infantry Division and attached units surrender, amounting to approximately 8000 POWs
US 101st Airborne Division deploys to defend Bastogne just in time before it is surrounded by German 5th Panzer Army
US 3rd Army regroups and abandons some positions in order to turn north against the southern flank of the Ardennes salient  

Off Norway...
U-737 is sunk in an accidental collision with depot ship MRS-25  

Italy...
British 8th Army attacks from the Naviglio Canal bridgehead overnight  
USN destroyer Niblack bombards German positions near the French border 

In the Pacific...
USAAF 505th Very Heavy Bombardment Group B-29 bombers arrive at Tinian Island from the US 

IJN aircraft carrier Unryu sunk by USN submarine Redfish in the South China Sea
Japanese vessel Shinfuku Maru is sunk by patrolling USN PB4Y aircraft in the South China Sea
Japanese vessel Hida Maru is sunk by patrolling US 14th Air Force aircraft off Hong Kong
Japanese vessel No. 3 Hiroshi Maru is sunk by patrolling US aircraft off the Kuril Islands

US 6th Army attacks around Lonoy, Libongao, and Palompon on Leyte 
Island, whilst the Japanese end their attempt to reinforce the defending Japanese 35th Army 

Burma...
Indian 19th Infantry Division of British 14th Army captures Wuntho
British 2nd Infantry Division of British 14th Army crosses the Chindwin River at Kalewa 
RN Task Force 64 with destroyers Napier and Nepal and supporting warships bombards Japanese positions along the Arakan coast in support of 15th Corps operations

Today's Air Raids...
Antwerp, Belgium by one V-2 rocket
Koblenz, Ehrgang, Blechhammer and transportation targets in Germany by US 8th Air Force
Trier, Germany by RAF Bomber Command
North Sea minelaying by RAF Bomber Command
Moravska-Ostrava, Czechoslovakia by US 15th Air Force 
Luzon Island, Negros Island and Ceram Island by US FEAF  
Iwo Jima by US 7th Air Force
Omura, Japan by US 20th Air Force
Shanghai, China by US 20th Air Force
Pengpu, China by US 14th Air Force
Transportation targets around Mongmit, Kyaukme, and Hsenwi, and Japanese positions, supply depots, and transportation lines around Onmaka, Hsoplong, Myadaung, Tantabin, Twinnge, Nyaugbinth, and Humon by US 10th Air Force 

2. TODAY IN MY LIFE
Blogging
Me Time
Shift 1 of the Weekend Job
TV Comedy Night

Twitter Followers = 1,847 (no change)
Non-followed Tweeps unfollowing =0
Unfollowers Eliminated = 1
@WestHamApp
New Followers followed back = 1
@Tanna_2080
Spammers not followed back = 0
 
3. TODAY'S SELF-OBSERVATION
Life is good right now! However I'm fully aware of the capacity of my mind to bugger the whole thing up if it's not kept on a tight leash, so I fully intend to keep it focused and internally silent.

4 TODAY'S QUESTION FOR YOU
Do you feel in control of your own mind?

5. TODAY'S WEATHER IN BRADFORD
Mainly dry during the day with sunny periods
Heavy showers arrive with the evening and will persist thereafter
A strong westerly will blow throughout
Max Temp = 5 degC
Min Temp = 4 degC
Sunrise at 08:21
Sunset at 15:46

Air Pressure: 1006 millibars and rising

Weathertrack: Britain is in a corridor of westerly airflow between a cold depression to the north and warm high pressure to the south. Heavy showers will be carried in this airflow.

6. TODAY'S ONELINER
Who hides in the bakery at Christmas? A mince spy. :D

7. NOW THAT'S FUNNY! 
Russell Howard's Good News - Blessed Cat

8. TRIVIA
Gold is edible. Some Asian countries put gold in fruit, jelly snacks, coffee, and tea. Since at least the 1500s, Europeans have been putting gold leaf in bottles of liquor, such as Danziger Goldwasser and Goldschlager. Some Native American tribes believed consuming gold could allow humans to levitate.

9. ZEN WISDOM
Hope transforms pessimism into optimism. Hope is invincible. Hope changes everything. It changes winter into summer, darkness into dawn, descent into ascent, barrenness into creativity, agony into joy. Hope is the sun. It is light. It is passion. It is the fundamental force for life’s blossoming.