re: GMT

Today in History: December 16

1431
King Henry VI of England crowned King of France (only English monarch to wear both crowns)

1773
To protest the tax on tea from England, a group of young Americans, disguised as Indians, throw chests of tea from British ships in Boston Harbor.

1835
A fire in New York City destroys property estimated to be worth $20,000,000. It lasts two days, ravages 17 blocks, and destroys 674 buildings including the Stock Exchange, Merchants' Exchange, Post Office, and the South Dutch Church.

1944 Germany mounts a major offensive in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium. As the center of the Allied line falls back, it creates a bulge, leading to the name--the Battle of the Bulge.

1950
President Harry Truman declares a state of National Emergency as Chinese communists invade deeper into South Korea.

1978 Cleveland becomes the first U.S. city to default since the depression.

2003
President George W. Bush signs the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, which establishes the United States' first national standards regarding email and gives the Federal Trade Commission authority to enforce the act.

2016
US State Department increases reward for information on Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to $25 million

2020
Major winter storm hits US Northeast resulting in at least seven deaths and Binghamton, New York, receiving record 41 inches of snow

2022
Japan announces its biggest military build-up since WWII, amid concerns over China and North Korea


Born on December 16

1770
Ludwig Van Beethoven, German composer best known for his 9th Symphony.

1962
William Perry, pro football defensive lineman nicknamed The Refrigerator because of his size.


JOTD
Arlene Needs a Condom

Jane and Arlene are outside their nursing home, having a drink and a smoke, when it starts to rain. Jane pulls out a condom, cuts off the end, puts it over her cigarette, and continues smoking. Arlene: What in the hell is that? Jane: A condom. This way my cigarette doesn't get wet. Arlene: Where did you get it? Jane: You can get them at any pharmacy. The next day, Arlene hobbles herself into the local pharmacy and announces to the pharmacist that she wants a box of condoms. The pharmacist, obviously embarrassed, looks at her kind of strangely (she is, after all, over 80 years of age), but very delicately asks what size, texture, brand of condom she prefers. 'Doesn't matter Sonny, as long as it fits on a Camel.' The pharmacist fainted.

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1431
King Henry VI of England crowned King of France (only English monarch to wear both crowns)

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Usually very prolonged conflicts in the pre modern era tended to serve as the death knell for both empires involved. The Eastern Roman Empire vs Persians mutual suicide pact weakened both countries so much that it gave the Arab Muslims an open door to walk through. Long wars are bad.

The Hundred Years War had, in the long run, the opposite effect. Both countries ended the war in better shape than they had entered it. Going into the war England and France had weak decentralized monarchies and patchwork Kingdoms. France in particular was carved into a lot of powerful duchies.

The long, and bitter, war forced both countries to centralize power, making them to step out of the ineffective Feudal era to a much more modern ruling Monarchy. Granted, both were far from the "Absolute Monarchies" they claimed to be since they still had to avoid upsetting the nobles too much, but they were pretty much centralized.

No one else in Europe was other than the Ottoman Turks. France, immediately, became the dominant power of the mainland while England, despite losing some lucrative lands in France, were able to concentrate on becoming a mercantile powerhouse.

Both also caught lucky breaks. England enjoyed a run of uncommonly good monarchs while France's main rival, the Grand Duchy of Burgundy, was reduced, not by the French, but by the Swiss. Which meant when France absorbed Burgundy and then defeated the Swiss they were seen as heroes who had saved the honor of the region.

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well hell, now I want a sandwich

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#suggestivelookingmeat

Night All

Today in History: December 17

546 Gothic War (535-554): The Ostrogoths of King Totila conquer Rome by bribing the Byzantine garrison.

1398 Tamerlane captures and sacks Delhi, defeating Sultan Nasir-u Din Mehmud's armies by setting camels loaded with hay alight and charging them at the Sultan's armored elephants

1788 Russian army of Grigory Potemkin assaults and captures the fortress of Ocharov in modern day Ukraine after a 5 month long siege in one of the major events of the Russo-Turkish War

1903 Near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first successful flight in history of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft.

1939 In the Battle of River Plate near Montevideo, Uruguay, the British trap the German pocket battleship Graf Spee. German Captain Langsdorf sinks his ship believing that resistance is hopeless.

1944 U.S. approves end to internment of Japanese Americans. U.S. Major General Henry C. Pratt issues Public Proclamation No. 21, declaring that Japanese American "evacuees" from the West Coast could return to their homes effective January 2, 1945.

1965 Ending an election campaign marked by bitterness and violence, Ferdinand Marcos is declared president of the Philippines.

1989 The Simpsons, television's longest-running animated series, makes its US debut.

2007 Republic of Lakotah asserts independence from the United States

2020 French President Emanuel Macron tests positive for COVID-19, sending other European leaders into isolation

2020 King Carl XVI Gustaf says Swedish authorities have failed in their response to COVID-19, criticizing the country's controversial anti-lockdown strategy

2020 More than 300 school boys rescued after they were kidnapped from their school in Katsina state, northern Nigeria

Born on December 17

1937 US Lt. Gen. Calvin Waller, deputy commander-in-chief for military operations with US Central Command (Forward) during the First Gulf War.

1945 Chris Matthews, news anchor, political commentator; host of Hardball with Chris Matthews on MSNBC.

1962 Richard Jewell, police officer who discovered pipe bombs on the grounds of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, and helped evacuate the area before the bombs exploded.


JOTD
The old man and the bear.

One night, at the lodge of a hunting club, two new members were being introduced to other members and shown around. The man leading them around said,
"See that old man asleep in the chair by the fire- place? He is our oldest member and can tell you some hunting stories you'll never forget."
They awakened the old man and asked him to tell them a hunting story.
"Well," he began, "I remember back in '44', we went on a lion hunting expedition in Africa. We were on foot and hunted for three days without seeing a thing. On the fourth day, I was so tired I had to rest. I found a fallen tree, so I laid my gun down, propped my head on the tree, and fell asleep. I don't know how long I was asleep when I was awakened by a noise in the bushes. I was reaching for my gun when the biggest lion I ever seen jumped out of the bushes at me like this, 'ROOOAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!......' Well... I just shite my pants."
The young men looked astonished and one of them said, "I don't blame you, I would have shite my pants too if a lion jumped out at me."
The old man shook his head and said, "No, no, not then, just now when I said 'ROOOAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!

Good morning

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how is the knee?

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11 days out from surgery. Off narcotic pain pills.
Bending is fine, probably better than expected at this point, but I'm only at 8 degrees of straightness, and I should be sub 5, so I'm a little worried about it. You should achieve 0 within the first 4 weeks, and I think I'm behind. PT isn't worried yet, but I am.
The best exercise for it is having the heel on a chair and let the leg hang straight and gravity naturally should draw it down, but after 2-3 minutes like that it becomes quite painful and I have to get out of it. And then repeat.

These exercises wear you out.

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I had trigger finger surgery

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Oh no you just reminded me of that graphic picture you posted

Today in History: December 18

1271 Kublai Khan renames his empire "Yuan" (? yuán), marking the start of the Yuan Dynasty of China

1865 Slavery is abolished in the United States. The 13th Amendment is formally adopted into the U.S. Constitution, ensuring that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude... shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

1916 The Battle of Verdun ends with the French and Germans each having suffered more than 330,000 killed and wounded in 10 months. It was the longest engagement of World War I.

1917 The 18th Amendment to the US Constitution, authorizing prohibition of alcohol, is approved by the US congress and sent to the states for ratification

1940 Adolf Hitler issues his secret plans for the invasion of the Soviet Union--Operation Barbarossa.

1941 Defended by 610 fighting men, the American-held island of Guam falls to more than 5,000 Japanese invaders in a three-hour battle.

1972 President Richard M. Nixon declares that the bombing of North Vietnam will continue until an accord can be reached (Operation Linebacker II).

2002 California Gov. Gray Davis announces the state faces a record budget deficit; the looming $35 billion shortfall is almost double the amount reported a month earlier during the state's gubernatorial campaign.

2018 Meteor explodes in huge fireball over the Bering Sea with 10 times the energy of Hiroshima atomic bomb, 2nd largest in last 30 yrs

2019 US House of Representatives votes to impeach President Donald Trump for abuse of power (230-197) and obstruction of Congress (229-198)

2011 The last US troops withdraw from Iraq, formally ending the Iraq War

2020 International body Covax, established to distribute COVID-19 vaccines to low and middle income countries, announces deals with vaccine manufacturers and method for countries to share excess vaccines

2020 Moderna COVID-19 vaccine granted emergency authorization by US Food and Drug Administration

2020 South Africa announces detection of new variant of COVID-19, called 501.V2, which is driving a second wave of infections

2020 US Vice President Mike Pence receives the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine live on TV

2023 Pope Francis will allow priests to bless same-sex couples, though not when connected to a civil or same-sex union


Born on December 18

1946 Steven Spielberg, film director (E.T., Jurassic Park, and Schindler's List).

1963 Brad Pitt, actor (12 Monkeys, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button).

1978 Katie Holmes, actress (Dawson's Creek TV series, Batman Begins).


JOTD
I couldn't decide what to get my buddy for Christmas, so I got him a prostitute with an accounting degree.

It's the thot that counts.