D-Day - The Invasion Of Normandy

On this date in 1944, the Normandy landings, codenamed Operation Neptune, the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord, commenced during World War II. The landings were conducted in two phases: an airborne assault landing of 24,000 British, American, Canadian and Free French airborne troops shortly after midnight and an amphibious landing of Allied infantry and armored divisions on the coast of France starting at 6:30 am.

There were also decoy operations under the codenames Operation Glimmer and Operation Taxable to distract the German forces from the real landing areas. Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces was General Dwight Eisenhower while overall command of ground forces (21st Army Group) was given to General Bernard Montgomery.

The operation, planned by a team under Lieutenant-General Frederick Morgan, was the largest amphibious invasion in world history and was executed by land, sea, and air elements under direct British command with over 160,000 troops landing on 6 June 1944, 73,000 American troops, 61,715 British and 21,400 Canadian. 195,700 Allied naval and merchant navy personnel in over 5,000 ships were involved.

The invasion required the transport of soldiers and material from the United Kingdom by troop-laden aircraft and ships, the assault landings, air support, naval interdiction of the English Channel and naval fire-support. The landings took place along a 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coast divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword.

Although the actual figures are still uncertain it is estimated that more than 9000 Allied soldiers were killed or wounded on June 6th alone. Take a minute today to give thanks and remember the men and women of the allied forces that gallantly fought in this tremedous battle.

The News As I See It: According to People magazine, Rielle Hunter, the mother of John Edwards' love child, is releasing a new tell-all book this month. It's a memoir about their relationship. She didn't write it herself, she used a ghost skank.

Congratulations to our new national spelling bee champion. Her name is Snigdha Nandipati. Over the weekend the 14-year-old from San Diego won the award after she correctly spelled her own name.

Unemployment has risen to 8.2 percent and is looking pretty bad. In fact, Obama has a new slogan on jobs creation, "Hope and Change the Subject."

According to a new book coming out by a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Obama apparently smoked large amounts of marijuana in high school. Now, the unemployment numbers are getting as high as Obama was back in his school days.

Hugh Hefner is back together with his fiancée, Crystal Harris, one year after she called off their wedding. It’s like they say: "If you love something, let it go and if it comes back to you, it probably ran out of money and remembered you were a billionaire."

Last weekend seven monkeys were stolen from a zoo in Poland, so I guess they're beginning to shoot season 6 of "Jersey Shore."

Last Friday, Obama spent the night at his home in Chicago for the first time in over a year. He even went down to the basement and dusted off some old campaign promises. It got a bit awkward when he left and his housekeeper said, "See you after the election."

According to DC comics, the Green Lantern is gay. It's funny that the Green Lantern is gay and yet Spider-Man has the Broadway musical. Talk about irony!

This Date In History: 1844; The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) was founded in London. 1933; The first drive-in movie theater opened in Camden, New Jersey. 1934; The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was established to protect investors and maintain the integrity of the securities markets.

1944; Thousands of Allied troops invaded the beaches of Normandy, France, on D-Day. 1982; Israel invaded Lebanon to drive out the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). 2001; Vermont Republican Senator James Jeffords left the party to become an independent, handing control of the Senate back to the Democrats.

2002; President Bush proposed a new Cabinet department: The Department of Homeland Security.

Picture Of The Day: Many soldiers are buried in France, a continuing reminder of the horrors of war.

Printable Things I Never Told You: 1) Be safety conscious. Eighty percent of all people were caused by accidents. 2) My girlfriend asked me, "Do You believe in love at first sight?" I said, "At the first sight of what?" 3) Nothing in the world is more expensive than a women who's free for the weekend. 4) The British have different ways of saying things. They say "lift", we say "elevator". They say, "president", we say "asshole".... 5) Some men are like wine. They start out as grapes and it's up to women to stomp the shit out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.....and that's five !

Today's Horoscope: Gemini - June 6th: Whoo Hoo! It's hump day and a great reason to head over to your particular AREA 51 for a drink or two. If you do go out, let a smile be your umbrella, but keep in mind that if you do, your ass will probably get soaking wet. Chance of romance 64.56 percent dropping to 48.09 percent after your fourth beer. 

Birthdays: My friends Marty and Ralfy - Happy Birthday guys! 19XX, Diego Velázquez, painter 1599, Pierre Corneille, dramatist 1606, Nathan Hale, officer 1755, John Trumbull, painter 1756, Aleksandr Pushkin, poet, dramatist 1799, Alexandra Feodorovna, Czarina 1872, Sukarno, statesman 1901, Björn Borg, professional tennis player 1956.

The AREA 51 Retirement Home Bar And Grill: A man with tickets to the Super Bowl finds his seat and relaxes. As he sits down, a man comes down and asks if anyone is sitting in the seat next to him. He says, "No, the seat is empty." The stranger says, "That's incredible. Who in their right mind would have a seat like this for the Suoer Bowl and not use it?"

The man says, "Well, actually, the seat belongs to me. I was supposed to come with my wife, but she passed away. This is the first Supr Bowl we haven't been to together since we got married in 1980."

The stranger replies, "Oh...I'm sorry to hear that. That's terrible. Couldn't you find someone else - a friend or relative, or even a neighbor to take the seat?" The man shakes his head. "No, they're all at the funeral."

An old Alabama preacher said to his congregation, "Someone in this congregation has spread a rumor that I belong to the Ku Klux Klan. This is a horrible lie and one which a Christian community cannot tolerate I am embarrassed and do not intend to accept this. Now, I want the party who did this to stand and ask forgiveness from God and this Christian Family." No one moved.

The preacher continued, "Do you have the nerve to face me and admit this is a falsehood? Remember, you will be forgiven and in your heart you will feel glory. Now stand and confess your transgression." Again all was quiet.

Then slowly, a drop-dead gorgeous blonde, with a body that would stop traffic, rose from the third pew. Her head was bowed and her voice quivered as she spoke, "Reverend there has been a terrible misunderstanding. I never said you were a member of the Ku Klux Klan. I simply told a couple of my friends that you were a wizard under the sheets."

The Hits Just Keep On Coming: Jack was sitting in an airplane when another guy took the seat beside him. Jack noticed that the guy was moaning and shaking. Jack asked. "What's wrong?" The guy answered,  "I've been transferred to New Orleans, Louisiana. There's crazy people in New Orleans. They have shootings, rapes, robberies, gangs, race riots, drugs . . . . the highest crime rate."

Jack said, "Hold on, I've lived there all my life. It's not as bad as the media says. Find a nice home, go to work, mind your own business, enroll your kids in a good school and it's as safe as anywhere in the world."

The other passenger relaxed and stopped shaking for a moment and said, "Oh, thank you. I've been worried to death, but if you live there and say it's ok, I'll take your word for it. What do you do for a living?" Jack replied, "Me? I'm the tail gunner on a Bud Lite truck."

A 19 year old lad has been dating a 17 year old girl for a few months. They went to the movies and return to her home where her father, a widower, is waiting for them. After greeting the worried father, they settle down on the sofa in the living room, while the old man goes to watch TV in the family room.

The girl is a good example and looks after her Dad. She, in turn, is the apple of his eye. Naturally, he's worried about her well being and eventually just has to break off from watching TV go into the living room door and check up on her. He says to his daughter, "Could you make me a cup of coffee my love?" The girls says, "Of course I can, Dad", and trots off into the kitchen to put the coffee on.

Meanwhile, the old man sits down on the sofa with the lad to have a word. He says, "Look, son, I remember when I was your age and trying my luck. The thing is, I'm worried about our Susie." The lad says, "Why, what's wrong with her?" The father fibs a bit and says, "Well, I shouldn't really tell you, but she's got acute angina." The boy replies, "Oh, I know and a great pair of tits, too!"

That's it for today, my little puppies. Remember, if you want to be a leader with a large following, just obey the speed limit on a steep, winding, two-lane mountain road. I'm heading over to AREA 51 for happy hour. More on Friday.

Stay Tuned !