re: GMT

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1918 The Bolsheviks of the Soviet Union ask for American aid to rebuild their army.

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This turned into a near disaster for the US and the rest of the Entente. We had declined to immediately support the Mensheviks, the moderates who had initially overthrown the Czar's government and got the Bolsheviks, the forefathers of the USSR, instead.

Russia was in pretty dire shape militarily. In the first World War the Imperial Army wasn't blessed with the "military genius" of Hitler and his toadies. As a result they had shattered the Russian army and seized a good amount of European Russia. It did, however, tie down about half of their army to do so.

In exchange for military assistance (and tacit recognition) the Bolsheviks were willing to continue the war. When the Entente declined they settled for peace on disastrous terms, gave the Germans vast resources in the West, and freed up a large chunk of the German army to launch a final hammer blow aimed to forcing France out of the war.

And they damn near succeeded. The only thing that stopped the Germans from pushing on to final victory was they had not had time to fully build up supplies and the slow trickle of US units into the line of the battle. It was, however, a near run thing.

Today in History: March 21

0630 Heraclius restores the True Cross, which he has recaptured from the Persians.

1556 Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is burned at the stake at Oxford after retracting the last of seven recantations that same day.

1788 Almost the entire city of New Orleans, Louisiana, is destroyed by fire.

1910 The U.S. Senate grants ex-President Teddy Roosevelt an annual pension of $10,000.

1963 Alcatraz Island, the federal penitentiary in San Francisco Bay, California, closes.

1984 A Soviet submarine crashes into the USS Kitty Hawk off the coast of Japan.

2019 Governor of Missouri Mike Parson declares a state of emergency as flooding from Nebraska and Iowa flows downstream into the state

2020 Italy records record daily death toll of 793 for COVID-19 as the worldwide death tolls surpasses 12,000 with 299,000 known infections

2023 Ugandan government passes Anti Homosexuality Bill, including punishment of 10 years in prison for identifying as LGBTQ+

Born on March 21

1685 Johann Sebastian Bach, German composer.

1885 Raoul Lufbery, French-born American fighter pilot of World War I.

JOTD


50,000 blondes met in a center for the first ever "Blondes Are Not Stupid" Convention

Their leader says, "We are all here today to prove to the world that blondes are not stupid. Can I have a volunteer?"
A blonde gingerly works her way through the crowd and steps up to the stage.
The leader asks her, "What is 15 plus 15?"
After 15 or 20 seconds she says, "Eighteen!"
Obviously everyone is a little disappointed. Then 50,000 blondes start cheering, "GIVE HER ANOTHER CHANCE! GIVE HER ANOTHER CHANCE!"
The leader says, "Well since we've gone to the trouble of getting 50,000 of you in one place and we have the world- wide press and global broadcast media here, gee, uh, I guess we can give her another chance."
So he asks, "What is 5 plus 5?"
After nearly 30 seconds she eventually says, "Ninety?"
The leader is quite perplexed, looks down and just lets out a dejected sigh -- everyone is disheartened - the blonde starts crying and the 50,000 girls begin to yell and wave their hands shouting, "GIVE HER ANOTHER CHANCE! GIVE HER ANOTHER CHANCE!"
The leader, unsure whether or not he is doing more harm than good, eventually says, "Ok! Ok! Just one more chance -- What is 2 plus 2?"
The girl closes her eyes, and after a whole minute eventually says, "Four?"
Throughout the stadium pandemonium breaks out as all 50,000 girls jump to their feet, wave their arms, stomp their feet and scream... "GIVE HER ANOTHER CHANCE! GIVE HER ANOTHER CHANCE!"

Good morning

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tagging calves,

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Giving them earrings

Morning all

Afternoon All

I attended a funeral of a relative today and his claim to fame was scoring the only points in the lowest scoring boys HS basketball game in OK.
Sumner 2 Coyle 0.

Today in History: March 23

1775 American revolutionary hero Patrick Henry, while addressing the House of Burgesses, declares "give me liberty, or give me death!"

1848 Hungary proclaims its independence of Austria.

1862 Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson faces his only defeat at the Battle of Kernstown, Va

1880 John Stevens of Neenah, Wis., patents the grain crushing mill. This mill allows flour production to increase by 70 percent.

1903 The Wright brothers obtain an airplane patent.

1909 Theodore Roosevelt begins an African safari sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society.

1909 British Lt. Ernest Shackleton finds the magnetic South Pole.

1933 The Reichstag gives Adolf Hitler the power to rule by decree.

1970 Mafia boss Carlo Gambino is arrested for plotting to steal $3 million.

1981 U.S. Supreme Court upholds a law making statutory rape a crime for men but not women.

1983US President Ronald Reagan lays out plans for defensive orbiting lasers capable of intercepting and destroying incoming nuclear weapons. Derided by opponents as 'Star Wars,' the Strategic Defense Initiative will cost the US $30 billion, but it will never be fully developed or deployed.

2001 The Russian Mir space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji

2020 Immediate global ceasefire to fight COVID-19 called for by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres

2021 Brazil's daily COVID-19 death toll passes 3,000 (3,251) for the first time (298,676 total deaths reported) as country's Supreme Court blocks President Jair Bolsonaro overturning local restrictions

2023 Canada records record population growth (+2.7%), adding 1 million people in 2022, mostly through immigration

Born on March 23

1908 Joan Crawford, American actress.


JOTD
A woman meets a man in a bar. They talk; they connect; they end up leaving together.
They get back to his place, and as he shows her around his apartment.
She notices that one wall of his bedroom is completely filled with soft, sweet,
cuddly teddy bears.
There are three shelves in the bedroom, with hundreds and hundreds of cute,
cuddly teddy bears carefully placed in rows, covering the entire wall!
It was obvious that he had taken quite some time to lovingly arrange them
and she was immediately touched by the amount of thought he had
put into organizing the display.
There were small bears all along the bottom shelf, medium-sized bears covering the
length of the middle shelf, and huge, enormous bears running all the way along the top shelf.
She found it strange for an obviously masculine guy to have such a large collection of
Teddy Bears, She is quite impressed by his sensitive side. but doesn't mention this to him.
They share a bottle of wine and continue talking and, after awhile, she finds herself
thinking, 'Oh my God! Maybe, this guy could be the one!

Maybe he could be the future father of my children?' She turns to him and kisses him
lightly on the lips He responds warmly.
They continue to kiss, the passion builds, and he romantically lifts her in
his arms and carries her into his bedroom where they rip off each other's
clothes and make hot, steamy love.
She is so overwhelmed that she responds with more passion, more creativity, more heat than she
has ever known. After an intense, explosive night of raw passion with this sensitive guy,
they are lying there together in the afterglow.
The woman rolls over, gently strokes his chest and asks coyly, 'Well, how was it?'

The guy gently smiles at her, strokes her cheek, looks deeply into her eyes, and says:
'Help yourself to any prize from the middle shelf'

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2023 Canada records record population growth (+2.7%), adding 1 million people in 2022, mostly through immigration

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Canada's biggest problem, well until Trump was elected, was a lack of habitable land despite being the second largest country in the world. Everything else they have in spades.

The odd thing about Global Climate Change is that it is making Canada a more tolerable place to live in a larger area of the country. Assuming they can outlast Trumpism they look likely to take a step forward in the coming decades in term of global importance.

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Sorry for your loss.

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Thanks

Morning All

Windy here today till 2pm.