Month: December 2023

22
Dec
2023

FRIDAY…excitement grows!!

Today is Sambisa Memorial Day in Nigeria. Every 22nd December, Nigeria mourns victims of Boko Haram insurgents and celebrates the victory of Nigeria’s military. The day is commemorated as Sambisa Memorial Day.

The Sambisa Forest is a forest in Borno State, northeast Nigeria. It is in the southwestern part of Chad Basin National Park, about 60 kilometers southeast of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State. The name of the forest comes from the village of Sambisa which is on the border with Gwoza in the East. The forest had a large population of Leopards, Lions, Elephants, and Hyenas before its occupation in 2013 by the Boko Haram terrorists.

December 22 was chosen for the annual public holiday because it was on December 22, 2016, that the Nigerian Armed Forces took over the Sambisa Forest from Boko Haram. Boko Haram, officially known as Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād (Arabic: جماعة أهل السنة للدعوة والجهاد, lit. ‘Group of the People of Sunnah for Dawah and Jihad’), is an Islamist militant organization based in northeastern Nigeria, which is also active in Chad, Niger, northern Cameroon, and Mali. Boko Haram was the world’s deadliest terror group during part of the mid-2010s according to the Global Terrorism Index.

Boko Haram has killed tens of thousands of people, in frequent attacks against the police, armed forces and civilians. It has resulted in the deaths of more than 300,000 children and has 2.3 million from their homes. Boko Haram has contributed to regional food crises and famines.

Inspirational…

Another fun Christmas song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsvOrtcrA5c

Posted by Tom in Holiday, Humor, Music
21
Dec
2023

I dreamed it was THURSDAY

São Tomé Day is a public holiday in the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe on December 21st each year. This holiday commemorates the arrival of the first Europeans to the island of São Tomé on this day in 1471. The traditional dates for the arrival of the Portuguese are December 21st 1471 for São Tomé and January 17th 1472 for Príncipe.

Both islands were uninhabited when the Portuguese arrived. It was decided that the islands would make good bases from which to trade with the African mainland and the first successful settlement of São Tomé was established in 1493 with Príncipe being settled 7 years later.

However, this wasn’t some idyllic new colony. The islands were stocked with African slaves and degredados (“undesirables” sent from Portugal), all of whom were forced to work on sugar plantations.

São Tomé and Príncipe achieved independence on 12 July 1975. Interestingly, Principe is where an experiment by Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington during a solar eclipse on May 29, 1919 proved Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.

OOPS!

The Season’s Upon Us! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTx-sdR6Yzk

Posted by Tom in Holiday, Humor, Music
20
Dec
2023

‘W’ is for WEDNESDAY

Today is Macau SARE Day. Macau Special Administrative Region Establishment (SARE) Day (known as ‘Dia Commemorativo do Estabelecimento da Região Administrativa Especial de Macau’ in Portuguese) is celebrated on December 20th and commemorates the Chinese government assuming formal sovereignty over Macau on December 20th 1999. This day is an Obligatory holiday in Macau according to the Article 44th of the Law no. 7/2008 issued on August 18th 2008.

Macau first became a major settlement and trading post with the arrival of the Portuguese in the 16th century. In 1557, the Portuguese established a permanent settlement in Macau, paying an annual rent of Silver to the Chinese. Up to 1863, the Portuguese continued to pay an annual tribute to stay in Macau.

Following the Carnation Revolution of 1974 in Portugal, the new Portuguese government decided it would relinquish all its overseas possessions. In 1976, Lisbon redefined Macau as a “Chinese territory under Portuguese administration” and granted it a large measure of administrative, financial, and economic autonomy.

In June 1986, the Chinese and Portuguese governments commenced negotiations on the sovereignty of Macau. The two countries signed a Joint Declaration in 1987, making Macau a special administrative region (SAR) of China. The Chinese government assumed formal sovereignty over Macau on December 20th 1999.

SIGNS!!!



‘..

No good birthdays today but WInter is Here… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPdk5GaIDjo

Posted by Tom in classical, Humor, Music
19
Dec
2023

Welcome to……..’TUESDAY’

Today is National Heroes and Heroines Day, a public holiday in Anguilla. Anguilla is a British Overseas Territory in the Eastern Caribbean. In 1962, Anguilla was joined to St. Kitts and Nevis as an associated statehood.

Resentment against this political decision grew, and in May 1967, the people of Anguilla marched on the Police Headquarters and evicted the Royal St. Kitts Police Force from the island.

On 19 December 1980 Anguilla fully seceded from the association. To mark this important event, a public holiday called Separation Day was established to celebrate the anniversary of political separation of Anguilla from the territory of Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla.

In the years since, the Government of Anguilla renamed the holiday to National Heroes and Heroines Day. The holiday has now evolved into a general celebration of the people who have played an important role in the history of Anguilla and made significant sacrifices for the prosperity of this small but proud island nation.

Bada Bing!

These days, if it has “Liberty”, “Freedom”,  or “Patriots” in its name, rest assured it has little if anything to do with any of them.

The first thing that a cult does is convince you that everyone else is lying.

Someone just called my 9YO “gay” on Xbox and he responded with “I’m straighter than the pole your mom dances on”. 

If a non-white Santa Claus makes you upset, wait till you hear what Jesus looked like.

Shout out to all the married folk out there waiting for their spouse to fall asleep on the couch so they can watch what they really want to.

If you think standing by our allies is expensive, wait until you see the cost of abandoning them.

You can’t set a Hallmark movie in the South. Unexpected snow isn’t magical down there. It’s terrifying and always leads to grocery store fights.

You know you’re getting old when you run into your friends at the pharmacy instead of at the nightclub.

I rescued a cow from a slaughterhouse today. I named it Jake from Steak Farm.

I love it when my pet sighs, like, what ails you, my little unemployed freeloader?

You can be your own Secret Santa with tequila and Amazon Prime.

We have to stop saying “How stupid can you be?” Too many people are taking it as a challenge.

I don’t drink or do drugs. At my age, I can get the same effect by standing up too fast.

My friend Sarah accidentally left her Pepsi 60 miles south of Tampa. That’s the location of Sarah’s soda.

Today is the birthday, in 1944, of Zal Yanovsky, The Lovin Spoonful, (1966 US No.1 & UK No.8 single ‘Summer In The City’). Died of a heart attack on 13th December 2002. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs8ZNa73OS4

Posted by Tom in Humor, Music, sixties and seventies
18
Dec
2023

M is for wet MONDAY

Today is Qatari National Day. Qatar National Day (Al-Yaoum-al-Watani) commemorates the day in 1878 when Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani succeeded his father, Sheikh Muhammad Bin Thani, as the ruler of Qatar.

Qatar had started to develop into an important settlement in the eighteenth century. Following periods of control from various local regions, including agreements with the British, the Ottoman Empire arrived in 1871 at the request of the Emir.

On December 18th 1878, Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani, succeeded his father, Sheikh Mohammed bin Thani, as ruler of Qatar, becoming its first Emir in a lineage that continues to this day.

Ruling Qatar until his death in 1913, Sultan Jassim is revered in Qatar as ‘The Founder’ as under his rule he unified the tribes of the peninsula marking the creation of the modern state of Qatar. His leadership, both political and militarily, defined Qatar’s status a nation in the view of the two key powers in the region at that time – the Ottomans and the British.

In 1916 Qatar became a British protectorate. Qatar gained independence from the United Kingdom and became an independent sovereign state on September 3rd 1971. September 3rd was originally celebrated as Qatar’s National Day.

The ducks want an explanation.

“The quote is “I’m sexy and I know it”

sqrt(1+tan^2) can be verbalized as “sec” and so this formula is the “sec of c”

“I’m sec C and I know it””

Today is the birthday in 1943, of Keith Richards, ‘The Human Riff’, guitarist, singer, songwriter and founding member of The Rolling Stones who have had over 35 Top 40 singles and albums. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created ‘rock’s greatest single body of riffs’. Classic albums include: Sticky Fingers and Exile On Main Street. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiRQT2AXGrw

Posted by Tom in eighties music, Humor, Music, sixties and seventies