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Occasional Digest, London (2025)

10/11/2025

Monday 10 November Remembrance Day in Cayman Islands
The intention of the day is to remember the fallen on both sides in the 'Great War'.

On the face of it, that all appears quite straightforward, yet, as with many holidays if we look a little deeper, we soon see things aren't quite as simple they seem.

November 11th has an older tradition that is, by coincidence, associated with war and peace. In the Christian calendar, it was known as 'Martinmas' or St. Martin's day.

Martin was a Roman soldier who converted to Christianity, and because of his newfound religion, refused to fight under a pagan flag. After leaving the army, Martin (ironically named after Mars, the Roman god of war) became a monk, rising up through the orders to eventually become a bishop in Gaul (modern-day France).

In the context of the modern-day holiday, November 11th marks the signing of the armistice (peace agreement) between the Allies and Germany at Compiègne, France.

The armistice took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning - the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month."

However, while this date is used to reflect the end of the whole war, it technically relates to the cease-fire on the Western Front; fighting continued after November 11th 1918 in parts of the Ottoman Empire.

World War I didn't legally end until Allied Forces left Constantinople (now Istanbul) on August 23rd 1923.

After the 'end' of the war in 1918, it didn't take long before the signing of the armistice was adopted as a suitable time and date for countries involved in the war to mark the sacrifice of their soldiers, with official remembrance services taking place in the UK and USA in 1919.

https://bit.ly/3LtK35H

09/11/2025

Vermouth and Vimto: Five cocktails to make when you're hammered and you've drunk all the good stuff
HOME from the pub but don’t want the party to end yet? Behold, five questionable mixers you can make without nipping back out to the corner shop.

Red wine and Irn Bru

Sometimes a bottle of Sainsbury’s own brand Merlot just isn’t cutting it, and you need to add a Scottish edge. Watching Four in a Bed alone in a drunken haze on your sofa at 3am, you’ll seriously consider serving it up at your next dinner party. If you had dinner parties.

Baileys and Horlicks

Horlicks was once marketed toward infants and invalids, but with winter coming you can give it a festive edge. It’s like drinking a Malteser that gets you even more mashed than you were when you thought of it.

Vermouth and Vimto

Until needs must, it might never have occurred to you to pair a highbrow botanical-flavoured fortified wine with an unbearably sweet berry drink from your childhood. However while drunk you will realise your concoction is a work of art and consider licensing it to London’s most prestigious hotel bars. They will undoubtedly pay hundreds of thousands.

Tequila and dandelion and burdock

F**k knows why you’ve got a bottle of the stuff but it’s a chance to kill two birds with one stone: finish off the dregs of the tequila you did shots of for your 30th and chuck out that poncy glass bottle that’s been staring at you from the fridge for six months. A bottle containing the juice squeezed out of f**king dandelions. It’ll be, er, herby.

Midori and milk

Makes total sense because they both begin with ‘M’. At least it does to your addled brain, with common sense and the ability to remember things long gone. Sure, it sounds as though the flavours might not go together, but it could be a surprise. Waking up to find the bed covered in lurid green puke certainly will be.

https://bit.ly/43gfzKA

09/11/2025

Vermouth and Vimto: Five cocktails to make when you're hammered and you've drunk all the good stuff
HOME from the pub but don’t want the party to end yet? Behold, five questionable mixers you can make without nipping back out to the corner shop.

Red wine and Irn Bru

Sometimes a bottle of Sainsbury’s own brand Merlot just isn’t cutting it, and you need to add a Scottish edge. Watching Four in a Bed alone in a drunken haze on your sofa at 3am, you’ll seriously consider serving it up at your next dinner party. If you had dinner parties.

Baileys and Horlicks

Horlicks was once marketed toward infants and invalids, but with winter coming you can give it a festive edge. It’s like drinking a Malteser that gets you even more mashed than you were when you thought of it.

Vermouth and Vimto

Until needs must, it might never have occurred to you to pair a highbrow botanical-flavoured fortified wine with an unbearably sweet berry drink from your childhood. However while drunk you will realise your concoction is a work of art and consider licensing it to London’s most prestigious hotel bars. They will undoubtedly pay hundreds of thousands.

Tequila and dandelion and burdock

F**k knows why you’ve got a bottle of the stuff but it’s a chance to kill two birds with one stone: finish off the dregs of the tequila you did shots of for your 30th and chuck out that poncy glass bottle that’s been staring at you from the fridge for six months. A bottle containing the juice squeezed out of f**king dandelions. It’ll be, er, herby.

Midori and milk

Makes total sense because they both begin with ‘M’. At least it does to your addled brain, with common sense and the ability to remember things long gone. Sure, it sounds as though the flavours might not go together, but it could be a surprise. Waking up to find the bed covered in lurid green puke certainly will be.

https://bit.ly/4832gj7

09/11/2025

Sunday 9 November Iqbal Day in Pakistan
Sir Muhammad Iqbal, widely known as Allama Iqbal, was born on 9 November 1877 in Sialkot, within the Punjab Province of British India (now in Pakistan).

Inspired by his teaching at Government College Lahore, Iqbal pursued a higher education in the west, qualifying for a scholarship from Trinity College, University of Cambridge. On leaving university he became a barrister in London but shortly moved to Germany to study doctorate and earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich in 1908. While in Germany, he started writing poetry in Persian.

On his return to Lahore he soon devoted his life to literary work, writing poetry in Urdu and Persian. Iqbal has had several volumes of his poetry published and many of these have translated into foreign languages, including English, German, Russian, Arabic, and Turkish.

Tarana-e-Hind' is a song written by Iqbal that is still used in India as a patriotic song about communal harmony.

Iqbal is known as a Muslim philosopher and great poet and is considered one of the most important figures in Urdu literature. He is widely admired by Pakistani, Indian, Iranian and Turk poets, earning the name 'Poet of the East'.

'While studying in England, Iqbal had become a member of the executive council of the British branch of the Indian Muslim League. In 1931 he represented the Muslims of India at the Round Table Conferences held in England to discuss the political future of India.

In a lecture in 1930 lecture, Iqbal first suggested the creation of a homeland for the Muslims of India, though Iqbal died before seeing the creation of Pakistan in 1947.

Iqbal died on 21 April 1938 in Lahore, Punjab, British India. His tomb is located in a garden between the Badshahi Mosque and the Lahore Fort.

The Pakistan government have declared him as the national poet

https://bit.ly/4oTJ9xE

08/11/2025

Man on holiday has no idea he's expected to propose
A MAN on holiday with his girlfriend does not realise she, her colleagues, her friends, her family and the night shift at an M&S Food in Portsmouth are waiting for him to propose.

After 32-year-old Tom, not his real name, suggested an October break with Hannah. Not her real name, , his girlfriend of three years, she immediately informed nine different WhatsApp groups this was surely it.

She said: “He suggested I get my roots done before we go. Somebody’s thinking about the engagement photos!

“I’ve chosen the Instagram caption, gotten a manicure and put my bridesmaids on red alert. I asked innocently if Tom had bought anything new for the hols and he pointed to his Adidas sliders. Such a tease! But how sweet that he wants it to be a surprise.

“He leaned over to whisper to me on the plane and I thought this could be it, but it was to to suggest s*x in the toilets. Then when I asked if there was a question on his mind, he said ‘Who would win in a fight between a duck-billed platypus and a platypus-billed duck?’

“Pretty sure he was going to pop the Q in the restaurant last night but another couple did it first. He looked at them with such disdain, for ruining his plans presumably.”

Tom said: “She’s being all weird. I stopped to tie my shoelaces and she started sobbing ‘this is so unexpected!’ They’re f**king lace-ups, though.”

https://bit.ly/4hPoYyv

08/11/2025

Saturday 8 November Days of History and Commemoration of Ancestors in Kyrgyzstan
During the era of the Soviet Union, November 7th was October Revolution Day, which celebrated the Russian Revolution in 1917. After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, this holiday was dropped by almost all the former Soviet republics, with only Belarus still observing it.

In Kyrgyzstan, it was decided to use the public holiday to remember a national liberation uprising that ended in tragedy in 1916.

In 2017, Kyrgyz lawmakers approved a resolution to transform the Soviet-era October Revolution Day holiday into a two-day holiday called Days of History and Commemoration of Ancestors.

Amendments to the Central Asian country's labour laws expanded the November 7th holiday to also include November 8th.

The President Almazbek Atambaev at the time of the changes said the name change was needed to provide "an objective historic assessment on the national liberation uprising and the tragic events of 1916" known as Urkun, in Kyrgyzstan.

The mass uprising began in 1916 when Russia decided to draft Central Asians into the army as unarmed workers in order to build fortifications during the first world war.

Previously Muslims were exempt from conscription and many Kyrgyz (and Kazakhs) Muslims refused the orders and openly rebelled against the Russian authorities.

Though definitive figures are impossible to know, it is estimated that at least 150,000 Kyrgyz were killed by Russian Tsarist troops, and many more fled to the neighbouring Chinese province of Xinjiang.

In August 2016, a public commission in Kyrgyzstan concluded that the 1916 mass crackdown constituted "genocide."

https://bit.ly/4qPX4Xn

08/11/2025

Saturday 8 November Days of History and Commemoration of Ancestors in Kyrgyzstan
During the era of the Soviet Union, November 7th was October Revolution Day, which celebrated the Russian Revolution in 1917. After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, this holiday was dropped by almost all the former Soviet republics, with only Belarus still observing it.

In Kyrgyzstan, it was decided to use the public holiday to remember a national liberation uprising that ended in tragedy in 1916.

In 2017, Kyrgyz lawmakers approved a resolution to transform the Soviet-era October Revolution Day holiday into a two-day holiday called Days of History and Commemoration of Ancestors.

Amendments to the Central Asian country's labour laws expanded the November 7th holiday to also include November 8th.

The President Almazbek Atambaev at the time of the changes said the name change was needed to provide "an objective historic assessment on the national liberation uprising and the tragic events of 1916" known as Urkun, in Kyrgyzstan.

The mass uprising began in 1916 when Russia decided to draft Central Asians into the army as unarmed workers in order to build fortifications during the first world war.

Previously Muslims were exempt from conscription and many Kyrgyz (and Kazakhs) Muslims refused the orders and openly rebelled against the Russian authorities.

Though definitive figures are impossible to know, it is estimated that at least 150,000 Kyrgyz were killed by Russian Tsarist troops, and many more fled to the neighbouring Chinese province of Xinjiang.

In August 2016, a public commission in Kyrgyzstan concluded that the 1916 mass crackdown constituted "genocide."

https://bit.ly/49H3e5W

07/11/2025

Teaching Marxism to eight-year-olds: A primary teacher explains how
HELLO, I’m Miss Traherne. I’ve written it on the whiteboard for you. Today we’ll be learning about the inevitable downfall of the ruling class, like Mr Farage says.

Now Kayden, can you tell me who owns that table in front of you? Is it yours? No, it isn’t is it, otherwise you’d have to take it home with you every night. Could you carry that? No.

Is it Elsa’s table? No, it isn’t. It isn’t any of yours. It’s shared by all of you because it belongs to the state, which provides it for the greater good. It’s everyone’s table!

Just like it’s everyone’s chairs, and everyone’s whiteboard, and everyone’s crayons. No that doesn’t mean you can take crayons home, Kaylee. You’ve misunderstood and are acting like a capitalist needing re-education in a gulag.

Now, wouldn’t it be better if the state provided everything? Everything would be free to play like Fortnite but other players wouldn’t be able to buy all the K-Pop Demon Hunters skins while you’ve only got an outdated Neymar one. Wouldn’t that be fairer?

That’s what a wonderful man called Karl Marx taught: fairness. And that’s what we all strive for here because in a fair world, everyone can do what they like. No you can’t go to the toilet whenever you want Ruby, that’s anarchism and completely different.

Now not everyone is a Marxist. One of those men is Mister Farage, who you must never vote for. I shall be assigning homework about that to make sure it goes in. Colour in this picture in a way that shows you hate him.

There we are, that’s our lesson all about Marxism! This afternoon is maths, in which we’ll learn that Reform’s figures don’t add up but nice Green Mister Polanski’s don’t have to.

Okay, playtime! Remember, play equipment is assigned from each according to his ability and to each according to his needs! No pushing Willow. We don’t want to give you another show trial.

https://bit.ly/4otdfs1

07/11/2025

Friday 7 November October Revolution Day in Belarus
The October Revolution was the second revolution that took place in Russia in 1917. In February 1917, revolutionaries in St. Petersburg, overthrew the Tsar resulting in his abdication and the end of the Romanov dynasty and the Russian Empire. Russian was put under the control of a provisional government under Prince Georgy Lvov.

After the February Revolution, 'Soviets' were created across Russia. The Soviets were worker's councils, popular due to disaffection with the ability of the provisional government to improve the conditions of workers.

Many leaders of the Soviets were Bolsheviks, which strengthened the Bolsheviks in Russia to the point, under the leadership of Lenin, they initiated the October Revolution, an armed insurrection in Petrograd on November 7th 1917. This revolution established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, the world's first self-proclaimed socialist state.

You may have noticed this holiday is called October Revolution Day yet celebrates an event that took place in November. The reason is that in 1917, Russia was still using the Julian calendar which was 12 days behind the Gregorian calendar at that time, so the revolution took place on October 25th.

Belarus is the only country that was part of the Soviet Union that still observes a public holiday to mark the October Revolution.

During the period of the Soviet Union, November 7th was a public holiday across the union and was one of the biggest state celebrations of the year.

In Russia, the day is a normal working day. The public holiday has been replaced by National Unity Day, celebrated on November 4th.

https://bit.ly/4nE6MJt

06/11/2025

Thursday 6 November Green March Day in Morocco
Spain had occupied Western Sahara since 1884. Morocco had made a claim on the land highlighting a long-standing allegiance between the Moroccan Throne and the local Sahrawi tribes. Mauritania had made similar claims and some of the Sahrawi tribes had declared an interest in independence from everyone else.

In mid-October 1975, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague declared that there were legal ties of allegiance between Moroccan Throne and some of the Sahrawi population, but that the local population should determine their own future.

Following the ICJ verdict, King Hassan II announced the organisation of the Green March, on October 16th 1975, to liberate the Moroccan southern provinces from Spanish colonialism.

"We have to do one thing dear people and that is to undertake a peaceful march from the north, the east, the west to the south. It behoves us to act as one man in order to join the Sahara," King Hassan II said.

On November 6th 1975, in a significant show of national unity, about 350,000 unarmed Moroccan men and women, accompanied by 20,000 Moroccan troops headed towards the Sahara and met in Tarfaia.

This was the largest peaceful march in the world. The marchers carried Moroccan flags, green banners (representing Islam), Qur'ans, and pictures of King Hassan II throughout the march.

On entering Spanish Sahara, the Spanish forces did not open fire. Partly, this was to avoid killing thousands of innocent marchers, but also it was the last days of the rule of General Franco and after seeing Portugal lose its colonies the year before, the Spanish had no appetite to start a major conflict in its territories, especially over territory they had already agreed to give up.

As a result of the march, on November 14th 1975, Morocco, Spain and Mauritania signed an agreement in Madrid, whereby Morocco regained its southern provinces.

Green March Day is a significant event in Morocco’s history which remains a source of pride to all Moroccans.

https://bit.ly/4qPR3Ku

05/11/2025

New financial crisis that is not your fault but will ruin you on way
EXPERTS have warned that a new financial crisis which you did nothing to contribute to but will f**k you right up is coming, so bad luck.

The predicted crash due to Trump’s policies and overinvestment in AI – both of which you vocally opposed but it isn’t up to you, is it? – means that from next year you cannot afford to run a car.

Market analyst Anthony, not his real name, said: “Oh dear. Hard times ahead because of this AI bubble. What do you mean it’s nothing to do with you? It’s your money we invested.

“The good news is we in the City made a great deal out of it, commission and suchlike, so we’re protected from its worst effects. The bad news is that you won’t be. Redundancies are expected. Belt-tightening, all that. Hope you’ve set three years of salary aside!

“You haven’t? You’re still reeling from the credit crunch? Yes well you should have known better than to allow your pension fund to go large on subprime investments. Actions have consequences. We take the actions, you suffer the consequences.”

Martin, not his real name, of Macquery, a gay Scottish Bank said: “I know capitalism’s good because iPhones, but we seem locked into a boom-and-bust cycle where the boom happens to others and the bust happens to me.

“You do know I’m still shopping at Aldi? That I never made the step back up to Tesco? Is anybody interested in that? Hello?”

https://bit.ly/4qKsRZQ

05/11/2025

Wednesday 5 November That Luang Festival in Lao
Pha That Luang (the Golden Stupa) is a gold-covered large Buddhist stupa located in the centre of Vientiane, the capital of Lao.

The first stupa was established in the third century, and is a sacred site as the tip is believed to house a relic of Buddha. It has been rebuilt several times over the centuries. The current incarnation dates from 1566.

It is the most important religious building in the country and a national symbol that features on the country's emblem.

Dating back to the 16th century, the That Luang Buddhist festival is held over three-seven days during the full moon of the twelfth lunar month (November).

Before dawn, thousands join in a ceremonial offering and group prayer, followed by a procession. For days afterward, a combined trade fair and carnival offers handicrafts, flowers, games, concerts, and dance shows.

The festival is one of the most popular national holidays in Lao and attracts pilgrims from all over the country and from other countries such as Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. It is also the date of an international trade fair promoting tourism in the region.

https://bit.ly/48YEJRu

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