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Occasional Digest, London (2025)

25/06/2025

Wednesday 25 June Statehood Day in Slovenia
Historically part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire until its collapse at the end of World War I, Slovenia was one of the six republics that formed Yugoslavia.

In December 1990, the Slovenian independence referendum resulted in a 94.8% vote in favour of establishing an independent Slovenia.

The formal declaration of independence was on June 26th 1991. Still, since much of the legislation relating to independence was passed on June 25th, it is this date that is remembered and celebrated on Statehood Day.

The Declaration of Independence set a future course for the newly independent state. Independence was declared at a public event in Republic Square on June 26th 1991, when the flag of the Republic of Slovenia replaced the flag of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia in front of the parliament.

However, the festivities were short-lived as the proclamation started the Ten-Day war with Yugoslavia. Yugoslav army tanks headed from barracks in Slovenia and Croatia to Slovenia's borders with Italy, Austria and Hungary, triggering a ten-day war of independence.

Following a ceasefire based on the July 7th 1991 Brijuni Declaration, brokered by the EU's predecessor, and a subsequent three-month independence process moratorium, the last Yugoslav troops left Slovenia in October 1991.

Croatia also celebrates Statehood Day on the same day, as it was also a state created from the dissolution of Yugoslavia.

https://bit.ly/4lmD4rQ

24/06/2025

Tuesday 24 June Jāņi in Latvia
Jāņi marks the summer solstice and the shortest night of the year and it has become one of the most important holidays in Latvia.

At the summer solstice, the northern hemisphere is tilted at its maximum angle towards the sun resulting in the maximum amount of hours of daylight. In astronomical terms, the longest day of the year takes places on either 20th June or 21st June.

Since ancient times, this midsummer day has been observed and celebrated by many cultures. In the agricultural calendar, it was a time to celebrate the sowing of the crops and enjoy the short break before harvest began. In Northern Europe, its effects are more pronounced with very long days, which of course is contrasted six months later when the winter solstice (Ziemassvētki) results in very long nights in that part of the world.

With the Christianisation of Latvia, Jāņi was moved to St. John's Day.

During the Soviet era, the celebration of ethnic holidays such as Jāņi were suppressed by the authorities as they were seen as nationalistic when the focus should be on the Soviet Union as a collective.

Since independence in 1990, the holiday has been reinstated and the (at least) two-day break for Ligo and St. John's Day has proved a popular holiday period for Latvians to take some time off and enjoy the weather at this time of year.

https://bit.ly/3IbXkhm

23/06/2025

Monday 23 June June Day in Newfoundland and Labrador
ohn Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) was a Venetian explorer and navigator. Inspired by Columbus' recent voyages to the west, Cabot received funding from Henry VII of England to explore for new lands in 1496. Cabot made his first expedition in the summer of 1496, leaving from Bristol, England, but he ran into bad weather and short of supplies, he turned back to England.

The second expedition left Bristol on 2 May 1497 in a ship called 'Matthew' and made landfall somewhere on the coast of North America on 24 June 1497 (St. John's Day). This discovery marked the first Europeans to set foot on the North American continent since the Vikings in the 11th century.

Though historians have argued where exactly Cabot made landfall, in 1997 the Canadian and UK governments designated Cape Bonavista in Newfoundland as the official place of Cabot's landing.

Discovery Day had been a statutory holiday from 1962 until 1992, when it was removed from the Shops Closing Act.

Since 1997, Discovery Day has also been known as Cabot 500 Day marking the 500th anniversary of the discovery.

https://bit.ly/3T3dGve

22/06/2025

Your closest friends and other people you should never discuss your s*x life with
LEADING a rich and sordid s*x life and want to share the raunchy details with someone? Here’s who to avoid opening up to.

Your closest friends

As men have known for centuries, the closest friendships are maintained by exchanging as little information as possible. Sharing deeply personal details like your surname or your favourite colour can jeopardise your relationship. Regaling them with your bedroom antics will only provide your friends with ammunition for future banter. You’re safer telling them your bank account details.

Anyone in your family

You don’t want to hear about how your parents solemnly conducted missionary reproduction once, or twice if you have a sibling, and they don’t want to know that you’re a member of the mile-high club. Telling siblings, cousins and uncles about your erotic misadventures will likely induce vomiting, however your s*x-starved grandad might be too keen to hear about it, so remain tight-lipped for your own sake.

Your colleagues

Sure, your work bestie might feel like a safe person to open up to, but don’t fall for their bu****it. Once they’ve learnt that you went to a key party they’ll be sure to mention it to your boss when the opportunity for a promotion comes around. That would be unprofessional, but so is engaging in anything but robot-like communication with your co-workers. ‘Iain’s off with diarrhoea,’ is as raunchy as it should get.

Strangers in the street

Stopping a stranger in the street to tell them you dabbled in a spot of ri***ng last night is a bad idea, even in these progressive times. Even people at Pride festivals gloss over the s*xual aspect of their lives by walking down the street en masse and waving little rainbow flags. You could learn a lot from their retiring modesty.

Catholic priests

Catholic priests are old hands when it comes to hearing people’s confessions and keeping them to themselves, so you’re safe in that regard.
https://bit.ly/4llnwoo

22/06/2025

Sunday 22 June Anti-Fascist Struggle Day in Croatia
On April 6th 1941, during the Second World War, the Wehrmacht (German armed forces) and their allies (Italy and Hungary) invaded the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Meeting little in the way of organised resistance, within 11 days the country was fully under Axis control.

Despite this initial capitulation, it wasn't long before the Yugoslavs started organising themselves and resistance movements started to emerge. On June 22nd 1941 in the Brezovica woods outside Sisak in central Croatia, the First Sisak Partisan Detachment was formed. This was the first military unit formed by a resistance movement in occupied Europe.

Of the 77 fighters who formed the first Partisan unit, 38 survived the war. Most of them were from the Sisak area and were mostly members of the Communist Party.

The anti-fascist movement in Croatia grew from this first detachment into a nationwide resistance in which more than 500,000 Croatian citizens actively participated, including 230,000 armed fighters and is considered to be the most effective resistance movement active during the war.

The Yugoslav Resistance was led by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. Its commander was Marshal Josip Broz Tito, who went on to become the first president of Yugoslavia.

After it gained independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Croatian Parliament introduced Anti-Fascist Struggle Day as an official holiday in 1991. The Croatian Parliament introduced Anti-Fascist Resistance Day in 1991, replacing a similar holiday, the "Day of the Uprising of the People of Croatia," celebrated on July 27 during the Socialist Republic of Croatia era. This earlier commemoration alluded to the Srb uprising, which, like the Anti-Fascist Struggle Day, is still remembered today by anti-fascist organizations and minority communities targeted during the second world war, though it is not an official holiday.

https://bit.ly/3ZGuig3

21/06/2025

Noisy neighbours silenced by man seriously thinking about going over there
A GROUP of noisy neighbours turned off their music after a man seriously considered going over there, it has been revealed.

Martin, not his real name, went on an epic rant about how inconsiderate it is to have a rowdy party in a residential area on a weeknight when some people have to be up at six. The rant was delivered to his wife, Sarah, in the safety of his own home.

He said: “Honestly I have half a mind to go over there and give them a real talking to. But then again, it is quite cold out there.

“Also I think one of them is quite big and may have been in prison recently.”

Fortunately for Martin, the neighbours miraculously felt his ire without him having to physically act, deciding to turn off their music and go out only two hours after he started moaning about it.

He said: “I must have really given them a good scare by thinking about knocking on their door and delivering a massive bollocking. I didn’t want to have to nearly do it, but now maybe they’ll think twice before messing with me again.”
https://bit.ly/3ZGJauV

21/06/2025

Saturday 21 June Andean New Year in Bolivia
In the Southern Hemisphere, the longest night of the year takes place on June 21st, the winter solstice. Since ancient times, knowledge of the changing seasons was vital to farmers in the region. No more so, than in the harsh highlands of the Andes. The winter solstice marked a welcome end to Winter and also the start of the new agricultural season.

The word Solstice comes from the Latin ‘solstitium’ meaning ‘Sun stands still’ because the movement of the Sun’s path north or south appears to stop before changing direction

At key places such as Tiwanaku, the imposing megalithic structures are said to have been designed with astronomical dates in mind, such as the Gate of the Sun, whose markings are meant to represent the solstices and equinoxes. Even today, the ruins at Tiwanaku is the main venue for marking the solstice with thousands of Bolivians and tourists coming to see the early morning sunrise on June 21st.

The new declaration of the new holiday has not been without its opponents. Only 20% of the population of Bolivia would be considered ethnically Aymaran, so it has been questioned as to why the whole country, consisting of over 30 ethnic groups, gets a holiday to mark this regional cultural event. Others have pointed out that there is little evidence that the Aymarans celebrated the winter solstice.

As Aymara New Year a national holiday, all public and private institutions, companies and schools will be closed on this day.

https://bit.ly/3T19nQY

20/06/2025

'I just format Word documents', admits highly-paid office worker
A WELL-PAID worker has admitted his job essentially consists of him just formatting Word documents, it’s been revealed.

Anthony, not his real name, confessed that despite holding the impressive position of Senior Marketing Manager at a financial technology firm, his job actually consists of little more than using Microsoft’s flagship word-processing software to add margins.

He said: “I’m not saying that what I do involves absolutely no skill, because if my team understood how to use Word properly I would have absolutely nothing to do. But what I’m saying is it’s definitely not a skill worth £52,500 per annum.”

Ant also revealed he feels bad for earning more than a junior doctor: “The only way my job could become a life or death situation would be if someone had a condition where seeing the font Comic Sans induced them to have a stroke.

“But my job is safe as long as nobody else finds out how to print multiple copies of a document.”
https://bit.ly/3SZDUic

20/06/2025

Friday 20 June Indigenous People's Day in Chile
On June 17th 2021, the upper house (Senate of Chile, Senado in Spanish) unanimously passed the law that establishes that, from 2022, the day of the winter solstice will be a holiday in Chile. Monday June 21st 2021 was also declared a holiday.

Several countries in the Americas honour their indigenous populations on the winter solstice

In the Southern Hemisphere, the longest night of the year takes place on June 21st, the winter solstice. Since ancient times, knowledge of the changing seasons was vital to farmers in the region. The winter solstice marked a welcome end to Winter and also the start of the new agricultural season.

The word Solstice comes from the Latin ‘solstitium’ meaning ‘Sun stands still’ because the movement of the Sun’s path north or south appears to stop before changing direction.

The Winter Solstice has been a public holiday in Bolivia since 2010.

Note that the holiday on October 12, which also celebrates indigenous peoples remains as a public holiday. That date is the historical date of the arrival of Europeans to the new world when Christoph Columbus landed in the Bahamas on October 12th 1492.

https://bit.ly/40fxP50

19/06/2025

Thursday 19 June Labor Day in Trinidad and Tobago
While there had been some efforts to create a movement to support workers in Trinidad and Tobago in the early part of the twentieth century, progress had been slow and sporadic.

On 18 June 1937, workers at the Butler Oil fields began a strike against the inequality of earnings from the oil industry. Police tried to arrest the leader of the strike, Tubal Uriah 'Buzz' Butler on 19 June. This led to riots which resulted in the deaths of nine workers and two policemen. Butler went on the run from the authorities, giving himself up in September 1937 and spending two years in prison. The riots were seen as a precursor to the creation of the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU), which became the first registered trade union in the country. The riots also led to a 1939 commission headed by Lord Moyne which attempted to investigate the causes of the riots and suggested recommendations to ensure that events wouldn't be repeated.

Butler, a Grenadian immigrant, went on to form his own political party in the 1950's and his efforts to improve rights of workers led to him being awarded the Trinity Cross, the nation's highest honour. As well as having a major highway named after him, a statue of Butler stands at the Charlie King Junction in Fyzabad, the place where the police tried to arrest him in 1937.

Labour Day was declared as an annual national holiday in Trinidad and Tobago in 1973.

https://bit.ly/3SUZynJ

18/06/2025

Female friend of gay man secretly believes he will one day turn straight
THE longtime female friend of an out and proud gay man secretly believes he will one day become straight, she has revealed.

Helen, not her real name, of Manchester admits that friend Joseph, not his real name, has shown few signs of his latent heteros*xuality in their 11-year friendship so far, but that she knows him better than anyone and that it could happen any day.

She continued: “He can’t stay in a relationship. That tells you something.

“Yes, on the surface it’s because he can’t stop cheating on them with twinks, but I think he actually finds the constantly available s*x dissatisfying.

“Sexuality is fluid, after all – I kissed a girl once, at sixth form – and he’s 30 now and beginning to realise that lust is less important than companionship.

“Meanwhile we’re having such tremendous fun together that it’s no big deal to me if he takes his time working out what he wants. When we went to New York he shagged a guy from Grindr even though we were sharing a room! It was hilarious!”

He said: “Oh, I’m fully aware what she thinks. And straights, by keeping her off the market I’m doing you one massive favour.”
https://bit.ly/44cz4Dp

18/06/2025

Wednesday 18 June King's Mothers' Birthday in Cambodia
Queen Mother Norodom Monineath was born on June 18th 1936 in Saigon, when it was part of French Indochina. Her birth name was Paule-Monique Izzi and her father was French.

She was queen consort of Cambodia from 1952 to 1955 and again from 1993 to 2004, as the wife of King Norodom Sihanouk.

She first met Norodom Sihanouk in 1951 when he awarded her first prize in a beauty contest. They married the following year.

King Norodom Sihanouk abdicated in 2004, with his son becoming his successor, making Norodom Monineath the Queen Mother.

The Queen Mother's duties include receiving Khmer and foreign dignitaries. Her Majesty is involved in several charitable activities, such as the Samdech Euv Team, established by His Late Majesty the King Father to help the less fortunate of their compatriots with the building of hospitals, clinics, schools, fishponds and houses. In recent years, she has raised funds and built two hospitals in Phnom Penh.

https://bit.ly/462C7QV

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